Chapter 527: An Exam Too!? Qishu

The dancer finished her dance.

The stunned Qishu gradually came back to herself.

She glanced at the stream's popularity—

【Your hand is tightly held by Qishu, who excitedly asks if you have any interest in becoming a streamer】

Now it was the dancer's turn to be dumbfounded, at a loss as she looked at this Gym Leader before her, who probably wasn't much older than her, with bright, sparkling eyes.

Qishu.

The Gym Leader of Brewery Light Gym, a famous streamer.

She's a Miss who has two Magnemite ornaments on her head about as big as her head itself; in terms of bizarre outfits, she ranks among the very top in the entire Pokémon world.

A mouthful of shark teeth paired with a sweet smile gives her extremely high popularity among the younger generation.

How should I put it?

In any case, she's just super kawaii.

And before the dancer could voice a refusal, Qishu was the first to state she'd only mentioned it casually, which let the dancer — who had been worried that refusing might affect the Gym battle — breathe a sigh of relief.

【Your second Gym battle is about to begin】

The battle venue was still set up in the center of Brewery Light City, a place like a plaza, with the surrounding roundabout filled with all sorts of huge horizontal-screen advertisements.

Colorful, dazzling lights shone up from beneath the battlefield — very cool.

Probably also very blinding.

At the start, the dancer once again chose Flamigo as her opener.

Although Water-type was rather unfavorable against an Electric-type Gym, out of trust in the latter, the dancer's ball-throwing motion was quite decisive.

Flamigo didn't disappoint her; its dance-step reactions were much faster than the Wattrel Qishu sent out, dodging the released electric currents several times.

Of course.

It wasn't that its speed was faster than electricity — it had simply read the landing points of Wattrel's attacks.

This is rather similar in principle to dodging ballistic trajectories…

It was actually quite exaggerated; at least Mawile, who was also quite proficient in dance, couldn't reach this level, so All Baimu was rather envious.

Under Flamigo's dazzlingly gorgeous dance steps, Wattrel was defeated.

Next to appear was Bellibolt, which often showed up on camera alongside Qishu; this Pokémon's first impression on All Baimu was a toy plus an electric griddle.

After he checked the information, he discovered that the eye-like things on either side of its head weren't actually eyes — they were electricity-discharging organs.

In other words, when this guy unleashes a move, it's just like Superman — "Heat Vision."

And its exclusive Ability 【Electromorphosis】 also brought quite a bit of trouble to the dancer and Flamigo; fortunately Flamigo was skilled enough that it wasn't taken down.

But despite that, Flamigo, having been electrocuted multiple times, ultimately couldn't hold on any longer.

"Duck bro, you've already overperformed."

All Baimu sighed with emotion, and at the same time glanced at the inexplicably-present Bouffalant beside him — back in the day, this was exactly how he had relied on a big monster to push his way through.

The words had just fallen.

The pixel Flamigo on the screen, which had looked utterly exhausted, was suddenly wrapped in a flash of blue light.

All Baimu: "……wtf?"

【Your Flamigo evolved into Meloetta】

It evolved!?

The second Gym's starter has evolved into its final form? You're a game player, aren't you!

Such excellent training is just too overpowered!

All Baimu figured that Ash's starters might not even receive this kind of treatment — the dancer really was… those roadside battles weren't fought for nothing, her growth speed is absolutely solid.

On the screen.

Meloetta, having recovered a small amount of stamina from the evolution, as if its exclusive BGM had started playing, rushed headlong into battle against Qishu's third Pokémon, Luxray.

The new move 【Aqua Step】, which combined dance and offense, had its special effects maxed out, making Meloetta's movement speed so fast it was like it could clone itself, attacking Luxray from multiple directions simultaneously.

One move took it down.

Qishu's side immediately fell silent on the spot, ellipses popping up on her forehead.

She was probably starting to think the dancer had come to wreck the place — after all, from start to finish, her actions had never really seemed to follow the normal path.

Fortunately, being able to be a popular streamer meant Qishu wouldn't say much even after being suppressed that hard; she even used it to boost the stream's atmosphere, sending out her final Pokémon, Mismagius.

The dancer's side also recalled Meloetta, whose highlight moment had ended and which was about to revert to its true form, sending out Oricorio, whose type had been specially changed for it.

Challenger and Gym Leader simultaneously Terastallized their Pokémon.

After all sorts of flashy special effects, one Pokémon wearing a red candle and another staring at a yellow lightbulb appeared, having respectively become pure Fire-type and Electric-type.

【You stare blankly at Oricorio, which has inexplicably become Fire-type again, then realize that Terastallization doesn't change along with a Pokémon's own type】

"This…"

All Baimu was a bit speechless — the dancer's understanding of Terastallization wasn't deep enough; she didn't realize that a Pokémon's Tera Type normally doesn't change.

Fortunately, Oricorio and Meloetta were cut from the same cloth, both possessing extraordinarily outstanding dance steps to dodge Mismagius's attacks; in fact, the move 【Quiver Dance】 could be used by it while dancing.

Mismagius was forced to take the hit, and was ultimately taken down by Oricorio's Air Cutter, redeeming the mistaken Terastallization.

【You defeated Brewery Light Gym Leader Qishu and obtained the Brewery Light Badge】

Compared to the soul-shaking impact of obtaining her first Badge, the second Badge only served to strengthen the dancer's resolve to keep walking this path.

And as she was leaving, Qishu forcefully dragged the dancer into doing a battle summary for the stream audience, making the latter terribly shy.

Losing didn't seem to bring Qishu much negative emotion — she seemed to care more about the audience's viewing experience.

——

【You left Brewery Light City】

Following the road through East Second Area, the Dancer decided to head back.

【You received a call from the Academic Affairs Office. The other party informed you that you could study more subjects, so you decided to go back to class.】

Huh?

It's like this? Going back to class?

Baimu honestly hadn't expected Orange Academy's number of courses to be tied to the number of Gym Badges, and from the narration he learned that the school actually has exams — midterms, no less.

He watched the Dancer rush back to the school without even accepting the battle invitations or picnic invitations from the uncles and aunties along the way.

And on campus.

The Dancer seemed to have become some kind of celebrity — the kind who gets stared at just walking down the street.

【You learned from a fairly close classmate that Qishu's livestream made you the school's current center of attention.】

As early as when the incident broke out, the Dancer was already known to many people. This time, her outstanding performance in the Spore Light Gym made her instantly become an object of envy and admiration for many.

At first glance, being admired for just two badges sounds absurd, but that is exactly the case.

【You smiled and politely declined the other's request to learn dance from you, saying you were busy with classes and exams and couldn't be distracted for the time being.】

The Dancer's dancing attracted many people, so students often requested to learn from her.

The narration indicated she had been tempted, but considering her own dance skills weren't all that amazing, and that she was currently just a student busy with studies, she declined.

"This is literally the Dragon King's return!"

Baimu couldn't help but quip that the Dancer's situation was pretty much like a rich man returning home in glory.

Back when the incident first broke out, most of the classmates in the simulation screen kept a respectful distance from the Dancer, but after the trip, she directly became the "school beauty" pursued by everyone.

Does this count as a face-slap?

He couldn't figure it out, but at the same time he was glad that the Dancer hadn't gotten lost in others' praise.

The latter's purpose for coming back was quite clear: classes and exams.

The simulator didn't mention how many courses Orange Academy has, but judging from the Dancer shuttling between various classrooms and exam halls, there should be quite a few.

Heavy coursework indeed…

【You finally completed the midterms, and your excellent results earned you much praise from the teachers.】

The Dancer was undoubtedly a good student. Her battling might have relied a bit on her Frillish Dance Duck, but her studies were all completed by herself.

What happened during the Spore Light Gym battle also taught her more about Pokémon battling knowledge, preventing such mistakes from happening again.

Baimu saw that almost every teacher who saw her had little red hearts or thumbs-up appear above their heads, making it clear that the Dancer was far stronger than him, who hadn't even finished the literacy class.

The scene shifted.

The Dancer stood in front of her Frillish, the latter's body enveloped in blue light.

【You learned a lot from the Battle Studies teacher — Huang Bo — which made you and your Pokémon stronger.】

【Your Frillish evolved into Primarina.】

Progress at lightning speed…

Baimu had already grown accustomed to the Dancer's growth rate.

The Frillish, which originally only knew how to spin in circles, successfully mastered some dances under the instruction of the Dancer and two professional "dance partners," which allowed it to take a further step and obtain an entirely new form.

Once fully in position, the Dancer left the campus without any hesitation.

She was at the height of her fame and could have enjoyed a while longer the adulation from her classmates, but having vaguely sensed something, she decided to set off for the third badge.

This time she headed toward South Second Area, targeting Round Mod Town.

As the town closest to Table Top City, according to the narration, this would normally be the first Gym students chose.

But the Dancer had previously been heading toward finding Team Star, which led to her only now coming to challenge it.

However.

Close as it was, the Dancer didn't underestimate the Round Mod Gym Leader. Following her old tricks, she exchanged and battled with classmates of various ages along the way, asking their views on Team Star and inquiring about Gym intelligence.

After all that fuss, the Dancer's Pokémon grew, her intelligence was updated, and she made even more new friends.

A three-win!

And because the Round Mod Gym Leader Ah Feng used Bug-type Pokémon, the Dancer changed her Oricorio's form back to the Spicy Style.

【You passed through the Olive Orchard, one of the Ten Sights of Paldea.】

【You arrived at Round Mod Town.】

Round Mod Town is nestled among mountains, a leisurely and tranquil little town. There are no dense forests around, only vast stretches of open fields.

The favorable environment led Round Mod Town's residents to plant quite a lot of olive trees here.

The Dancer completed registration at the front desk.

Gym Leader Ah Feng was a plump woman wearing a pastry chef's outfit, and she also ran a pastry shop famous throughout all of Paldea, which made the Dancer overjoyed.

She did like sweets, and because of dancing, she never worried about calorie consumption.

【You decided to visit Ah Feng's pastry shop after the match.】

This time the little test given to her was pushing a giant olive made of balloons. The latter was quite heavy, and there was also a time limit — not an easy task.

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However, for the Dancer, who had gained excellent stamina and explosive power through dancing, this was nothing at all.

She even broke the record for pushing the olive to the designated spot.

【You felt inexplicably happy.】

Little test passed.

The official Gym battle began.

Apparently out of consideration for type matchups, the Dancer led with Oricorio, and after Ah Feng sent out Lokix — a Pokémon with a somewhat Kamen Rider vibe — she immediately Terastallized.

The Fire-type Oricorio instantly transformed into a war god. Even though Ah Feng had brought out the strength expected of a third Gym, under Oricorio's Fire-type 【Revelation Dance】, it still couldn't put up much resistance.

The Blazing Leg Locust, Trapinch, and even Florges were all crushed with overwhelming force.

Until the final Ring Bear took the field, and only by virtue of 【Ten Thousand Horsepower】 managed to finish off the Terastallized Oricorio — the firepower boost Terastallization gave it was simply absurd.

Even watching through the screen, All Baimu felt envious; his team was in desperate need of an attack-boosting method like that.

【You sent out Quaquaval】

Duck Bro appeared as the closer, and whether it was for some kind of merit or not, Ah Feng insisted on Terastallizing the Ring Bear as well.

The Bug-type it became traded blows with Quaquaval using its Fury Cutter.

Without a doubt.

It couldn't even touch Quaquaval.

As the dancer's long-relied-upon Pokémon, Quaquaval's growth could only be described as leagues ahead of the rest; ever since its final evolution it had become "unfathomable," and the narration noted it frequently received praise from battle academy teacher Huang Bo.

A standard Aqua Step finisher.

【You have defeated the Circhester Gym Leader Ah Feng and obtained the Circhester Badge】

The dancer smilingly tucked away the third badge, putting on a rather reserved front in the face of Gym Leader Ah Feng's praise — but when it came to the pastries the latter had prepared, that reserve quickly fell away.

It was the first time All Baimu had seen the dancer show such intense interest in anything besides dancing, and he couldn't help but glance at the Mawile in the distance.

Their tastes were practically stamped from the same mold.

On screen.

Quaquaval was also somewhat taken aback by its trainer, watching from afar as the dancer and Oricorio, Froslass enjoyed the sweets, seeming a little hesitant to approach.

Having satisfied her appetite.

Following Ah Feng's recommendation, the dancer decided to head to Ballonlea City to meet the latter's master Hai Dai — of course, this "master" was in the culinary sense.

【You are quite looking forward to Hai Dai's cooking】

She set off westward toward the first district, full of enthusiasm.

However.

In the course of chatting with fellow students along the way, the dancer learned that there had also been news of Team Star causing trouble in the western first district recently.

【You wonder whether you might see Meloetta again; although you know you can't offer them any help, you still find yourself drifting in that direction】

Following the clues, the dancer made her way to the foot of a mountain.

Just like last time, she was stopped by two students with a "delinquent" air, riding Koraidon and wearing star-shaped sunglasses and motorcycle helmets.

【You hear them ask your purpose; you first introduce yourself, then state that you wish to meet Meloetta】

The dancer's response was fine.

The problem was that the Team Star she had found this time was not Wang Liangsi's squad, and after the incident of Phamp's intrusion last time, she had failed to explain things clearly, so Meloetta still considered her a guide for the enemy and had informed the other companions.

Therefore.

The dancer was attacked.

【You see the Team Star members before you send out their Pokémon to attack, loudly proclaiming themselves "Squad Dingxiang II," and feel somewhat at a loss】