Chapter 311: Female Version of Ash

"Congratulations on winning the Kaina Contest. Here is your Kaina Ribbon Medal."

On a simple award stage.

Baimu received the green ribbon medal from Patstein.

The deputy director of the Contest Bureau, Mr. —, said with a beaming smile: "I'm looking forward to your next performance."

"Keep up the good work~"

Yanase winked her right eye at him, releasing handsome-guy waves.

"The Chansey match really moved me. I could see its healing heart from its expression — it's a truly outstanding Pokémon!"

Miss Miss Qiao Yin still seemed to be watching Chansey.

Baimu smiled and thanked them, then tied the new ribbon medal onto Mawile's head, waving and bowing together to the cheering audience.

With this, the Kaina Contest could be considered completely brought to a perfect conclusion.

Three more ribbons remained before meeting the requirement to participate in the Grand Festival.

Back in the prep room.

Hikari had already changed clothes, and seeing him come over, she immediately smiled: "Congrats on getting your second ribbon. Should we have a big dinner tonight to celebrate?"

"Definitely, but it's too dangerous to go out right now."

Baimu handed her the photos he'd just taken by sneaking around to the front entrance, squeezing into the packed crowd — quite a few people in suits and uniforms. "These people are probably from celebrity management agencies, right? I'm not very good at dealing with them."

"Heeey… I think I've run into them too, but I turned them all down."

Hikari thought about it thoughtfully, then stuck out her tongue: "Because I'm not really interested in becoming a star, though acting does sound kind of fun."

"Anyway, let's wait a bit."

"Want me to help lure them away?"

"No need, and how would you get away yourself?"

"No problem at all!"

Miss No-Problem had an expression that said leave it to me.

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from not far away.

"Would you like me to give you a ride?"

The two turned their heads and saw it was Mira, who had previously lost to Baimu. Leaning against the doorframe, she said: "I have a car, and it can take you along the way."

How could they pass up such a good opportunity? They agreed on the spot.

So.

After Baimu changed clothes, the three of them put on masks and sneaked to the parking lot. Taking advantage of the surrounding passersby not noticing, they quickly got into the car, followed a few private cars through the intersection clogged with crowds, and smoothly made it to the main road.

"Phew~ you're really popular, even more fans than I imagined. Do you really not have a management agency?"

Mira, who was driving, asked with some puzzlement.

"If I had a management agency I wouldn't need to hide. If I swaggered out, there'd definitely be bodyguards helping me block people." Baimu replied, well aware that the vast majority of his fame came from Lucky Scales.

So he had to bear the problem of privacy being unprotected that fame brought.

Where there is gain, there must also be sacrifice, big or small.

Hearing this, Mira stopped dwelling on the topic and started chatting with Hikari instead. Although the two hadn't crossed paths at the Contest, they unexpectedly had a lot in common.

Baimu quietly listened to them chat, but his thoughts drifted back to the Zweilous.

What kind of changes would going from one head to two bring?

Could the Zweilous adapt to its new body?

Although he'd gathered a lot of relevant knowledge online, and confirmed from Abe's side that with proper attentive training, the two heads wouldn't be fighting and squabbling nonstop like the Pokédex says, he still couldn't make guarantees without actually handling and training one.

He only hoped its personality wouldn't change too drastically.

He still hoped the Zweilous would be that cute little dragon that liked to nibble hands, cuddle, and rest its head on his chest or belly to snore — not some grumpy old dude.

Not long after.

They arrived at the resort hotel.

Mira declined the two's invitation to have dinner together.

"I still need to reunite with my precious daughter and husband. They're waiting for me somewhere else."

"Eh!?"

Hikari looked shocked. "You're already married? And you even have a child!?"

"Of course, I'm already twenty-three."

Mira, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, smiled: "My daughter is also over a year old, very cute. If there's a chance in the future, everyone can get to know each other."

"Sure, sure!"

Hikari nodded with great interest.

Mira then turned her gaze back to Baimu. "You look like a completely different person after changing clothes, but I'll say it again — next time I won't lose to you, so be careful."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

The latter returned a smile, watching Mira drive away.

Hikari watched the car drive off and couldn't help saying: "I really didn't expect Miss Mira to already be married… I should've asked her for her skincare secrets!"

"Hahahaha!"

Baimu, who'd thought the female version of Ash was about to have an awakening, burst out laughing.

"What? Is there something funny about that?" Hikari didn't quite understand why he was laughing so hard.

"Nothing, let's head back. It's getting late, we should get dinner ready."

He waved his hand.

Although the two had spent a week together, clearly neither of them regarded the other as "the opposite sex."

Baimu really couldn't harbor any strange thoughts toward thirteen-year-old Xiaoguang, and he was even more conscious of the fact that the other was a figure from his childhood memories; Xiaoguang, on the other hand, was completely oblivious in this regard.

If Xiaozhi dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Master to the point where he could treat Serena's straightforward advances as if he hadn't seen them, then Xiaoguang dreamed of becoming a top Coordinator, with romance shoved aside.

Of course, she still loved dressing up — she was a girl, after all.

So their relationship was just like Xiaozhi's early relationship with Xiaoguang.

Friendship first.

One could tell from how Xiaoguang couldn't help but want to high-five.

——

At dusk.

Dinner had already been prepared.

Baimu had deliberately chosen the beach by the sea as the celebration site. After distributing food to the other Pokémon, he released the Zweilous with a slightly nervous heart.

Bang!

Bai Guang flickered.

"Hee-urr—!" "Hee-urr—!"

Accompanied by two cries, the Zweilous, its body several times larger, landed on the ground.

After hibernating inside the Poké Ball for a long time, it… or rather, their spirits had recovered to a full state, and upon coming out they couldn't help but look around curiously.

That's right.

They were looking.

These two fellows' eyes were still covered by their pitch-black furry bangs, but in reality their vision had already recovered to normal levels, successfully breaking free from the blind-dragon posture of only being able to judge their surroundings by smell and bite.

The specific reason for this was unknown for now, though many studies suggested it might be related to the Deino's wish to expand its territory and no longer be confined to dark caves.

A Pokémon's evolution was always tied to its thoughts.

How it worked in the games was unclear, but based on actual circumstances, Baimu felt that in the anime setting, the Zweilous indeed possessed the ability to observe with its eyes.