The Grand Festival.
An annual gathering of Coordinators held in each region.
Its purpose was to determine the strongest among countless outstanding Coordinators and award them the title of Top Coordinator. It was one of the premier events people clamored to follow.
Ever since Mawile had first taken a fancy to it,
four Pokémon Contest victories had earned Baimu a ticket to the event.
After nearly two weeks of waiting, the approaching Grand Festival had set him and Lisia on a journey to claim its highest honor.
The host city was—
LaRousse City.
That was right.
The high-tech city Ash and his friends had visited in the movie, where Rayquaza had fallen victim to humanity's advanced technology and two Deoxys had appeared.
Baimu had wanted to visit for ages but had never found the time. Who would have thought he'd end up going like this...
Before that, though, he needed to make a detour to Verdanturf Town.
He had promised Shiny Milotic they would go back and get "revenge" on that watermelon-haired kid, and he wasn't about to break his word. He could pick up some fresh Berries while he was there.
Verdanturf Town's Berries were exceptionally good. They produced top-quality Pokéblocks far more often than Berries bought elsewhere.
All three generations at the Sootopolis Gym especially liked using Berries grown in Verdanturf Town. Though they bought most of their Pokéblocks ready-made, they still made some themselves.
They did it to stay attuned to the effects of Pokéblocks.
Lisia had wanted to travel with Baimu, but as a Pokémon Contest idol, she had promotional appearances to make before the festival began. Television stations in towns across Hoenn wanted to interview her.
All she could do was watch her "wayward student" swagger onto a train out of Lilycove City.
If the