Chapter 634: The Flower of Eternity

"Chirp?!"

Accompanied by the dense raindrops falling upon its body, the Altaria did not display an expression of joy; instead, it looked around somewhat panic-stricken.

It seemed to greatly dislike rainy days.

Including Lisia, everyone present actually understood what was happening.

For the Altaria, it could endure clear sunny days, sandstorms, and even hail.

Even though its Dragon type granted it resistance to Water-type attacks, only during rain could the Altaria not endure.

—Because cotton is not waterproof.

Raindrops falling upon the Altaria's cloud-like cotton wings did not slide off or get repelled by a waterproof layer; instead, they soaked directly in!

The cotton wings were absorbing water and sinking inward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Once thoroughly soaked, the Altaria would even lose its ability to fly for a short period!

If this were a Contest Battle happening right now, Lisia would have points deducted from the very start.

Lisia, who was also quite aware of this fact, knew she had to devise a way to break through this predicament.

"Gwu... We can't just sit here and wait for death, Xiao Xiao Qingqing, Sunny Day!"

Her background counted for something; even if she appeared not very bright regarding matters outside of Pokémon, Lisia's fundamentals had been personally forged by Wallace and Juan.

She immediately thought of the method of using weather to counter weather.

The Altaria, sharing a deep bond with her, immediately responded to the command; stretching its neck as far as possible, it gathered a sphere of fire light emitting scorching heat before its open beak!

Boom!

The sound of the orb of light being spat by the Altaria into the "sky" suddenly exploding!

Intense light diffused outward, frantically dispersing the gray rain clouds beneath the ceiling.

"A good choice, but... that child Lisia overlooked something more important."

Juan's tightly furrowed brows were like the gloom beneath the ceiling, impossible to disperse.

That was correct.

Sunny Day was successfully released by the Altaria; logically, the weather should shift to Sunny Day, which is more favorable for Fire and Grass-type Pokémon, while simultaneously exerting an unfavorable influence on the Water-type Politoed.

At least, that is how it works in the games.

But from the perspective of Wallace and Juan, although the strong light did disperse part of the gloom, it soon appeared to lack follow-through.

The reason was very simple.

It was merely that the Altaria's mastery over Sunny Day was inferior to that of the Politoed, which had turned "Drizzle" into an instinct, honing this instinct day after day while training beside that huge Damp Rock.

Of course, the disparity in strength also accounted for a certain proportion.

If their strengths were similar, both sides might still contend for the weather.

But just as a Pelipper's Drizzle cannot dispel Groudon's Drought, and a Torkoal's Drought cannot dispel Kyogre's Drizzle...

The Altaria's Sunny Day found itself in an absolutely unfavorable situation against the Politoed's Drizzle.

The Altaria had failed in contending for the weather!

"In that case, we must decide the victor before the wings get soaked."

"Xiao Xiao Qingqing, Disarming Voice!"

While not forgetting to spin cutely in place, Lisia immediately issued an attack command.

Accompanied by the Altaria's moving song, countless pink heart-shaped musical notes transformed into sound waves and surged toward the Politoed!

The water surface where the Politoed stood began to tremble frantically, and the Pokémon itself displayed an expression as if it felt uncomfortable.

"It worked!"

Lisia's expression brightened with joy, but in the next moment, she could no longer smile.

Affected by the sound waves and feeling uncomfortable, the Politoed immediately began brewing its counterattack.

"Nyu—ru—!"

A roar-like loud cry transformed into sound waves far more intense than Disarming Voice, vibrating outward; even the raindrops were shaken by this terrifying sound wave into scattered water molecules.

The move "Hyper Voice," a commonly used technique of the Politoed influenced by its own racial talent.

"Ugh... Hold on, Xiao Xiao Qingqing, let's also counter with Hyper Voice!"

Covering her ears, Lisia issued the command with difficulty.

The next instant.

The two intense sound waves collided, yet they did not match each other evenly.

Accompanied by the Politoed's increasingly loud cries, the Altaria, skilled at displaying its song, was completely suppressed!

Hyper Voice versus Hyper Voice ultimately ended with the Altaria's defeat.

A beautiful singing voice ultimately could not compare in power to a muffled thunder-like cry.

But there was also good news: because it had been enveloped within the range of Hyper Voice, the Altaria's wings, which had become much heavier due to the raindrops, unexpectedly completed a load reduction.

—Most of the moisture had been shaken out!

"Hydro Pump!"

Luo Mu issued a new command without hesitation.

By the time the Altaria, slightly dazed from the sound waves, reacted, the turbulent water pillar was already close at hand.

Luo Mu and the Politoed were still planning to soak the Altaria's wings.

Lisia also understood this point; in order to prevent the Altaria from becoming a drowned rat, she chose to go all out.

"Idols of the Contest are not allowed to appear undignified; Xiao Xiao Qingqing, go all out with Dazzling Gleam!"

Brilliant, intense light burst forth with the Altaria at the center, colliding head-on with the Hydro Pump spat out by the Politoed.

Under other circumstances, the Altaria might truly have been able to withstand this highly targeted Hydro Pump by relying on Dazzling Gleam.

But now it was not just raining; it was Politoed's home field, and the disparity in strength between the two sides also influenced the final result.

After a brief stalemate lasting over ten seconds, the Hydro Pump, much like the Hyper Voice before it, broke through Altaria's Dazzling Gleam defense and struck Altaria directly.

In terms of power, the move was only normally effective due to the Dragon type resisting Water, yet Altaria was undeniably forced to land on the floating platform of the water battlefield.

Looking at its appearance now, it had nothing to do with elegance or beauty; it had become completely a drenched chicken with a blank expression, dripping water continuously from its soaked body.

Lisia attempted a remedy, trying to have Altaria shake off the water quickly using the spinning motions from training, but Luo Mu would not give her that chance.

"Blizzard!"

"Nyuru!"

Politoed raised its hands, and behind it, a cold current mixed with ice and snow blew up out of thin air.

Amidst the curtain of rain, an overwhelming white torrent froze countless raindrops while simultaneously freezing Altaria solid.

A single blow with four-times super-effectiveness thoroughly ended this one-sided crushing battle.

Apart from soaking Altaria in water, Luo Mu had not even employed any particular tactics.

Throughout the entire match, he simply used moves with greater power and more intense pressure to force Lisia and Altaria to counterattack, only to break through their counters, repeating this cycle over and over.

Despite her disappointment, Lisia also confirmed the correctness of the theory that Luo Mu had pointed out to her and which she had pondered all night.

—As long as one becomes stronger, with the support of pure stats, one can realize one's own aesthetics and transmit them to others regardless of logic!

Yes, her own unique path as an idol was exactly like this.

The road to becoming the world's number one Contest Idol; Lisia had finally found it!

By the poolside of the battlefield.

"Bagogo!"

Terapagos gazed at Politoed with sparkling eyes, feeling that it was truly amazing.

That Hyper Voice, full of vigor, was super cool!

"Nyuru."

Rarely praised in such a manner, Politoed felt somewhat shy, unconsciously blushing, and replied that Terapagos would be able to do such things in the future as well.

After all, it had heard from its other companions that Terapagos was a Pokémon on the level of Articuno, Regice, and Calyrex riding Shadow Rider, so in the future, it would surely be even more powerful than itself, which was somewhat ordinary and could only rely on hard work.

But Terapagos did not think so; it lowered its head somewhat dejectedly.

"Bago—"

Saying it was more powerful than Politoed? It could only maintain its battle form for a very short while; how could it fight like Politoed did?

Although it had suddenly arrived in what Luo Mu called the "future world" for it, Terapagos could still sense that compared to its powerless self in the past, it had not actually changed much.

The Terastal energy within its body, which determined the future ceiling of every Terapagos, remained just that little bit.

It was nothing like some powerful members of its kin, whose Terastal energy was so abundant it overflowed, even able to influence the surrounding environment.

Politoed did not understand why Terapagos had suddenly become dejected and could only clumsily comfort it.

At the same time, it thought that if its reliable good friend Cangyan Cangyan Rengui were by its side, perhaps the other party could, with a very reliable demeanor, dispel Terapagos's unknown unease.

While these two Pokémon were communicating, on the other side, Luo Mu also told Lisia about several areas where she was lacking during the battle.

After all, Contests also test a Trainer's command ability, and if Lisia wanted to improve, she could not avoid these aspects.

However, all problems ultimately boiled down to insufficient stats; under Wallace and Juan's hesitant expressions, Lisia had already declared that to improve, she would begin ascetic-style training!

Coincidentally, under the treatment of Comfey, Altaria's condition had mostly recovered; at the very least, it was no longer shivering as it had been when it first thawed.

One could see it grooming its feathers with some heartache; after being soaked in water and then frozen, Altaria felt its cotton wings were not as fluffy as before.

Seeing this, Luo Mu inadvertently remarked.

"Since it's a girl, one can tell at a glance that it cares greatly about its image."

This was originally just a very ordinary sigh of emotion, but Lisia instantly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, immediately emphasizing, "Xiao Xiao Qingqing is a handsome, charming, and cute boy!"

"Huh?"

Luo Mu was slightly stunned, completely unexpected that this Altaria, which had been hiding in Lisia's arms whimpering ever since it thawed, was actually male.

One had to know that this fellow could even match the idol's cute poses perfectly with Lisia!

Had the legions of cross-dressing Gardevoir and cross-dressing Sealeo already invaded here?

After a while longer, under Lisia's reluctant expression, Luo Mu and Wallace set off to leave the Sootopolis Gym.

For the rest of the day, Wallace would take Luo Mu sightseeing in Sootopolis City, while Lisia, to prepare for the upcoming Wallace Cup, could only bitterly continue her special training, hoping to achieve a good result.

Obtaining the Wallace Cup ribbon, meaning winning first place, would be best.

Otherwise, Lisia really would not have the face to mention that she was Wallace's niece.

Over the course of the day, Wallace took Luo Mu to visit quite a few scenic spots in Sootopolis City.

They experienced many activities characteristic of this place.

At the very least, Luo Mu had a lot of fun, and his Luxray and the others also enjoyed the interesting aspects of different regions while traveling.

However, although it was said to be a tour of Sootopolis City, it really was just a tour of Sootopolis City.

At the very least, Wallace never showed any intention throughout the entire time of taking Luo Mu to the real Cave of Origin.

The fake one had been part of the itinerary from the very beginning.

After all, that place counted as the most core area of Sootopolis City, and right now, Wallace had no reason to take him there.

Knowing this, Luo Mu had no intention of insisting that Wallace take him to visit.

In fact, it was better not to visit.

After all, if they were truly to visit, then matters would likely escalate significantly.

As a descendant of the "People of Sootopolis," Wallace bore the responsibility of guarding the Cave of Origin and also had to guard the seal of the "Pillar of the Sky" hidden in the nearby waters.

Once Wallace took him to the Cave of Origin, it would signify entering the legendary Pokémon plotline of the land, sea, and sky great war.

Luo Mu did not want to get dragged into such troublesome affairs.

Therefore, Wallace's actions instead made Luo Mu breathe a slight sigh of relief; as he strolled through the streets of Sootopolis City alongside Wallace, he began pondering what to do next.

The sea areas of the Hoenn region are vast enough that even if Lugia and the giant Dragonite were to appear, they would not cause any disturbance.

Since there was still some time before the Wallace Cup would be held, Luo Mu did not remain stationed in Sootopolis City, specifically waiting for the scheduled start of the Wallace Cup.

Thus, once the itinerary here in Sootopolis City concluded, while en route to Mossdeep City, he could summon Lugia over using the Silver Wing he carried on his person.

Although he did not know which sea area the other party was currently in, it should not be far from the Hoenn waters.

By then, after discussing matters with them, handling Professor Cozmo's invitation in Mossdeep City, and then experiencing the hot springs of Lavaridge Town, he could conveniently make a trip to the Kanto sea areas at the end of his vacation to search for traces of the giant Tentacruel.

Unknowingly, the horizon had already taken on the aspect of a sunset dusk.

Luo Mu and Wallace had also arrived at the final stop of their tour of Sootopolis City.

—The centralmost area of Sootopolis City.

This was an area resembling a central park, where vast patches of flowers bloomed in competition atop lush green grounds.

Many residents of Sootopolis City, as well as visiting travelers, sat leisurely here admiring the flowers or having picnics, creating a very relaxed atmosphere.

In the center of the grassy field, a huge tree stood alone, and nearby had been constructed a Cave of Origin that differed from the true Cave of Origin, serving as a historical site open to the public.

Today's final stop was that fake Cave of Origin, which recorded several historical murals.

Luo Mu was quite curious how Wallace, as a descendant of the "People of Sootopolis," would explain to him that past "story," which had clearly been beautified and turned into a tale for the sake of attracting tourists.

—Would he really not be able to hold it in and burst out laughing?

But as they passed that huge tree, Luo Mu's peripheral vision subconsciously glanced at the flowers surrounding the tree.

This was his habit; some flowers might interest his Comfey and be crafted by it into a flower crown.

Yet it was precisely this one glance that made him halt his steps, freezing stunned on the spot.

There, amidst the flowers blooming in competition, a flower with three long, leaf-like petals, somewhat out of place among those vibrant surrounding blossoms, swayed gently in the breeze, its overall coloration black and red.

Was that an Eternal Flower!?

(End of Chapter)