Chapter 1212: The Awakened Best Actress

The sun was blazing high.

All Baimu stood outside the crowd, gazing from afar at the Kalos Champion, Diantha, who was surrounded by the media.

Facing the blinding camera flashes and countless microphones and lenses like spears and cannons, the best actress wore a smile that was perfectly dignified and ladylike. Her beautiful face was radiant, leaving countless fans spellbound.

Just beside him, there were several men and women with expressions that said, "My heart has been stolen."

Her attire at this moment had naturally changed from a casual home dress to a pure white gown that looked like it belonged to a Frosmoth.

Her current makeup had even become her signature, much like the Champion cape plastered with advertisements worn by Leon.

"The internet was right; the 'Best Actress of a Thousand Faces' lives up to her reputation!"

Poryphone's round eyes shook violently.

It was difficult for the simple artificial Pokémon to connect the elegant and noble Champion in the crowd with the charming and lively big sister from yesterday.

It only felt that Diantha's control over her own image and temperament was truly effortless.

All Baimu commented, "This is called a screen persona; it's where her fun lies."

Without a doubt, separating her on-stage and off-stage personas was Diantha's personal hobby, which she had mentioned while chatting last night—

She didn't feel like she was wearing a mask when performing; she believed that no matter which personality or image she displayed, it was ultimately still her, yet it was also like experiencing vastly different lives.

All Baimu found it hard to empathize, but he could understand.

So what if a Champion has a little quirk?

Not to mention himself, which one of Steven, Lance, or Cynthia didn't have special quirks? Even the full-time Champion Leon had a hobby of constantly discovering talent, much like his mentor, Rose.

Leon had once publicly stated, "I hope every Trainer in Galar will be like a dragon!"

As the interview segment ended and he saw Diantha cast a glance from afar, All Baimu lowered the brim of his hat.

His breath-concealing technique was still not quite up to par.

At most, it could fool ordinary people; it was very hard to fool the Elite Four and Champions with their outstanding observational skills.

Diantha smiled, though she didn't expose All Baimu's disguise in public.

But that smile of hers only made her look even more soul-stirring, naturally drawing a chorus of screams from her fans.

And even in the Pokémon world, a film festival opening ceremony couldn't do without a red carpet segment. After Diantha, who held the highest status, entered, various film stars—some All Baimu had heard of and some he hadn't—appeared one by one.

In the crowd, Mawile sat on All Baimu's shoulder, while Blissey was held up by a Poryphone clone to prevent it from not being able to see the scene inside.

The young lady had wanted to experience a red carpet scene for a long time, watching with bright eyes as the glamorous stars stood still before the cameras, accepting the inspection of flashes and lenses.

"Maw-ile~"

"It's not too late to go up now—hey, don't pull my ear!"

All Baimu hurriedly pacified the shy and annoyed Mawile.

In the morning, Diantha had invited them to walk the red carpet together, since his whereabouts were already exposed anyway.

Mawile had refused.

It felt that it wasn't prepared.

Just like participating in a Pokémon Contest, it required a week of preparation in advance to ensure that every movement wouldn't be a mistake before it would agree to go up.

This made one feel somewhat incredible; heaven knows how many grander scenes Mawile had experienced, yet it still needed a week of careful preparation for a mere film festival?

—Simply put, its idol baggage was just too heavy.

Now, when it posted videos, it not only needed beauty filters but also had requirements for its own facial expression management.

Once dissatisfied, reshoot!

All Baimu was often left helpless, yet he patiently continued to help it.

Who else could it be? It was his own Pokémon.

"Maw-ile!"

Mawile blinked its bright, shining eyes, secretly making up its mind that sooner or later, it would step onto the film festival's red carpet as an official actor.

If you're going to do it, do it professionally!

All Baimu browsed the "celebrities" walking the red carpet and said softly, "There are basically no familiar faces."

After all, there weren't many Trainers who had side jobs as stars or actors.

And even fewer could come to a film festival.

After the opening ceremony, he and his three Pokémon followed the schedule to various cinemas. Except for some movies with particularly strange names, they watched all of them.

The result left Mawile deeply disappointed.

"Maw-ile..."

It had originally thought that anything qualified for a film festival should be the best of the best.

Yet several of them made it, an enthusiast, so sleepy that it wished it could sleep until the movie ended.

Blissey comforted it softly, though it wasn't much better off itself.

It had already popped two or three bottles of anti-sleep medicine!

Poryphone watched the most seriously, and after leaving the venue, it was the one who roasted them the hardest online, even getting into arguments with fans of many related directors, leading to several of its accounts being banned.

It was fortunate that it had enough alt accounts.

All Baimu?

This Trainer, with no conscience, played games on mute with the Shiny Gengar from the start of the movie until the end.

Fortunately, there were still quite a few masterpieces at the film festival.

It was precisely these masterpieces that allowed Mawile, while losing its infatuation, not to be completely disappointed in it.

But even so, it couldn't help but feel depressed.

"Maw-ile~"

"Hahaha, no matter the field, it's very normal for the good and the bad to be mixed together. What you can see and search for online is already considered the best; more movies are buried in corners, completely ignored by anyone."

After Diantha learned why Mawile was unhappy, she smiled and comforted it.

Under the comfort of an industry expert, the young lady finally learned to accept it and swore that it would never act in such bad movies.

The best actress finished her psychological counseling work and looked at All Baimu, who was playing games with a pile of Pokémon not far away.

She said with resentment, "I'm comforting your Pokémon, what are you doing?"

"Helping your Pokémon improve their reaction speed."

All Baimu was righteous and confident, then looked at Hawlucha, "Right?"

"Lucha!"

Hawlucha responded without even looking up.

Where had the honest child ever come into contact with things like games before? After being taught by Gengar for two days, it finally understood the basic operations and was currently in high spirits.

Fortunately, it had good self-control; playing was playing, but there was no such thing as being overly addicted.

Otherwise, All Baimu's sin would be great.

Diantha's eyes were suspicious, "Really?"

"Gengar!"

Gengar stepped out, sticking out its big belly, and proudly patted its chest.

Although there was also the factor of a high innate base stat, its observational and reaction skills had indeed improved significantly through various MOBA and FPS games.

To what extent was its operation exquisite?

One-third of the fans on Poké-Sound were there because of how well it played games!

In the last two days, it was even preparing to record a no-damage clear video.

Diantha was helpless, "Alright then."

She really wanted to know how All Baimu raised his Pokémon, but after a few days of getting along, she always felt something was not quite right.

Can they really get stronger this way?

They can, sister, they can.

You just need a little magical simulator assistance.

All Baimu saw through Diantha's skepticism, but he had no way to tell her that he was a cheater.

No, what cheat?

This was the "talent" Arceus gave him!

If others running fast and jumping high counts as talent, why doesn't him having a simulator count as talent?

All Baimu had become so shameless that he began to think that everything he had today was entirely due to his hard work and sweat.

The film festival passed day by day.

The time for the position-swapping battle was getting closer and closer.

Regarding this Master-level position-swapping battle between regional Champions, the Kalos, Galar, and Orre Leagues were all marketing it crazily, leading to five of the top ten trending searches on major platforms being related to it.

The photos of the two walking by the seaside a few days ago were dug up again, along with the battle under the night sky.

Although due to the dim environment, the identities of the two sides in the battle couldn't be confirmed, the destructive power displayed in the battle alone made many people believe it was Diantha and All Baimu.

So, who won that battle?

Unknown.

The only thing known was that the attention this match received was unprecedented, even faintly exceeding the one between the King of Marketing, Leon, and Diantha.

'You have to win this.'

Shanren's voice on the phone was earnest.

He believed in All Baimu's strength; he was just afraid that his brother had won too many crushing victories and would underestimate his opponent.

Diantha is a Champion of the same rank as you! Wake up!

Have to say.

Shanren was truly measuring others by his own yardstick; had All Baimu ever underestimated any opponent in a public match?

Frequently simulating, he knew very well that sometimes a sudden burst of power comes inexplicably; it could be a memory, a sentence heard before, or even a move by a Pokémon.

Bluntly speaking, in every battle, he tried his best to crush the opponent's confidence, making the opponent nervous and flustered, with no spare time to fall into a "flashback."

Eliminate all possibilities of a sudden burst of power!

This battle against Diantha was no exception.

As for whether the other side would take the bait, that wasn't in All Baimu's consideration.

The last day of the film festival.

Night.

Diantha snuck out again with Mawile to eat and shop, specifically picking all kinds of cloyingly sweet desserts.

She said, "Every time before a match, I like to use sweets to motivate myself; this ensures I have a good mood the next day."

"Can you still have one when looking at the scale?"

"..."

Diantha rolled her eyes at All Baimu.

She wasn't someone who gained weight easily, otherwise, how would she dare to stuff sweets into her mouth so fiercely?

"Maw-ile~"

Mawile had been getting along well with Diantha recently and learned to roll its eyes like her.

All Baimu was amused, "The best actress isn't so easy to learn."

He suddenly picked Mawile up, and Mawile couldn't help but shyly push him and hit him twice.

The force was naturally very light.

Otherwise, with its iron fists, even if All Baimu were wearing lava armor, he would be beaten until his chest felt tight and he was short of breath.

Diantha smiled, "Don't say that, it has a lot of talent."

"Maw-ile~"

Mawile was a bit proud after being praised.

Seeing its quirky appearance, she couldn't help but look at Gardevoir; the more she got along with All Baimu, the more she discovered that the latter cared very much about his Pokémon's interests and hobbies.

It could even be said that he was intentionally cultivating them.

Mawile who loved to film videos, Shiny Milotic who loved to sing, Gengar who loved to play games... and so on.

On the contrary, he himself spent all day revolving around his Pokémon, as if he had nothing he wanted to do himself.

It was completely different from the rest of the world, including her.

Diantha asked herself if she could do the same things as All Baimu, but the answer was negative.

She certainly knew her Pokémon's hobbies, but she had never thought about digging deep and developing them.

This made Diantha feel ashamed of her inferiority.

And even more ashamed of herself for having felt lost.

Clearly, there were still many things she could do; why did she feel like she had reached the end?

Since she had reached the peak in the field she loved, it was time to develop in the fields her Pokémon loved.

Diantha made up her mind.

"Gardevoir?"

Gardevoir looked at its Trainer, who was lost in thought, with doubt and worry.

Diantha focused her attention and smiled, "After the match is over, shall we go learn fashion design?"

"Gardevoir?"

Gardevoir was pleasantly surprised.

Its dream had once been to make all kinds of gorgeous gowns and fashionable clothing for its Trainer, allowing her to become the brightest new star in the film and modeling worlds.

It was just a pity that Diantha's talent was too good; she didn't give Gardevoir a chance to develop before she became an overnight sensation and never looked back.

Coupled with the busy work of a Champion, Gardevoir was forced to forget its former promise.

This was also quite good, wasn't it?

The reason it wanted to make clothes for Diantha was just to help its Trainer.

Gardevoir would never forget that when it was still a Ralts, its Trainer, still young, held its hand in front of a clothing store, looking at the glamorous models on the posters with eyes full of longing.

'It's a promise, I will become a beautiful big sister like this, and Ralts, you have to make such beautiful clothes for me!'

'Ralts~'

Gardevoir's eyes filled with tears, and it couldn't help but hug Diantha.

Diantha's expression was soft as she stroked her partner's head, looking at All Baimu, who was shocked next to them, "Thank you, All Baimu. It's really great to know you and become your friend."

All Baimu: "... You're welcome."

Sisters, what are you hugging for? Why are you crying?

How did you get cried over by a sudden sentence?

He suddenly had a bad premonition, feeling that something had changed in Diantha and Gardevoir.

Forget it.

Soldiers come, block; water comes, cover.

He steadied his mindset; if the difficulty increases, let it increase.

All Baimu looked at Mawile, his eyes revealing a certain meaning.

"Maw-ile!"

Mawile nodded without hesitation, and when it looked at Diantha and Gardevoir again, a certain change appeared in its eyes.

It admired and liked Diantha very much, to the point of wanting to take her as a master.

But no matter what, it wouldn't do to stand in front of its Trainer.

It was All Baimu who gave it a warm home, so Mawile would absolutely protect All Baimu's dream!

—

The next day.

Inside a luxury sedan.

All Baimu and Diantha sat on opposite sides.

In the driver's seat was Mebuki; she looked at the two in the back who had almost no communication through the rearview mirror and sighed secretly.

Question: What to do when the CP I ship are both workaholics?

Answer: Let them be.

Before getting in the car, the two were still laughing and talking, but as soon as they got in, they immediately restrained their emotions and began to adjust their states.

Do they care that much about the match?

Well, they really do care.

Even Mebuki, an outsider, was very concerned about who would have the last laugh.

Although the previous battle seemed to have been won by All Baimu, Diantha hadn't exposed too much of her strength.

Mebuki cheered for Diantha silently in her heart.

To tell the truth, seeing her own best actress looking so serious, she suddenly felt that it didn't matter whether they fell in love or not, as long as she won the match...

Damn!

I've been contaminated!

Mebuki stepped on the gas pedal, wanting to cry.

As a young girl in her prime, she was busy with work on weekdays and had no time to socialize, so she relied on shipping CP to fill her boring daily life.

Work hard?

There wasn't much room for her to work hard in her position anymore.

Mebuki knew very well that Diantha's manager was already the best in the industry. If she wanted to work harder, it would be best to go out and start a management company and recruit artists herself.

Could she do it?

Mebuki hesitated, a seed quietly planted in her heart.

All Baimu, who was meditating with his eyes closed, had no idea that his meeting with them had indirectly changed their lives. ===== CHAPTER 1213 =====