Chapter 225
What exactly happened? But the members of the Ultra Recon Squad had already grabbed their Captain and jumped onto the back of the Solgaleo.
"Captain! The hole is ready!"
"Okay—then I'm leaving."
"It's about time we said goodbye, Child of the Stars's companions."
A rare smile appeared on Neosila's ashen face. The attraction within the Ultra Wormhole gradually increased until Solgaleo could no longer withstand it. At that moment, the Ultra Wormhole, the Ultra Recon Squad, and Solgaleo all disappeared before Qiao Ran's eyes.
Only Qiao Ran and Cynthia stood there, looking at each other.
"You heard what the Captain said at the end, right?"
Qiao Ran looked at Cynthia beside him, wanting to confirm his companion's opinion. At least he wanted to figure out if he had misheard or if it was all just his imagination.
"... Um."
However, Cynthia nodded, shattering Qiao Ran's illusion of self-doubt.
"He just said something like, 'Alola... is a civilization from thousands of years ago,' right?"
">
">
">
">
"What do you think he was referring to...?"
Qiao Ran didn't understand what the Ultra Recon Squad meant by those words, and besides, they had already left, so he couldn't just tear down the dimensional barrier and pull them out.
"Alola... if I had to name a civilization, it could indeed be considered a civilization from thousands of years ago."
Cynthia lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought.
Although she is a scholar from the Sinnoh Region and primarily studies the history of Sinnoh Region, she also has some research on other regions.
"There are indeed huge differences between ancient Alola and modern Alola. Although many customs have been preserved, in our academic circles, we still tend to regard ancient Alola and modern Alola as two different civilizations."
Cynthia looked at Qiao Ran.
"... Based on limited archaeological data, we speculate that ancient Alola suffered some great catastrophe. To cover up the fact of that catastrophe, many books were burned by the ancient people of that time, which is also the reason for the break in the continuity of civilization."
"Huh?"
Ancient... Alola?
What those people were talking about... wasn't it now?
Cynthia's line of thinking seemed subtly different from her own, but it also seemed to make a lot of sense.
In Qiao Ran's memory, there was indeed such an ancient kingdom in Alola. For example, Acerola, the Ghost Type Captain of Alola, was a descendant of its royal family.
The truth revealed in the game bears a striking resemblance to what Cynthia is saying: in ancient Alola, the Blinding One Necrozma once came to Alola and absorbed all of Alola's light. In the end, Solgaleo and Lunala resolved this disaster and restored light to the world.
However, because the disaster was so terrible, the Alola king at the time ordered all records of Necrozma to be burned, burying this history completely in the earth.
"So... what those people were talking about was actually referring to the ancient Alola Kingdom?"
"Maybe."
Cynthia couldn't give Qiao Ran a definite answer either. As a researcher, she had to be rigorous enough, but there was no other evidence to prove her conjecture. She could only try to present evidence to make the idea more credible.
"..."
Qiao Ran scratched his head. If he had known these guys knew so much, he should have found a way to make them stay a little longer.
However, there's no use in regretting it now; he couldn't do what the Ultra Recon Squad did with the Ultra Wormhole, and Nebby doesn't have a similar ability right now.
Qiao Ran took out his phone and checked the time. It had taken about two hours. If he didn't go back soon, it would probably be his turn to perform on stage.
Alright.
"I'll drive."
Seeing Qiao Ran's actions, Cynthia roughly guessed what he wanted to do. Although she appeared to be a cold beauty on the surface, the thoughtfulness she unintentionally revealed made Qiao Ran pause slightly.
She already knew before I even said anything?
A smile appeared on Qiao Ran's face, and she nodded slightly. "Mm."
"Haven't they come back yet?"
In the lounge, Sabrina frowned as she looked at the monitor in front of her. The contestants' numbers were getting closer and closer to Qiao Ran's, and were even just one or two digits away.
As for Mei and Lillie, they had already performed on stage and were now watching the screen in the lounge.
Their performance was fine, although it lacked the wow factor of the first day, it was still a clear blow to the other contestants. Moreover, since they were able to send two Pokémon to perform on stage at the same time today, Lillie tried releasing two Nihilego, and the effect was quite good.
"Should we talk to that lady and ask her to delay her time a little?"
Lillie brought up her idea, referring to the auntie who had appeared on their first day of the competition and helped them, Ms. Su Yiliu.
Although the promotional materials stated that this woman would participate in the final day of the Competition, given her current role as a judge, it's likely that this participation is merely a formality. Her true identity is no longer that of a participant, but rather one of the organizers.
As a national Champion, she wouldn't stoop to competing for fame and fortune in a local competition.
"I can consider it." Sabrina nodded.
If Qiao Ran were eliminated for this reason, not only would Qiao Ran herself find it unacceptable, but she also wouldn't want to see such a situation.
She's already lost once in Pokémon battles. What Sabrina wants is to win a fair and square victory in Performance Competition. But what's the point of a victory like that?
"..."
Sabrina suddenly regretted calling Qiao Ran over. She figured that sending Cynthia alone would have achieved a similar effect. Besides... Qiao Ran couldn't drive at all. In order to find someone to drive, she ended up dragging Cynthia along.
Isn't this unnecessary?
"Etc."
Suddenly, just as Sabrina was thinking this, her expression shifted slightly, and she turned her face toward Lillie.
"That guy's here, but he's running out of time. Lillie, get ready and touch up his makeup a little."
"Mei, could you also check his clothes for any problems? He just went out for a run, so there might be some issues with the details of his clothing."
"Besides..."
Sabrina, who possesses Psychic, sensed the arrival of her target immediately. Although Psychic don't offer any advantage in detection compared to Aura Power, she is Sabrina, an existence beyond the ordinary.
This range of exploration was still within her acceptable range.
Moreover, with her ample experience in performing on stage, she quickly arranged what everyone needed to do. Although she wasn't the one who arranged these things in the Pokémon World, she had already figured out the process after seeing so many of these performances.
Then--
When Qiao Ran returned to the lounge, he was immediately confronted by a group of girls holding various props, who were attacking him from all angles.
"W-wh-what happened??"
Good grief, I was just careless. I didn't use my Aura Power, and I got ambushed?
"Don't move, it'll be ready soon."
Lillie, while applying makeup, exuded an inexplicable sense of majesty, leaving Qiao Ran frozen in place.
"It's your turn to go on stage soon. Let us help you get ready. We'll tell you what happened after your performance."
Sabrina, who was standing to the side, explained a few words. It was the only option, since Qiao Ran had arrived far too late. If he had arrived earlier, he might have had more time.
At this level of Competition, if you don't improve your appearance a little, it's easy for flaws to be pointed out.
"I don't need makeup either..."
"It's just a little touch-up; it'll look even better!"
Lillie interrupted him abruptly, forcing Qiao Ran to swallow his next words. She was actually quite curious to see what Qiao Ran would look like after some minor adjustments; she was sure he would look even better than he did now...
"..."
Standing behind Qiao Ran, Cynthia could only look away innocently, indicating that she knew nothing. However, seeing Qiao Ran's expression, she found it quite amusing.
"Alright, let's welcome one of today's highlights, and also the top ten most anticipated contestants according to the official vote after the first day of the Competition-- "
On stage, the host announced the information of the next contestant, and at the same time, the audience's enthusiasm was immediately aroused.
Although every contestant in the top ten of the votes is referred to as "top ten,"
There's no detailed ranking order, but so far in the Competition, the only one who hasn't appeared yet is that man.
"Qiao Ran is from Longjiang City!"
Amidst the cheers of the audience and the dim lighting.
A figure appeared at the end of the stage, walking down the steps one by one.
Gradually—the lights came on, and with his steps, pale blue and pink crystals began to spread on both sides of the stage, like Mew Gem, emitting a faint glow in the dim light.
"What is that...?"
"That is..."
The bizarre scene once again brought the audience a completely different feeling.
At last--
When the figure reached the end of the stage, all the lights in the arena converged on the center, casting a beam of light.
The light blue and pink paths have intertwined, and the red and blue paths converge to form two-tone, crystalline flowers that bloom on the stage.
The stage lights, the Gem lights, the ice crystal lights—all the light intertwined, red and blue merging together to create an incomparably magnificent, dreamlike scene.
But this Mew scene was ultimately fleeting.
After maintaining its shape for a few seconds, the flower, along with the crystal's path, began to dissipate, turning into sparkling fluorescent dots with a crisp cracking sound. At that moment, the white fox and the pink Diamond Princess emerged from within, slowly landing in the center of the Battle Court.
--It was Vulpix and Dianxi.
The lights came back on, and the audience finally came to their senses. This time, Qiao Ran had actually sent out two Pokémon to perform. One was Dianxi, which they had been looking forward to for a long time, and the other was a Pokémon that many people had seen before, the Ice-type Vulpix.
But... when these two Pokémon were combined, they produced such a harmonious and Mew effect. The pink and light blue crystals, with their icy yet fiery sensation, not only lingered in their vision but were also etched into their hearts.
The audience cheered. This was the second time that such enthusiastic cheers had been erupted for just the opening act, which was extremely rare among all the previous contestants.
"... That's amazing, absolutely amazing."
The judges on the panel couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and even Su Yiliu nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining with a special light.