Chapter 144: The End of the Contest
As Vivian's voice fell, the electronic displays behind the three judges lit up.
Ten!
Ten!!
And another freakin' ten!!!
"A perfect score!! Ninetales's performance received a perfect score!!"
Vivian exclaimed in surprise. The three judges, without prior consultation, had simultaneously given a perfect score of ten.
In Pokémon Contests, a perfect score of thirty was extremely rare. Each judge had different stylistic preferences, so it was difficult for a performance to satisfy all of them perfectly.
A perfect score: unexpected, yet reasonable.
However, while Kenji was happy about Ninetales's perfect score, the contestants following him were suffering.
It was like a singing competition where the first contestant performed a high-difficulty operatic piece, and the next one followed with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Without comparison, there is no harm.
With Ninetales setting such a high bar ("fine dining"), not only were the judges' standards raised, but the pressure on the subsequent contestants ("plain porridge") was immense.
The performance stage for the ninety-nine contestants was spread over three days.
This meant the final round, the Battle Stage, wouldn't happen until the fourth day.
During these waiting days, the little Noibat hatched.
Practice makes perfect; Kenji was now an expert at handling newborn Pokémon.
Soon, the Performance Stage concluded, and the list of finalists advancing to the Battle Stage was confirmed.
There was no suspense for first place. Kenji topped the list with a perfect score of 30, a full eight points ahead of the second-place score of 22.
With an eight-point lead, and a victory in the Battle Stage only granting an additional ten points...
Unless Kenji scored zero in the battle, the other contestants could only compete for second place.
...
In the waiting area, the large electronic screen displayed the match-ups for the Battle Stage.
Kenji's opponent was a man named Harlan, and his partner Pokémon was a Golduck.
On the other side, Harlan, dressed in casual beachwear, saw the match list and smiled bitterly.
Despite having the type advantage, Harlan couldn't find it in himself to be happy.
There were five matches in total. Kenji and Harlan's match was the third, right in the middle.
Kenji didn't care much about who his opponent was.
Since most Coordinators spent their time honing performance skills, the levels of Pokémon in Contests generally weren't very high.
Kenji scanned the room. All the Pokémon present were at the Elite level. With her strength, Ninetales could easily take on all nine of them at once.
However, if he just one-shotted his opponent, Ninetales wouldn't be able to showcase her performance skills...
"Next! Let's welcome our third match: contestant Harlan versus contestant Kenji!!"
Kenji and Harlan walked out from the entrances on either side of the arena.
Harlan's Golduck was well-raised, with a robust physique. Paired with sunglasses and a roguish expression, it had garnered quite a few fangirls during the competition.
But sharing the stage with Ninetales instantly overshadowed Golduck's flair.
"Yoooo..."
Ninetales let out a soft cry. Instantly, the sunlight on the battlefield intensified several times over. The temperature rose rapidly, making the Water-type Golduck extremely uncomfortable.
Golduck
Level: 43
Type: Water
Ability: Damp (Prevents self-destruction moves)
Potential: B-
Golduck's Damp ability was rendered irrelevant under Ninetales's Drought. The air became dry and scorching.
"Battle... begin!!"
"Water Pulse!!"
"Golduck!!—"
Golduck opened its mouth, spraying a jet of water.
"Fire Spin: Guardian!"
"Yoooo!!—"
Ninetales cried out softly, her red eyes flashing. A vortex of fire rose from beneath her, instantly enveloping her completely.
"HISS!!!—"
The water jet met the fire vortex. With a loud hiss, steam rose as the water was instantly evaporated by the flames.
Mist spread across the battlefield.
"Double Team!!—"
"Golduck!!—"
Golduck clasped its hands together, splitting into multiple afterimages.
Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!!
Ninetales's blue eyes flickered slightly. She spat out a stream of flames, which, under her psychic control, split into several small fireballs bombarding Golduck.
"Aqua Jet!!"
Golduck enveloped itself in water, retreating from its position before the fireballs could land.
"POP! POP! POP!!—"
The clones shattered under the bombardment of Ninetales's fireballs. Soon, only the real Golduck remained, using Aqua Jet to dodge and weave through the fire.
"Disable!!"
"Golduck!!—"
Golduck's eyes rippled with psychic energy, directing it at Ninetales in an attempt to restrict her movements.
But Golduck's psychic prowess compared to Ninetales was like showing off axe skills in front of Lu Ban—amateurish.
A single gleam of psychic power from Ninetales's blue eyes easily dispelled Golduck's Disable. She then countered with her own Disable, freezing Golduck in place.
"Yoooo!—"
Ninetales cried out. A scorching Heat Wave swept toward Golduck, and the Fire Spin around Ninetales, fueled by the hot wind, surged toward Golduck.
As the Fire Spin moved, it absorbed the heat from the Heat Wave, growing larger until it could easily swallow Golduck whole.
"Golduck!! Dodge it, quick!"
At this moment, Golduck was completely immobilized by Disable. Forget using moves; it couldn't even move a muscle to dodge.
The moment Golduck touched the Fire Spin, it was engulfed.
The Fire Spin lasted less than ten seconds before dissipating under Ninetales's control.
With the fire gone, the audience saw that Golduck had fainted, unable to battle.
"Golduck is unable to battle! Ninetales wins!!"
"Thank you to both contestants for that exciting battle. Please return to the waiting area. The second round scores will be announced after all Battle Stage matches conclude."
Ninetales walked off the stage. Kenji shook hands briefly with Harlan and returned to the waiting area to await the final results.
Compared to Kenji's battle, the remaining two matches were much slower, as the contestants tried to incorporate as many performance techniques as possible into the fight...
But within half an hour, the remaining matches concluded.
"Dear audience! This concludes the Lanling City Pokémon Contest! Thank you all for watching.
"Next, the Chairman of the Lanling City Pokémon Contest Committee and our head judge will come on stage to give a speech and announce the final rankings."
The Chairman stood up, walked onto the stage, and began his speech.
The content made Kenji drowsy. Ten minutes later, the Chairman finally began announcing the results.
Tenth place was a girl. Her performance round was fine, but her battle round dragged her down due to her Pokémon's low level.
Seventh place was Harlan, Kenji's opponent, with a final score of 37.
...
Third place: 47 points.
Second place: 50 points.
First place: Kenji!! Final score: 66 points!!
The gap between first and second place was an astonishing 16 points!
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