“I didn’t expect it at all, the one with the best score in the first round of the main competition turned out to be the Supernova Terrance.”
“I didn’t expect it either, I thought it would be Hani.”
“But when it comes to the Contest Battle, I think Terrance’s disadvantage will become apparent, especially if it’s still Beautifly…”
After the first round of the main competition ended, most people believed that Contest Battle would be disadvantageous for Beautifly.
“But it’s not absolute. Have you forgotten that someone once won the title of Top Coordinator with a Beautifly?”
“That can’t be compared… Look at the lineup of contestants this year. Can any previous Grand Festival match this one? This year’s Top Coordinator title would be the most prestigious ever. Have you ever seen Master Wallace attend any Grand Festival before?”
“Hmm…”
…
…
A total of 32 contestants advanced after the first round of the main competition. These 32 contestants all received high recognition in the Appeals Round and were seen as capable of competing for the Top Coordinator honor.
But among them, the most dazzling were the six from the first tier of the preliminary round.
At the Grand Festival’s main venue, on the stage, as Vivian announced, “The battle begins!” the first two Coordinators taking the stage immediately started their battle.
Five minutes may seem long or short, but the Coordinators gave it their all, showcasing magnificent techniques to affect each other.
“Finally, it’s Terrance’s turn.”
The matches of Top 16 had just begun, but those waiting for Terrance’s battle felt like they had been waiting for an eternity.
As Terrance’s and his opponent’s pictures lit up, a new battle was about to begin.
“Alright, the next battle is between Contestant Terrance from Fallarbor Town and Contestant Satoru from White River City!” [TN: White River City is a novel original city not from pokemon canon.]
As Vivian finished speaking, the two contestants began walking toward the stage.
In the audience seats.
“Satoru’s score in the first round of the main competition wasn’t that low, right?” Yuu Tachibana asked Yui beside her. Aside from the scores of the first-tier contestants, she hadn’t paid much attention to the others, and by now, she had almost forgotten them.
“Hmm… I can’t remember either, but I do recall the Pokémon he used in the last round was…”
The five-minute countdown started, and both contestants threw out their Poké Balls. With a deafening roar, a creature appeared before the audience. It looked somewhat like a dragon, with a fierce appearance, blue body, and a pair of blood-red wings.
With that mighty roar, Terrance’s Beautifly, which had recovered from the Appeals Round, fluttered gracefully in the air. In contrast, it looked fragile and delicate.
“As expected, it’s Salamence…”
From the preliminary round to the main competition, Satoru had been under quite the spotlight. Salamence is one of the rarest Pokémon a Hoenn Trainer could obtain, and it’s not often seen across the entire Hoenn.
It was only because his score wasn’t as dazzling as the six people of first-tier that he hadn’t been mentioned much.
But among the second-tier contestants, Satoru is undoubtedly the strongest. Just based on this Salamence alone, its aura completely overshadowed Terrance!
“The worst-case scenario has appeared,” Wallace whispered.
The disparity between species!
Fundamentally, Beautifly wasn’t recognized by Nurse Joy as its performance pushed it to its limits, which was due to its species and excessive stamina overdraft.
“Don’t worry, there might be a surprise.”
Raoul Contesta showed a strange expression, as if this scene seemed oddly familiar to him.
“That’s right! Terrance’s Castform, the one everyone underestimated, defeated the fierce Tyranitar from the Johto region with incredible skill.”
“This Salamence may not be stronger than that Trainer’s Tyranitar. Perhaps Terrance will create another miracle.”
His last opponent had been the Pokémon of a runner-up from the Ever Grande Conference. In terms of sheer strength, very few Coordinators here have Pokémon that can match up to that, right?
However, if it were a regular Trainer battle, Terrance’s Altaria and Arcanine wouldn’t be afraid in the slightest.
But a Pokémon Contest is always full of surprises, even more unpredictable than battles between Trainers. That’s the unique charm of being a Coordinator.
“Salamence!! Flamethrower!!”
A Flamethrower, brimming with a violent aura, erupted from Salamence’s mouth, surging towards the tiny Beautifly. At that moment, most of the audience couldn’t bear to watch and closed their eyes. Though they knew the battle wouldn’t end this quickly, just thinking about what would happen to Beautifly if it got hit by the Flamethrower filled them with dread.
Beautifly moved, spinning gracefully to create a swirling air current. Just before the flames struck, it deftly evaded them and began to dance mysteriously, following the changes in the air currents.
Flamethrower missed, but the hearts of the audience were racing. Salamence had disappeared—after releasing the flames, its entire body vanished into the flames, showing no fear of the searing heat. It used the flames to envelop itself and moved swiftly toward Beautifly.
“Roar——”
The flames coalesced into a ferocious set of fiery jaws the moment Beautifly fled, snapping viciously at the escaping Beautifly.
Crack! Boom!
The sudden Fire Fang perfectly utilized the lingering power of Flamethrower, striking out with incredible speed, viciously biting down at Beautifly. But when the explosion’s sound faded, Beautifly was not as battered and scarred as the audience expected, but instead seemed unscathed. The air currents swept up the sparks from the exploding Fire Fang, forming swirling currents that resembled Fire Spin with its coiling fire snakes. And Beautifly, like a fire spirit, continued to dance its magical Quiver Dance without any hindrance.
How is this possible—
“It dodged?!” Satoru’s mind buzzed in confusion. He couldn’t understand what had happened—Fire Fang had hit, hadn’t it?!
There was no reason for Beautifly to be completely unharmed!!
“My goodness, even after taking a Fire Fang from Salamence, Beautifly is completely fine and still performing… Quiver Dance?!” Vivian exclaimed in shock.
“That well-connected Fire Fang didn’t even disrupt Beautifly’s Quiver Dance?!” Wallace perked up, observing the battle closely.
“As I expected, Terrance won’t be defeated that easily. I have faith in him,” Raoul Contesta thought to himself…
The surging flames intertwined into the most primal claws and fangs. After it didn’t succeed with one strike, then another, Salamence and Satoru didn’t lose their composure, but their attack frequency increased noticeably. However, as the air currents around Beautifly changed, a silvery sheen appeared. The powdery scales of Beautifly’s Silver Wind had mixed into the swirling air currents, making them incredibly sharp. So, every time Beautifly flew past Salamence, it left a deep scratch.
Beautifly was constantly performing Quiver Dance, and its powdery scales became sharper and sharper. Combined with its clever manipulation of the air currents, Beautifly’s speed became so fast that Salamence could no longer keep up. Throughout the entire battle… Salamence couldn’t even touch Beautifly once!!
On the contrary, when Satoru’s appeal points hit zero, Salamence’s injured body, covered in wounds and scratches, appeared in people’s sight.
A resounding victory, an absolute resounding victory—an outcome no one had anticipated. The combo of Beautifly’s Quiver Dance and combo technique of powdery scales and air currents had surpassed Satoru’s understanding. Even after five minutes, he couldn’t find a way to counter it! Disadvantage? It doesn’t exist.
Terrance advanced effortlessly.
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