While Team Rocket was settling into Pelican Town, Ron was discussing furniture purchases with Robin.
"Three beds, mm, wardrobes, dining table—" Robin was making notes when she suddenly remembered something. "Right, I recall Lewis has a subsidy available. If outsiders move into town, they can apply for it and get quite a bit covered. It seems like it only costs 100g to build."
Seeing Ron look at her, she continued, "The house style will be similar to yours. As for location, they can choose to live at the farm or in town."
"Let's get them temporarily settled first. I'll discuss the house matter with them later."
Ron agreed, his gaze falling on the faces of those who had already completely integrated themselves by now.
"Alright." Robin agreed. After exchanging a few more words with Ron, she sat down in a nearby chair and began watching the competition with full concentration.
"Ah, the results are out! Haley really advanced!" Cheers erupted throughout the room.
Emily stared at Haley's face on the screen, gently leaning her head on Sandy's shoulder.
"That's wonderful."
"Mm." Sandy responded, then turned and noticed Emily quietly wiping away tears.
Seeing this, Sandy smiled and gently patted Emily's back.
Meanwhile, in Kalos.
Abigail was sitting in the stands, staring at the match assignments on the screen.
"Ah—matched up in the first round." Seeing Haley and Serena paired together, Abigail couldn't help but feel nervous.
Bonnie was carrying a pile of snacks, wobbling as she sat down beside Abigail. Hearing this, she looked up, tore open a snack, handed one piece to Abigail, stuffed one into her own mouth, and fed another to Dedenne.
"Is this Sister Haley's first time participating in a Pokémon Contest?" Bonnie asked while chewing.
Seeing Abigail nod, she rested her chin in her hands and said, "Then I don't know who to cheer for—by the way, who was that man following you guys last time? Is he Sister Haley's boyfriend?"
Abigail waved her hands first, about to flatly deny it, then thought uncertainly.
"Probably not—at least before I left Pelican Town, it wasn't."
But as for whether there was anything between Haley and Ron, she couldn't say for sure. Honestly, Ron was a good person, quite outstanding even in all of Pelican Town.
"I see—" Bonnie's eyes lit up as she fixed her gaze on Haley's face.
Meanwhile, at the Lumiose Gym.
Since it was Serena's match, Clemont had taken the day off specifically to watch Serena's broadcast with everyone at the gym.
Just then, the camera happened to sweep past Bonnie sitting beside Abigail. Seeing that familiar expression on her face, Clemont felt his eyebrow twitch.
"Surely not—it's been so long." Clemont stared at the screen with a sense of foreboding.
"What?" asked an assistant beside him.
"Ah—nothing." Clemont paused, then began complaining anyway: "She's always trying to—find herself a sister-in-law or something—I hope she's not bothering some girl."
When the camera shifted, Clemont guessed who Bonnie was staring at.
Since she had come to the gym with Ron before, he had some impression of Haley.
Clemont felt a headache coming on, but since he wasn't beside Bonnie right now, all he could do was pray from the corner that Bonnie didn't have that intention.
"Ah, that girl, the one with that Pelican Town—mm, the challenger Ron," the assistant recognized Haley.
"I think I heard the announcement earlier."
But since he had been busy with other matters, he hadn't paid much attention.
With Abigail and Ron preceding them, the group now intuitively felt that Haley wasn't so simple either.
"Now beginning, the Contest Battle between contestant Haley and contestant Serena—the Pokémon sent out by both sides are—"
Over there, Marianne drew out her words.
"Contestant Serena has chosen Delphox!"
"The Pokémon sent out by contestant Haley is Sunkern!"
When Sunkern emerged from its Poké Ball, not only was Serena stunned on the other side, but Clemont in front of the television also widened his eyes.
Although he wasn't clear on Sunkern's level, no matter how you looked at it, that Pokémon didn't seem to have rich battle experience.
Not to mention it was facing Delphox, which could be considered Serena's ace.
Furthermore, the two Pokémon had a type disadvantage against each other.
"—Why that one." Serena glanced at the confident Haley, feeling somewhat indecisive for a moment.
"Use Razor Leaf!" Haley immediately commanded the Sunkern.
Days of rehearsal allowed the Sunkern to perform Razor Leaf beautifully. At this moment, the leaves gathered around the Sunkern like a storm of foliage.
"Sunkern has beautifully executed Razor Leaf! Razor Leaf has hit Delphox—"
Before she could finish, because Serena hadn't issued orders in time, points were deducted from Delphox due to the Sunkern's performance.
Marianne watched the Delphox nervously. With Gengar's performance before, even with a type disadvantage, it wasn't impossible for that Delphox to be knocked out by the Sunkern in one hit.
"Delphox—is completely unharmed?!" Marianne shouted in disbelief.
A Pokémon's moves were also tied to the Pokémon's level, meaning Pokémon with less battle experience dealt lower damage with their moves.
This meant that, contrary to everyone's guesses, that Sunkern was exactly as it appeared—its level might not even reach ten.
The venue fell into complete silence.
"—"
In Contest Battles, having a Pokémon freeze in place was a major taboo.
Therefore, after a moment of silence, Serena finally spoke hesitantly to her Delphox: "Delphox, use—"
"—"
She truly didn't know what would be appropriate, so she could only apologize with a glance at Haley: "Use Flamethrower!"
Contest Battles valued performance opportunities. If Haley's Sunkern was only at this level, showing mercy would serve no purpose—it was better to end this quickly.
As for afterward, Sunkern would have opportunities to gradually grow during its journey.
With this thought, a Flamethrower beautifully struck the Sunkern.
Amidst the flames, the Sunkern's figure gradually blurred.
"Sunkern, use Sunny Day."
"In this situation, using a move won't help—it must have already fainted," the assistant murmured on this side of the screen.
Before he could finish, a blinding light burst forth from within the flames.
The host Marianne once again shouted in disbelief: "Sunkern! Is also completely unharmed?!"
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