"A shiny Beldum! That's Champion Steven's signature Pokémon! Am I dreaming right now?"
"Is that a Dragon-type Pokémon? It looks so domineering! I've never seen it in the Pokédex!"
"There are actually this many rare Pokémon I've never seen before—this is way too enviable!"
The spectators who had never seen these two Pokémon before exclaimed in amazement one after another. Around them were familiar faces who had watched Theo's previous matches, and they immediately stepped up enthusiastically to act as commentators, explaining things to the others.
Beldum used to get shy whenever there were too many people around, hiding behind Theo and refusing to show itself. But this time, with Milotic and Tyrantrum beside it, its courage had clearly grown quite a bit.
It drifted over to Milotic's side, imitating Milotic's mannerisms. Its red eyes flickered faintly as it used Psychic power to lift several spectators slightly into the air, triggering waves of astonished cries from all around.
A young man in the crowd stepped forward and deliberately cut in line to tease it. "Beldum, I want to float too!"
Beldum tilted its head, and unexpectedly, it really did comply—but instead of lifting him up in place, it carried him backward toward the rear of the crowd, as if saying, "Go line up." The sight sent everyone into even louder laughter.
Seeing Beldum steal the spotlight, Tyrantrum's competitive streak flared up immediately.
It lowered its head and nudged the corner of a little girl's clothes with its snout, as if inviting her.
After hesitating for a moment, the little girl climbed on. Tyrantrum proudly shook its body, scaring her into letting out a shrill scream as she clutched its back—but when she got down, her face flushed red as she shouted, "That was so exciting! I want to do it again!"
At this point, no one could stay calm anymore. People who wanted to be a "dragon rider" instantly formed a long line. Tyrantrum became busy running back and forth, yet its tail was cocked high with unmistakable pride.
Nearby, Nurse Joy of Mauville City had not yet left. Unlike Chairman Sukizo and Mr. Contesta, who had many matters to attend to, as the local Pokémon Center nurse, she finally had some free time and wanted to come say hello to Theo.
When she saw Beldum, her eyes lit up. She walked over briskly, her brows curved in a gentle smile. "Beldum, may I give you a hug?"
Beldum stopped lifting people with its Psychic power and tilted its head, staring at Nurse Joy's face again and again. Its red eyes blinked softly, as if it were seriously thinking it over.
Then it turned its body and looked toward Theo. Seeing Theo smile and nod, it fluttered over and dove straight into Nurse Joy's arms.
Nurse Joy carefully held it, her fingertips lightly scratching its metallic body. Beldum narrowed its eyes in comfort, letting out soft ding-ding sounds.
"Beldum, I want a hug too!" a young man nearby called out eagerly.
But Beldum haughtily wriggled in Nurse Joy's arms, snuggling closer, and at the same time gently pushed the young man with Psychic power, sending him drifting back into the crowd.
This "beauty-only recognition" behavior made everyone burst into laughter. Even Nurse Joy couldn't help smiling, poking its body lightly with her finger. "You little rascal—you're quite good at choosing people."
This moment was captured by countless cameras, and the livestream chat instantly flooded like a waterfall:
"Aaaahhh Beldum got to get a hug from Nurse Joy! I'm so jealous my teeth are about to fall out!"
"Last time at the Gym Leader Wattson Gym match, Beldum wouldn't even let anyone touch it—why is it so obedient with Nurse Joy? Looks really is justice, huh!"
"Beldum: Only high looks qualify for hugs, got it?"
"The streamer pampers fans way too much—no airs at all, letting his Pokémon play with everyone for so long. Totally regret not going to the venue!"
After a while, Nurse Joy returned Beldum to Theo. A cool metallic chill still lingered on her fingertips as she smiled and said, "Your Pokémon are all very cute, especially Beldum. It's livelier than any I've seen at the Pokémon Center."
"Thank you for taking care of them, Nurse Joy," Theo replied.
Theo held Beldum, which was still reluctant to leave and kept leaning toward Nurse Joy. Only after he gently tapped its head did it finally settle down.
While signing the autograph books handed to him, Theo smiled as he directed the three little companions to cooperate for photos.
Milotic was responsible for "beauty," Beldum for "cuteness," and Tyrantrum for "mount duty"—their roles were clearly divided.
Time slipped by little by little. The slanting sunset poured in, gilding the noisy crowd with a warm golden edge.
The once-dense crowd gradually thinned out. By the end, only a handful of spectators remained, still unwilling to leave as they took photos of Milotic.
Theo raised his hand to glance at his watch and only then realized that nearly three hours had passed since the competition ended.
Even the staff had changed shifts. A newly arrived young staffer leaned against the wall, yawning, yet still smiled and gave Theo a thumbs-up.
"Alright everyone, that's it for today," Theo waved to the last few spectators. His voice carried a hint of fatigue, yet remained gentle. "Thank you all for your support. We'll meet again if fate allows."
Although the spectators wanted to stay longer, they knew they couldn't impose too much. They waved goodbye with smiles, still calling out, "Keep it up!" and "We'll always support you!"
When he reached the entrance of the arena, the evening breeze blew toward him, carrying the unique scent of Mauville City's electric particles.
Theo lifted his head to gaze at the sunset clouds on the horizon, like an overturned palette—so brilliant it was hard to look away.
He walked out of the Contest Hall, ending today's livestream.
Looking at the livestream settlement interface on his system panel, Theo was momentarily stunned by the popularity numbers jumping on the screen.
This Mauville City Contest livestream, which started in the morning and was followed by three hours of post-match photo sessions and Pokémon interactions, had reached a total duration of an astonishing 8 hours and 4 minutes.
[Today's Livestream Duration: 8 hours 4 minutes]
[Peak Concurrent Viewers: 4,414,257]
[Total Popularity Points: 9,127,896]
Seeing the peak viewer count approaching 4.4 million, Theo beamed with joy.
He remembered that just two days ago, during his challenge of Gym Leader Wattson's Gym, the peak viewers were only around 2.1 million. Today, it had nearly doubled.
Clearly, the scene of Feebas evolving into Milotic had produced an unexpected breakout effect, attracting a massive wave of new viewers.
"Looks like I won't have to worry about items like energy orbs for quite a while," Theo thought happily to himself.
Looking at the popularity points, a relaxed smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he directly chose to exchange all of them for an advanced ten-pull draw.
In his mind, the virtual lottery interface flickered rapidly as various items popped up one after another:
[Advanced Energy Orb ×26, TM: Draining Kiss ×1, Scald ×1, Ice Punch ×1, Play Rough ×1, Substitute ×1, Will-O-Wisp ×1, Flamethrower ×1, Iron×11, Protein ×9, Carbos ×8, Zinc ×10, HP Boost ×7, Calcium ×12]
[Draining Kiss: Fairy-type move. Steals the target's HP with a kiss, restoring more than half of the damage dealt as HP.]
[Scald: Attacks by spraying boiling hot water at the target. Sometimes leaves the target burned after hitting.]
[Ice Punch: Attacks the target with an icy fist. Sometimes leaves the target frozen.]
[Play Rough: Fairy-type move. Plays rough with the target to attack; sometimes lowers the target's Attack.]
[Will-O-Wisp: Releases eerie flames to leave the target burned.]
[Flamethrower: Attacks the target with intense flames; sometimes leaves the target burned.
This long string of rewards made Theo nod in satisfaction. Energy Orbs and stat-boosting vitamins went without saying.
What truly delighted him were the TMs. Draining Kiss and Scald could go to Milotic, while Play Rough would be perfect for Tyrantrum, giving it an extra countermeasure against Dragon-type Pokémon in the future.
The gains from this day were, without a doubt, far beyond expectations.
(End of Chapter)