Chapter 295: Heartbreak Warning

The private beach in front of the resort hotel.

Perhaps because non-guests were barred from entering, the place was rather quiet.

Only the sound of waves rushing in and out.

Wasn't this where Xiaoyao met Shuann? Baimu looked around, unable to recall for the moment.

"What an open space! It's perfect for practicing our Contest performance!"

Xiaoguang stood not far away, arms spread wide in a pose embracing the sun and sea. Brave and self-confident by nature, she was always brimming with energy, looking utterly full of vitality.

Though she could occasionally come across as a little careless and scatter-brained.

Like right now — the sea breeze felt so pleasant that she nearly forgot why she'd come to the beach in the first place, and needed Piplup to remind her.

"Piplup! Piplup piplup!"

Piplup tugged at the hem of Xiaoguang's clothes, then glanced at Munchlax each time, causing the latter to frown repeatedly.

"Munch!"

Munchlax looked at its Trainer again, hoping he could offer some advice.

Baimu was somewhat taken aback. "Do you really need to look at me for this? Just tell it straight that you're not interested, stop bothering me. Or tell it we can only be friends. Or send it a Good Goose Card and let it know it's a fine penguin but you two just aren't a match.

"Or even simpler — just beat it up, like you used to beat up everyone else in the team. Wait, no — when did your personality become this polite?"

He still vividly remembered that Munchlax had always expressed its feelings with swift, decisive force. Back when the Dragonite group was at home, it had made its displeasure known without the slightest hesitation.

The latter couldn't help but shoot him a look. Why, you ask? Simply to avoid causing him trouble.

If it hit Piplup, he'd be saying it picked a fight for no reason again.

Hmph!

Mere Baimu!

Of course.

Not understanding what was going on with Piplup was also part of the reason. If you said it was hostile? It really didn't seem that way — it actually looked a bit like those humans who idolized it.

And it certainly wasn't annoying — it hadn't even come over to pester anyone, so what was there to be annoyed about?

But if you said it wasn't hostile, then where did this awkward feeling come from?

What left it most speechless was that it hadn't understood a single word of what its Trainer had just said — could this really be such a complicated matter?

Munchlax, who didn't know what love at first sight meant, decided to keep observing a while longer.

Meanwhile, to show off its ultimate technique in front of its goddess, Piplup finally roused Xiaoguang, who had been lost in the sea breeze.

"Sorry, I got distracted for a moment."

She said, a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. I'm enjoying this rare cool sea breeze too — the Hoenn climate is far more pleasant than I imagined." Baimu waved a hand.

He'd expected summer in Kaina City to be especially hot, but the actual climate was quite comfortable.

Looking back toward the mainland, Mt. Chimney, towering into the clouds, stood out conspicuously, with white smoke billowing skyward in a magnificent sight.

The practice performance began.

Xiaoguang patted her cheeks to rally her spirits.

"Condition at full marks! Piplup, are you ready?"

"Piplup!"

Piplup, who had long been waiting, puffed out its chest, occasionally casting sidelong glances at Munchlax.

Seeing Munchlax settle down to watch its performance, its little chest puffed out even higher — nearly losing its balance and toppling backward.

Fortunately, it managed to stay upright in the end.

Seeing it fully prepared, Xiaoguang finally issued the first command.

"Piplup! Use Bubble Beam on the sky!"

"Piplup!"

Piplup tilted its head skyward. Its beak, no bigger than a finger, glowed a luminous blue, and countless fist-sized azure bubbles flew toward the sky, releasing dazzling colors under the sunlight.

It was only an ordinary move, yet the moment Piplup unleashed it, some indescribable chemical reaction seemed to occur.

"Ice Beam!"

Xiaoguang snapped her fingers.

Icy-blue lightning gathered in Piplup's beak, and it swept it across the bubbles in the sky!

Yet when the electric light touched the bubbles, instead of shattering or destroying them, it made them tremble and transform into glowing blue spheres, scattering fine pale-blue ice crystals as they fell.

When the Ice Beam ended, every bubble had burst into incomparably beautiful radiance, their surfaces coated with a thin layer of frost, pure and dazzling like ice crystals.

What's more, the floating bubbles reflected the beautiful sea on their surfaces, shimmering with captivating light in the sky as the tide rose and fell!

The scene was so lovely that Baimu and Munchlax couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

But the routine wasn't over yet.

Xiaoguang, brimming with confidence, called out once more: "Piplup! Final move! Drill Peck!"

In an instant—

Piplup, gazing skyward, began spinning in place. Its beak elongated into a gleaming white spike, and as Piplup leaped up, it flew toward all the bubbles!

Crack-crack-crack-crack—

The bubbles burst one after another, turning into a sky full of sparkling light, drifting down like a meteor shower — breathtakingly beautiful.

156n.

And Baimu, pricking up his ears to listen carefully, could hear that Piplup had actually been popping the bubbles in musical order — do, re, mi — but the sound of the surf was too loud and drowned it out.

"Fin~"

Xiaoguang and Piplup bowed together to their two spectators.

Even without the music, Xiaoguang and Pochaman's performance was still absolutely worthy of admiration.

The transitions between those three moves were also excellent—each linking into the next, with no step that felt unimportant. It was the way the three moves combined that ultimately made the performance what it was.

All Baimu kept thinking it over in his mind, and his applause grew louder and louder.

"Truly amazing, breathtaking, Young Lady Xiaoguang."

He said with feeling, "Thank you for broadening my horizons once again. You're truly a Coordinator who has long competed in glamorous competitions all over the world."

"Oh, stop it, you're exaggerating~"

Xiaoguang was so embarrassed by the praise that she kept waving her hands in modesty, yet the corners of her mouth lifted quite naturally, and she simply couldn't hide her smile.

"Poka!"

Pochaman gazed lovingly at Munchlax, dropped to one knee, and raised its two little wings, as if to say, "This performance is for you, my goddess."

"Chido~"

Munchlax didn't understand, but still couldn't help praising the performance just now.

After all, it really was quite good to watch.

Receiving the praise, Pochaman immediately felt as if pierced through the heart by Cupid's arrow. The hearts in its eyes grew larger, and it toppled over backward in a lovesick daze.

"Poka…"

Pochaman felt like it could barely breathe.

All Baimu couldn't help sighing at the sight: "What a lovesick fool—unfortunately for him, he's met a girl who doesn't understand a thing."

"Looks like Pochaman's budding love is going to fizzle out before it even begins, once again."

Xiaoguang couldn't help letting out a sigh as well, but from the look on her face, she seemed used to it.

"What, has it fallen for many Pokémon before?"

He asked with a smile.

"'Many' might not be the most accurate way to put it…" Xiaoguang gave him a vague answer, then asked, "How about your performance? Let me see it too!"

"I'd love to show you, but we just finished designing it and haven't started practicing yet."

All Baimu exchanged a glance with Munchlax and said, "If you don't mind, would you coach us?"

"I'd be honored!"

Xiaoguang agreed without the slightest hesitation.