"Happy!"
Blissey opened its mouth, spraying venom onto Dragonite's body.
Although there were fine scales separating it, the venom was still quickly absorbed, causing the furious Dragonite's face to flare with a faint dark purple glow.
Having achieved its goal, it quickly let go.
"Roar!"
Poisoned and still trying to escape!?
The enraged Dragonite was not willing to let Blissey off so easily. When the latter released its tiny hands and left its back, it unhesitatingly unleashed a punch!
Boom!
Ice and dust flew!
Blissey watched in fear as claws stopped less than ten centimeters away, thinking it was good that it used Minimize twice, which significantly improved its reflexive dodge speed, allowing it to barely avoid the attack.
Heavens know how much damage it would have taken if that punch hit directly.
Its egg would probably be shattered.
"Roll and use Reflective Wall!"
Blissey rolled sideways like a ball, and a layer of blue light enveloped its body, transforming into a massive square barrier as the berserk Inverted Scale state Dragonite chased relentlessly, spitting out streams of purple bubbles.
The Severe Poison status had begun to take effect, unlike ordinary poisoning, Severe Poison's damage increases over time.
So even though Dragonite had recovery moves like Feather Rest, the damage from Severe Poison would eventually grow to a point where Feather Rest alone couldn't sustain it.
Therefore.
Unless Dragonite and Naqi suddenly burst like described in friendship where just five hearts could potentially heal abnormal conditions, all Blissey needed to do was stall for time.
The outcome was already determined—
The staff watching all showed regretful expressions, Shouta clenched his fists and remained silent for a long time, and the director, in deep thought, had no idea how to edit this match.
But the two Trainers seated in the Trainer's area and the two battling Pokémon inside the field did not relax at all and fought with all their might.
They knew well that until the last moment, even the safest setup faced the possibility of overturning.
And as Naqi saw Baimu's serious expression, while she was impressed, she couldn't help but feel wistful, acknowledging that gyms were good places for challengers to learn and bore an important teaching responsibility.
But she had nothing left to teach the other person, who already possessed all the qualities of an excellent Trainer, perhaps even surpassing her own.
Since that was the case.
She could only repay Baimu's seriousness by persisting until the last second.
"Chase it down! It's not over yet!"
Naqi's voice echoed across the field, igniting the spirits of the surrounding staff, and they seemed strongly stimulated, rousing their previously dulled minds.
The director's eyes lit up, looking toward her resolute face, he shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Close up! Give me a facial close-up!"
Many cameras turned their lenses.
In the field.
Blissey ran for its life, evading Dragonite's attacks as best as it could, giving the latter no chance for a counterattack.
And seeing it roll almost a complete circle, finally returning near Baimu, he decisively took out a Pokeball, switched Blissey out, and called in Mawile.
"Maw—ile!"
Mawile had barely landed when it saw an enraged Dragonite charging straight at it and instinctively assumed a defensive stance.
However.
"Sword Dance!"
The Trainer's voice reached its ears, and while Mawile furrowed its brows, it did not hesitate, spinning its giant jaw at the back of its head like dancing in place.
Meanwhile, Dragonite reached it, its stout fists enveloped in a blood-red aura, pounding furiously at Mawile who was twirling its giant jaw!
Bam bam bam bam bam—
Circles of milky-white shockwaves erupted, showing just how powerful Dragonite's attack was in the Inverted Scale state. However, as Inverted Scale is a Dragon Attribute move, it caused no energy damage to Mawile even without a Reflective Wall.
The heavy force of Dragonite's claw was continuously resolved and evaded by Mawile's superb combat skills, failing to deliver its intended effect.
Is that all?
Mawile's gaze toward Dragonite carried a hint of disdain.
"—Roar!!"
Dragonite was instantly triggered, tilting its head back and emitting a sinister howl. However, during the long chase against Blissey, it had depleted sufficient Dragon Attribute Energy and was only delivering a meaningless assault on the Fairy Attribute Mawile.
So, unfortunately, it was relieved from the Inverted Scale state.
Dragonite entered a state of confusion.
Not just that.
As the Severe Poison status continued to ferment over time, it had drained its stamina to a dangerous level, causing it to fall, half-kneeling on the ground immediately after roaring.
"Now's the time! Playful!"
Baimu had waited for the moment when Dragonite was relieved from the Inverted Scale state, rendered vulnerable by both confusion and poison.
Naqi's call was a tad late, "Quick, use Feather Rest!"
Nice try!
Mawile raised its rather feeble-looking small fist, rushing at Dragonite's head without hesitation, delivering a flurry of punches, then swung its giant jaw to clamp onto Dragonite's head, lifting and spinning it like a windmill in midair.
"How is this possible!?"
Shouta couldn't help but exclaim, "Gravity state... ah! The gravity is over!"
He suddenly realized the gravity state wasn't particularly long-lasting.
And after being "played" with, bombarded by a substantial amount of pink Fairy energy, Dragonite could no longer hold up, utterly fainting when Mawile tossed it toward Naqi's Trainer seat for the second time.
Crash!
Dust billowed and quickly dispersed with the breeze.
Lai He swallowed hard, raised a flag, "Dragonite is unable to battle, Mawile wins. All four of the Gym Leader's Pokémon have lost their ability to battle, thus the winner of this Gym challenge is—
"Challenger Baimu!"
"Wow!!"
Before Baimu could react, a joyful cheer erupted among the staff.
Immediately thereafter, all the TV station staff began to applaud, giving their applause to the Trainer and Pokémon who showcased superb technique and fought to the very last moment.
Shouta clapped vigorously, looking at Baimu standing on the Trainer platform with admiration in his eyes.
'I also want to become a strong Trainer like him!'
The boy continuously echoed this sentiment in his heart.
And as the elevator brought Baimu back to the ground.
He quickly approached Mawile, extending his hand with a beaming smile.
"Well done! The final moment was rightly entrusted to you!"
"Mawile!"
Mawile gently leaped up to tap his palm, landing and swiftly assuming an expression of pride mingled with smugness, as if saying it was a good call.
As the next candidate for Super Evolution.
Baimu thought it over thoroughly, realizing he and Mawile shared a common trait—
An obsession and yearning for victory.
Although Mawile showed little interest in many things, it always hoped to excel at everything, be it battles or Gorgeous Competitions, it set its sights on winning.
Clearly, there must be other commonalities, but Baimu felt he could start nurturing this aspect first, adding others gradually.
The final strike against Dragonite.
Giving it to Mawile was both a tactical decision to leave no openings for the opponent and a continuous cultivation of such a sensation.
Nearby.
After recalling and comforting Dragonite, Naqi slowly walked forward.
"Congratulations, Baimu. Your strength amazed me; this White Feather Badge is well deserved."
She didn't hold back her praise, handing over the badge.
"You flatter me, thank you."
Baimu nodded, accepting the badge whose appearance resembled feathers and wings, with a gradient of white to blue eloquently symbolizing the azure skies and white clouds.
Naqi said, "This should be your sixth badge, right?"
"Yes."
"Only two more are needed to meet the conference's eight-badge requirement, but it's getting late in the year. If you want ample time to prepare for the conference, you'll need to speed up your journey."
"I understand."
Baimu recognized it as a kind reminder.
The Ever Grande Conference usually occurred in spring the following year, and as winter approached, it indeed wasn't early anymore.
Nevertheless, due to geographical conditions, Hoenn's winters were not particularly cold.
Snowing was hardly a possibility.