“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience!!!”
“Verdanturf Pokémon Contest is now underway——”
Taking charge of the hosting duties for the Hoenn Region’s Pokémon Contest was Vivian.
Though she bore a striking resemblance to the announcer Marian whom Terrance had met in Sinnoh, they were actually sisters.
“It seems like it’s not just Jenny, Nurse Joy… the number of look-alike relatives here is simply countless,” Terrance was speechless.
“Here we have the Chief of the Contest Committee, Mr. Raoul Contesta, who strictly and compassionately judges the contestants.”
“The President of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!”
“And next is Nurse Joy of Verdanturf Town.”
“The Coordinator and Pokémon that wins will be awarded the Verdanturf Ribbon! Additionally, contestants who have collected Ribbons from five various contests can also qualify to participate in the prestigious Pokémon Coordinator event—the Pokémon Grand Festival!”
Following this, Vivian exchanged some pleasantries with the three judges, and the judging began.
In the lounge, Terrance continued to observe. Due to his late registration, his number will be called quite late in the lineup.
But this also gave him the opportunity to observe the other contestants.
For Terrance, however, this opportunity proved to be quite boring as, among every ten contestants, only one seemed to take the competition seriously.
The rest appeared no different from Trainers who set out on their journey without even understanding Pokémon types.
It wasn’t until a contestant in a white dress appeared that Terrance’s interest was piqued slightly.
“It’s that girl.”
“I wonder how much improvement she’s made in just one night.”
On the field, Sora’s nerves were still on edge. Despite taking several deep breaths in succession, her heart continued to beat rapidly.
“Calm down, I must stay calm. Senpai should also be watching.”
Due to the large number of participants, there was more than one lounge. By the time she finished registering her props yesterday, Sora had lost track of Terrance.
Fortunately, Terrance was also a contestant, so she could see him again. Otherwise, Sora would have felt guilty for not thanking Terrance for his guidance.
“Well then, here we go, Beautifly!”
Amidst the warm applause of the audience, Sora’s Beautifly fluttered around, showing the beauty of its wings, eliciting another round of applause.
“First up, Gust!” Sora shouted, followed immediately by her tossing a frisbee.
“Hmm~~~” Amidst the Gust, the frisbee spun unstably in the air, but thankfully, it remained airborne.
“Next!!”
Subsequently, Sora tossed another frisbee. Though it seemed quite strenuous, the frisbee also fell within Beautifly’s grasp, joining the previous one.
“Very good, it worked.” Sora felt a sense of joy. Following Terrance’s advice, she and Beautifly manipulated the frisbees as much as possible, but their limit seemed to be handling only two frisbees.
Then would come Silver Wind that would disrupt the frisbee’s flight. But, she is unable to overcome this difficulty for now, so she opted to have Beautifly use Gust first, and then…
“Beautifly, release powdery scales!!”
Sora issued a command that even surprised Terrance in the lounge.
This Sora, though a rookie, seemed to be quite smart.
However, Terrance continued to watch. Although it was just powdery scales, it still interfered with the flight of the frisbees. So, how would Sora solve it?
The white powdery scales slowly mixed with the Gust, causing the frisbees to appear wobbly, on the verge of falling.
“Dance, Beautifly!” When the final step arrived, Sora became even more nervous. After issuing the command, she also ran out.
Meanwhile, Beautifly plunged into the storm filled with powdery scales, spinning along with the wind.
However, with Beautifly’s addition, the airflow within the storm became even more chaotic, almost collapsing. The two frisbees could no longer hold up.
“Pfff!”
“Pfff!”
But the next moment, as Beautifly spun in the storm, it seized the opportunity and spat out silk, hitting the frisbees.
The direction in which the frisbees were struck was where Sora was standing. Watching the frisbees flying towards her, Sora focused, her heart pounding, and her delicate body jumped, catching the two frisbees using her hands one after the other.
Then, with a pale face adorned with sweat, she slowly smiled while holding the frisbees and bowed to the audience in a concluding gesture.
Meanwhile, without the disturbance of the frisbees, Beautifly seemed to be like a fish in water amidst the Silver Wind, while Sora stood on the side; her pure white dress, Silver Wind, and the dancing Beautifly creating a beautiful scene.
“Clap~ Clap~” Listening to the gradually rising applause, Sora had never felt so excited. Success! The performance was complete.
Although she wasn’t sure of the outcome, she had done her best to improve and coordinate with Beautifly to the best of her ability.
“Oh, how beautiful! Contestant Sora and Beautifly are like spirits dancing in the Silver Wind~” Vivian exclaimed.
“So, how was Contestant Sora and Beautifly’s performance?”
But ultimately, it was up to the three judges to score.
“Reaching this level the first time is already impressive,” Nurse Joy remarked.
“There’s potential for the future,” Mr. Raoul Contesta added.
“Remarkable,” Mr. Sukizo chimed in.
Each contestant’s resume was with the three judges. As a pure rookie, Sora could reach this level in her first time, surprising the judges.
To perform so well on her first attempt, exhibiting more of a Coordinator’s flair than most contestants, this promising rookie deserved encouragement.
8.2 points, 8.4 points, 8.2 points, totaling 24.8 points.
“24.8, just shy of 25.” Sora glanced at the score, feeling a slight disappointment, but she quickly cheered up. The judges had given her ample encouragement.
“I wonder how many points Terrance-senpai received for his first performance…” Thinking of Terrance, who had offered her advice, Sora glanced in the direction of the cameras, wondering if he had seen her performance.
As for Terrance’s score, at that time, it was his first time participating in a Pokémon Contest, and it was also the only time he could participate in a Pokémon Contest.
Back then, Terrance had directly used his ace Golden Wind with Beautifly, stunning all the judges and earning three perfect scores, a perfect total.
“Not bad.” Terrance in the lounge, watching Sora’s performance, also changed his opinion of the girl.
She was quite smart. If she were to completely focus on Coordinator in the future, perhaps in a few years, she could earn the title of Top Coordinator.
As the performances of the following contestants unfolded, there were many who outshone Sora, but most of them were seasoned veterans who had participated in several Pokémon Contests. So, such a level of skill was not surprising.
With the rookie bonus, Sora’s score might have a chance to advance her into the top eight contestants for the second round.
Time passed slowly. As Terrance watched the performances of the other contestants, it was soon his turn to take the stage.
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