Pokémon Court

Chapter 201: Terrance taking the stage

Glancing at the contestant about to take the stage, Mr. Raoul Contesta sighed, “Coordinators are really in short supply. The contestant who last earned the title of Top Coordinator didn’t even make it to the top three of the Lily of the Valley Conference. Nowadays, Coordinators can only rely on Wallace to keep up appearances. When will another decent Coordinator appear?”

Sukizo squinted his eyes, appearing focused but not really deeply engaged. He relaxed in this manner to relieve himself of fatigue. Compared to Trainers, they don’t have high standards for rookie Coordinators. They could only look for talented individuals through casting a wide net like this.

Raoul Contesta remarked, “The next one to take the stage is that young man.”

“It’s his turn now,” Sukizo perked up slightly, thinking to himself, “That Terrance seems promising, but I wonder where he stands in Pokémon Contests.”

Pokémon Fan Club and Pokémon Contests were allied, and the popularity of Pokémon Contests had brought many benefits to the Fan Club.

In the Pokémon Contest Hall, as announcer Vivian’s voice fell silent, a young man in the audience suddenly stood up.

He looked puzzled, carefully scrutinizing before confirming Terrance’s identity, inwardly exclaiming, “It’s him.”

Blake’s eyes gleamed as he clicked his tongue, “The person I met when looking at Pokéblocks, I thought he’d be a Breeder, but turns out he’s a Coordinator?!” [TN: In chapter 176 I had used Bianca which I will be replacing with Blake as he is a male.]

“Do you know that contestant, Professor Blake?” a woman beside Blake noticed his reaction and asked in surprise.

“Umm, but just barely,” Blake sat down and said in a low voice, “He kept on finding faults with the Pokéblocks but didn’t tell me the reason why… so annoying.”

The woman wanted to say something, but after a moment’s hesitation, she let out a sigh. It was quite frustrating how their date had turned out. As she finished speaking, her eyes wandered to the arena… There stood a young man dressed in a white shirt and trousers, his hair a shade of brown-colored gold.

This was Terrance…dressed specifically for the Pokémon Contests.

Wearing this outfit, Terrance looked quite neat and tidy, coupled with his handsome features… as he stepped onto the arena, he was greeted with enthusiastic applause.

Though each contestant receives applause upon entry, Terrance felt his was a bit more enthusiastic this time.

“Look, look, Terrance-senpai is on stage,” in the lobby, Sora hurriedly pulled Reiko over and said.

“I know, I can see it…slow down,” Reiko said, looking up at the big screen.

“This is my third time participating in a Pokémon Contest…” When they had chatted with Terrance, he was bombarded with many questions. When they found out Terrance also participated in Pokémon Contests three times, Sora was astonished.

Especially knowing that Terrance had won Ribbons in each of those two times, even Reiko was stunned, losing her usual composure.

Terrance spoke casually, but Reiko’s heart was in turmoil. She deeply understood the challenges of starting out as a Rookie Coordinator. Without mentors or a certain level of nurturing, even primary judging could deter many people.

Coordinators and Trainers each had their own challenges, but Coordinators didn’t have the same vast numbers as Trainers.

“How many points do you think Terrance can get for the first round?” asked a Trainer friend of Reiko’s.

“He should get over 28 points, right?” speculated another Trainer friend.

“A recipient of two Ribbons… he probably won’t score below 29 points,” Reiko said.

“No… I think… Terrance-senpai might….might get a perfect score,” At this moment, Sora spoke up. Others only have words to go with it, but she had actually witnessed Terrance’s performance firsthand.

At that time, Beautifly…advanced to the second round with an overwhelming score of 30 out of 30.

Although Terrance wasn’t planning to send out Beautifly this time, Sora still believed that with Terrance’s strength, he would surely surprise many.

“Stop guessing, it’s starting,” Reiko said.

At that, everyone’s eyes stared at the big screen.

The Pokémon Terrance sent out was Altaria. With its fluffy and elegant white feathers and the sky-blue ribbons swaying gracefully in the wind atop its head, Altaria exuded an air of nobility the moment it appeared, blending elegance with mystery.

“Hmm…” Raoul Contesta’s eyes gleamed.

“Wow…” Sukizo was slightly stunned, even Nurse Joy looked at Terrance’s Altaria with interest.

“It’s not Beautifly… but compared to Beautifly, Altaria is more suitable as a signature Pokemon. It’s rarer and more precious than Beautifly, and it has the rare Dragon Type, one of the few elegant Pokémon in Hoenn…” Raoul Contesta thought.

Altaria was no less than Wallace’s Milotic.

And… to their surprise, this Altaria seemed to have developed even better than that Beautifly.

The nurturing of Beautifly was already impressive to them. Even among all the contestants, Beautifly’s nurturing was outstanding. But compared to Altaria, it lacked a certain charm.

“It’s the temperament…” Nurse Joy remarked.

Compared to Altaria, Beautifly lacked a certain temperament, which was innate and hard to nurture. A Tyranitar, even if it did nothing and just stood there, its fierce aura could intimidate a whole crowd of Pokémon. In contrast… a Sandslash didn’t possess that kind of temperament.

The nobility which comes from bloodline…

From birth, it stood ahead of most Pokémon.

“It’s quite interesting. Wallace’s Milotic evolved from a ‘ugly duckling’ into the most beautiful Pokémon, but this Altaria, starting from Swablu, already had a huge advantage…” Raoul Contesta thought.

Before Wallace’s Milotic continuously made an appearance on various big stages, few knew about Feebas.

However, it wasn’t until Wallace left Sootopolis Gym and dominated Pokémon Contests across various regions, clinching the title of Contest Master with Milotic’s overwhelming superiority, that Feebas truly became famous. Suddenly, Feebas, once inferior to Magikarp, skyrocketed in popularity, becoming a sought-after Pokémon by countless people.

However… Feebas’s evolution conditions were too difficult, its nurturing difficulty was several times that of other Pokémon…

Compared to this, Swablu possessed exquisite appearance from birth, and its noble sky-blue body hinted at its extraordinariness after evolution. This was simply the difference between an ‘ugly duckling’ and a swan.

Altaria moved.

Upon Terrance’s command, Altaria slowly ascended into the sky, its pure white feathers trailing behind its body, spreading its cotton-like wings. Facing the panel of judges, it began performing its first move.

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