The other contestants in the preparation room sensed the tension. They stopped talking and looked over curiously.
"Sorry. They're a little excited."
Xia Li hurriedly held back her eager Flareon and gave Lin Mo an apologetic smile. Then she offered him her hand. "I'm Xia Li. I've watched videos of your matches, and I'm a huge fan. I'm really happy I got to meet you in my first competition."
Lin Mo shook her hand, feeling the cool touch of her fingers. "Your debut was impressive. Flareon and Jolteon were amazing too. That Fire-and-Electric combo was creative. You deserved a perfect score."
"Thank you."
Xia Li's cheeks reddened. She clearly hadn't expected such direct praise. "But I know the judges might have given me a perfect score to encourage me because it was my first performance. I'm still not quite on your Milotic's level."
She paused, her gaze turning serious. "But I'll give the next round everything I've got."
"So will I."
Lin Mo smiled and glanced at Metagross beside him. "I'm sending out Metagross and Alolan Vulpix next round. That'll be a real show of what we can do, so watch out."
Metagross moved forward on cue. Its metal body gleamed silver under the lights, the cross on its face glowing faintly as a steady, imposing presence spread from it.
Jolteon instinctively edged back from Xia Li's side.
Flareon stepped in front of Jolteon and bared its teeth at Metagross, but Metagross's calm gaze made it falter.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
Just then, Larvesta ran between them. It raised its head and squeaked at Xia Li and her two Eevee evolutions.
Chest puffed out and face full of pride, it seemed to be declaring, We're definitely getting a perfect score!
It even ran up to Metagross and bumped hard against one