Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

As the storm subsided, the flowers in Poison Rose's hands suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, and the surrounding light seemed to be drawn to it as if by a black hole.

But then, Xiaoyao made the Hunting Butterfly dance again.

This second butterfly dance, though equally beautiful, resulted in fewer points being deducted from the opponent's score.

"Hmph, although I don't know what you're up to, this will stop here."

"Poison Rose, Sunfire!"

"My goodness, what a beautiful radiance!"

The intense sunlight emanating from the poisonous rose drew gasps of amazement from the judges, and its dazzling seven-colored rays rapidly advanced towards the hunting swallowtail butterfly.

Before she could even hit anything, Xiaoyao's score had already been reduced to just the last little bit.

If this shot hits, Haruka will lose.

"Hunting swallowtail butterfly, spinning silk!"

However, to the audience's surprise, the hunting swallowtail butterfly did not attack its opponent with its silk-spinning technique.

A jet of pure white silk shot swiftly from the long beak of the hunting swallowtail butterfly, instantly enveloping it tightly.

Just as the hedgehog evolved into a cocoon, it firmly protected the body of the swallowtail butterfly.

"What's the use of spinning silk at a time like this!" Xiao Shun scoffed.

"Go forth, my most beautiful flower, and finish off your opponent!"

"Get out of here!!!"

The powerful force of the blazing sun easily pierced through the barrier constructed by the silk threads.

To Xiao Shun's great surprise, after the Silk-Spitting Fortress was broken, it was completely empty.

"Where's the hunting swallowtail butterfly?"

Chapter 404 The Ultimate Victor of the Tournament

"Heh heh, it's up there!" Xiaoyao revealed a smug smile.

Just as the silk barrier was about to close, the Hunting Swallowtail had already quietly flown into the sky by accelerating twice.

They had now reached the top of the poisonous rose's head.

"Air Blade!"

"What?! Poison Rose! Get out of the way!"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The cascading air blades left the poisonous rose with nowhere to hide.

Even though it managed to dodge some attacks with its nimble dance moves, it was quickly covered by a dense barrage of air blades, triggering a critical hit.

"Understand!?"

Poison Rose collapsed, losing her ability to fight, and Shun's score was instantly deducted.

In a Pokémon Contest, the match ends immediately when one Pokémon is unable to battle.

"Poison Rose, how could this be... how could I lose like this..."

"Oh dear, a major reversal has occurred on the first stage of the magnificent battle. I never expected that Poison Rose, who had been in the lead all along, would suddenly lose its ability to fight."

"This victory belongs to Xiaoyao!"

"Yay! How about that, Shun? I'm the one who won in the end!" Haruka happily hugged her Hunting Butterfly and gave Shun a peace sign in a taunt.

From the very beginning, she never intended to surpass the more experienced actress, Kosuke; her goal from the start was to defeat her.

This guy is so annoying, Xiaoyao doesn't want to lose to him no matter what.

"...Hmph." Xiao Shun didn't say a word, retracted the poisonous rose, and turned to leave.

Given his personality, he would definitely have said something like, "Is this considered a flashy battle?" to mock Xiaoyao.

But that's the rule of the tournament: if you lose, you lose. Making incompetent excuses after a defeat is an ugly thing to do, and he would never do that.

"What's this guy up to?"

Seeing Green Hair leave like that, Xiaoyao's joy of victory diminished considerably, because she knew that her victory hadn't been 'glorious' at all.

Ash and his friends, who were waiting in the player tunnel after the match, immediately surrounded May as soon as she came down.

"Congratulations, Xiaoyao."

"Yes, sister made it to the next round. Maybe that means she can aim for the Ribbon Medal!"

"..."

At this moment, Ash noticed that May's expression was off.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyao? You look so thoughtful. You should be happy after winning."

"Ash, I have a feeling that winning like this isn't a good idea."

"Ah, sister, what are you saying?"

"The other side is that annoying guy, and we didn't break any rules. A victory is a victory."

However, Ash stopped Max from continuing.

"Xiaoyao, don't you feel like you won a little unfairly?"

"After all, this is a grand battle. If we're talking about tradition, the green-haired kid is much stronger than you."

“Yes.” Xiaoyao immediately widened her big, watery eyes and looked over.

As always, Xiao Zhi was able to quickly understand her feelings, making her unconsciously want to rely on him.

“In the previous competition, he had almost deducted all my points, but I only deducted a tiny bit from Xiaoshun.”

"That is indeed your shortcoming."

"Ah~" Xiaoyao immediately lowered her head.

At this moment, Xiaozhi suddenly changed the subject.

"But in the glamorous battles, both the glamorous aspect and the battle itself are equally important."

"You only focused on the battle and neglected the spectacle, and your opponent also only focused on the spectacle and forgot about the battle aspect."

"If we're really talking about reflection, the one who should be reflecting the most is that green-haired kid."

"However, you should also learn from the other person's strengths and practice your ability to showcase the charm of Pokémon."

"Next time, we must win even more decisively."

"But no matter what, you won. Now you should enjoy your victory. Look, even the Hunting Butterfly is afraid to show too much joy because of you."

"Oh, really?"

At that moment, Xiaoyao quickly looked at the hunting butterfly that had landed on her head.

In the battle just now, it gave it its all, and even its trainer, May, forgot to praise it properly.

After Ash and Max talked to her, May finally understood.

"We must work hard to make up for our shortcomings. But we should also celebrate our current victory with our partners who have worked together with us!"

At the same time, she quickly lost track of time to overthink things.

Because her next opponent has already been determined, it's Robert, the blond heartthrob who uses Milotic, and is also in the other section of the first stage.

With his absolute strength, he easily crushed his first opponent and became Xiaoyao's next opponent.

"My sister is so unlucky. She's been facing the top two in the first round of judging twice in a row. There's no hope for her."

"Xiaosheng, can't you have a little more faith in your older sister?!"

"I will give it my all; it's not like I'm guaranteed to lose."

She defeated Shun with her superior strength, and although the victory wasn't entirely legitimate, it still gave Haruka a lot of confidence.

She won't be intimidated in the upcoming matches.

But soon, Xiaoyao understood what the gap meant.

On the battle stage, Robert still gently and elegantly issued commands that felt like death itself.

"Milanos, let's use the tornadoes."

"Beautiful~!"

Milotic slowly unfurled its beautiful tail, releasing a swirling storm in an instant.

The surrounding silk threads were swept away, and the hunting swallowtail butterfly was instantly caught in them and fell heavily to the ground.

"Hold on, Swallowtail Butterfly!" Haruka's brows were furrowed; she was completely at a loss.

The Milotic on the other side not only has gorgeous and elegant movements, but is also extremely powerful.

The difference in levels between Pokémon and trainers is too great.

Xiaoyao's original strategy of using String Shot to interfere, Butterfly Dance to enhance, and Silver Whirlwind to finish off enemies was completely ineffective.

It's fair to say that she can't compete in beauty or strength; she's not even in the same league.

Even if it were that guy Xiaoshun, he would definitely be crushed.

Soon, Milotic's alluring voice rang out once again.

One by one, solid rainbow syllables floated quickly to the side of the hunting swallowtail butterfly and exploded instantly.

The light was dazzling yet full of damage; after that attack, Xiaoyao's score was completely depleted.

Beep, beep beep—!

As the grand stage announcement sounded, Haruka dejectedly retracted her Hunting Butterfly.

"Oh dear, it seems that Miss Haruka's journey will end here, as this is her first time participating in the Grand Assembly."

"For a newcomer participating for the first time, Miss Xiaoyao is already quite impressive."

"Let's give a round of applause to the athletes who fought hard and to the Pokémon who gave us such a wonderful performance..."