Chapter 249: Fish Leaps Over the Longmen

Inside the rest room.

The returning Baimu reaped a great many gazes of awe and admiration.

Many people had not yet taken the stage, but after watching his and Bibarel's performance their heads were already stuffed full of the word "impressed," and they were infinitely worried about their own upcoming performances, under enormous pressure.

A debut battle made this exaggerated—are they even opponents?

Of course, not every contestant was that pessimistic. For more experienced veteran Coordinators, a high score of 29.5 was certainly terrifying but had not yet reached the unattainable level.

Moreover, passing the first appraisal did not mean victory—the one that played the decisive role was the second appraisal!

But regardless of what others thought, Baimu and Bibarel became the focus of this Contest. Not only at the venue, but even outside a fairly intense chain reaction had occurred.

His name gradually began to spread across Pokémon Blog and tags or circles related to Contests, especially the scene where Thunder Fire Storm transformed into flame butterflies fluttering about—someone filmed it with a phone and posted it online, and in just half an hour it garnered tens of thousands of likes.

Several top Coordinators had liked it too.

Of course. Those were all things happening outside the venue.

Everyone inside was watching the screen, watching the opponents they might face next.

Baimu was no exception. He was not so arrogant as to think he would definitely win the second appraisal. In a one-on-one Pokémon singles match, unless the level gap was too great, there was no such thing as a guaranteed win.

"Congratulations, that was a wonderful performance."

Ursula smiled and offered a word of praise, which caught him somewhat by surprise.

It seemed that after escaping the screenwriter's clutches, her personality really had grown—good.

"Thanks… Hasn't it been your turn yet?"

Baimu nodded in acknowledgment.

Although the other girl was not old, she had already taken part in at least one Grand Festival, so she was far more experienced than him. Presumably this first appraisal would not pose much difficulty for her either.

"Stargazer."

Ursula replied, "It's almost my turn, about three more."

"…Then I wish you victory in your first battle."

Baimu had originally wanted to say something more, but sensing a slight vibration from the phone in his pocket he immediately changed the subject, walked to a corner and took it out to look.

It was a message from Miss Liuqi.

She had taken a photo at home, showing herself, her Altaria, and the TV, with a caption saying she was watching the live broadcast of the Kanazumi City Contest.

It was called a live broadcast, but in reality the picture was delayed by about ten minutes, which was why she had only just seen Baimu and Bibarel's performance.

She then sent a string of five or six Altaria crying stickers in a row.

Miss Liuqi: I'm just so happy, so moved (? ^?)

Miss Liuqi: Bibarel's performance was really great, I love this dance!

Miss Liuqi: Practicing this must have been really tough, right? A Bibarel with weak Fire can pull off this level! Xiao Xiao Qingqing and I are your die-hard fans from now on!

This girl… she's even more lively online than in person.

Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth, replied with a thank-you, thought for a moment, released Bibarel to squat down for a selfie, and sent it to her.

"Bido?"

Bibarel was somewhat baffled, and grew even more puzzled upon seeing Miss Liuqi's avatar on the screen.

"I'm chatting with her," he explained briefly.

Hearing that it was a chat with Miss Liuqi, Bibarel got especially excited and immediately wanted to join in, but upon seeing it was all text, she suddenly became a little doubtful.

"Bido?"

"Really, why would I lie to you? That's why I told you to learn to read and you kept making excuses—now that you can't understand it, who can you blame?" Baimu said helplessly.

Bibarel puffed up her cheeks in anger, smacked the Poké Ball in her Trainer's hand, and went back to rest.

Don't want to listen to nagging!

Baimu shook his head, reflecting that the most terrifying thing in the world of reflection was indeed the stubborn illiterate.

On the other side.

Upon receiving the reply and the selfie, Miss Liuqi immediately got fired up, fired off another dozen-plus text messages, followed by a string of Altaria throwing its head back and crying stickers captioned with cheers of encouragement.

It looked like she had finished acting in the whole show and regained her "freedom"—if they met again in the future, they might well be opponents.

Hmm.

Mega Evolution really needs to be obtained as soon as possible.

Baimu did not want his Pokémon to fall short of others in any respect. While replying, he shifted his gaze toward where Ursula had been—she was already gone.

Has she gone on stage?

He silently put away his phone.

Since Ursula's personality had grown, had her strength in Contests also improved?

On the big screen.

The previous contestant had just finished her performance, and Ursula in a black pleated skirt walked onto the stage, tossing her Poké Ball with composure and confidence.

Then.

Countless pale-blue bubbles clustered around as an adorable Yin Bu appeared.

"Water Ring! Icy Wind!" Ursula issued the command.

"Woo~"

Yin Bu raised her head and let out a low cry. Countless water vapors in the air gathered around her, transforming into several crystalline pale-blue water rings that spun around her, layer upon layer.

Immediately after, the water rings suddenly expanded and left Yin Bu's body. The moment they stood upright, a cold breath blew from Yin Bu's mouth, freezing them into a huge ice ring connected to the ground.

Repeating the same method, in just a few seconds four ice rings of ever-increasing height were formed one after another!

"Melt! Surf!"

Ursula commanded again.

Water Yin Bu immediately transformed into a pool of liquid, and then a massive surge of glowing blue water suddenly surged forth, forming a raging water dragon that roared as it charged toward the ice rings.

Between the head of the water dragon, one could faintly glimpse Water Yin Bu's flickering figure—there was no doubt it was the one commanding these waves, and like a carp leaping the dragon gate, it passed through the first ice ring.

Boom!

The ice ring shattered, turning into countless dazzling specks of starlight.

Then the second, the third, and all the way to the final fourth ring—by now Water Yin Bu, riding the water dragon formed from the surging waves, had reached a height of five or six meters in the air!

Whoosh!

Water Yin Bu broke free from the waves, revealing its figure in the air, while the waves, as if drawn by some unseen force, held its body aloft like a throne of flowing water.

Then.

The water flow dissipated, and Water Yin Bu landed lightly, bowing alongside its trainer.

The audience applauded vigorously, offering thunderous applause for this magnificent performance.

Patistan had already regained his composure, smiling faintly: "Leaping the dragon gate, rising higher with each step—Water Yin Bu fully utilized its special trait of merging with water currents, showcasing this theme to perfection. Not bad, not bad!"

Yanase was still deeply moved. "Subarashi!"

Ms. Qiao Yin said: "To use Water Pulse and Icy Wind so perfectly, it must have taken tireless practice. The water dragon formed by Melt and Surf also left me in awe—remarkable!"

The host ran out to steal the spotlight: "Now let's invite the judges to give their scores!"

Beep beep beep.

9.5, 9.3, 9.5.

The total score was 28.3, a high score second only to All Baimu's. Clearly the judges found Water Yin Bu's performance stunningly creative.

In the rest room.

All Baimu was also very interested in this Carp Leaps the Longmen move. Although it used quite a few moves, the transitions were seamless with no pauses, and as long as it didn't look stagnant, that was enough.

"Impressive."

He clapped his hands, thinking Ulala really did have some real skill.