The first day's preliminaries ended, and, unsurprisingly, all the men and women in Young Master Mao's household made it through.
A lively barbecue party was underway in the villa's courtyard beneath the night sky.
Ash's trio, the lovey-dovey duo of May and Brendan, Jasmine, and Fantina, who had followed the smell to mooch a meal, were all there.
Everyone sat together, happily digging into skewers.
Although the Team Rocket Trio had stayed away because they needed to stock up, Young Master Mao thoughtfully had a delivery runner bring them a portion for a late-night snack.
"Ooh~ Executive! We'll lay down our lives for you!" The Trio held their pork belly and bawled their eyes out...
Gary had no time to bother with those three for now. He was busy comforting Ash.
"What's wrong? Didn't you make it through the preliminaries? Why do you look like you lost?" Gary asked, looking curiously at the dejected Ash.
"Ugh... I did lose. Miss Fantina's Hypnosis strategy completely destroyed me..." Ash held his forehead and wailed.
So he had won in the Pokémon Contest, only to turn around and get thoroughly trounced by Fantina. No wonder he looked so aggrieved...
"Oh, that's nothing. I'll teach you a trick later." Gary raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" Ash immediately perked up.
"Relax and eat. With me here, nothing will go wrong." Gary patted his chest, and only then did Ash settle down.
"Young Master Mao, you'll be judging tomorrow's main competition too, right?" Jasmine asked as she ate, holding an entire tomahawk steak.
"Well~ The rotating shift system seems to have been very well received, so Wallace, Fantina, and I will keep taking turns for the rest of the contest." Gary thought for a moment. "I'm on the late shift tomorrow, so I can enter the Double