Chapter 512: The Valor of the Wilds

"An outstanding performance! It fully brought out Blissey's pure and flawless qualities! And the grasp of the moves could even be called…"

"Spec~ta~cu~lar~"

"A dreamlike performance, under the coordination trainer's commands, brimming with harmony~"

The three judges offered their comments in turn, then looked together at Mi Ke Li.

He cleared his throat lightly, rose with a brilliant smile, and said:

"Although it only used Light, the fusion between them was incomparably ingenious. The final effect was like standing beneath a starry sky with the aurora shining down — truly a rare and exquisite performance!"

A delightful performance paired with an absolutely glowing review — thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

"Xiaoguang! Xiaoguang! Xiaoguang!"

"Blissey! Blissey!"

Fans shouted their chants, waving fluorescent acrylic boards etched with names and portraits nonstop, leaving Xiaoguang both moved and a little embarrassed.

Several years had passed.

She had already accumulated a considerable number of supporters, who — like the Princess of Salvia who entrusted her Blissey — silently cheered on this little girl chasing her dream.

After letting the applause linger for a while, Vivian finally called out:

"Judges, please submit your scores!"

The thrilling moment had officially arrived.

Among the eighteen contestants so far, Xiaoguang and Blissey's performance could absolutely be called the finest — no matter how you looked at it, the score wouldn't be low.

The camera pulled in toward the scoring device.

Everyone watched the screen in anticipation; the hand Xiaoguang had around Blissey quietly tightened.

Beep beep beep beep.

A total of 39 points — currently sitting in first place!

Wah!

The fans' cheers rose once more. Xiaoguang let out a long breath, bowed to the four judges again, then turned and left the stage to make room for the next contestant.

She believed she and Blissey had already performed to the best of their current ability — there was nothing to agonize over.

Back in the preparation room.

Xiaoguang and Blissey were enthusiastically surrounded by everyone.

"A magnificent performance! Congratulations, Xiaoguang!" Xiaoyao said excitedly, gripping her hand. "Blissey's Starlight Dance was so breathtaking!"

Xiaogang nodded in full agreement. "It was a bit stiff during practice, but you couldn't tell at all in that performance — it was nearly perfect."

Xiaosheng also chimed in with praise: "As expected of the coordinator who once defeated my sister."

"So this is your style? Truly charming~"

Miss Liuqi wasn't about to miss this chance to join the fun.

Xiaoguang was getting a bit carried away by the praise, her smile impossible to suppress. "Hehehe, that's why I kept saying 'no problem'~"

But when she saw All Baimu quietly giving a thumbs-up at the very back, and Urara — who had always competed with her, a love-hate rivalry — her brain instantly cooled down.

A mere 39 points — in the hands of these strong rivals, it might only be the most basic score; there was nothing to be proud of at all.

"Phew~ it's your turn next! I'm going to change clothes!"

Xiaoguang prepared to change into the cheerleading outfit she had once worn to cheer on Ash.

After all, the Grand Battle wouldn't be held until tomorrow, and she couldn't just go back to the Pokémon Center and sit around.

She ran off like a dancing swan.

"How was it?"

All Baimu watched her dash into the changing room, then turned to ask Urara — who had been silent since Xiaoguang's performance began — "What did you think of her performance?"

"Dazzling, very much her style."

Urara gave a quite fair assessment.

Although her relationship with Xiaoguang still couldn't be called good, she had learned to face others' results and strength squarely, no longer blaming every loss on the opponent's luck.

"I won't lose to her!" Urara declared, brimming with confidence.

This Miss was slated to go on fortieth.

All Baimu smiled, then narrowed his eyes at Mi Ke Li on the TV screen.

After watching a dozen or so contestants, he had noticed that compared to the familiar Mr. Patstein, Yanase, and the various Miss Joy whose scoring standards were basically the same, this one's scoring criteria were extremely unusual—

He placed great emphasis on creative performance, especially appreciated the interaction between Pokémon and coordinator, and didn't really care whether the visuals were gorgeous.

Clearly very different from the scoring style of the previous Mi Ke Li Cup.

The reason wasn't hard to figure out.

'To prevent contestants from tailoring their performance strategies to the judges' preferences, and to avoid formulaic routines.'

The Mi Ke Li Cup's ribbons were recognized worldwide — some variation was perfectly normal.

But for All Baimu, this was not good news.

After all, his Shiny Milotic's performance could at best be called semi-original; the rest was inevitably influenced by those two — Adam and Mi Ke Li.

As the original creators, they couldn't possibly fail to notice.

What made it worse was that All Baimu wanted to be purely original, but the paths had basically all been walked by those two — their combined years of competition exceeded thirty, and they had already played every combination of moves to the hilt.

Purely original?

Setting aside the visual appeal, he'd need at least several months of preparation — planning while cross-referencing Mi Ke Li and Adam's many match recordings and performance shows to ensure no repetition.

It was simply too much to ask of All Baimu.

He could only hope they wouldn't give a low score just because the sense of déjà vu was too strong… the line between tribute and plagiarism was terribly vague — it all depended on how Mi Ke Li saw it.

All Baimu cast aside his wandering thoughts and accompanied Miss Liuqi and the others to continue watching the competition.

At this point, there's no way to change the performance content — doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate is the only choice.

A short while later.

Xiao Guang returned for the second time, transforming from a pure, flawless dancing swan into a lively flower-dancing bird — still in the pom-pom-waving, pika-pika style.

"Yay~"

She waved her colorful pom-poms, drawing the attention of those around her without the slightest embarrassment.

Because it really was cute.

Xiao Yao and Miss Liuqi both had stars in their eyes; judging by their expressions, they were probably planning to try wearing one themselves after the first review.

"Youth really is full of energy."

All Baimu clicked his tongue.

He recalled that Xiao Guang seemed to be the only female lead in the entire series who had worn a cheerleader outfit for Xiao Zhi — a pity that after the new season arrived, she became like the Pokémon Xiao Zhi had once raised, reduced to a tool for nostalgia.

"Pojja?"

The little penguin Pochama was similarly dressed in a cheerleader outfit, waddling with a comical wiggle that successfully amused the watching Mime Jr.

"Pojja~! Pojja~!"

Seeing this, Pochama wiggled even more enthusiastically.

All Baimu's mouth twitched. If he didn't know what the little penguin's current behavior implied, he'd definitely think this Pochama was unbearably cute — however…

Please, no!

Stop licking! Oh my god!

His perfectly innocent little sister who only loved watching TV dramas and eating sweets, and at worst had a bit of a Princess complex, was starting to feel like a "bad woman" toying with the little penguin in the palm of her hand.

Please don't be like this!

All Baimu turned his head away, unable to watch, and looked at Mime Jr. with an expression of sorrow.

"Chido?"

Sensing her trainer's gaze, Mime Jr. tilted her head up, her eyes still carrying traces of amusement but tinged with confusion — wasn't Pochama's dance interesting?

It was pretty much the same as the comedy skit they watched together a couple days ago, wasn't it?

"It's nothing, go play."

All Baimu smiled, watching the two Pokémon play together, and felt a deep sense of helplessness well up inside.

He could tell that Mime Jr. had already come to regard Pochama as a friend.

For this girl with a proud, aloof personality, it was rare for any Pokémon to so openly show her various kinds of goodwill — the last one was the junior shiny Milotic, and the one before that was her good bestie Chansey.

Of course, it wasn't that Bastiodon and the others treated Mime Jr. poorly; rather, influenced by the latter's temper, everyone had a certain amount of wariness toward her, and their daily interactions were basically centered on avoiding conflict.

Mime Jr. also didn't know how to reciprocate goodwill — she only waited for others to come forward and yield, to get close to her.

As a result.

Everyone's relationship remained stuck at the "companion" stage, never advancing further.

Pochama was different.

Its goodwill toward Mime Jr. was based on its own adoration, with the goal of pleasing her — utterly without limits.

And Mime Jr., faced with Pochama's relentless advances, after having clearly rejected romance, found that its attitude hadn't changed, and naturally began to consider things from the angle of friendship.

Simply put.

It's "My Friends Are Few."

"The situation has gotten too complicated to explain in a few words." All Baimu watched the two Pokémon getting along so well, and decided to follow his original plan and let things take their natural course.

Xiao Yao, standing nearby, laughed and said: "Huh? Didn't Mime Jr. reject Pochama? Looks like there's still a chance?"

The moment she spoke up.

The others also crowded over to evaluate the relationship between the two Pokémon.

But which of them had ever actually been in a relationship? They were all just armchair strategists, and with only a superficial grasp of the information, they couldn't arrive at the correct answer at all.

Especially Xiao Yao — clueless and yet especially fond of egging Pochama on, as if afraid it wouldn't get a "friend-zone card"!

Actively undermining her own Pokémon's trainer — truly unheard of in this world.

All Baimu shook his head.

Not long after.

One performer after another took the stage, with scores generally hovering around thirty-seven or thirty-eight points, making Xiao Guang's thirty-nine-point performance look increasingly valuable.

He scrolled through his blog and found that many internet viewers were saying — "This is the worst edition I've ever seen!"

So many people performing, and only one scored thirty-nine?

Are they any good or what?

Regardless of whether these people were new viewers drawn in by the hype or genuine Contest enthusiasts, the long stretch without a second high score had indeed made the atmosphere in the preparation room less than calm.

Strict scoring has its pros and cons — the pro is that nobody should get a high score, the con is that once a transcendent score appears, their faces will look very bad.

Nobody wants to be a supporting character.

Ursula stepped onto the stage calmly amid this tense atmosphere.

And then—

She seized the attention of every single audience member in one fell swoop.

"Amazing…"

Xiao Yao stared at the TV, the pom-poms in her hands no longer waving, her entire being captivated by Ursula and Garchomp's performance on stage.

The people around her were the same.

On the screen.

Garchomp, wreathed in azure currents of air, roared toward the heavens, charging again and again at the massive tidal wave rolling toward it — knocked back time and time again, yet breaking through it with brute force time and time again!

Every time the surging tide was shattered, the muffled boom that erupted struck the heart like a war drum!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

What a breathtaking sight of the wild Sharpedo battling the waves!

The countless water droplets, glittering under the sunlight like ten thousand mirrors, together recorded that god-and-demon-like massive figure!

At the judges' panel.

Mi Ke Li had already stood up early, his face full of pleasant surprise.

It could be said that Ulala had displayed the strength and ferocity of her Sharpedo to the fullest; perhaps no other contestant's performance was as dazzling and eye-catching.

But this power that could resonate with the audience was truly soul-stealing!

Xiaogang's expression was solemn. "What a performance with tremendous pressure!"

"Sharpedo is so strong!"

Xiaosheng's focus was on combat power.

All Baimu raised an eyebrow. "Strength and coolness, huh…"

【Strength】、【Coolness】.

These are two of the five core elements Adam categorized for Pokémon Contests, and also the two contest categories explicitly classified by the game. At a time when most Coordinator trainers pursue Beauty, Coolness, and Cuteness—

Strength is actually quite rare.

Yet Ulala chose to display Sharpedo's strength, and in the process, the latter's coolness was also naturally revealed.

"Has she found her own path?"

All Baimu's face was full of surprise.

On the TV screen.

Sharpedo drove the tide surging skyward, then crashed down, causing the second surging sprays to collide, faintly forming a face that seemed to be its own ferocious visage.

"Kabu—!

"

The roar echoed throughout the venue and was also picked up by the audio equipment and transmitted into the television.

The performance ended here.

Such a marvelous sight made All Baimu unable to resist leading the applause.

Clap clap clap…

The others in the preparation room, as if waking from a dream, followed suit and began to clap.

"Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover, wouldn't you say, dear apprentice?"

Miss Liuqi's voice sounded from beside him.

All Baimu, while keeping an ear out for the judges' evaluation of Ulala and Sharpedo, said: "No one ever said that someone wearing a Princess dress has to follow the rules. Contrast is also beauty. What do you think?"

"Indeed, you've got a point, dear apprentice!"

Miss Liuqi praised him effusively.

At the same time.

Mi Ke Li on the television was also praising Ulala.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a performance so creative, yet so capable of showcasing a Pokémon's own unique qualities! Thank you, Mi Ke Li Cup! And of course, thank you too, Sharpedo—your resolve and fighting spirit, I have received them!"

It wasn't hard to tell that beyond its visual impact, Ulala's performance also had a touch of stream-of-consciousness.

But fortunately—

Mi Ke Li understood her idea.

That alone was enough.

The four judges began scoring, and everyone watched the small screen displaying the scores with rapt attention.

Beep beep beep beep.

A total of 39.1 points, surpassing Xiaoguang by a margin of 0.1 to become the current highest score!

The cheers from the audience seats turned into waves, rising layer upon layer and falling layer upon layer.

Xiaoguang felt a touch of regret, but more than that, admiration.

She naturally knew just how powerful Ulala and Sharpedo's performance was; from Mi Ke Li's scoring, it wasn't hard to tell who was higher and who was lower.

However—

Pokémon Contests aren't only about gorgeous performances; flashy battles are also very important!

She had confidence in her own Pokémon.

At the entrance.

Ulala returned together with Sharpedo, instantly drawing a great deal of attention, but her gaze didn't waver in the slightest as she walked straight toward Xiaoguang's side.

"Congratulations!"

Xiaoguang extended her hand to her. "A wonderful performance!"

Ulala glanced down at it, and without much hesitation, shook it, casually saying: "Thank you."

Immediately after—

She quickly walked behind Xiaoguang, looked at All Baimu standing there composed and at ease, a smile appearing on her face as she asked: "How was it? I didn't talk big, did I?"

"What are you saying? I never once thought you were talking big."

All Baimu replied with a smile, then looked at the especially proud-looking Sharpedo. "But it really did open my eyes—a wonderfully unexpected performance, I'm impressed, truly impressed."

"Kabu!"

Sharpedo's back straightened unconsciously at the praise.