October 1, afternoon.
Olivine Town, the All-Around Competition.
That afternoon's event was the Strength Competition.
First, the mystery guests Bruno and Lorelei had made their appearances.
Then Dayou could no longer keep his identity under wraps, and his cover as a three-time Pokémon World Martial Arts Tournament Champion was blown.
Then there was Li Wei, who seemed to have no special identity at all, yet was absurdly strong for some inexplicable reason.
The audience could not even guess what new trick Li Wei would pull out next.
And there was Ash, the Super New Trainer who had demonstrated extraordinary physical abilities at the earlier Water Balloon Music Festival and that morning's events.
It did not matter if his Pokémon seemed to be holding him back. Ash would step in himself!
Yuka explained the rules in detail to the audience and contestants.
"Each Trainer and their Pokémon must take turns breaking tiles from the same stack.
"Trainers may use their fists, palms, elbows, and so on, but may not use tools or Pokémon moves to assist themselves.
"The winner will be determined by the total number of tiles broken by each Trainer and their Pokémon. Who will claim victory? Let's wait and see!"
In the contestants' preparation area,
Li Wei's cheering squad was as enthusiastic as ever.
Dawn and Piplup had changed into cheerleading outfits.
They spread their support equally among all five contestants, including Bruno and Akin, whom they had seen relatively little of.
Sirfetch'd waved its leek sword and shield.
Diancie watched intently, while the invisible Meloetta clasped its hands together.
"First up is Master Bruno!"
Bruno sank into a solid stance, every muscle in his body tensing as he brought down a plain yet terrifyingly powerful knife-hand strike.
His form was straight out of a textbook!
Thud-
With