Morning.
The sun is shining brightly.
Everyone arrived at the venue with full spirits.
To everyone's surprise, Hoopa was unexpectedly well-behaved last night. Not only did it not lead the still pure-natured Altered-color Gengar astray, but it also made a substantial contribution to the breakfast grocery shopping and the gathering of numerous "diners".
This prompted Baimu to reward it with a donut.
At the entrance.
The group headed to different locations, each as either spectators or participants, with Hoopa eagerly trotting behind Baimu and the others, hoping to slip in unnoticed.
The clever Mei Yali swiftly grabbed it.
"Hoopa! What did I tell you before we came?"
She glared at Hoopa.
Hoopa avoided her gaze, unwilling to meet her eyes, and mumbled softly, "But I want to go with Xiaobai and Gengar!"
Gengar?
Baimu turned his head to look at the Altered-color Gengar beside him, scratching its head with one paw and chuckling, seeming a bit embarrassed.
Although Hoopa had a habit of giving random nicknames to people and Pokémon, it was clear that in just one night, it had formed quite a good relationship with this Gray Fatty.
Kindred spirits?
He wasn't sure of their private conversations and couldn't confirm.
"Do you want to go to the audience seats with it? To watch the performance of me and Mawile." Baimu asked softly.
Since Altered-color Gengar didn't have the chance to perform on stage, it was better for it to sit in the audience with Hoopa rather than wait in the Pokeball.
Just right, because Hoopa was small, its seat could be given to Gengar, and it could still watch from Mei Yali's arms.
Or it could sit on Gengar's lap?
Of course.
This had to be discussed with Hoopa after all, since it was its seat.
Before the Altered-color Gengar could respond, he turned his head toward Hoopa, only to find it jumping up excitedly, hugging his face, and shouting, "Go together! Go together! Gengar with me!"
"But with its size, it has to take your seat."
"For Gengar! For Gengar! Gengar together?"
It looked pitifully at Altered-color Gengar.
Gray Fatty was taken aback, then immediately remembered what Baimu had said earlier. It excitedly grabbed his hand, shaking it up and down, nodding, "Gen! Gengen!"
Go!
Definitely go!
Though it's comfortable in the Pokeball, it wanted to continue having fun with Hoopa and wanted to witness the grand performance of Baimu and Mawile firsthand.
It regretted missing the preliminaries yesterday, having only heard from Hoopa how beautiful the Altered-color Milotic was.
Mei Yali looked at Hoopa, who was laughing and joking with Altered-color Gengar, and said to Baimu:
"Trust me to take care of them."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
He nodded and walked toward the preparation room before the crowd of oncoming audience members grew larger.
Altered-color Gengar watched his back, waving its short, chubby hand as if to say goodbye.
"Gen~"
It hadn't expected to be "let go" so easily.
If it were Jarvis, there would be no chance of being allowed to stray too far.
... Trust?
This recently-learned human phrase flashed through its mind, originating from the night in Verdanturf Town when it asked Porygon II why Baimu and Altered-color Milotic seemed so in sync.
Porygon II explained what 'trust' was, including the deeper meanings and applications of the term.
That night, Altered-color Gengar hadn't fully understood.
But the current situation made it curious, perhaps tonight it could secretly ask Porygon II again?
Since discovering that Porygon II was one of the key contributors to defeating Jarvis by controlling the airship and restraint devices, Altered-color Gengar had developed immense admiration for this senior.
Jarvis's ability to suppress them stemmed from those techno-gadgets that rendered them helpless.
"Gengar! Let's go!"
Hoopa's urging voice interrupted its thoughts.
Altered-color Gengar saw everyone waiting for it and quickly floated over to Mei Yali, "Gen!"
The surrounding crowd was growing.
It didn't want to get lost because of this.
——
"Welcome back to the grand celebration stage!"
Vivian raised her hands with a smile, "Did you all rest well last night?"
She was answered with a chorus of cheers.
Compared to the brief preliminary round that felt almost too quick, the main event with ample time for exciting performances was undoubtedly more anticipated.
"Let's not delay! The official competition begins! First up is the first review—stage performance!"
Vivian gestured toward the entrance, "Let's welcome our first contestant, the beautiful girl from Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh Region—Xiaoguang!"
Dressed in a short skirt of pure white and light blue, Xiaoguang stepped out, confidently and coolly tossing her Pokeball high.
"Piplup! Let's Go!"
The Pokeball soared high.
Bam!
In a flash of white light, countless glistening bubbles burst forth, gathering then transforming into the small, cute, and full of vitality Piplup.
"Piplup!"
The little penguin had a determined expression, silently vowing in its heart to deliver the perfect performance for Mawile and Altered-color Milotic!
That's right.
This guy struggled all night, unable to decide between these two top-tier adorable and beautiful Pokémon, suffering immensely.
Just as Mawile sent it a friend card, it resolved to go all in—
"I want them all!"
The little penguin suddenly had the intention of upgrading from a fangirl to a playboy.
However, this intention was currently just a notion; it didn't even know how to advance its relationship with Mawile, let alone have both at its side?
Just a daydream.
Piplup could only continue to show favor to both Pokémon.
"This guy..."
Baimu watched the television, where Piplup was basking in glory, constructing the light effects, shapes, and the aesthetic of a full Ice Crystal Lamp, an ice sculpture miracle, and couldn't help but twitch his mouth.