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100 P.S -1 Bonus chapter
The first round concluded.
Steven Stone was the second-to-last contestant to appear, which indicated his first-round score was very high.
First place in the first round was most likely Wallace.
Although he had somewhat androgynous features, he excelled in physique and appearance, and few could match his refined temperament.
Not to mention his height of over 1.8 meters—in the Pokémon world, few people were taller than him.
The average height in the Pokémon world was around 1.7 meters.
However, Steven believed he could still grow taller!
Steven sat backstage, watching the other contestants' performances on the television screen.
Although Steven was also a novice, he could tell that most of the contestants were participating in Contests for the first time.
Their error rate during performances was high, possibly due to nervousness from their debut appearance.
Steven had a year of experience dealing with public attention, so he had adjusted quickly.
However...
Why wasn't Wallace visible backstage?
Could he have gone to watch from the audience?
That was very possible—watching live and watching a television broadcast felt completely different.
Wallace's introduction had been brief, yet he enjoyed tremendous popularity.
From the moment he stepped onto the stage, the audience had been chanting Wallace's name.
"Could it be that he's already a Contest Master?" Steven wondered, feeling somewhat puzzled.
That didn't make sense—Master Rank Coordinators could already serve on judging panels, so why would the organizers let Wallace compete in a Normal Rank Contest to dominate newcomers?
Previously, Steven hadn't paid much attention to information about Wallace, preferring to meet him by chance.
Now, he thought to search online for details about Wallace.
"Tsk... so he was the Champion of the last Ever Grande Conference. No wonder he's so popular."
"But why did he give up on becoming the Champion?"
The article stated he was the most promising candidate to claim the Hoenn League Champion title this year.
This Champion, of course, didn't refer to the Contest Champion, but the true regional Champion.
"In my memory, Steven and Wallace should have met much earlier than this..."
Was it because of his arrival in this world that things had changed?
Indeed, the original Steven's family situation didn't seem to match his own.
Soon, it was Steven's turn to perform on stage.
Despite this being his first performance, Steven's nervousness had completely vanished after his initial appearance.
He had fully adapted to being in the spotlight.
"Let's go, Scyther." Steven released Scyther and walked alongside it toward the performance stage.
"Scy."
The stage curtain opened, and Steven calmly entered with Scyther.
A sudden burst of cheers, louder than anything before, erupted from the audience.
After all, Steven's first-round score had placed him second, giving him some popularity.
He just couldn't compare to Wallace yet.
As long as this performance had no mistakes, securing a top-three finish in this Contest wouldn't be a problem.
"Scyther, Swords Dance!"
Steven gestured with elegance and flair.
"Scy!"
Four translucent blade silhouettes appeared around Scyther, rotating as Scyther spun and danced.
Four spiraling air currents emanated from the spinning Scyther, like wisps of rising smoke, slow and graceful.
"Oh! Steven Stone used Swords Dance! The Flying-type energy is climbing upward like a serpent! And like delicate ribbons, swaying in the wind!"
Swords Dance simply caused Scyther to spin, allowing the Flying-type energy radiating from Scyther to be shaped into this elegant form.
"Air Slash!" Steven commanded, seeing the timing was perfect.
The Flying-type energy surrounding Scyther condensed into curved blades, rising slowly toward the ceiling like a moon ascending into the sky!
"Jump up and use Fury Cutter!"
Scyther swept its scythes behind itself, knelt on one knee, and lowered its body into a striking pose.
Then it stomped down hard! It leaped into the air, its scythes glowing with green light.
Slash slash slash—
Several flashes of cold light passed, and Scyther's Fury Cutter precisely struck each Air Slash that had ascended earlier.
The Air Slashes exploded in midair, creating sparkling white points of light that combined with the green Bug-type energy particles deliberately released during Fury Cutter, momentarily evoking the image of a vast starry sky.
Steven placed his left hand on his lower back and raised his right hand, rotating his wrist. As his right hand fell, Scyther landed gracefully.
Its two scythes were held at half-height, its usually sharp eyes closed, crouching on the stage like a ninja completing its mission.
Steven's right hand fell and rose again, coming to rest on his left shoulder as he bowed to conclude the performance.
The points of light in the air, like falling stars, drifted down onto Steven and Scyther.
They settled on the stage like autumn maple leaves.
The performance ended!
"Steven Stone's combination of Air Slash and Fury Cutter unexpectedly presented us with a scene resembling the starry sky!"
"Elegant, and the timing was executed perfectly!"
"Bringing down the stars during the curtain call was incredibly creative."
"Compared to flashy, exaggerated move displays, Steven Stone's combination performance was even more magnificent."
As expected, Steven received unanimous praise from all three judges.
After the performance, thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue.
At the same time, shouts from the audience continuously reached Steven's ears.
"Ah!!! Steven! From now on, you're my favorite!"
"Steven is so handsome, I'm going to faint!"
"Ten seconds! I want all of Steven's personal information! No—five seconds!"
"Steven! I want to have your babies!!!"
Steven paused mid-step as he walked off stage, looking somewhat bewildered toward the source of that last shout.
The shouting there also stopped abruptly, and all eyes turned to the person who had uttered that sentence.
It wasn't because the sentence itself was strange—on the contrary, it was quite normal at Contests.
What was abnormal was the person who had shouted it.
A boy, feeling the gaze of so many people, turned bright red.
Steven's mouth twitched. I know my looks appeal to both genders, but don't actually try to 'devour' me!
Next up was Wallace's performance time, so Steven stopped at the side, intending to watch his routine first.
After all performances concluded, the top three ranked participants would receive a Ribbon Badge.
The Ribbon Badge served as qualification, or an entry ticket, to compete in the next Contest Rank.
Although obtaining it was useless for Steven since this Contest was just for fun, keeping it as a souvenir wouldn't be bad.
The moment Wallace appeared, the entire venue erupted in cheers and shouts even louder than when Steven had performed.
It was clear that Wallace's popularity was truly exceptional.
In Pokémon battles, he also favored making his moves elegant, adopting a highly aesthetic fighting style.
Wallace's partner was a Pokémon with a cream-colored body resembling a sea serpent.
Its tail was adorned with blue and pink scales featuring black stripes. At the center of four large blue scales overlapping at the end of its tail were red oval patterns.
It had to be said, this Pokémon alone surpassed a large number of previous contestants.
Its scales shimmered brilliantly under the stage lights, and its entire bearing exuded elegance and nobility similar to Wallace's.
This was the Pokémon renowned as the most beautiful—Milotic!
On stage, a Twister rose around Milotic, making its figure appear hazy and indistinct.
Then a ring of water materialized around Milotic's body, and as the water ring expanded, a stream of water spiraled outside the Twister.
The flung water didn't splash outward but drifted slowly downward from the air after separating from the Twister.
Splash!
The water Twister exploded dramatically, and the water bloomed in the air like fireworks.
The splashing water, under Milotic's precise control, returned to its body, forming a magnificent pair of water wings!
"It's even more stunning in person..." Steven smiled, even he was captivated watching this performance.
Moreover, that Milotic's battle strength was incredibly powerful.
Such precise control over water indicated strength of at least Elite Four level.
According to rumors, Wallace had already successfully challenged the Elite Four back then but had declined the Champion position.
Looking at it that way, this Milotic possessed at least Elite Four peak-level strength.
Finally, the ultimate result of this Contest was exactly as Steven had expected.
Wallace claimed first place, with Steven following in second.
Wallace, who possessed Champion-level strength, had actually come to a Normal Rank Contest to dominate newcomers.
Steven found the situation rather amusing.
During the Ribbon Badge award ceremony, Wallace, standing beside Steven, whispered to him:
"Your performance was excellent. You'll definitely become one of the best Pokémon Coordinators in the future."
"Thank you." Steven smiled faintly.
Thanks for the compliment, but I still prefer being a Trainer!