3:00 p.m.
The second match of the third round of Contest Battles had ended.
As expected, Lisia had become Baimu's final opponent.
"Just as I thought."
Leaning against Shiny Gengar beside him, he applauded the splendid performance he had just witnessed while looking down at Milotic and Surskit, both sprawled in the light rain.
Mira's disappointment was plain to see, too.
Just as he had expected, Lisia knew Pokémon like Milotic far too well. Even though she had never raised one herself, she knew their strengths and weaknesses inside out.
And Lisia was stronger than Mira to begin with, so the result was hardly surprising.
It would have been more startling if Mira had dug deep and beaten her.
"A match between teacher and student, huh..."
With one hand, Baimu kneaded Shiny Gengar's soft yet springy "ear." Feeling it deform beneath his palm and spring back into shape made him oddly happy.
He had wanted to squeeze it for ages. He just had not found the right opportunity.
Before now, he had always had the feeling Gengar would run if he touched it.
Then again, Gengar really was a Pokémon made of shadow. Its body was seamless, without a single opening besides its mouth.
Even its eyes looked painted on rather than set into sockets like a human's.
That made it even cuter.
Baimu reached out with his other hand, took hold of Gengar's other ear, and moved behind it to rub both gently.
"Gen~"
Shiny Gengar looked a little awkward.
It had never been this close to a human before. It had felt a tiny bit envious when it saw other Pokémon nuzzling up to their trainers.
But now that it was experiencing more physical contact, Gengar, whose idea of affection had stopped at head pats, found it hard