Events (I)

The enormous hemispherical Pokémon Contest venue could accommodate tens of thousands of spectators at once.

Four giant screens surrounded the hemispherical arena, ensuring that audiences on every side could clearly see what was happening on the battlefield instead of buying tickets only to see nothing.

Inside the Pokémon Contest arena.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Pokémon Contest Rookie Cup! I'm your host, Mary."

A flamboyantly dressed female commentator appeared in the center of the arena, standing atop Devon Corporation's latest technological product: a flying disc.

Four small drones hovered beside her, filming and broadcasting live in real time.

The audience erupted the instant they heard her voice.

After all, the woman on the aircraft was the star host of Great Zijing Television, which now dominated television programming throughout Hoenn.

Almost every household had watched a program she hosted or an interview she conducted. Who would've thought the opening host would be this impressive?

What was even more explosive was when the cameras turned toward the judges' table. An even louder wave of cheers swept through the stands.

The elderly man in reading glasses seated first at the judges' table was the organizer of this Rookie Cup, as well as the head of the Hoenn League Coordinator Committee.

For this Rookie Cup, he had gone to great lengths to invite so many renowned figures from the industry.

He had even gone to Great Zijing Television and practically waited at their doorstep to bring Mary over specifically to host the Rookie Cup events over the next few days.

Figures like Professor Oak were already difficult enough to meet under normal circumstances, yet so many of them had appeared today.

Many ticket-buying spectators had come specifically for these industry bigshots.

Quite a few people sighed that they had finally seen the living Professor Oak today.

The 100 Poké Dollars ticket was absolutely worth it.

"Today's event is the preliminary round of our Pokémon Contest Rookie Cup! There are 256 contestants on site. Who will be the one standing at the end? Let's wait and see!"

Mary announced the start of the competition in her enthusiastic voice.

Unlike ordinary battle competitions,

the Rookie Cup preliminaries for the Pokémon Contest lasted only thirty minutes.

There were ten judges in total, and each judge had ten hearts to award, for a maximum score of one hundred hearts.

After thirty minutes, the contestant with the higher heart score would win.

Of course, defeating the opponent within those thirty minutes also earned bonus points. So it wasn't just about the outcome of the battle, but also the Pokémon's level of training, the flair of its moves...

Inside the contestants' waiting room,

Roy watched the live broadcast on the television in the room. The screen had switched to the judges' table.

There was Joy from Rustboro City, Officer Jenny...

Among the judges, Roy also spotted three familiar faces: Stone Hibiscus, Professor Oak, and Agatha.

Of course, he knew them. Whether they knew him was another matter.

Hibiscus wasn't surprising. Roy had seen him and Steven at the academy's battle arena just two days ago.

After all, he was the president of Devon Corporation, so it was normal for him to appear here. But Roy hadn't expected to run into Professor Oak and Agatha as well.

Wasn't Professor Oak a professor from the Kanto Region? What was he doing here?

This Rookie Cup was far more official than Roy had imagined.

The three of them looked much younger than they did in the games and anime. Agatha had changed the most—her expression was cold and stern, and she wasn't leaning on a cane like she did in the anime.

Still, time had left its marks on her face. But beauty lay in the bones, not the skin. Judging by her bone structure, Agatha must have been a beauty in her youth.

"Let us welcome today's first battle—"

Contestant No. 52 versus Contestant No. 64!

At Mary's command, the first battle of the Pokémon Contest officially began.

Roy noticed that the No. 52 contestant who stepped onto the command platform was Headband Guy, the same arrogant man who had loudly declared during registration that he would win the championship.

His Pokémon was a Primeape. Unfortunately, Roy's scanning ability couldn't scan a Pokémon's information through a video feed.

His opponent, No. 64, was a trainer using a Machoke.

The Primeape and Machoke began wrestling for dominance as soon as they entered the field. Their strength proved nearly equal, and the fight was fiercely contested.

This forced Mary to switch up her commentary style.

"Primeape throws a hook... oh! It missed! What a shame!"

"Machoke answers with a backhanded swing! Will it connect!? Ah, Primeape blocks it!"

Fortunately, she had previously hosted programs for Fighting type arenas, so she wasn't unfamiliar with the boxing styles of the two Pokémon.

Mary's sudden burst of passion and fiery voice left the spectators wondering whether they were watching a Martial Arts Tournament or a Pokémon Contest.

Roy thought the two of them shouldn't have come to a Pokémon Contest. They should've gone to Dewford Town to find Brawly and enter a Martial Arts Tournament.

Roy often saw Pokémon like Primeape around Mt. Pyre. They were much like the wild monkeys he had seen on Mount Emei in his previous life.

Their tempers were incredibly volatile, and they often got so angry that they fainted themselves.

But the Primeape in the video seemed different from other Primeape.

It didn't grow anxious or furious just because the battle had reached a stalemate. Instead, it stared intently at the Machoke opposite it, trying to find an opening.

Finally, after the two had remained deadlocked for some time, Machoke's legs began to tremble. Its stamina had clearly reached its limit.

Primeape caught that slight tremor. Just as it prepared to use Low Kick against Machoke's vulnerable lower body,

Headband Guy's voice rang out from the command platform behind it.

"Primeape, use Cross Chop!"

Headband Guy's order interrupted Primeape's movement, even though it had clearly spotted Machoke's weakness.

"Hurry up and use Cross Chop! Can't you hear me? What are you standing there for?"

With no choice, Primeape changed from a kick to a chopping strike.

However, that change completely disrupted Primeape's rhythm. It could be said that Headband Guy had made an utterly wrong call.

At that very instant, Machoke seized the opportunity and used the momentum to press forward. Its legs slammed fiercely into Primeape, forcing it to the ground before it launched a relentless barrage of punches.

In the end, Machoke had the advantage in stamina and knocked Mankey to the ground with a low kick, claiming victory.

"Trash!"

Headband Guy watched Primeape lying on the field and cursed under his breath.

"Primeape is unable to battle! The winner is Machoke!"

"Let's thank these two young contestants for their thrilling performance, though this isn't a Martial Arts Tournament."

"Now, let's invite our judges to score the match."

Just as Roy had expected, Mankey's trainer received only thirty points. Although Machoke's trainer had won the battle, he only received forty-five points. It was hard to say whether that would even be enough to advance to the second round.

Seeing that he had only thirty points, Headband Guy was thoroughly slapped in the face by his earlier boast about winning the championship.

Still, he didn't dare cause trouble in front of all these bigshots. He could only recall his Pokémon into its Poké Ball and leave the battlefield, muttering nonstop that the trash had caused him to lose the match.

Two more ordinary matches followed. Since they were all rookie trainers, there was barely anything worth watching—until the fourth battle.

Mary raised her voice.

"Next, let's welcome! The first trainer in this competition to use a Ghost type Pokémon!!!!"

"Contestant No. 256, Roy!!!!!"

The moment Mary finished speaking, the stands fell silent.

"A Ghost type Pokémon! Why let that kind of Pokémon into the venue? Don't they feed on human life force?"

"Keep your voice down. See that woman in the judges' area? She's Agatha, the newly promoted Ghost type Elite Four member from the Kanto Region. If she hears you, you're finished."

"I'm only thinking about everyone's safety, aren't I? What if..."

Though the man still sounded unconvinced, his voice had clearly grown much quieter.