Chapter 310: Absolute Superiority!

"Impressive."

Baimu had to admit that Xiaoguang and Piplup had their own unique strengths.

Even without a scriptwriter's deliberate favoritism, they could occasionally have a flash of brilliance, pulling off miraculous feats of turning defeat into victory like Ash did.

And Hydro Pump, a move from the seventh generation, had actually been learned by Piplup—presumably from some Alola trainer out on a journey.

Too bad.

Turning defeat into victory still requires capital.

"Mist Terrain."

At his command, the giant jaws behind Mawile's head spewed out a massive amount of thick, pale-blue mist, quickly covering the entire field and concealing its figure.

"Piplup!?"

Piplup, just having landed, turned its head—only to find Mawile's figure gone from its sight in an instant.

Xiaoguang's gaze had likewise lost sight of the latter. Watching the dense mist drifting skyward, her heart tightened involuntarily. She clenched her silver teeth and shouted: "Use Drill Peck to disperse the smoke!"

"Piplup!"

Piplup leaped up, its body spinning involuntarily. Its short beak was wrapped in golden light and elongated, transforming it into a rolling hurricane surging forward!

Wherever it passed, the ethereal mist scattered in rolling waves, carving out a clear path.

Yet Mawile seemed to have vanished into thin air, forcing Piplup to change direction and charge forward again to scour the mist.

Still no sign of it.

Piplup landed on the ground panting, showing a slightly weary appearance.

Two uses of moves without finding Mawile—the mysterious Mist Terrain caused Xiaoguang's score to be deducted.

But more than the score deduction, what left her bewildered was the opponent's whereabouts.

Could a perfectly fine Pokémon really vanish without a trace?

No, that's not right.

"Listen for the sound! Listen for the bell!"

She shouted loudly, alerting Piplup.

The two focused their attention on their hearing, and immediately heard a crisp ringing of a bell.

The source of the sound—

The sky!

Xiaoguang and Piplup looked up in shock, and host Vivian also raised her head, suddenly seeing that Mawile had somehow stepped on lightning and risen high into the sky.

It was performing a mysterious war dance, its aura growing stronger with each movement.

Vivian announced loudly: "Unbelievable! Mawile actually silently rose into the sky while the mist was rising!"

Baimu smiled.

"Swords Dance—Ice Punch!"

Kaka!

Accompanied by the light crackle of frost freezing, two slender ice blades gradually formed in Mawile's hands, reflecting a chilling cold light under the stadium lights!

"Go!"

Baimu shouted, and Mawile immediately used electromagnetic force to twist its body, instantly transforming into a terrifying spiral of icy wind, plunging down from above like a tornado!

"Whirlpool!"

"Piplup!"

At Xiaoguang's cry, a water vortex twice as large as the previous one was held aloft by Piplup, suddenly surging skyward!

Peng!

Whirlpool and the icy tornado collided violently, immediately falling into a stalemate.

But the former was clearly no match for the latter, being gradually sliced into fragments by the high-speed spinning ice blades, then carried by the cold wind into chilly snowflakes, adding even more power to the ice-blade storm.

At this moment.

Xiaoguang and Piplup understood that ordinary means could no longer affect Mawile's attack, and this battle had reached its final moment!

"Show them we absolutely will not lose! Riding the remaining Whirlpool—Hydro Pump!"

"Piplup!"

Piplup leaped up fiercely, azure water seemingly guided by some force swirling around its body. As it spun, it formed a water spiral that charged into the pale-blue vortex, rushing toward the ice-blade storm in the sky!

Boom—!

The two high-speed rotating energies collided with tremendous violence, like a comet striking the earth. Ice-blue and azure energy, along with massive dust clouds, exploded violently amid intense flashes of light!

The shockwave was like a materialized wall of air, bringing an extremely violent gale to the competitors and judges in the arena.

The blinding light made everyone present instinctively close their eyes, yet they tried to open them to see the situation at the center of the explosion, not daring to miss a single detail.

And in the slowly fading white light, two figures fell to the ground, one on the left and one on the right.

On the smoke-shrouded giant screen, the score was being deducted, and the countdown was gradually returning to zero.

A short while later.

The intense light and dust completely vanished, the arena's environment quickly "dimmed," and those present could finally see everything in the field clearly.

Deng!

A whistle-like light sound.

"Time's up!"

Vivian, her clothes somewhat disheveled, shouted.

Baimu and Xiaoguang both looked toward the giant screen beside them, suddenly seeing that the former's score column had only one-sixteenth remaining—or possibly even less.

And beneath the latter's score column, it had completely returned to zero.

No doubt about it.

This was because Baimu's Pachirisu had lost its ability to battle.

The two looked back at the field. Pachirisu was panting heavily, looking utterly exhausted, while Piplup lay flat on its back, its eyes turned into two black spirals.

Vivian announced the match results in a loud voice.

"The winner of the finals is — Mr. Baimu and Pachirisu! Let us congratulate him on his ultimate victory at the Kaina Conference!"

In an instant.

Thunderous applause and earth-shaking cheers erupted together. The audience's spirits soared, and many leapt to their feet, screaming and shouting with excitement.

Countless streamers rained down from above the venue, and congratulatory music played over the broadcast.

"We won!"

Baimu's face was lit up with a smile he couldn't hide. Pachirisu, equally thrilled, spun around and threw itself at him, burying its head in his chest.

"Pikachu!"

All a lady's reserve was cast aside in that moment — its heart held nothing but the joy of victory.

Only those who had truly taken the field knew just how hard-won this match was, and just how powerful Xiaoguang and Piplup had been at the gorgeous competition.

Holding Pachirisu in his arms, Baimu needed a good ten-plus seconds before his emotions settled back down.

And the latter, realizing it had lost its composure, hurriedly pulled itself out of its trainer's embrace and began smoothing its messy hair as if nothing had happened.

The two walked over to Xiaoguang, who was comforting Piplup on the opposite side.

"What a brilliant performance. Your reactions, like sudden flashes of inspiration, left me in awe."

"You're too kind — the same goes for you. The fusion of Sword Dance and Ice Punch was exquisite; I never imagined Ice Punch could be wielded like a storm. Congratulations! You truly deserve that Ribbon Medal!"

"Thank you!"

The two laughed at each other, then suddenly raised their hands and gave each other a high-five.

Slap!

On the other side.

Pachirisu also smiled at Piplup and extended its little paw. "Pikachu~"

It had to admit the latter really was formidable — especially how it had summoned a blizzard to freeze it. For a worthy opponent, it was more than willing to offer praise and friendship.

After all, as trainers say, yesterday's opponent is today's friend — a timeless truth in the trainer world.

But after it extended its paw, it received no response from Piplup for a long while.

Pachirisu stared at Piplup's stunned expression, hesitantly wiggled its paw. "Pikachu?"

Are you okay?

Did this kid get knocked silly by it and still hasn't come back to its senses?

What it didn't know was that Piplup, who had already decided to give up on Pachirisu, had fallen into a spiral of self-doubt the moment it saw that smile just now.

The goddess smiled at me? Did she really? And she reached out her hand?

What wonderful day is it today?

No — I already decided to give up on this crush! How can you come tempt me! Hold firm, Piplup! You mustn't be taken captive by it again!

In Piplup's heart, a shrunken version of itself seemed to be shouting, desperately trying to bring it back to its senses.

But when Pachirisu looked worried and asked if it was all right.

That shrunken Piplup was killed off — decisively and ruthlessly!

Little penguin.

Fallen in love a second time!

"Piplup~~~" It flapped its wings, its two eyes turning into enormous hearts.

Seeing Piplup in such a state, Pachirisu shook its head ruefully.

Sick again… sigh.