The large screen above the stage displayed eight Trainers. For a large-scale event like the Jubilife Contest, the elimination rate was already very high-the equivalent of screening out three-quarters of the contestants outright.
Dawn's portrait stood prominently in first place, followed by Zoey and Jessilina the Sweet, with Ash in fifth. They had all successfully advanced to the second round.
After the matchups were arranged, Jessie's opponent was a male Trainer, Dawn's was a prettily dressed female Trainer, and Ash and Zoey were matched against each other first.
"Ash, I didn't expect us to face each other first. Unlike the preliminary round, I'll let you experience the difference between a Pokémon Contest and an ordinary battle."
"Bring it on. Whatever the competition, as long as it's a battle, I'm up for it."
"Dawn, I hope you can make it to the end. I'm looking forward to battling you."
"What's with that short-haired little girl? She won't even talk to me. Is she looking down on me, Jessie Lina?"
"All right, let's welcome our first match: Miss Dawn versus Miss Nobuko!"
The audience erupted in applause.
"Dawn! Dawn!"
"It looks like our audience is really cheering for Dawn. Let's look forward to this showdown!"
"Buneary, take the stage!"
"Come on out, Masquerain!"
Both sides sent out their Pokémon at the same time. Unlike in the first round, Dawn didn't send out Piplup, presumably to preserve his strength for the later battles.
Masquerain, the Eyeball Pokémon.
It intimidates enemies with the eyeball patterns on its antennae. With its four wings, it can move freely forward, backward, left, and right in the air like a helicopter. It is said that when its glaring eyeball patterns look sad and droopy, it is a sign that rain will fall that evening.
"You're Dawn, right? Your performance just now was very good, but I won't go easy on you."
Nobuko was an older girl wearing a purple top and a short skirt. Looking at the younger Dawn, she took a liking to her and couldn't help speaking up.
"Miss Nobuko, this is a competition, so please give it everything you've got. Even if I lose in the end, I won't have any regrets."
Dawn used her Pokédex to check the older girl's Pokémon, then answered seriously when she heard her words.
"What a sweet little girl. Then I won't hold back. Masquerain, use Silver Wind!"
Nobuko paused in surprise at Dawn's words, then smiled as she spoke. She stopped joking around and took the match seriously.
"Buneary, dodge it!" Dawn used one of the "god-tier moves." The little rabbit nimbly avoided the attack, but because she didn't counterattack in time, Dawn began losing points.
"It's our turn to strike back. Buneary, use Ice Beam!"
Seeing her score begin to drop, Dawn started directing a counterattack.
"Masquerain, use Bubble Beam!"
The older girl didn't simply wait for Dawn's attack, either, ordering Masquerain to use a move to counter it.
The two moves collided. After the icy-blue beam froze Bubble Beam into chunks of ice, its remaining power continued toward the opponent, ultimately grazing a wing.
"Buneary, use Bounce to jump up high!"
Seeing the mist produced by the clash of moves, Dawn had an idea and instructed Buneary to leap using Bounce.
"What?!" As the mist thinned, Masquerain, who was about to use Bubble Beam again, discovered that Buneary was no longer on the field.
"Buneary, use the force of that Bounce to unleash Dizzy Punch!"
"Bun!"
Dawn now ordered Buneary to use Dizzy Punch. With the added momentum from being airborne, Buneary's Dizzy Punch successfully struck Masquerain.
"Masquerain!" Nobuko cried out as she looked at her Pokémon, who could no longer battle.
"Masquerain is unable to battle. Dawn wins this match!"
The host promptly announced Dawn's victory, and Dawn's portrait appeared on the large screen to show that she had advanced.
"Yay!" Dawn and Buneary high-fived, celebrating their victory in the first match.
"The next match will be between contestant Zoey and contestant Ash," the host, Marian, continued, announcing the contestants for the next battle.
"Glameow, go!"
"Aipom, I choose you!"
As the match began, Ash seized the initiative and ordered Aipom to attack with Focus Punch, but Zoey easily neutralized it using Glameow's springlike tail. His points began dropping on the large screen.
Ash then continued the offensive by ordering Swift, but Zoey's Glameow blocked every star with Fury Swipes, and Ash kept losing points.
"See? That's the difference between a Pokémon Contest and a Pokémon battle."
Zoey spoke to Ash with one hand on her hip.
"Damn it!"
Without answering her, Ash once again ordered Aipom to use Focus Punch, only for Zoey to counter it with Shadow Claw. But Ash still refused to give up, and just as he prepared to continue attacking-
The five minutes on the large screen ran out. Ash's points were almost gone, while Zoey still had more than half of hers. Zoey won the match.
"What a shame."
Xiaoyun shook his head as he watched Ash's match. There wasn't much to say about it. Ash had suffered from a lack of information and had practically been led around by the nose. Without a time limit, who would have won was still anyone's guess. Unfortunately, this was a Pokémon Contest.
A Pokémon Contest meant battling while also displaying a Pokémon's appeal within the allotted time. For Ash, this match had been almost a complete defeat.
Strictly speaking, Ash was an opportunist, best at improvising in battle and seizing openings to strike hard. A Pokémon Contest, which called for something like arranging troops and formations, was still too much to ask of him-unless he called Charizard and the others over to knock out the opponent outright, leaving them no chance to show off their appeal.
But would things be different if it were Paul? Xiaoyun was quite curious to see what a Pokémon Contest would look like with that guy, who loved catching people off guard!
No, the next time I make a bet with that guy, I have to make him enter a Pokémon Contest. I'll even record it with a video camera. What if that gloomy face gets knocked out in the first round? That would be hilarious. Hehehe. (ಡωಡ)
"Achoo!" A gloomy boy training his Pokémon in the forest sneezed. He couldn't explain it, but he kept feeling as though something strange was about to happen, sending a chill down his back!
In the following match, Jessie Lina also secured a victory with Carnivine. Next, Dawn was matched against Jessie Lina, while Zoey would battle another contestant who had successfully advanced.
"Next, please welcome contestant Jessilina the Sweet and contestant Dawn!"
"Piplup, take the stage!"
"Win this for me, Carnivine!"
The portraits appeared on the large screen, and both sides sent out their Pokémon to battle. Dawn sent out her trusted Piplup, while Jessie continued to use Carnivine.
Carnivine, the Bug Catcher Pokémon.
It first attracts prey with its sweet-smelling saliva, then chomps it with its large jaws. It takes an entire day to eat its prey. When it wraps its tentacles around tree branches and remains motionless, it looks just like a plant. It opens its mouth wide and waits for prey to take the bait.