Chapter 511: The Liu Li Grand Contest

The bustling venue.

The symphony belonging to the Grand Contest played on without pause.

Host Vivian raised her right hand high, greeting the dense crowd of people and Pokémon in the stands, and shouted in a voice that stirred the emotions:

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Grand Contest — the Mi Ke Li Cup, hosted by Master Mi Ke Li!"

"I believe everyone is familiar with the venue for this edition — that's right! It's Master Mi Ke Li's hometown! Liu Li City!"

The audience, who had waited long, erupted in sky-splitting cheers.

The front rows, dressed almost uniformly in white hats, proved just how powerful Mi Ke Li's charm truly was.

The preparation room.

A large number of contestants gathered before the television broadcasting the venue in real time, their faces a mix of excitement and anticipation.

"It's starting!"

"Is Master Mi Ke Li about to appear?"

"Come on, come on! Mi Ke Li's making his entrance!"

All Baimu stood among the crowd, with Miss Liuqi and a bunch of other gorgeously dressed young ladies beside him; Little Sheng and Little Gang had been squeezed off somewhere unknown.

He looked at the enormous television screen, his heart full of curiosity about Mi Ke Li.

He'd been staying at the Liu Li Gym for many days now, yet hadn't caught even a single glimpse of the man.

Busy?

Not exactly.

According to Miss Liuqi, the reason Mi Ke Li didn't return to the gym was that he didn't want those fanatical fans tracking him down to camp outside it — that would easily cause trouble for Young Lady Junsha, and would also disturb the semi-retired Adam and them, who were actively preparing for the contest.

What a gentle man.

No wonder Champion Dawu regarded him as a close friend — the two were practically identical in how gently they treated others.

As All Baimu was thinking this, Vivian on the television called out in a sweet, coquettish voice:

"Now please allow me to introduce —"

Dun!

On the largest silver screen in the venue, a pattern suddenly appeared.

It showed a slender, well-proportioned blue-haired man wearing a white hat, standing on a high platform, commanding a fierce Walrein.

"Sometimes, a Gym Leader!"

The scene changed — the blue-haired man, draped in a Champion's cape, stood dashingly in the spotlight of countless eyes.

"Sometimes, a Regional Champion!"

The scene changed again — the blue-haired man smiled warmly, holding a blue-edged ribbon shaped like a water-drop hourglass.

"Sometimes, a top-tier Coordinator!"

Vivian's volume instantly rose, "However, his true identity is —"

Boom!

The pool at the center of the venue suddenly surged up a towering pillar of water, followed by the spray bursting apart into a skyful of droplets.

A Milotic with closed eyes and concentrated spirit slowly revealed itself, three dazzling semi-transparent water rings revolving around it, causing the surrounding droplets to leap in response; against the sun as its backdrop, a sacred radiance enveloped its incomparably beautiful form!

"Mii-luu—"

The long, low cry was like a song.

The audience instantly erupted!

Suddenly.

Milotic opened its eyes, and as light surged, towering waves rolled up out of thin air on both sides of the pool, rushing toward the stage at the pool's center!

Rumble!

Immediately after, it flipped its bewitching form, singing melodiously as it sent the three semi-transparent water rings around it downward.

The waves swept in with a thunderous roar and submerged the stage, but were drawn and spun by the semi-transparent water rings, transforming into a towering waterspout that continuously expanded before slowly subsiding.

The center of the stage.

An elegant blue-haired gentleman half-knelt on the ground, his deep teal cape fluttering in the wind, the semi-transparent water rings scattering brilliant afterglow.

Vivian's intensely excited voice reached everyone's ears, "The super-genius Grand Contest Master, my lord Mi Ke Li!

"

Swoosh!

Mi Ke Li suddenly rose to his feet and shook out his cape, his voice clear and bright like an oriole's song, and declared in a ringing tone:

"Dear audience! G~~!"

Ahhh—!

Screams instantly echoed through the sky above the venue; fanatical fans held high their fan merchandise and acrylic boards, wholeheartedly displaying their worship of their idol.

The preparation room was the same.

Even though the Mi Ke Li at the venue couldn't hear them, it didn't stop the fans' screams from crowding All Baimu's ears.

"Uncle is so amazing~~"

Miss Liuqi's eyes were full of little stars, and Little Light and Little Remote beside her were equally full of admiration.

"No matter how many times you watch Master Mi Ke Li and Milotic's entrance show, it's absolutely irresistible."

"Yeah, their coordination is just too exquisite."

So far, no undisputed world's number one had yet appeared on the battling scene, but in every Coordinator's heart, the man called Master — Mi Ke Li — was unquestionably the number one of the Grand Contest.

A competition named after oneself and officially recognized — to many people, that was something they wouldn't even dare imagine.

On the television screen.

As streams of glowing blue water pillars ringed the stage, Wallace, accompanied by Milotic, formally declared the Wallace Cup to have begun.

"Let us boldly and without reserve anticipate just who will dance the most gorgeously within this Glittering Palace!"

"Thank you very much, Master Wallace."

Vivian stepped forward with a faint smile. "Master Wallace will also serve as a special judge, watching all the performances and conducting the evaluations."

"Next, we introduce the judges for this tournament."

Under her introduction, the grey-haired old man Patrat—whom All Baimu knew exceedingly well—the fresh-faced Yanase, and the Lilycove Pokémon Center's Miss Joy each offered their thanks in turn.

With the number of judges rising, the total score naturally climbed to forty points.

The main event arrived in due course.

Vivian held aloft a pale-blue ribbon and announced loudly: "Awarded to the victor of the Wallace Cup is the Water Ribbon!"

"This ribbon is valid not only in Hoenn but at gorgeous contests the world over—it is a ribbon that grants entry to the dreamlike Hoenn Grand Festival!"

Without question, its universal acceptance was one of the reasons so many Coordinators present had rushed here from all corners of the world.

All Baimu could feel the breathing of those around him growing rapid.

Especially when staff appeared, calling out the names of contestants to take the stage or prepare.

"My disciple is in the middle?"

Miss Liuqi rose on tiptoe to peer at the number slip in All Baimu's hand. With so many contestants, the entire day today would be devoted to the first round of judging.

A middle number would most likely have to wait until the afternoon.

"No problem." He smiled, glancing at the slightly nervous Hikari—she was the earliest of their lot to take the stage, number eighteen.

Sensing the gazes of those around her, Hikari quickly adjusted her mindset.

"No problem at all! Watch me bring back a super-high score!"

She flashed a peace sign at everyone, and the Piplup at her feet proudly puffed out its chest.

"Pip!"

Though the little penguin wasn't taking the stage, with her companions' strength, pulling off a thirty-nine or forty was a sure thing, wasn't it?

It bashfully glanced at the Mawile beside All Baimu, thinking that if it took the stage, it could offer its super-high score to its goddess—what a pity, what a pity…

On the other side.

All Baimu praised Urara's deep-blue princess dress, and learned that she had smoothly obtained the Twilight Water Contest ribbon—just like him, she needed only one more ribbon to enter the Hoenn Grand Festival.

"This time I absolutely won't lose to you again!" Urara tossed down the gauntlet with great enthusiasm.

"I'll be watching with anticipation."

He chuckled, but his brow twitched as he sensed someone watching him. Turning his head, he found it was Shuu.

However, before he could react, the other unobtrusively shifted his gaze away, as if it had been nothing more than a casual glance.

Haruka's rival, huh…

When All Baimu had first watched Advanced Generation, he was still young and didn't understand the concept of "shipping" at all, so he had paid no attention whatsoever to the strange filler episodes the writers had sprinkled in.

Revisiting it as an adult, he cared even less—just a side character who had completely faded into the crowd.

But being here now, thinking it over again—

Shuu's strength was unquestionably formidable. Not only had he never dropped below twenty-nine points in the first round of ordinary contests, but at his very first Grand Festival he had secured the impressive result of runner-up.

He absolutely couldn't afford to overlook this fellow.

"The first person is taking the stage! Look, look!"

A bystander's shout drew his gaze back to the television. Under host Vivian's introduction, a boy with a taut expression strode out.

It's finally begun!

The Wallace Cup!

—

Once the competition began, time flew by like flowing water.

The atmosphere in the preparation room was far from relaxed.

After all, the Wallace Cup's viewership was several times that of an ordinary contest; performing poorly and embarrassing oneself here would be a truly spectacular disgrace.

But precisely because of this invisible threshold, ordinary Coordinators wouldn't come to the Wallace Cup. The contestants present all had some real skill.

Of course, there were bound to be a few reckless greenhorns, but probably not too many.

After the first round of judging reached fifteen contestants.

The venue entered a brief intermission, the judges relaxing appropriately to avoid eye strain.

The contestants whispered among themselves, every face solemn.

The reason was that in the preceding performances, despite the judges' abundant praise, not a single total score had broken thirty-eight points, let alone thirty-nine.

Such strict judging left them somewhat on edge.

At this point, the television began running various commercials—mostly things Wallace endorsed, though Miss Liuqi had one ad as well.

It was gummy candy shaped like various Pokémon.

"Is this gummy candy good?"

"Average, kind of sticks to your teeth. I've got quite a bit of stock in my room—want to try some when we get back?"

"Sounds good."

All Baimu nodded, his peripheral vision catching Hikari being led away by a staff member.

Piplup waved a reluctant farewell to Mawile.

"Pip~~"

That meant she had to prepare early.

Speaking of which, why did he feel like something was missing?

He lowered his head in thought; there seemed to be something not very important, but its absence left the moment lacking a certain flavor, something that had yet to appear.

Yet when he tried to think it through carefully, he couldn't pin it down.

Suddenly.

Someone burst in from outside, shouting as they ran, "This is bad! Team Rocket is here!"

Team Rocket? Team Rocket!

All Baimu's eyes lit up—that was exactly it!

Although the anime series' main protagonist Ash wasn't present, with so many supporting characters gathered together, it could still count as a side-story episode, and their presence was a must.

He ran over eagerly and asked, "What's the situation? Where is Team Rocket?"

"Uh, they're right at the main venue."

The person came to an abrupt halt, out of breath, choked for a moment, then continued, "They came down from the sky in a hot-air balloon, trying to steal the Pokémon the contestants had stored!"

Stored?

All Baimu looked slightly surprised; seeing the wild change in expression on the surrounding contestants' faces, he knew some unknown little incident had occurred.

After losing his god's-eye perspective, he no longer had any idea what Team Rocket had been up to behind the scenes.

But he was still very interested, and harbored the thought of doing the righteous thing.

After all, last time he had captured so many members of Team Rocket, the two sides already had an irreconcilable conflict; sending a few more to cool their heels in jail was simply his duty.

There was just one problem.

The ones showing up now probably weren't the Team Rocket trio, right?

"All Baimu! Wait for me!"

"I'm coming too!"

The voices of Xiaosheng and Xiaogang came from behind; they had dealt with Team Rocket for hundreds of episodes, knew those people's tricks inside out, and understood exactly how to deal with them.

All Baimu glanced back at the two, and just as he was about to head toward the main venue, another staff member ran over.

"Please everyone don't be nervous, the incident has already been resolved by Master Mi Ke Li; the Pokémon you all stored are safe and sound."

He said loudly, then pointed at the big TV.

On the screen.

Mi Ke Li commanded Milotic to blast the blonde-haired female Team Rocket member, the green-haired male Team Rocket member, and their Pokémon away.

All Baimu was suddenly enlightened.

So it was those two—Yamato and Xiao Xiao Sanlang… no, wait, Xiao Xiao Sanlang.

The two of them could also be considered standard-issue villains of the side stories; pity they lacked the Team Rocket trio's iron will. He recalled that later on, unable to bear the pain of repeated failure and writing self-criticism reports, they chose to leave the team and make their own way.

Yamato opened a coffee shop with Rattata, and Xiao Xiao Sanlang opened a bakery with a female Meowth.

It sounded a little absurd.

After all, who would have thought an evil organization like Team Rocket could let its members resign?

"Looks like there's no room for us to shine."

All Baimu patted Xiaosheng and Xiaogang on the shoulder, ignored the looks from the other contestants, and returned to his original spot.

Miss Liuqi laughed and said, "So cool, the moment you heard something was up you were the first to rush over."

"Instinctive reaction."

He replied casually, then glanced at Xiaoyao, who seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, and asked, "Were you nervous?"

"Not at all."

Xiaoyao denied it, and indignantly complained, "All Baimu, you don't know how rotten these Team Rocket people are—useless at accomplishing anything but always making a mess of things, always causing trouble. It seems like every time they show up, nothing good happens!"

In the eyes of Pokémon anime fans, the Team Rocket trio are a cute and charming set of villains.

Evil, but not evil enough, and occasionally they even have their moments of glory.

But in Xiaoyao's eyes, the Team Rocket organization was undeniably thoroughly disgusting; from the very first encounter onward they kept causing all sorts of trouble, and even stole Pokémon from her and her companions.

Like them?

The fact that she didn't rush up and kick them a couple of times was already a testament to her good temper.

All Baimu understood Xiaoyao's feelings perfectly; just as he was about to say something, Xiaosheng shouted.

"Koharu is up!"

On the TV screen.

Koharu, in a flowing sky-blue pleated short skirt, stepped forward gracefully; facing tens of thousands of pairs of eyes without the slightest stage fright, she waved and threw her Poké Ball.

"Togekiss! Go!"

Poof!

Pink ribbons of light flew out from the ball.

Above, they continuously swirled and wove together into an exquisite crown-like pattern.

Togekiss, its plumage white as if untouched by any speck of dust, stood amid it all, letting out a clear, soft cry.

"Poke~"

"What an adorable Togekiss!"

Mi Ke Li's eyes lit up; he also recognized Koharu as the little girl who had once received the Water Column Badge from him, and couldn't help but look forward to it even more.

A perfectly measured smile on Koharu's face:

"Use Swift on the sky!"

"Poke!"

Togekiss raised its head; without taking flight, it rapidly flapped its wings.

Biu~biu~biu~!

A massive number of huge stars trailing golden tails shot into the sky like fireworks, tracing a dazzling arc!

"Sky Attack!"

"Screee—"

Pidgeot let out a long cry. Blinding white light enveloped its body, and with a single beat of its wings it shot swiftly into the air. The scattered elemental energy shimmered like stars, sprinkling a dazzling sheen below.

In a single breath, it caught up with the golden stars that had soared to their utmost height.

Then.

It began to circle gracefully. The soft white light on its body gradually spread toward the golden stars, and instead of shattering the fragile golden stars, it seemed to coat them with a thin membrane.

After the light on Pidgeot's body dimmed.

Shhhhh—

The golden stars drifted down like a meteor shower, Pidgeot mingling among them, and a multicolored curtain of light scattered down with their descent.

Vivian couldn't help sighing, "What a beautiful sight!"

But this was not the end.

"One last move! Fairy Wind!"

Xiao Guang's voice rang out.

The next instant.

The golden stars fell onto the still water's surface, seemingly about to sink beneath it, but a gentle wind arrived without warning, sweeping the multicolored curtain of light to coat them with a second membrane, and causing wispy, smoke-like currents of air to appear above the pool out of thin air.

Ding~

A pleasant sound leapt like a musical note—

No.

It was the stars dancing upon the water's surface.

Every spectator's eyes went wide, watching the five-colored stars leap like sprites, slowly sending ripples across the water, utterly captivated.

Until Pidgeot skimmed the surface like a dragonfly touching the water, sending out the largest ripple that dispersed the bird-shaped mist.

The stars instantly became like an illusory mirage and vanished completely.

"Pidge~"

Pidgeot flapped its wings and hopped back in front of its Trainer.

Xiao Guang met its gaze, lifted her skirt and bowed in thanks, "finish~"