Chapter 497: The Lilycove Grand Contest

Not long after.

After recording all the data and structure of the Super Bracelet, Lisha reluctantly took it off the testing platform.

Although the scanned data alone could already save them a lot of detours, if they could completely dismantle it...

She subtly stroked the bracelet.

"Ahem!"

Champion Dawu suddenly gave a low cough, startling her so badly she almost dropped it, and a hint of grievance inevitably showed on her face.

"Hurry up and put it back, don't let anyone find out."

The young master of Devon Corporation forcibly took the Super Bracelet off her hands, handed it back to Baimu beside him, and said: "Although this counts as evidence, keeping it would only alert the enemy."

He acted as if he hadn't seen Lisha's reluctant Zekrom-hand wave goodbye.

"You're right."

Baimu nodded. From start to finish, he had never intended to treat the Super Bracelet as decisive evidence—he just wanted Champion Dawu to take things more seriously.

After his recent careful investigation, he discovered that Fladerry's connections to Carlos's upper society ran far deeper than he had imagined. Various gaming and animation companies that were never mentioned but were actually Carlos's leading enterprises had all funded this guy's research institute.

Added to the fact that Fladdery was indeed a descendant of Carlos's former Wang Zu...

Honestly, the difficulty of nipping this guy in the bud wasn't much lower than proving Ash was actually a bad guy. One was real, the other fake, that was all.

"... Baimu."

Champion Dawu suddenly called out to him as he was preparing to leave, hesitated for a moment, then said: "Next time, if you find something you think is suspicious, talk to me first... alright?"

In his view, someone who charged ahead recklessly was like a bomb that could self-detonate at any moment. If something happened to him because of it, Champion Dawu would feel immense regret and self-blame.

Champion Dawu even vaguely felt that Baimu's coming to the Hoenn region was influenced by topics that came up during their casual chat in Orre. He had promised to give him a gift, so Baimu decided to come to Hoenn for an adventure.

He had a duty to take responsibility for this.

"Alright."

Baimu returned with a smile, and without stopping, immediately went to Alain's hospital room again, silently swapping the Super Bracelet back.

Before leaving, he glanced at the sleeping Alain.

If this kid weren't so green, he would actually have wanted to win him over too. The saying goes, the deeper the love, the harsher the blame—the more he had once admired Fladdery, the greater the psychological blow when the truth was revealed.

He would absolutely be a fine target to recruit.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy to turn him. Once he fell into hesitation, it would be easy to expose things, making matters complicated—it could escalate the plot from the original 6+ all the way to 18+.

Trust in your companions.

The next day.

After completing all the preparations currently possible.

Baimu bid farewell to Champion Dawu, Alain who had just woken up not long ago, and the others.

The time left to him was not generous.

He had to set off for Lilycove City to challenge the Mi Ke Li Cup and the Lilycove Gym. These two battles would determine whether he could get a ticket to the region's top tournament.

But the Mi Ke Li Cup...

There should be a chance to run into May, right? In any case, Dawn, Miss Liuqi, and Ula'ula would definitely be seen—those few were active in Hoenn.

What about Iris? Would she come join the fun?

Baimu felt a slight anticipation in his heart, then suddenly realized—did he know too many underage girls? No, no, he had to quickly get in touch with Tetsuya.

But thinking about it, since Tetsuya's little sister was his fan, she definitely wouldn't miss a major event like the Mi Ke Li Cup.

"A grand reunion of acquaintances—top tournaments are just the best."

He boarded the ferry heading to Lilycove City, gazing out at the calm sea.

Recently he had troubled Hu Pa too many times. Even though the other party had no aversion at all, and every time came full of energy asking him for donuts, he himself felt a bit embarrassed.

Therefore, he decided that, like the Heart of the Gods, unless the situation was urgent, he would never abuse Hu Pa's rings.

And after just one short night passed.

The waters off Cianwood City had completely returned to calm, as if the great battle between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre had never happened. But the newly appeared jet-black rock island and scattered Bingshan proved that everything that happened yesterday was not an illusion.

More and more people, upon hearing the news, rushed to the incident site at Cianwood City. They figured that even if they couldn't see the two ancient Pokémon in person, it would still be nice to pay homage to the battlefield they left behind.

On the other hand.

The organizers of the Mi Ke Li Cup were also doing publicity, which led many, many Coordinators to embark on the journey to Lilycove City.

This made the ferry Baimu was on slightly more crowded.

This was rarely seen in the past.

Baimu still vividly remembered that when he first headed to Martial Town, the cabin was so desolate that the few passengers on board thought there was a ghost, and caused a huge misunderstanding.

With more people, some things became inevitable.

For instance, his identity being recognized.

Fortunately, most of the people on board were Coordinators. Even though they admired him as a strong trainer, they wouldn't cause the kind of special trouble ordinary fans would— at most, they would keep issuing invitations for gorgeous battles.

Baimu was naturally happy to see this, and had no intention of being secretive about the Pokémon he would enter in the Mi Ke Li Cup.

He was confident, and he needed his shiny Milotic to build the strong self-assurance of "I am the best" through continuous victories. A timid shiny Milotic couldn't display a beauty that captivated the heart.

Battle was the best and fastest way.

——

Deck.

Under a clear blue sky.

Watched by many Coordinators and Pokémon, the shiny Milotic lashed its shimmering tail, battling a mouse-puppet-like bright yellow Pokémon.

The latter's pink round cheeks shot out streaks of electricity, rapidly jumping back and forth hoping to touch the former.

However, although the shiny Milotic was large in body, its agility was enough to let it dodge Pichu's continuous lunges.

"Go for it, Pikachu!"

Pikachu's trainer, a little girl in a floral dress, kept cheering it on. She figured that as long as a cheek-rubbing attack could land on the shiny Milotic, it would be enough to set up an effective foundation for follow-up strikes.

Her Coordinator trainer master had taught her the same thing.

But clearly this kid hadn't paid attention in class — especially the reminder not to waste too much stamina on moves that won't hit.

"Pik... pik..."

Sure enough, Pikachu was soon unable to keep running, panting heavily and looking as if it might run itself into a faint.

All Baimu smiled slightly. "Water Ring."

"Milo~"

The shiny Milotic stopped its dodging and weaving. Three aquamarine rings of water materialized on its body, spun and overlapped rapidly, merged into one thick water ring, then suddenly expanded and shot toward Pikachu.

The little girl shrieked, "Pikachu, dodge it!"

Unfortunately, her wish went unfulfilled.

Pikachu was sent flying by the expanding water ring, tumbling like a tossed doll all the way to its trainer's feet, then rolled its eyes and passed out.

The water ring, meanwhile, burst apart at the moment of expansion into glittering, crystal-clear droplets that filled the air, refracting dazzling light in the sun and faintly forming a brilliant rainbow — drawing gasps from the onlookers.

He hoped the Mi Ke Li Cup day would have weather this nice too.

"Milo~"

"Nicely done."

All Baimu gently stroked the shiny Milotic's neck. The two of them had been practicing the mist-method rainbow for a long time now.

After all, this trick — like Milotic itself — was a hidden wealth-code in Pokémon Contests. As long as there was a rainbow, a natural miracle, the score was guaranteed not to be low.

One had to remember that in the anime, Jessie had nearly scored a perfect mark with her machine-made rainbow, only to have it exposed and her final score revoked.

"Mr. Baimu, thank you for Nindezhi Sect..."

The little girl across from him, holding the Pikachu that had just recovered from its faint, said in a very dejected voice.

All Baimu said with a smile, "It's hardly instruction. Your Pikachu has real grit — raise it well and it'll definitely grow much stronger!"

"Really?" The little girl suddenly looked up, her eyes full of little stars.

"Of course!"

All Baimu extended his hand to her. "Let's battle again next time."

"Okay!" The little girl excitedly shook his hand, her gaze toward him brimming with admiration.

Most of the surrounding onlookers also looked approving. Coordinators, by and large, weren't fond of battles that went to the "you die, I live" extreme — they craved friendly exchange.

Competitive types did exist — like Harley and Ursula from the original storyline — but they were absolute rarities. Besides, Ursula had long since seen the light, and Harley in the original storyline had long stopped envying May.

So among Coordinators, the more common type was still the polite sort like Dawn and Conway. May and Ash's personalities were also enough to represent the Coordinator community.

All Baimu's fame was great, but his actual personality wasn't widely known. Now that they saw how friendly he could be with a novice Coordinator, the onlookers gained a few more measures of respect for his character and no longer thought he might be a man whose reputation outstripped his virtue.

By contrast, the proportion of unlikeable Trainers was much higher — the gap between the best and the worst was absurdly wide.

Why say that?

Because someone had come to serve as a living example.

"Hilarious, and you call that a battle? Water Ring's power is so low it's practically nothing, and you still lost? Coordinators? Playing house! Bwahahahaha!"

A few thugs — men and women dressed as bōsōzoku — pushed through the onlookers and walked up to All Baimu and the little girl.

Leather jackets, studded boots, plus mohawks and the occasional tattoo — after Team Magma and Team Aqua had washed their hands of crime, these bottom-feeders had grown rampant again.

Of course, most of them didn't do anything truly evil — at most they'd intimidate people and use Pokémon battles to bully others.

They were still a long way off in level from the thugs of Iron Town.

All Baimu stepped forward, pulled the somewhat frightened little girl behind him, then looked down at the thugs from his height. His nearly 1.9-meter frame was more than enough to look down on these barely-1.7-meter specimens.

"Something you need?"

His body was like a vast shadow, looming over these ill-intentioned arrivals.

The thugs were all a bit intimidated by his height and cold, indifferent expression, but the mohawked leader, considering his underlings were all watching behind him, couldn't bring himself to back down. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You dare have a Pokémon battle?"

"... Why didn't you say so earlier."

All Baimu stepped back, smiled, and patted the mohawked leader on the shoulder. "If you want to battle someone, just say so — why say things that mislead people?"

"Tch!"

The mohawk tried to swat his hand away, but All Baimu dodged it easily, making the leader even more embarrassed. "Beat me first, then talk!"

The other thugs, ignoring the eyes of bystanders, immediately started shouting.

"Ohhh! Boss, flatten him!"

"Let this punk see the might of our Arakawa Bōsōzoku!"

"That guy's kinda handsome..."

"Y-Yumiko? You can't be fooled by that face! Pokémon strength is the only truth!"

Setting aside the little squabbles within the thugs.

"It's fine."

All Baimu reassured the little girl, told her to go watch from the side, then he and the mohawked leader each took a position, gazing at each other from afar.

"I'll use Milotic. You, suit yourself."

He patted the shiny Milotic's head. It let out a pleased low cry and glided forward. "Milo~"

The mohawked leader glanced at the impossibly beautiful shiny Milotic, suppressed the longing in his eyes, pulled out a Poké Ball, and said, "Just battling is boring, right? How about we add some stakes?"

"Win first, then talk about stakes."

All Baimu smiled.

The bōsōzoku crowd didn't have a small chance of picking fights with random people, but most of them had their reasons — using Pokémon battles to force others to trade Pokémon was one of them.

Usually, a child with a milder temperament might have fallen into their hands, but as long as one gathers the courage to call Officer Jenny, what can the thugs do? They can only be chased by police cars and Growlithe like Diglett running away.

"That's what you said!"

The Mohawk's eyes lit up, and he swiftly hurled a Poké Ball forward.

Bang!

A flash of light.

A humanoid Pokémon covered in alternating yellow and black fur appeared, and the crackling of electric current between its clenched fists was quite loud.

The Electric-type Pokémon, Electabuzz.

"Bwoo!"

It looked at the shiny Milotic with an arrogant expression.

All Baimu's face was calm. In his aesthetic, Electabuzz was a bit ugly, but its pre-evolution Elekid was actually pretty nice—cute as a plug.

Its evolution, Electivire, was also good. With Paul's filter boost, Electivire had already become a synonym for power.

"Hehehehe, see that? THIS is what an Electric-type Pokémon is! Little brat, let me show you what real lightning is!"

The Mohawk roared: "Thunder!"

"Bwoo!"

Electabuzz bellowed, raising both fists high as lightning gathered between the antenna-like horns on its head, and under the trembling gazes of the onlookers, blasted a thunderbolt as thick as a water bucket toward the unshaken shiny Milotic!

Crack!

The terrifying thunderclap made many people cover their ears. They looked at the shiny Milotic, hoping it would show the same agility it had used to dodge Pikachu, but unfortunately it stood in place like a statue, completely motionless.

The lightning struck its body, and the intense paralysis caused it to let out a slightly pained cry. Seeing this, the Mohawk burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

The rest of the thugs laughed along, cheering their boss on even more wildly.

The little girl in the watching crowd couldn't help covering her mouth, and the Pikachu in her arms also looked at Milotic with worry.

But.

All Baimu's expression didn't change in the slightest, as if the one hit wasn't his own Pokémon.

"Mirror Coat."

He said softly.

The words fell.

The shiny Milotic, which had just been in pain, instantly regained its composure. A brilliant fluorescent glow appeared on its body surface at some unknown point, absorbing all the lightning like jade.

Then, it reflected the attack back toward the carefree Electabuzz in the distance!

Boom!

The wild thunder, twice the scale of the previous one, startled everyone present, including the laughing thugs.

In the explosive roar, smoke engulfed Electabuzz.

But it soon broke through the dust, stumbling forward like a drunk old man, clearly having lost the ability to fight from this blow.

"Bwoo…"

The thugs' expressions all froze on their faces.

"Milo~"

The shiny Milotic looked at this scene smugly, squinting its eyes and flicking its tail, looking just like a smug fox.

See? All the hard work put into practicing Mirror Coat wasn't wasted!

A few seconds later.

The watching crowd burst into cheers and applause!