“Sora, long time no see.”
The rookie Coordinator who had met Terrance four years ago had now grown into a reliable, seasoned Coordinator.
She was still dressed the same way, still as sweet and cute as ever, with long, straight cream-colored hair, wearing a white dress and possessing snow-white skin.
“Terrance-senpai, it really has been a long time,” Sora said happily.
Toward this senior who had guided her onto the path of a Coordinator, Sora felt immense gratitude. Although she had yet to become a Top Coordinator, she was no longer far from that position.
Over the past four years, she had also accumulated experience from participating in the Grand Festival several times.
Terrance noticed that she was still carrying the black rabbit plush accessory she had never given up, and he smiled faintly. At that moment, several more people in the distance came over to greet Terrance.
These were all opponents he had encountered while participating in Pokémon Contests in the Kanto Region. Some admired him, some spoke provocatively, some simply offered polite greetings. Depending on their personalities, each exchanged a few words with Terrance, which indirectly reflected Terrance’s current influence in the Coordinator world.
“Hello, Senior Terrance.”
Just as Terrance was chatting with acquaintances and strangers alike, a girl with light green hair, dressed like an idol, slowly stepped forward.
She extended her hand, placed it over her chest in greeting, and said, “My name is Lisia. In this Pokémon Contest, my partner and I will defeat you… so I hope, Senior Terrance, that you will go all out. It would be best if… that Beautifly, or Altaria, were to take the stage.”
The girl’s declaration of challenge instantly quieted the Contestant lounge. Even the Coordinators who had previously spoken provocatively to Terrance had only left behind harsh words like “I’ll definitely win” before slinking away. A challenge like this, calling someone out by name and even specifying their Pokémon, was unexpected even for Terrance.
Those earlier provocations came from Coordinators who, despite yearning to defeat Terrance, understood the gap between them. It was merely a way to show their refusal to give up. Terrance was happy to accept that kind of “provocation”—it was all friendly competition.
However, those amicable “declarations of war” failed to stir even a hint of fighting spirit in Terrance. This girl’s challenge, on the other hand, made him feel anticipation.
“Her hair color and eye color…” Terrance observed the girl, seeing the shadow of someone else in her features.
“Lisia, right… what is your relationship with Wallace?” Terrance asked with a curl of his lips.
“Wallace is my uncle. I came from Hoenn for the sake of defeating you, Senior Terrance. Once I defeat you, he’ll be next,” Lisia said calmly.
“I know you. The super genius who debuted at the Lilycove City Pokémon Contest, praised as having potential surpassing Master Wallace and Master Terrance—the super rookie, Lissi, right?” Sora suddenly spoke up from the side. She smiled as she looked at Lisia. This new-generation super genius rookie of the Hoenn Coordinator scene had also come to the Kanto Region… how interesting.
“So she’s Wallace’s…” Terrance suddenly understood. No wonder she looked so similar, and…
His gaze shifted to the ornament on Lisia’s head, and Terrance was greatly shocked. That was… a Key Stone!
In other words, this Lissi possessed the power of Mega Evolution!
She could be said to be the first Coordinator Terrance had ever met who had mastered Mega Evolution. No wonder she was hailed as a super genius rookie surpassing Wallace and himself. She was indeed no simple opponent.
After giving it some thought, Terrance spoke with a smile.
“I accept your challenge. I’ll be waiting for you in the finals,” Terrance said in a relaxed tone. Even after learning that she had mastered Mega Evolution, he felt no tension at all; only anticipation.
Now, he himself had become a sort of final boss. Could this new-generation genius Coordinator from Hoenn defeat him and shake both Kanto and Hoenn? Terrance was very curious.
As soon as Terrance finished speaking, Lisia turned around and walked straight toward the corner.
No one noticed the nervous expression that surfaced on her face afterward. Lisia quickly covered her chest, taking a deep breath while her back was turned to the crowd.
“So scary… I actually declared war on Senior Terrance. Now I really have to go all out. Ali, I’m counting on you.”
Gripping her Poké Ball, the immensely popular idol Lissi from the Hoenn region seemed to find a source of support. She quickly regained her usual calm, then slowly turned around and looked up at the live broadcast on the big screen.
At the same time, in the other Contestant lounges… Marina, Daisy Oak, Solidad, Yuma, Chaz, Chisana, and other well-known Coordinators were also watching the live broadcast on the big screen.
On the screen, as Vivian introduced this Grand Festival, along with the judges and the rules, the preliminaries were finally about to begin!
This Grand Festival’s rules were very different from the Pokémon Contest formats Terrance had encountered before, likely due to the large number of participants.
Before the main competition, an additional preliminary round had been added, called the Appeal Round. In this segment, each Contestant’s Pokémon could use only a single move to display its charm.
The Contest Hall had two arenas for the Appeal Round. On each arenas, three Nurse Joys are responsible for judging and scoring, followed by a further selection and filtering process by Mr. Raoul Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and the Saffron City Nurse Joy, who represents all Nurse Joys of the Kanto Region!
For this Grand Festival, the two arenas were hosted separately: the first arena by Vivian, and the second arena by Lilian, who had been invited from Hoenn. The sister duo took the stage together!
“All right, everyone, are you getting excited?” After explaining the rules, Vivian’s smile suddenly turned serious. “However, out of 236 participating Contestants, only 64 will advance to tomorrow’s main competition. This Grand Festival is extremely strict, so please do your best, everyone~”
236 Contestants, narrowed down to 64 in the preliminaries. The audience was shocked.
“These rules are really brutal…” Terrance remarked.
Out of 236 people, every single one had come with passion to compete, yet the vast majority would be eliminated in the preliminaries. The Grand Festival had gradually evolved into a high-level event.
Following the Contestant numbers, as Vivian and Lilian announced the official start of the Appeal Round, one Coordinator after another stepped onto the main stage.
Facing this stage where a Coordinator’s proudest Pokémon shines, every participating Contestant watched the live broadcast intently, even though this was only the preliminaries.
After all, one of them might become their next opponent, and even from a single move, it was possible to gain valuable experience. Any Coordinator capable of entering the Grand Festival was no ordinary individual.
74… 79… 85… 80… 92… One contestant after another took the stage, and the judges’ scores appeared alongside them.
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