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Facing Roselia's Magical Leaf, Beautifly immediately responded.
"Beautifly—Gust!"
As Beautifly beat its wings, a powerful gust of wind surged forward, scattering the incoming leaves midair.
However, Drew had clearly trained Roselia specifically for situations like this.
Despite seeing its attack disrupted, he showed no sign of panic. Instead, a faint, confident smirk appeared on his face.
Roselia's eyes snapped open.
The Magical Leaf attack suddenly split apart, veering away from the center of the wind and curling around it—striking from both sides as if guided by an unseen force!
The sight left May stunned.
So did the audience.
Even Ash, Brock, and Misty widened their eyes in disbelief.
This wasn't something that could be achieved through simple repetition alone.
So how did Roselia manage it?
Kai stroked his chin thoughtfully. Among everyone present, only he immediately understood what had happened.
Although Magical Leaf deals Grass-type damage, it's different from most Grass-type moves. The word "Magical" isn't just for show—it gives the attack a natural homing property.
Because of that, when faced with strong wind-based interference, the leaves can take advantage of their light, drifting nature while still tracking their target.
That combination had created the perfect counter just now.
Unfortunately, May was still a beginner. She hadn't even fully memorized all move mechanics yet, let alone understood something this advanced.
Caught off guard by the sudden change in trajectory, she froze—unsure what command to give.
"Dodge, May! Hurry!"
Back in the waiting room, Ash and the others clenched their fists anxiously, wishing they could jump onto the stage and take over the battle themselves.
But May hesitated for just a moment too long.
Beautifly was struck.
Thankfully, Magical Leaf didn't deal heavy damage, so the hit wasn't devastating.
Still—
A Pokémon Contest Battle isn't about knocking out your opponent.
Kai glanced at the large screen overhead.
May's red score meter dropped sharply—nearly one-fifth gone—signaling that Drew had gained the upper hand with that exchange.
He checked the timer again.
A minute and a half had already passed.
That left May with only three and a half minutes.
Not good.
Encouraged by his success, Drew's smile widened. He pressed the attack without hesitation.
"Roselia—Stun Spore!"
Golden powder spread rapidly across the battlefield, filling the air and restricting Beautifly's movement.
At this point, May could have ordered another Gust to blow the spores away.
But under pressure, she panicked and chose a different approach.
"Beautifly—String Shot!"
Beautifly fired sticky silk toward Roselia, trying to bind it in place—
But Roselia immediately countered.
"Magical Leaf!"
The glowing leaves sliced cleanly through the silk.
And they didn't stop there.
After severing the threads, the attack continued forward and struck Beautifly again!
The same move—twice in a row.
May's score plummeted further, now hovering dangerously close to half.
Watching from the sidelines, Misty and the others felt their hearts sink.
Still, May didn't give up.
"Beautifly—Silver Wind!"
The strongest move Beautifly could currently use.
A shimmering vortex of silver wind erupted across the field—
But Drew was ready.
"Roselia—Petal Dance!"
A storm of petals burst forth, canceling out the Silver Wind entirely before surging straight toward Beautifly.
This time, May reacted just in time.
"Get out of the way!"
Beautifly narrowly dodged the attack.
But before May could even breathe a sigh of relief, Roselia had already begun charging its next move.
Solar energy gathered rapidly.
May's face went pale.
"Solar Beam…!"
She knew it instantly. If Roselia managed to fire that attack, Beautifly wouldn't stand a chance.
"Beautifly—String Shot, stop it!"
But she was too late.
Just as the silk left Beautifly's mouth, Roselia unleashed its fully charged Solar Beam.
A blinding pillar of light shot skyward, engulfing Beautifly completely.
The entire stadium was illuminated by the brilliant flash.
Beautifly didn't even have time to react before disappearing into the beam.
"…That's it," Brock muttered from the waiting room, slumping back onto the couch.
Everyone could tell.
The outcome was decided.
When the light faded, Beautifly—covered in injuries—collapsed onto the battlefield.
Vivian announced solemnly,
"Beautifly is unable to continue! This match is over! Please give a round of applause to Drew, who advances to the next round!"
Thunderous applause filled the stadium.
Drew glanced briefly at May. This time, he said nothing—simply turned around and exited the stage with Roselia, leaving behind a cool, distant silhouette.
May recalled Beautifly and lingered for a moment, gazing at the stage before quietly returning to the waiting room from the opposite side.
The atmosphere inside was heavy.
Ash, Misty, and Brock all opened their mouths, wanting to say something—anything—but no words came out.
"May…"
"Sis…"
Seeing everyone's worried expressions, May forced a smile.
"It's okay. You don't need to comfort me. I'm fine… really."
But no one believed her.
Kai, watching the awkward silence, spoke bluntly.
"So what? You lost one match. Why are you all acting like the world just ended?"
"Huh?"
Ash and the others stared at him in shock.
Wasn't this the moment to gently console her?
Ignoring their reactions, Kai turned to May, his tone firm.
"Pull yourself together. You were completely outclassed by Drew—whether in appeals or in the battle round. That's a fact, and everyone saw it."
May's eyes reddened.
Kai didn't stop.
"But there's nothing shameful about that. You started later than him. Your Pokémon is weaker. Those are objective realities. That's exactly why you should be more motivated—not less."
"Isn't the real reason you're upset because he mocked you before the match… and then beat you right after?"
"This was your first Contest. Making it this far is already impressive. If you can't handle even this level of setback, then maybe being a Coordinator isn't for you."
The words were harsh—far harsher than Kai's usual demeanor.
But the effect was immediate.
By the time he finished speaking, May's sadness had already faded.
Her mind echoed with his words over and over.
She knew he meant well—and she wasn't angry.
If anything, she wanted to shout back that she understood everything he said, and that she wasn't as fragile as he made her sound.
But in the end, she simply said,
"I understand. Next time we meet… I'll do better than this."
Nearby, Max stared at his sister in disbelief, then slowly turned to Kai.
As expected of my idol…
He can actually keep my sister in line?!
That's unbelievable…
Just then, Vivian's excited voice rang out from the screen again.
Everyone turned to look.
The second-round match was underway—and the competitors were Drew and Robert.
What shocked them was that the Roselia that had dominated May earlier was now being completely overwhelmed by Robert's Milotic.
Three minutes had already passed.
Milotic had only been hit once, its score meter barely reduced.
Meanwhile, Drew was down to his last fifth.
On the battlefield, Robert pressed the advantage.
"Milotic—Iron Tail!"
Roselia was sent flying again.
Type-wise, Milotic didn't even have the advantage.
That it could dominate this hard meant its strength had already surpassed simple type matchups.
It mirrored Drew's earlier battle against May—only now, the roles were reversed.
And Drew was experiencing the same helplessness May had felt.
Unwilling to give up, he tried one last push.
"Roselia—Magical Leaf!"
But this time—
"Milotic—Twister!"
The spiraling wind instantly deflected every leaf.
May finally understood.
It wasn't that Magical Leaf couldn't be stopped.
Beautifly's Gust just hadn't been strong enough.
Ding—!
The time-limit bell rang.
Drew's expression stiffened as Vivian announced loudly,
"Time's up! Advancing to the finals—Robert and his Milotic!"
"…Drew lost?" Ash muttered.
They'd expected the champion to be either Drew or Robert—but not a defeat this one-sided.
Staring at Robert, Ash whispered,
"He's… that strong?"
Kai nodded.
"Even outside Contests, that Milotic would do exceptionally well in battles."
On-screen, Drew stood frozen, clearly struggling to accept the result.
Just moments ago, he had mocked May.
Now he'd been eliminated just as decisively.
Karma had come fast—and hard.
Kai shrugged.
"See? There's always someone stronger. You thought Drew was your biggest obstacle—but he couldn't even get past Robert. And judging by that look on his face, he's probably feeling worse than you ever did."
"Wouldn't be surprised if he cries himself to sleep tonight."
The group unintentionally imagined Drew sobbing alone in bed.
A collective chill ran through them.
Nope. Too cursed.
Soon after, the final match concluded.
Robert defeated his last opponent with overwhelming strength and claimed the championship without any suspense.
After watching the award ceremony, Kai and the others finally left the venue.
The sky outside had already turned orange with dusk.
Crowds streamed out through every exit.
As they stepped outside via the contestant corridor, they soon spotted Ayako waiting near the wall.
Wearing a wide-brimmed hat and oversized sunglasses, she blended in perfectly.
Seeing May, she approached with a warm smile.
"That was a wonderful performance," she said gently.
"For a first-time contestant, scoring 26.7 points and advancing to the second round is an excellent achievement."
"Thank you, Ms. Ayako," May replied sincerely.
"Your advice really helped. Without it, I would've done much worse."
After chatting briefly, Ayako checked the time and waved goodbye.
She'd only come to watch the Contest—and now it was time to return to Twinleaf Town.
"If you ever visit Twinleaf," she said with a smile, "be sure to look me up."
Ash nodded eagerly.
"Definitely!"
They watched her disappear into the crowd before heading back toward the Pokémon Center.
As Kai turned to follow, his eyes caught something unusual near the stadium wall.
Team Rocket.
Jessie and Meowth were crouched beside an elderly man—half asleep.
Only James was wide awake, scribbling furiously in a notebook while listening intently.
…Huh.
They actually showed restraint for once?
That really is a miracle.
Whatever had them occupied, Kai decided not to get involved.
The Contest was over.
Tomorrow morning, his journey would continue.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
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