Chapter 579: Fight for Love

The afternoon sun hung high.

Although winter had long since set in, the Hoenn region's climate kept the temperature in a neither-cool-nor-hot range.

"A fine environment, and a fine opponent."

All Baimu lowered his gaze; across from him stood Xiao Guang, brimming with spirit.

Clearly the latter had not grown the slightest bit daunted by his performance in the previous two rounds — and true to her never-problem Young Lady personality, she rarely got the pre-match jitters.

All her withdrawn feelings came after the match.

And was Xiao Guang's chance of winning zero?

All Baimu, who had done considerable research on the weak-defeating-the-strong, knew full well the answer was no. Whether it was those flashes of inspiration that often let her turn defeat into victory, or the experience she had accumulated over years of competing in the Hoenn Grand Festival, both were things worthy of his caution.

"Hiss…"

All Baimu drew a deep breath.

Vivian's gaze swept across the two of them; her right hand rose high and slashed down sharply!

"Hoenn Showcase, third round, first match — begin!"

Ding!

At the short prompt, both sides tossed their Poké Balls high.

Pop-pop!

Countless bubbles of varying sizes drifted and trembled, and a vigorous Piplup and Togekiss leapt out from among them.

On the other side, pale-blue and pink twin-colored petals swirled in flight, gradually outlining a differently-shaded Milotic and a Mawile.

The two groups of Pokémon faced each other.

Togekiss and the differently-shaded Milotic amiably raised a wing or swayed a tail fin in greeting.

Piplup gazed at the earnest Mawile, its dewy little eyes full of both tenderness and resolve.

As a real man.

It would win this Showcase for its Trainer, and would also do its utmost to comfort the Mawile should it lose — after all, only that would make a true man!

Fight for love!

"No deductions…"

All Baimu glanced at the big screen.

The differently-shaded Milotic possessed a charm that could dock points from her opponent simply by appearing, and the fact that no points had been deducted now could only mean the judges no longer felt its appearance could perfectly outshine Togekiss and Piplup.

Although he too agreed these two Pokémon were super cute, failing to take the early lead was, inevitably, a touch of a pity.

"Here we go!"

Xiao Guang, brimming with energy, raised her index finger high and called out clearly: "Piplup! Hop onto Togekiss! Togekiss, take to the air and use Aura Sphere!"

"Jis—"

Togekiss shot rapidly toward the high sky, a deep-blue energy sphere gathering at its mouth from small to large in the blink of an eye.

When it had risen to a certain height, Xiao Guang gave the order again.

"Piplup! Bubble Beam!"

"Pika!"

Blue light flared brightly within Piplup's small beak.

Countless bubbles surged forth, crashing toward the Aura Sphere before Togekiss like a wave!

Pop-pop-pop-pop—

The sound of a great mass of bubbles bursting rang out.

Yet the two moves did not collide and detonate the way they would in a standard battle — instead, to the amazement of countless onlookers, the Bubble Beam swiftly "broke down" the Aura Sphere.

In an instant.

The originally massive blue energy sphere became a host of smaller energy spheres each sheathed in a pale-blue bubble, all of them hurtling together toward the unmoving differently-shaded Milotic and the Mega-Evolving Mawile!

Vivian cried excitedly: "Right from the opening, a stunning Showcase move! A brilliant combination of Aura Sphere and Bubble Beam!"

"Impressive."

All Baimu gripped his Keystone; the mental burden brought by Mega Evolution did nothing to dampen his admiration for Xiao Guang.

He recalled that she had used this move combination once before at the Sinnoh Grand Festival, but the form of expression had been far cruder back then — merely wrapping a ring of Bubble Beam around the outside of the Aura Sphere.

So her opponent at the time, May, had not been docked any points.

But this 【Bubble Aura Sphere】 now was clearly a true fusion of creativity and talent, which meant that before he had done a thing, nearly an eighth of his score had already been deducted.

The special nature of a Showcase was on full display.

Still, for All Baimu, who excelled at defense and counterattack, this small loss of points was merely the necessary price to be paid before victory!

"Fairy Wind! Twister!"

Facing the Bubble Aura Sphere falling like a rainstorm, the Mega Mawile's expression unchanged as it began to spin on one foot in place.

In no time at all.

A pink whirlwind howled into shape.

Although Fairy Wind, as a special move, received no boost from the Huge Power ability, the tremendous energy brought by Mega Evolution still made it appear utterly terrifying.

"Cheep!"

The Mega Mawile gave a light cry and, like a true whirlwind, rose up from the ground!

In the instant it leapt, the differently-shaded Milotic spun its propeller-like tail fin at high speed, whipping up an even larger-scale deep-blue gale that drove the pink whirlwind toward the descending Bubble Aura Sphere!

Whoosh!

The wind howled!

The host of bubbles, originally falling, were instead blown higher into the air.

Peng peng peng peng peng—

Like a festive fireworks show.

The air above the stage was filled with dazzling, multicolored sparks; wild winds of azure and pink spread the fireworks across the entire venue, and the grand spectacle was exhilarating.

Mega Lickilicky spun high in the sky, flying even higher than Togekiss.

Bathed in the fireworks, it glanced down with a charming smile.

"Chirido~"

It instantly captured the hearts of a great many spectators.

"The combination of Long Juanfeng and Fairy Wind perfectly countered the combo of Bubble Beam and Wave Bomb! Look at that! Lickilicky is just too cute!"

As Vivian's commentary rang out, Ash's score was also docked by one-fifth.

Higher than expected.

All Baimu didn't dare let his attention wander to the big screen. Logically speaking, fireworks — such a worn-out move — no matter how flashy, would be hard to score highly.

After all, everyone had seen far too many and grown numb to them.

Was it because of Lickilicky?

The scoring elements of a gorgeous battle mainly come down to two points — whether the moves the Pokémon unleashed were gorgeous, and whether the actions taken while unleashing them were gorgeous.

Lickilicky had racked up too much goodwill with the judges, so move combinations led by it tended to be well received.

Most likely that was it.

At the same time.

Ash quickly snapped out of watching Mega Lickilicky's performance. Seeing that it hadn't yet used Magnet Rise and was in a falling state, she knew this was an excellent shooting opportunity!

"Air Cutter! Hydro Pump!"

"Jis!"

High in the air, Togekiss swayed its body as if dancing. A ball of sky-blue airflow gathered at the tips of its wings, and with a rapid flap it suddenly shot forward.

"Poké!"

Piplup followed by raising its head, and a rushing torrent of aquamarine water surged wildly from its beak, like a heavy hammer slamming into the tail end of the Air Cutter.

Peng!

A dull thud.

The sky-blue Air Cutter actually shattered into a cross-shaped current of air, carrying the high-pressure water orb within as it plunged toward the falling Mega Lickilicky!

The sudden attack made Vivian cry out in surprise.

"What a fast move combination—"

Before the words faded.

A long, serpentine figure blocked itself in front of Mega Lickilicky — it was clearly a Shiny Milotic, its body shimmering with iridescent light waves!

"Milo~"

Bang!

The air-current water orb slammed heavily into the Shiny Milotic, yet miraculously didn't burst — instead, it was absorbed by that iridescent light.

In an instant.

An even larger air-current water orb was produced by the colored light, spinning as it shot toward Togekiss and Piplup!

"Jis!?"

"Poké!?"

The two Pokémon and Ash all stared at the scene in disbelief.

Fortunately, Togekiss's reflexes were quite sharp, and it dodged this rather lethal counterattack with a classic 【Cobra Maneuver】.

Vivian excitedly shouted: "Shiny Milotic's moving elasticity and timely Mirror Coat blocked the attack for its companion!"

Both sides had points deducted.

Unfortunately, although the Mirror Coat was timed well, the blocking motion wasn't gorgeous enough, and the counter hadn't landed, so Ash's score only dropped to around two-thirds.

"Chirido~"

"Milo~"

Mega Lickilicky and Shiny Milotic landed together, calmly gazing up at their two opponents in the sky.

A month ago it might have already been unable to hold back and charged over — a counterattacking defensive tactic really wasn't to its taste.

But since receiving guidance from Adam, Mi Ke Li, and the Gym's Pokémon, it had gradually discovered the charm of defense and counter—

A lady's poise.

So even though Togekiss's position up in the sky was good enough that it could fly right up and land a couple of punches, Mega Lickilicky still held back, determined to finish this battle with gorgeous moves.

On the other side.

Ash looked at All Baimu with lingering fear; she had never expected Shiny Milotic's elasticity to be so strong, as if it could fly.

If that had hit, her score would have been in serious danger.

Ash knew All Baimu was a trainer skilled at counterattacking, and under normal circumstances wouldn't take the initiative to attack.

But right now her score was lower; to win she had to act and dock the opponent's points, otherwise if it dragged on, she would surely lose.

"I have to control my own rhythm!"

Bring it on!

She didn't believe Piplup's moves would be countered every single time — if slow didn't work, then use fast!

She was no longer that green little girl from before!

Absolutely no problem!

She shouted loudly: "Ice Beam! Extremespeed!"

"Jee-ssi!"

"Bo-ka~"

The Altaria and Pachirisu in the air responded instantly. The former was wrapped in bright white energy, its speed in an instant accelerating beyond what the naked eye could follow.

"Ka-ji!"

In a crisp sound, the Altaria that had transformed into Bai Guang shifted once more, this time to an icy blue.

A move I've never seen before? A flash of inspiration?

Baimu didn't dare be careless and quickly gave orders.

"Fire Fang! Whirlpool!"

In truth, Mega Mawile didn't need verbal commands to already be in motion. What truly needed to hear orders was the shiny Milotic.

"Chee-do~"

Flames overflowed from the giant jaws on the back of Mega Mawile's head. It tapped the ground with one foot, leaping in front of the shiny Milotic, spinning to form a vortex of flame.

The shiny Milotic was slightly slower, but it had already done its utmost to summon a Whirlpool.

Just as it was about to send it out to merge with the flame vortex—

In an instant—

A freezing great bird radiating cold air appeared, slamming hard into the flame vortex Mega Mawile had formed!

"Now! Go!"

Xiao Guang shouted at the top of her lungs. Under the Extreme Speed boost, the Altaria successfully plunged into the boundary point between water and fire before they could merge—like a foreign substance added to two reagents about to undergo a chemical reaction.

"Jee—!"

"Bo-ka—!"

The two Pokémon shrieked with all their might, trying to break through Mega Mawile's flame barrier.

The chance would vanish in an instant—they had to seize it firmly!

At this moment—

The Whirlpool sweeping down from above touched the Altaria's crystalline body and instantly froze into a massive vortex of ice!

The next moment—

The ice vortex shattered with a Peng of its own.

Immediately after, the Altaria and Pachirisu were sent flying backward as well!

"Jee-ssi!"

"Bo-ka!"

The two Pokémon let out groans of pain.

Vivian shouted: "Trainer Baimu's move combination failed! But the Altaria and Pachirisu were sent flying! The power of the combination didn't seem to be a match for Mawile! What's going on?"

Just as she said.

The water-fire fusion technique Baimu had intended to use for defense hadn't been deployed in time.

Extreme Speed really was too fast—faster than when he watched match recordings from a third-person perspective.

It wasn't until he saw Xiao Guang's Extreme Speed combination in person that he realized this thing, as a move with +2 priority in the games, was far fiercer than ordinary speed-boosting skills.

Add to that the shiny Milotic, lacking the boost of Heartbond, reacting not quickly enough…

If it were singles, with Baimu's daily training, the shiny Milotic actually didn't need many commands to react on its own.

But this was doubles format—too many combinations between moves, and Baimu had to remind them out loud.

In a sense, that had delayed the moment of battle.

Yet the Altaria and Pachirisu failed to seize this small opening… Mega Mawile was simply too strong—so strong that in a straight clash it could absolutely take on two at once.

It's just that this style of play doesn't score many points…

Baimu looked at the points deducted so far and understood that the Altaria breaking through his unfinished water-fire fusion had cost him a great deal of points.

And although Xiao Guang's total score had indeed dropped below half, overall more points had been deducted from him.

That's how Contests work.

Unless you directly defeat your opponent, any counterattack that isn't flashy enough won't earn big points—even if you land a punch that leaves them unable to stand for half a day.

"I need to take the initiative."

Baimu realized that if the Altaria and Pachirisu held on a bit longer, and such move combinations came a few more times, the originally stable situation would become very dangerous.

"Don't worry about it! We have plenty of chances! It wasn't your fault!"

He comforted the shiny Milotic, whose head had unconsciously drooped.

"Chee-do!"

Ka-ka!

Mega Mawile also used the two jaws on the back of its head to signal it to stay calm.

Seeing this, the shiny Milotic's head finally lifted slightly. It nodded seriously. "Mii-ro!"

It had to make up for the points just lost!

On the other side.

Xiao Guang fell silent for a moment.

Mega Mawile's somewhat over-spec strength let her experience what an absolute gap meant.

If Baimu hadn't wanted to play out the entire Contest match using flashy battle tactics, she might have already lost?

Xiao Guang wasn't sure.

But—

She knew she absolutely refused to just give up like that!

"Stand up! Bokejisi! Bojieman! Yuqi! Whirlpool!"

"Jee-sii—"

Bokejisi staggered to its feet, countless pure white feathers flying through the air and landing on its body.

As the one who had taken the offensive, its injuries were more severe.

Bojieman, riding on its back, was actually in slightly better shape.

"Bo-jia~"

Bojieman summoned a massive whirlpool as a barrier to shield Bokejisi.

How could Baimu possibly sit by and watch Bokejisi recover?

"Whirlpool! Ice Punch!"

"Mi-lo~"

The shiny Milotic raised its head and let out a long cry; a turquoise water vortex above its head kept expanding, expanding—gradually growing larger than Bojieman's Whirlpool!

It absolutely had to make up for its mistake from just now!

Absolutely!

Its gaze was resolute; influenced by intense emotion, the elemental energy within its body nearly boiled over!