Mr. Contesta raised his scorecard almost without hesitation and wrote down a 10, declaring decisively, "The move transitions were absolutely flawless!
From manipulating water vapor to form storm clouds, to shaping ice sculptures with Ice-type moves—this kind of unrestrained, imaginative creativity truly left me shaken."
Chairman Sukizo's smile never faded as he, too, awarded a 10. "I loved it—absolutely loved it! Using ice sculptures as gifts to share fleeting beauty with the audience… I really, really, really loved that!"
Nurse Joy's eyes sparkled like stars as she looked at the Milotic ice sculpture in her hands. "I honestly don't have much to add. The performance was stunning, and I adore this ice sculpture gift!"
Three vivid red 10s lit up once again.
Total score: 30 points. A perfect score!
At that very moment, the cheers of the entire venue erupted completely.
The audience held up the ice sculptures in their hands, shouting Theo's and Milotic's names in unison. The roar of voices was so overwhelming it felt almost tangible, as though it might lift the stage itself and flip it over.
Theo walked over to Milotic, which affectionately rubbed against his arm. Reflected in its eyes were the countless spectators below, its gaze filled with gentle warmth and a soft, tender smile.
On the contestants' waiting bench at the side of the stage, Laura looked at the perfect score displayed above the arena. She, too, was holding a Milotic ice sculpture in her hand, and she let out a light sigh.
Then she smiled and raised both hands, waving along with the crowd.
Beside her, Blitzle let out a brisk, cheerful neigh, as if applauding the opponent's magnificent performance in its own way.
Inside the Sootopolis City Gym—
Wallace, Juan, and Robert sat gathered around a projected screen, which was still frozen on the image of Theo and Milotic bowing together in thanks at the end of their performance.
Juan's gaze lingered on Theo on the screen for a long while. After a moment, he finally spoke, gently tapping his fingers against the table, his tone filled with emotion. "This child's imagination truly runs wild—one can't help but marvel at it.
Just speaking of Rain Dance control alone, my Milotic could do that with ease.
But thinking of freezing the rain into ice sculptures—and then giving them to the audience as gifts! That kind of idea never once crossed my mind.
This child… he was practically born for Pokémon Contests."
Robert nodded repeatedly beside him, his eyes darting back and forth between Theo on the screen and Wallace next to him.
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes mischievously and spoke with a teasing grin, "Yeah, that idea really is impressive. The new generation of Coordinator Trainers just keeps getting better and better.
Senior Brother… you and Winona back then—didn't you really leave a kid behind or something?
Look at that little guy's hair, it's green too, exactly like yours when you were younger."
He deliberately dragged out his tone, lightly tapping Theo's figure on the screen with his finger as he continued to add fuel to the fire. "You two really only met for the first time at the Rustboro Contest?
I watched his earlier videos—he said that Feebas was something he personally fished up at the seaside. Don't tell me that while you were serving as League Champion, you secretly found one and gave it to him?"
Hearing this, Juan leaned closer to the screen as well, squinting as he carefully compared Theo's features with Wallace's. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed, and he couldn't help exclaiming, "Robert, you might actually be onto something! Now that you mention it, I think they do look alike!
It's just that Wallace has grown up now, and his fashion sense has gotten flashier and flashier—otherwise, I should've noticed it much earlier. The more I look, the more similar they seem."
"Master! How can you join in on this nonsense too?!"
Wallace's eyes widened instantly as he waved his hands in a panic, hurriedly explaining, "Winona and I were only dating back then! And besides, by the time we even met, Theo had already been born! How could that possibly be true?!"
Seeing his reaction, Robert laughed even harder, deliberately continuing to tease him. "Well, you never know~ Why not send Winona a message and ask? Who knows—maybe there'll be an unexpected surprise?"
"Enough already!"
Wallace helplessly smacked Robert on the arm, his tone caught somewhere between laughter and tears.
Though he argued aloud, deep down Wallace felt an inexplicable stir. Ever since he first laid eyes on Theo, he had indeed felt a strange sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite put into words.
Otherwise, back at the Rustboro Contest, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to keep Theo behind, or gifted him the Prism Scale from Milotic.
Juan and Robert exchanged a glance, both seeing the unmistakable amusement in each other's eyes. Knowing the joke had gone far enough, they stopped teasing.
At that moment, the projected screen switched scenes. The Mauville City Contest had reached a critical stage.
The list of contestants advancing to the second round was being announced, and Theo's name was prominently displayed at the very top. The three of them quickly turned their full attention back to the competition.
From the screen, Lilian's voice rang out clearly, trembling with excitement. "Next, we will enter the most thrilling segment of this contest—the Contest Battles!
The twenty advancing contestants will be paired off through a draw to face each other. After two rounds of battles, the total scores from the first three rounds will be combined, and the five contestants with the highest scores will be awarded the Mauville City Contest Ribbon!"
Staff members swiftly brought out the lottery box.
The twenty advancing contestants stepped forward one by one to draw their lots.
When it was Laura's turn, her fingers brushed against a small, ice-cold ball. She opened it—and inside, clearly written, was '127'!
It was Theo's contestant number.
Upon seeing the number, Laura instinctively raised the lottery ball and looked in Theo's direction.
Theo noticed the number in her hand and froze for a split second.
Then Laura was the first to smile. She clenched the lottery ball and spoke with a trace of relief in her tone. "What a coincidence. Looks like the two of us are opponents."
Theo nodded. "That really is fate, then. Let's both give it everything we've got."
The audience stands instantly erupted with astonishing enthusiasm, the cheers nearly blowing the roof off the arena.
After all, this was a direct confrontation between the two contestants who had shone the brightest in the first two rounds.
It was practically a final match ahead of schedule, and even the livestream comments multiplied severalfold in an instant:
"Here it comes! Laura's luck is insane—she drew the streamer on her first pull!"
"Blitzle's Electric-type has the advantage over Water-types, but Milotic is fully evolved… hard to say, hard to say!"
"You must be new, huh? Go look up the battle video of Feebas versus Roxanne's Gym. Even before evolving, Feebas's combat strength was already impressive—let alone after evolution!"
"I don't care who wins, I just want to watch! Both of their earlier performances were incredible!"
The earlier battles wrapped up quickly, with both thrilling moments and narrow escapes along the way.
At last, it was time for Theo and Laura to take the stage.
Blue light bands illuminated the center of the battlefield, clearly delineating the battle zone. Acting as the referee, Lilian stood at the center and loudly announced the rules: "Contest Battle, time limit of five minutes! Now, let the match begin!"
"Blitzle, I'm counting on you!"
Laura threw her Poké Ball first. A flash of red light burst forth, and Blitzle galloped onto the field wreathed in crackling sparks of electricity.
The black-and-white stripes on its forehead shone brilliantly, its entire body radiating fierce fighting spirit. As its four hooves struck the ground, tiny arcs of electric sparks danced across the surface.
(End of Chapter)
TN: Hey guys bad news after chapter 100 this one is probably gonna go on hiatus since the site where I got this from uploads like once every three days so we already caught up on tit.