Seeing that he had the stance of leaving, Xiaofeng's heroic brows furrowed slightly, and with a sudden inspiration, said, "Can I ask you to have a Pokémon battle with me?"
Baimu paused in his actions, lifted his head and replied:
"...Of course."
——
They arrived at the nearest battlefield.
Baimu had a Dreepy on each shoulder, looking at the excited Xiaofeng in the distance, "I don't have many Pokémon with me, how about a one-on-one battle this time?"
"Sure!"
The opponent had no objection, and even actively sent out their first Pokémon.
Bang!
A flash of light.
A Pokémon, all in bright red with a metallic sheen, resembling a warrior with crab pincers and transparent wings on its back, appeared.
The Pincer Pokémon, Scizor.
In the game, it isn't very fast, but in the animation, it has a decent mobility thanks to its powerful explosive capability, and is forcefully used as a high-speed Pokémon.
"I've decided to use Scizor to participate in the Gorgeous Competition!"
Standing with arms crossed, Xiaofeng said confidently and loudly, "Pleased to meet you!"
"Ha sha!"
Scizor calmly let out a low shout.
Baimu had no choice, he only had Blissey with him, and the Dreepy Siblings weren't much of a fighting force.
Bang!
The Pokeball opened.
The plump Blissey landed, "happy~"
Xiaofeng's eyes shone, "It's Blissey! The Pokémon that only uses transformation techniques to take down opponents!"
As a fan, she had meticulously watched Baimu's performances and battles in various Gorgeous Competitions over and over again, and in her eyes, Blissey was already a Pokémon as familiar as it could get.
Of course.
It's limited to the few moves and techniques it has shown in those appearances.
And although Xiaofeng stopped at the top 32 in the Ever Grande Conference, her strength was not to be underestimated, or she wouldn't have forced Ash Ketchum into a final one-on-one.
She decisively commanded: "Scizor! Use Lightning Flash!"
Based on her understanding of Blissey, the latter is quite quick in response and adept at using various transformation techniques, and to defeat it, one must confuse its senses with absolute speed.
"Ha sha!"
Scizor was enveloped in a bright white light, its wings thin as cicada wings flapped, and its metallic body abruptly disappeared from its original position.
Bang!
The sound of breaking wind echoed like a cannon blast.
Baimu's gaze was calm, with the two Dreepy munching Poké Blocks on his shoulders, suddenly spoke:
"Minimize."
"happy!"
Blissey paid no mind to the disappearing Scizor, and at the instant the trainer's command was given, it quickly minimized its already not-so-large body.
A crimson pincer, wrapped in white light, brushed past its forehead.
"Ha sha!?"
Scizor looked shocked at the Blissey, now no taller than its knees. It never expected that its swift move could be so easily dodged.
Xiaofeng was equally surprised, but she wasn't slow to react.
"Bullet Fist!"
"Sing!"
The two commands came almost in synchronization.
But when Scizor swung another pincer, now silver-white with metallic color, Blissey's close-range hypnotic sound wave had already been released.
"Ha-ha-ha~ Happy~"
Bang!
Bullet Fist, swift as a thunderbolt, slammed into Blissey's body, with Steel Attribute Energy exploding into a burst of silver light, sending it flying.
But at the same time, Scizor also closed its eyes, collapsing to the ground with a thud, evidently successfully hypnotized by Blissey's singing.
Xiaofeng quickly furrowed her brows, pulled out a Pokeball to attempt an exchange, but realized it was a one-on-one battle when she raised her hand.
She couldn't help but sigh.
Not far away.
Blissey turned over and got up, warily rubbing its face that was hit, its condition was much better than Baimu had expected, indicating that Scizor's attack power wasn't especially high.
To be safe.
"Soft-Boiled!"
"happy~"
Blissey placed its small hands on its abdomen, with a warm light radiating from the white egg, quickly spreading to its entire body, causing tiny green light spots to appear.
On the other side, Xiaofeng loudly called out, trying to wake up Scizor, but to no avail as it slept deeply, intent on sleeping till the end of days.
Baimu didn't give it a chance.
"Strong Mental Will!"
"Happy!"
Blissey's eyes glowed blue, and an invisible force turned into a cyclone of thoughts, lifting Scizor into the air and then smashing it down hard!
Thud!
The ground trembled, dust rising in clouds.
"Scizor! Wake up!" Xiaofeng tried to use the impact to rouse it, but to no avail; it remained as asleep as a log. In a game, this would probably mean it needs to sleep through the entire turn.
This gave Blissey a great opportunity to pursue victory.
"Earth's Surface!"
At the Trainer's command, Blissey puffed out its cheeks and dashed toward Scizor, grabbing its pincers, closing its eyes, and lifting a foot off the ground, using its body to spin.
As its speed increased, an Earth-like shadow gradually emerged, symbolizing that the attack's power had reached its peak.
"Release!"
Baimu shouted, and Blissey suddenly let go.
Whoosh!
The fierce wind howled, and the slumbering Scizor shot off like a meteor, crossing the battlefield boundary in the blink of an eye and crashing into a tree trunk!
Bang!
The trunk shook, leaves falling.
Scizor finally awoke from the series of attacks, stumbling to try and get up.
"Use Feather Rest!" Xiaofeng was pleased but couldn't afford to relax, shouting to get Scizor to restore its lost strength, but it wobbled a few times before collapsing in front.
Crash!
The Dreepy siblings, gnawing on Poké Blocks, both shuddered as if startled.
Scizor, with spiraled eyes, lost consciousness.
Xiaofeng's joyful expression turned to one of astonishment.
No doubt about it.
This was a battle with almost no suspense, where Blissey, with exceptionally timely technique and quick move execution, effortlessly took down Scizor.
Xiaofeng, who had some confidence in her abilities, was dealt a nearly ten-thousand-point critical blow.
To be defeated so easily—
"Well done."
"Happy~"
Baimu lightly clapped hands with the returning Blissey.
Clap!
The Brother Dragapult on Baimu's shoulder, seeing this, clamped a Poké Block in its mouth and swam to Blissey, giving it a tap, "Squeea~"
"Happy~"
Sister Dragapult watched silently, feeling slightly moved but a bit shy, yet seeing everyone watching, it bashfully joined in with a clap, "Squeea~"
"Happy!!"
Blissey was overjoyed.
Baimu shifted his gaze to the distant Xiaofeng, thinking that the top 32 of the Ever Grande Conference were nothing special; it seemed there hadn't been much progress over the years.
Reached the limit?
Possibly.
He knew not every trainer could be like Ash Ketchum, growing stronger with each setback, always advancing toward higher scores. Most, even when victorious in a conference, might not replace one of the Four Heavenly Kings or a Champion.
A Gym Leader was about their limit.
Like the dark side of this pseudo-utopian world, the Trainer Realm also had its very realistic parts.
"You're even better than I imagined!"
Xiaofeng came up to Baimu, first expressing admiration, then asked expectantly, "You'll be competing in the Shuijing Conference four days from now, right?"
"Yes."
He nodded.
"I won't lose to you so easily then!" Xiaofeng declared, extending her hand.
"I look forward to it."
Baimu shook her hand again, suddenly feeling that Xiaofeng likely didn't regard him as an idol; she probably saw him as a strong fierce rival.
Thinking this way, her words and actions so far seemed just like a rival character suddenly appearing in a game to challenge the protagonist.
...Well, maybe a bit of a small fry.
But thanks to Xiaofeng.
Baimu was prepared for the first round of inspections at this conference, ready to let Blissey take the stage alone.
Mawile had already appeared in three consecutive performances, while Blissey had only briefly appeared as a decorative element at the Fallarbor Conference.
The Mikoli Club would certainly be Milotic's home ground as a Water-type Pokémon.
Not letting Blissey perform solo again would truly make it seem like just a filler.
As for whether Mawile would complain...
Baimu thought instead of participating in this small Gorgeous Competition, it would be better to first master Super Evolution with him, so it could be perfectly displayed at a grand Gorgeous Competition.