The afternoon sun hung high.
Although it was already winter, the climate of Hoenn kept the temperatures neither too cold nor too hot.
"A good environment, and a good opponent."
Baimu lowered his gaze, facing the spirited Xiaoguang.
It was evident that the latter did not show any signs of backing down due to his previous performances; with Miss No Problem's personality, she rarely suffered pre-game anxiety.
All the self-doubt emerged post-game.
And was Xiaoguang's chance of winning zero?
Baimu, who specialized in defeating the strong with the weak, knew it was not so. Whether it was the inspiration that often turned the tide or the experience accumulated over years of participating in Gorgeous Competitions, these were all things he needed to watch out for.
"Hiss..."
Baimu took a deep breath.
Vivian's gaze swept over the two of them, raising her right hand high and bringing it down fiercely!
"Round Three, Match One of the Gorgeous Competition! Begin!"
Ding!
A brief prompt sounded as both trainers threw their Pokeballs high into the air.
Bang bang!
Countless bubbles of various sizes floated and quivered, as the lively Piplup and Togekiss leapt from within.
On the other side, blue and pink petals swirled around, gradually sketching out the unique shapes of the Altered-color Milotic and Mawile.
The two batches of Pokémon stared at each other.
Togekiss and Altered-color Milotic raised their wings or wiggled their tail fins in a friendly greeting.
Piplup watched the serious Mawile, its watery eyes full of softness and determination.
As a man.
It wanted to secure victory in this Gorgeous Competition for its trainer and do its utmost to console the defeated Mawile because that's what a real man does!
Fighting for love!
"No deductions?"
Baimu glanced at the big screen.
The Altered-color Milotic had the charm to deduct the opponent's score just by appearing, but the fact that no deductions were made means the judges deemed its appearance not as overwhelmingly superior to Togekiss and Piplup anymore.
Although he agreed that these two Pokémon were super cute, not getting the early lead was somewhat disappointing.
"Here we go!"
Xiaoguang, full of vitality, raised her index finger high, and loudly said, "Piplup! Ride on Togekiss! Togekiss, fly up and use Wave Missile!"
"Chirp--"
Togekiss swiftly ascended into the sky, a small to large blue energy ball quickly forming at its mouth.
When it reached a certain height, Xiaoguang gave another command.
"Piplup! Bubble Beam!"
"Pip!"
A bright blue light shone from Piplup's tiny beak.
Countless bubbles surged out, crashing like waves toward the Wave Missile in front of Togekiss!
Boom boom boom—
Massive bubble bursting sounds filled the air.
Yet instead of exploding upon impact as in traditional battles, the Bubble Beam quickly "decomposed" the Wave Missile under the astonishing gazes of the audience.
In an instant.
The large blue energy ball turned into multiple small energy balls encased in glistening blue bubbles, collectively rushing toward the stationary Altered-color Milotic and the Mega Mawile!
Vivian enthusiastically exclaimed, "A breathtaking opening with gorgeous techniques! The clever combination of Wave Missile and Bubble Beam!"
"Impressive."
Baimu, holding the Key Stone, was unaffected by the mental burden of Super Evolution, praising Xiaoguang.
He remembered that this combo had been used by Xiaoguang in the Sinnoh Gorgeous Grand Festival, but back then, it was more roughly executed, merely surrounding the Wave Missile with a ring of bubbles.
That's why Xiaowang, the opponent at the time, wasn't deducted points.
But now, this [Bubble Wave Bullet] was truly a product of creativity and talent, leading to him losing nearly an eighth of his score without even doing anything.
The uniqueness of the Gorgeous Competition was displayed vividly.
However, for Baimu, who excelled in defensive counterattacks, this deduction was merely a necessary prerequisite for victory!
"Fairy Wind! Tornado!"
Facing the downpouring Bubble Wave Bullet, Mega Mawile remained unflustered and spun on one foot in place.
In no time.
A pink whirlwind roared into form.
Though Fairy Wind as a Special Attack move didn't benefit from the Strongman Trait, the immense energy from Super Evolution made it still extremely formidable.
"Chida!"
Mega Mawile chirped softly, rising like a genuine tornado!
As it leapt, Altered-color Milotic rapidly spun its rotor-like tail fin, whipping up a larger scale deep blue gale to blow the pink tornado towards the descending Bubble Wave Bullet!
Whoosh!
The wind howled!
The bubbles that were falling were instead blown higher.
Boom boom boom—
Like a festival fireworks show.
The stage's air was filled with dazzling colorful sparks, the azure and pink gales spreading the fireworks throughout the venue, creating a grand scene that thrilled and excited the audience.
Mega Mawile whirled in the sky above, even soaring higher than Togekiss.
It bathed in the fireworks, looking down with a charming smile.
"Chida~"
Instantly capturing many spectators' hearts.
"The combination of Tornado and Fairy Wind perfectly countered the Bubble Beam and Wave Missile combo! Look! Mawile is simply too cute!"
As Vivian's commentary echoed, Xiaoguang's score was reduced by a fifth.
Higher than expected.
Baimu dared not to be distracted by the big screen; usually, even the coolest fireworks displays would struggle to earn high scores.
After all, people had grown numb from seeing too many.
Was it Mawile?
The scoring elements of the Gorgeous Competition mainly focused on two things—whether the Pokémon's move was gorgeous, and whether its action during the move was gorgeous.