Festival and Battle Tent

Having quickly taken care of his business, Tetsuya returned to Slateport City.

However.

Slateport City had changed considerably since he had last left.

As he walked through the city streets.

He could see flamboyantly dressed Trainers chatting in small groups everywhere.

"Is the Pokémon Contest about to begin?"

Intrigued, Tetsuya arrived at the Pokemon Center. As he handed his partners to Miss Joy for recovery, he asked about it.

Miss Joy smiled and nodded. "Yes. This year, Slateport City is hosting the Pokémon Contest venue, so it'll be very lively for a period of time. If you're interested, you can make time to watch it. The performances by Coordinators and their Pokémon are very beautiful. Miss Joys from our Pokemon Center will also serve as judges then."

Pokémon Contests had originated in the Hoenn Region beneath Tetsuya's feet only a little over a decade ago.

Over those ten-odd years, more and more people had learned of the existence of Coordinators, and quite a few had worked toward becoming top Coordinators.

Unlike ordinary Trainers.

Most Coordinators raised Pokémon specifically for Pokémon Contests rather than conventional Pokémon battles.

That meant that while their Pokémon tended to have better appearances and condition, their combat capability was correspondingly somewhat weaker.

Of course.

Of course, coordinators were still Trainers, and the second round of a Pokémon Contest still assessed that aspect to some extent.

Someone like Wallace, who had won the Grand Festival and become a top Coordinator.

Could not be underestimated in terms of strength.

Pokémon Contests were divided into four levels: Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master.

The highest-level Master Rank Pokémon Contest, the annual Grand Festival, could currently only be hosted by Slateport City and Lilycove City in Hoenn, as well as Hearthome City in Sinnoh. Those cities also had precedents for hosting