Two days later.
The Wallace Cup was held in Rustboro City right on schedule.
"Welcome to Rustboro City, the metropolis that pursues the integration of nature and science!"
"I am your host for the Wallace Cup, Lilian!"
Under the dazzling stage lights, the energetic Ms. Lilian, the primary host for Hoenn region Pokémon Contests, held up a Ribbon whose centerpiece was carved from a precious emerald gemstone. With a clear, high-pitched voice, she began her opening speech.
"The Coordinator who beautifully seizes victory today will be awarded this special Wallace Cup Ribbon, along with an additional prize of 50,000 League Dollars! I wish all our contestants the best of luck!"
"Meowha, meowha~"
Floragato tugged at her Trainer's sleeve, pointing at the Ribbon in the host's hand on the screen with a face full of hope.
"Hmm... that Ribbon does look pretty sparkly. It's definitely nice..."
Sitting in the contestants' waiting room, Hakuya nodded in agreement.
However, unlike the large cat who was captivated by the Ribbon, his attention just now was entirely focused on the additional prize money.
He couldn't help it. Since he didn't have a Pokémon with the Pickup ability on hand, besides violently elbowing roadside Trainers for some pocket change, he didn't even have a way to scavenge for trash in the Randomized Emerald. He could only come here and play in the Pokémon Contest to scrape together some savings.
It seemed he just found another reason he absolutely had to win the Wallace Cup championship.
As his body was shaken back and forth by the cat paws gripping his sleeve, Hakuya felt utterly helpless but couldn't help smiling and shaking his head.
How had he not noticed before that this large cat, besides being extremely jealous, also had a fetish for shiny things?
He felt that if he didn't give her a serious promise, she would probably keep pestering him endlessly like a clingy girlfriend.
—Floragato used Charm! It's super effective on the Trainer!
"Don't worry, once we win the championship, I'll give that Ribbon to you as a gift."
Reaching out to affectionately rub Floragato's head, Hakuya finally patted his chest and made a solemn vow.
When it came to the requests of his adorable cat, aside from "let's go make eggs in the basement right now, absolutely not," he always accommodated her every need.
At this moment, having finished her opening remarks, the host began to introduce the judges for the Wallace Cup.
"Oh... these are all pretty familiar faces~"
After making the promise to win the match and give the Ribbon to Floragato as a gift, Hakuya looked up at the green-haired young man who was being illuminated by the spotlight amidst host Lilian's enthusiastic introduction.
Wallace, the Sootopolis Gym Leader, and a Champion-level Trainer who had mastered both Coordinator performances and Pokémon battles. Much like Steven Stone, who had recently taken a strong interest in him, Wallace stood at the absolute pinnacle of combat power for Trainers in the Pokémon world.
As the founder and sponsor of the Wallace Cup, he naturally sat in the center seat of the judging panel.
On his left and right were the regular judges who always spawned at every Pokémon Contest.
—Mr. Contesta, the Director of the Pokémon Activities Committee, who constantly traveled around with the Contest organizing committee; Mr. Sukizo, the President of the Pokémon Fan Club, who frequently repeated his catchphrase, "Remarkable!"; and Nurse Joy from the Rustboro City Pokémon Center, wearing her conservative, traditional nurse's uniform.
Pokémon Contests were divided into two stages overall.
The Appeals Stage and the Contest Battles.
In the first round, the Appeals Stage, Coordinators needed to showcase their Pokémon's unique charm through gorgeous move combinations, and would ultimately receive a score out of 10 from each of the three contest judges.
In the subsequent Contest Battle rounds, Coordinators would draw lots for one-on-one matches with a five-minute time limit. By judging the completeness and beauty of the moves used, they would reduce the opponent's points to determine the ultimate winner.
It was worth noting that participating contestants had to use the exact same two Pokémon throughout the entire event, otherwise they would be disqualified.
Hakuya had drawn the eighth slot. Before officially taking the stage, he sat in the contestants' waiting room and waited.
"Nai~"
"Yeah, I feel the same way. The skill level of these Trainers seems a bit lacking..."
Hearing Milcery's voice by his ear, Hakuya, who was watching the contestants' performances on the big screen, softly agreed.
Unlike fighting NPCs in the Randomized Emerald—where the latter was pure, fast-paced numerical brawling—this group of Coordinators in the Pokémon Contest focused entirely on the visual beauty of their move combinations.
They were pretty, sure, but many of them were just flashy empty shells lacking the fundamental combat talent required of a Trainer.
The only one who made his eyes light up was that familiar, beautiful figure.
"Ali, it's time to begin our performance!"
Besides the Altaria named "Ali," since the Appeals Stage required choosing two Pokémon for the performance, Lisia also sent out another Pokémon with equally high aesthetic appeal: a Delcatty.
Through a combination of Altaria's [Draco Meteor] and Delcatty's [Swift], they won the roaring applause of the entire audience. Their final performance score reached an astonishing 38 points, currently the highest score of the event.
—She can definitely be considered one of the strongest competitors in this Wallace Cup.
Hakuya and Floragato exchanged a glance, both of them having the exact same thought pop into their heads.
Before long, it was finally their turn to take the stage and perform.
"Alright, let's go out there and sweep the championship in one breath!"
"Meowha~" "La-woo~"
After Hakuya, Floragato, and Latias pumped each other up, he walked down the contestant tunnel toward the stage.
This was his first time participating in a Pokémon Contest in reality.
"Next up, please welcome Contestant Hakuya from Littleroot Town!"
"Do your best, Mr. Hakuya!"
When Hakuya stepped onto the stage, a fierce cheer suddenly erupted from the audience.
They... actually came...
Hakuya looked closely, only to discover that the one leading the cheers was none other than the familiar figure of the beautiful teacher in red pantyhose.
He had only mentioned it casually in passing a few days ago. He didn't expect Ms. Roxanne to actually take it to heart. Not only her, but since today happened to be the weekend, many students from the Trainers' School had also formed a cheering squad and come to the venue to support him.
"Oh! Is it Mr. Hakuya's turn?"
Sitting up straight in her chair, Lisia's beautiful eyes also sparkled brightly.
Of course she remembered recruiting him right before the event started a few days ago.
I just know Mr. Hakuya is going to be an incredibly tough opponent. I'm getting so excited!
The girl gripped her polished, shining Poké Ball, her gaze burning with anticipation.
"...Hakuya?"
Seeing the silhouette of the black-haired young man on stage, Wallace instinctively sat up straighter, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
He suddenly recalled the scene from a few days ago when his best friend, Steven, had called him looking incredibly excited.
Although it started as the usual boasting about some bizarre, rare rock he had dug up, right at the end, that guy specifically mentioned that he seemed to have discovered a native Hoenn genius Trainer recently.
"Even though he's a rookie Trainer who set out on his journey less than a month ago, relying on a single Pokémon, he managed to 1v6 and sweep the entire main team of the Rustboro City Gym Leader..."
Muttering the intelligence he had received from Steven under his breath, Wallace couldn't help but feel a sudden jolt of shock in his heart.
Even though the Rustboro Gym was classified as a beginner-level Gym, and Gym Leader Roxanne had only graduated from the local Trainers' School a few years ago to serve as both a teacher and a Gym Leader... in terms of raw power, she was naturally far inferior to veteran Gym Leaders like Norman. But she was absolutely not someone a rookie Trainer who had just started traveling could simply steamroll.
Sweeping a Gym Leader's main team 1v6—that battle record was astonishing.
Give him a little more time, and sequentially defeating the Elite Four to claim the title of Hoenn Champion was absolutely within the realm of possibility.
And on top of crushing Gyms, this Contestant Hakuya has now come to participate in a Pokémon Contest?
In a way, very few Trainers possessed the talent for both Coordination and Pokémon Battles. After all, most people had limited energy; blindly choosing to walk both paths often resulted in being a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Not just Steven, but Wallace himself now couldn't help but feel a deep, intense interest in Hakuya.
After a wave of noisy chatter, the massive stadium fell silent once more.
The bright white spotlight cascaded down, locking onto the black-haired young man standing in the center of the stage.
Following the standard etiquette before an official Contest performance, Hakuya smiled and nodded in greeting, then threw his Poké Balls.
Before the performance, he had specifically swapped out his standard Poké Balls and Great Balls for Heal Balls and applied special effect seals to them.
Accompanied by the sharp pop of the Heal Balls bursting open, countless heart effects bloomed in mid-air like gorgeous fireworks. Beneath a sky raining hearts, the petals generated by Floragato and the hurricane kicked up by Latias's high-speed glide formed their grand entrance.
"This entrance design is... fairly standard and orthodox...!"
As the Director of the Pokémon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta was initially frowning and evaluating, but when he saw the red-and-white figure whip up a hurricane and appear in mid-air, his eyes instantly went wide. He slammed his hands onto the table and cried out in shock.
"Wait! Is that a Latias?!"
At the same time, the entire stadium erupted in an uproar.
Although most people didn't recognize the Floragato from the Paldea region, many of the Coordinators present had heard of the title of the Eon Pokémon, Latias.
That wasn't some Zigzagoon or Poochyena you could find on the side of any road—that was a Legendary Pokémon!
Excuse me, contestant, please stop your imminent smurfing in this beginner lobby!!!