Chapter 182

"... There's also a ceremony for the advancing contestants today, and I'll be there too. Don't be late, just do your best and watch me perform."

Sabrina spoke calmly and confidently on the phone. Considering her performance at the registration desk, Qiao Ran really felt that she wanted to mentor her.

Is this the confidence of an established idol?

"You really are..."

As soon as Qiao Ran finished speaking, he heard a Doduo signal; Sabrina had already hung up on him.

"..." Qiao Ran shook his head with a wry smile.

After their last conversation, their relationship had improved somewhat, but it was still the same old mess.

In the afternoon, the group packed their things and headed to the preliminary round venue once again.

Organized by the organizers, they stood on the stage with the other contestants who had successfully advanced, smiling and greeting the audience.

Just then, the host suddenly opened his mouth and shouted something.

"Now, please welcome Miss Sabrina to give her comments and best wishes to our contestant!"

"Miss Sabrina!"

"Miss Sabrina!!"

The audience erupted in cheers. A long-haired beauty dressed in cool summer clothes stood up from the judges' panel, smiling and greeting the crowd around her. She was as beautiful as the dream girl in every young man's heart.

Qiao Ran and Lillie on stage were stunned. Good heavens, when did she get into the judging panel?

So yesterday, the judges themselves participated in the Competition?

Suddenly, and then suddenly again, Qiao Ran looked around and realized that the background music on the stage had changed at some point.

A warm and touching melody began to play--

The host timed it perfectly and began his narration with deep emotion.

"She is Ace Trainer at our Magic City Gym, and a rising star in our Performance Competition matches. However, what touches us most is her unparalleled kindness."

"After understanding the Rules of the Competition, Miss Sabrina voluntarily gave up the first place score, just so that our contestant could advance smoothly—these fame and fortune were not important to her."

"However, even though she didn't have the chance to participate, she still made the effort to come to the Competition venue, just to offer her blessings and guidance to the contestants she had been fighting alongside these past few days."

Let's give a round of applause to our Miss Sabrina!

"Roar roar roar roar roar!!!"

The heartfelt recitation coupled with the touching background music was incredibly effective. Even though there seemed to be some subtle flaws, the crowd below the stage erupted in cheers once again, with some fans even wiping away tears.

"She even lined up by herself! I saw it when she registered!"

"... Sabrina's fans always line up voluntarily when they want autographs, all because of Miss Sabrina's kindness!"

The image of Sabrina's female bodhisattva has spread further, Qiao Ran on the stage is already dumbfounded. If he could move freely now, he would definitely give Sabrina a virtual thumbs up.

Such an obvious method, yet it's so effective.

"Thank you... thank you everyone, but I haven't done anything special. I just hoped to be of more help. I'm also a Performing Family's only just begun exploring this path. And performance..."

Being a family member is a demanding profession that requires a lot of dedication. I've always respected this profession, so I'm really happy to see more new people joining us.

Sabrina reached out and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye, then suddenly looked up with a radiant smile.

"If it's been helpful, that's enough."

The audience continued to chant Sabrina's name, and the elderly judges on the stage began to smile and nod frequently, saying that the little girl was very sensible.

However, when Qiao Ran saw Sabrina wiping away tears, he thought of how Naz had ambushed him yesterday, and couldn't help but shudder.

So, a famous actor who can read minds and has Psychic —that's a terrifyingly high stack of advantages, isn't it?

Is this also an act she's putting on?

... The Pokémon World really is a dangerous place.

The promotion ceremony was a huge success, even becoming a local hotspot. The mall owner was all smiles and vowed to hold more Performance Competition in the future.

Half an hour after the ceremony ended, Qiao Ran and his companions sat down in the coffee shop again with the woman who was wrapped up tightly in front of them.

If they come a few more times, they'll become regulars here.

"... You ask me how I feel?"

The woman wearing sunglasses lowered her head slightly, her narrow eyes peeking out from the gaps in her glasses, flashing a strange and dangerous light.

"It's alright. I've seen much more impressive situations in the Pokémon World."

"However, Role Play this kind of character that I've never tried before is quite interesting."

In the Pokémon World, Sabrina mostly Role Play queen-like roles in movies, or at the very least, she has a bit of an evil, wicked woman vibe. There's never been a female bodhisattva character like this before. Even if there is, it's just some shadow under her radiance.

However, in this world, she chose this path instead.

"... After all, in reality, people are more accepting of this kind of thing, right? It's still a bit different from what's shown in movies."

Sabrina seemed to be in a good mood, after all, the previous event had achieved results that surprised even her, and she probably hadn't expected it to go so smoothly.

However, compared to Sabrina, who was in a good mood, the three people present, including Qiao Ran, seemed to be in a rather gloomy mood.

They were originally the ones who advanced in this Competition, the top three on the surface. This occasion would have been a good opportunity to promote their popularity, and having Rotom film them might have provided excellent material. However, after Sabrina's actions, everyone else became her supporting characters.

But—there's probably no other way.

Qiao Ran could only tell herself that she would also be her partner, so these things were tolerable.

"However, I won't hold back from now on. In the official Performance Competition."

Sabrina put down her coffee cup and pursed her lips.

"After all, this Champion is very important to me. Only by accumulating more popularity can I get more votes. Compared to the honor of this Performance Competition, what I need more right now is the position of Magic City Gym Leader."

"Is it the Gym Leader Election of the Magic City Gym?" Qiao Ran seemed to realize something, but he quickly noticed something was wrong.

"Wait, what's your ranking? Weren't you in first place in the vote?"

Qiao Ran glanced at Lillie beside him. He had heard Lillie mention before that one of the top candidates in the Magic City Gym vote was a young woman who had previously Champion Performance Competition. After meeting Sabrina, Qiao Ran naturally assumed that person was Sabrina.

After all, Sabrina's qualifications were all met, and no matter how hard Qiao Ran racked his brains, he couldn't think of any other suitable candidates.

"... No, how could you possibly think I'd be number one?"

Upon hearing Qiao Ran's words, Sabrina's eyebrows shot up, and her tone became somewhat off.

Qiao Ran could only blink in confusion, completely baffled as to how she had managed to step on her tail again.

Ah, women.

Seeing Qiao Ran's confused look, Sabrina could only suppress her dissatisfaction and patiently explain.

"The one who came in first place in the vote wasn't me, but the Gym Leader's granddaughter, a very tough opponent. She's quite skilled and well-liked, making her a very competitive successor to the Gym."

"I've only been in this world for a short time, so not many people know me. If I want to quickly build up my popularity, the only way is through Performance Competition, which already have a large audience. However, the overlap between the audience and trainers in Performance Competition is too low, and my current voting ranking is just hovering around the passing mark."

"Therefore, I must Champion this Performance Competition. Only in this way can I stabilize my votes and ensure that I can advance to the next round."

The election for Gym Leader is also divided into two rounds. The first round is a vote, and only those who receive the top half of the votes can advance to the next round of elimination battles. Those who can participate in the voting are not ordinary citizens, but Trainer registered with the Pokémon League. Only Trainer are eligible to vote.

Therefore, no matter how popular Sabrina is among ordinary people, it's difficult for her to translate that popularity into Trainer. Compared to Trainer who have been Competition in Gym for years, her lower popularity is understandable.

Of course.

However... if they also give up the Champion in that Performance Competition match, then... what have all these people gained after doing so much during this time?

Qiao Ran remained silent, staring at her for a while, before continuing, "Then... when will our cooperation begin?"

"Oh?"

Seemingly sensing the implication in Qiao Ran's words, Sabrina raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him.

"Of course... after I've finished dealing with things here, and when I have time."

Sabrina has the same goal as them, but they value different things.

Qiao Ran had already sensed it when they first met.

However, he didn't have the same clear feeling back then as he does now.

--Her personality is far from the kind one she Role Play; or rather, she has an extremely strong possessive nature and never lets herself suffer a loss.

She will take back what she has lost, repay the wounds she has suffered tenfold, and take full control of the situation.

Qiao Ran frowned slightly.

This is probably a huge deviation from what he imagined.

"So, if you think I'm wrong..."

Suddenly, Sabrina removed her sunglasses. Amidst the gasps of others in the coffee shop, she leaned forward slightly and hooked Qiao Ran's chin with her finger.

"Then try Defeat me in Competition like this, shall we?"

"Heh~"

The queen with Psychic could captivate anyone with her every smile and gesture, but this particular action made Qiao Ran clearly sense her Captivate and... danger.

Does this guy... still remember what happened back then?

However, that alluring figure had already disappeared before the others in the coffee shop could react and shout "Sabrina," leaving only a faint fragrance in the air.

Everything has vanished without a trace.

Only Lillie and Mei beside him were staring blankly at where Qiao Ran was.

What happened?? What just happened so suddenly??

What if we didn't exist?

These two guys, are they really not hiding anything from us?

Sabrina had already left, and Qiao Ran and the others who remained quickly fled the coffee shop to avoid being surrounded by fans who had already caught wind of the situation.

Sabrina had just performed here, and her fans were practically everywhere in the mall. News of her appearance spread quickly among the fans.

Fortunately Latias also has the ability to Teleport, and like Sabrina, Qiao Ran and the others quickly left this dangerous place after a few quick maneuvers.

"Call."

Qiao Ran leaned against the wall and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the crowd that was still surging towards the coffee shop, he realized for the first time how powerful an "idol" could be.

"That's great... Sabrina's popularity is so high even in this world."

Mei couldn't help but sigh. Although the two worlds weren't exactly the same, in some ways they were quite similar.

"..."

As for Qiao Ran, he didn't say much about the matter. He just frowned and noticed that he seemed to have something extra in his pocket.

"What?"

He reached in and pulled out a Key and a note.

Judging from the shape of the Key, it is not a car Key, but Key to a door. On another piece of paper, there are some delicate handwriting.

"Once you get to the city, you probably won't have anywhere to stay. I felt sorry for you, so I found you a place to stay. Just don't make a mess of it; everything there is my personal property."

Qiao Ran: "..."

It's obvious who could do something like this; there's no other possibility than that "actor" with Psychic.

Despite the unpleasant tone of the note, considering the various events currently being held and the skyrocketing Inn prices in Modu City, Qiao Ran gritted her teeth and Stomping Tantrum accepted the Key.

"Hateful."

There was no way around it; it was clearly not that his will wasn't strong enough, but rather—the other party had given him far too much.

At the same time, Qiao Ran also had a question in her mind: that guy had only been here for less than a month, right? Is Performing Family really that lucrative?

At night, Qiao Ran sat on the grass in the Wild Area.

Lillie and Mei sat beside him, enjoying the tranquility.

After returning from the coffee shop in the mall, the group began their individual training sessions. Their current skills in the Performance Competition were far from sufficient, and despite Lusamine's guidance, it was only a drop in the ocean.

Moreover, Qiao Ran didn't want to lose this time.