Under everyone's eager searching gazes, they quickly spotted the one they were looking for among the eight trainers taking the stage this round—Himeko!
At this moment, she was already standing at one side of the battle arena for Field No. 3.
Himeko's opponent…
His face had already gone deathly pale.
Any graduate participating in this tournament—who hadn't heard of her?
She was the prodigy that Joji publicly hailed as the number one genius of this year's graduating class!
And her Charmeleon…
It was absurdly strong.
Thinking of the miserable state of Joji's opponent from the previous round, the contestant standing across from Himeko suddenly shuddered violently.
"Um… Himeko-san, when you strike later, could you go a little easy… please!"
He clasped his hands together toward Himeko, head lowered, begging nonstop.
Seeing how pitiful he looked, Himeko felt both annoyed and amused.
Then—
She gave a light nod.
The moment he saw her reaction, the contestant opposite let out a huge sigh of relief, gratitude shining in his eyes.
After all, the moment he drew this matchup, his defeat had already been decided.
Now, if Himeko was willing to let him lose without it looking too ugly…
That was already a rare mercy.
"This girl's presence is really impressive."
"Yeah. That kind of inborn confidence and dominance…"
"Teacher Moo Inoshishe's judgment really is reliable."
"I'm getting more and more curious about that Charmeleon."
"Same here! I wonder how it compares to that Dragonair."
"…"
Up in the VIP seats, the evaluators were all looking forward to Himeko sending out Charmeleon to battle, so they could feast their eyes and satisfy their craving.
And also to confirm whether the Charmeleon that Teacher Moo Inoshishe and President Sun praised so highly truly lived up to its reputation.
"Shiko, do you want to go on?"
Himeko's hand hovered at her waist.
She still hadn't decided which one to choose.
Even though back in the lounge she had asked Shiko once and gotten a negative answer…
Who knew—maybe after seeing how fiery the atmosphere was here, this guy had changed his mind?
Maybe he wanted to show off his strength properly in front of so many spectators?
"Not going."
Inside the Luxury Ball, Shiko straightened up, paying attention to the situation outside on the arena.
He was busy with the next spectating daily quest.
He had zero interest in coming up here to bully weaklings.
Sweeping three opponents in a row for that tiny bit of pitiful experience points—
How could that compare to the reward from completing a daily quest?
"If I'm going up, it'll be in the finals."
Shiko thought for a moment, then added another line.
If he took the stage in a low-value qualifying match like this…
Wouldn't that be a straight-up loss of face?
If he was going to step in—
Of course it had to be the grand final, making a last-second entrance as the headliner.
After all, as the protagonist—
He had to appear only when things were most dire, with the spotlight blazing at full power.
"Fine."
Himeko nodded.
The hand hovering at her waist bypassed Shiko's Poké Ball and landed on the one beside it.
"It's you! Go!"
Himeko shouted sharply.
The Poké Ball in her hand flew out.
A red light seeped from within, gathering densely and taking shape.
So it's here!
That Charmeleon!!
In the VIP seats, the big shots all leaned forward in unison, eyes wide, staring fixedly at the red light bursting out of the Poké Ball.
Not a single blink.
In their expressions—
A rare mix of anticipation and excitement.
The contestant facing Himeko…
At this moment he almost stopped breathing, his heart nearly ceasing to beat.
Damn it!
Himeko-san doesn't keep her word!
Don't tell me she's really sending out that terrifying Charmeleon to beat me into the ground?!
No sportsmanship at all!
"Lop!"
The red light finished forming.
A humanoid Pokémon with long ears appeared before everyone.
A slender yet explosive figure.
And a dazzling coat of pink long fur.
The moment Lopunny took the field, the entire venue fell into silence.
After a brief stunned pause—
From the stands of two hundred thousand people, a tidal-wave roar of astonished exclamations erupted.
The big shots in the VIP seats, seeing that Himeko's lead Pokémon was a Lopunny, all had flashes of surprise—and disappointment—in their eyes.
But—
A moment later, when their gazes settled back onto Lopunny again…
Shock appeared on every single face once more.
"Hiss—! A Shiny Pokémon!"
"My god… th-this is actually unbelievable!"
"Interesting. This Himeko-san…"
"Shiny Pokémon are rare, scarce existences! Her luck is ridiculously insane!"
"The question is… how strong is this Lopunny in battle?"
"…"
After the wave of amazement—
Everyone's interest was hooked all over again.
Just how strong was this Shiny Lopunny?
Soon!
They were about to find out.
(End of Chapter)
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