"It's the festival over in Lilycove City. Too bad there's no time to buy tickets and go see it."
Between the text on the promotional video and the conversations of passersby, it was clear that Lilycove City was holding a festival and had invited the famous idol Li Yizi.
There were also some local Coordinators from the Hoenn Region, including Lisia and...
"Azumi? Is she there as comic relief?"
Azumi was the Pokémon Transfer and Storage System researcher he had met during last year's trip to Meteor Falls.
If she dared sign up for a Pokémon Contest, her fractures must have healed.
Leaving Li Yizi and Azumi aside, thinking of Lisia made Shen Qi feel he ought to go watch her performance.
He felt so ashamed.
He had stood Lisia up in the Mega Evolution World Line, then missed her performance in Jubilife City after returning to the Normal World Line.
Lisia had not sent Shen Qi an invitation to this Pokémon Contest in Lilycove City.
She did not know Shen Qi had come to the Hoenn Region, and she probably really was angry, too.
They had known each other for so long and even faced life and death together at Meteor Falls, yet Shen Qi had never watched Lisia perform live. He had only taken part twice over in the Mega Evolution World Line.
Since Florges needed to rest anyway, he might as well take the Pokémon to Lilycove City.
For the past ten days or so, Shen Qi had devoted himself entirely to searching for Mega Stone ore with Florges and had paid no attention to the festival, especially since it was in Lilycove City rather than Slateport City.
Now only the final day remained, and it was also the grandest day.
The stage show and the scoring