Hotel restaurant.
Baimu and Xiaoguang sat face-to-face, with Mawile and Piplup each enjoying two cups of fruit parfait, utterly delighted.
"I didn't expect Mr. Baimu to also be a Coordinator Trainer."
"Just call me Baimu."
He smiled kindly at Xiaoguang, "I also didn't expect to meet you here. You and your Pokémon are really outstanding, your performance at the Gorgeous Competition is quite commendable. Particularly Piplup, small in size but with impressive momentum."
"Piplup?"
Hearing someone call its name, Piplup pulled its head out from the fruit parfait and looked blankly at Baimu, its short beak covered in ice cream, looking quite cute.
Realizing it had nothing to do with it, Piplup continued eating feverishly, afraid that if it didn't eat fast enough, it would lose to Mawile.
However, Mawile was completely unaware of this little penguin's competitive eating speed, thinking it just really liked the food seeing how fast it was eating.
"You're flattering me." Xiaoguang blushed slightly and waved her hand, clearly pleased by Baimu's compliment.
As the heroine of the Jewel Drill story, she is confident, brave, and cheerful. The various experiences she lacked have been replenished through her journey, making her shine with her own unique brilliance.
Meanwhile.
The Jewel Drill story is also a favorite of Baimu's, so he had a deep impression of Xiaoguang.
He laughed, "There's no need for false humility; I can discern between strengths and weaknesses. So, have you finished participating in the Kaina City's Gorgeous Competition, or are you ready to register?"
Hearing this, Xiaoguang's eyes lit up, "We're just about to register! Let's join together!"
"Could do, could do..."
"Let's hurry! Maybe we can just make it to register!"
In a rush, Xiaoguang stood up; Piplup caught sight out of the corner of its eye and immediately tried to follow but found Mawile still eating leisurely, feeling troubled.
Luckily, Baimu came to the rescue.
"No need to rush, the Kaina City's Gorgeous Competition just ended yesterday, you won't be able to register even if you go."
"Is that so? Ah hahaha..."
Feeling slightly awkward, Xiaoguang sat back down.
Piplup sighed with relief, ready to continue eating, only to see Mawile had already finished its fruit parfait and was elegantly wiping its mouth.
This left Piplup momentarily petrified.
"Pip... lup..."
Its face showed streams of tears like noodles, sitting down dejectedly to continue eating, making Mawile's expression strange, thinking this fellow might have some serious issue.
Baimu pulled out his phone, aiming the screen at her:
"Of course, if you follow the bloggers of city-level Gorgeous Competitions in Poké Blogger, you'll see related information, you have a phone, right?"
"I have, I have!"
Xiaoguang pulled out a pink smartphone from her pocket, watching Baimu's phone screen while operating hers.
"Sorry, I got too excited just now."
She looked a bit embarrassed, then excitedly started operating her phone again, saying, "But I never knew there were so many official accounts for the Gorgeous Competition!"
"I only figured these things out recently myself."
Baimu put away his phone, looking out at the sunny sky through the floor-to-ceiling window, "There are still six days until the competition; I hope we can quickly complete—"
"Ah! Such a high number of views! So many likes! And so many comments from top Coordinator Trainers!"
The sudden scream made his heart skip a beat.
He shifted his gaze, to find Xiaoguang holding up her phone, playing a video of Mawile performing the Flame Spin Dance, looking astonished and asking, "Is Mr. Baimu and Mawile such a famous Gorgeous Competition duo!?"
No doubt she also got the related video pushed to her.
"I already said just call me Baimu. These are just superficial fame boosted by traffic, having little to do with actual strength."
Baimu gestured her to sit down, body relaxed, then pulled up clips from her performances captured by people in various places, "See, you actually have even more, it's just a gimmick."
"Really?"
Xiaoguang compared the videos on both phones, Mawile's having several times more views and likes than hers.
But she felt what Baimu said made sense.
"Really, I just set the theme and haven't started practicing yet," he stated very sincerely.
Hearing this, Xiaoguang perked up again, "Practice? Need my help? Why don't we practice together! A friend of mine once said, act before you hesitate!"
Young people really are full of vitality...
But Baimu still appreciated her years of experience participating in Gorgeous Competitions, so he said, "Then I'll trouble you, it won't interfere too much, will it?"
"Absolutely no problem!"
Xiaoguang replied with her classic quote full of smiles.
Elsewhere.
Piplup finished the fruit parfait, its little belly round and full, staring at the ceiling in a daze, and when it noticed the Trainer standing, it hurried to follow.
But it couldn't quite get up, rolling over to the ground, and rolled up to Mawile's feet.
The latter courteously helped it up.
"Maw?"
"Pip... lup..." Piplup gazed at Mawile's cute face up close, smelled the faint scent of fragrance from it, and heard the gentle sound of the Calming Bell.
In that instant.
This little male penguin fell in love.
"Piplup~"
Its eyes turned into heart shapes, its cheeks flushing slightly.
But Mawile just found this fellow weird, thinking how could a Water Attribute Pokémon's face be so red.
"Piplup!"
Xiaoguang's voice snapped Piplup back to some sense, but it was undoubtedly enchanted by Mawile, moving towards the Trainer while reluctantly looking at Mawile.
The odd gaze made Mawile scamper to Baimu's side, tugging at his jacket.
"Maw!"
That Pokémon is so strange! Can you come and have a look!
"Huh?"
Baimu looked down at it, then glanced at Piplup with an enchanted expression and couldn't help but laugh, saying to Mawile, "Your charm is too great, you've totally captivated it!"
"Maw?"
Mawile didn't understand these words, only thinking Piplup, like all the people before, was a fan of it.
Hearing Baimu, Xiaoguang awkwardly called out to Piplup, who was always focused on Mawile, "Keep it together! Piplup!"
"Piplup..."
Hearing the Trainer's voice, Piplup momentarily regained its senses, but it lasted only a second.
"Piplup!"
Its eyes were once again filled with hearts.
"Hahahahaha." Baimu couldn't hold it any longer, bursting into laughter.
Mawile huffed and kicked him lightly, still unsure of what was up with Piplup, but certain that the Trainer wasn't up to anything good.
Xiaoguang sighed helplessly but couldn't help but smile.
"In that case, you'd better perform well later!"
"Piplup Piplup!"
Piplup puffed up its chest, looking like everything was under its control.