In the lead-up to the Grand Festival, Slateport City has been bustling with activity. As the host city, Slateport City's mayor, following the request of the Pokémon Contest officials, went all out in promoting the event. This is a win-win outcome, both for the Pokémon Contest and for the city's development.
Posters and brochures promoting the Grand Festival can be seen all over the streets and alleys, along with postcards featuring past Top Coordinators. Most notably, there were signed photos of Wallace and Milotic merchandise, which further enlivened the atmosphere of Slateport and made everyone get in the mood early.
A few early supporters of Terrance, led by "Yuu Tachibana" and "Yui," who formed his fan club, had already arrived in Slateport City.
There were many such small groups of supporters for the contestants, but most were family members or close friends. It was rare to see someone like Terrance with a sizable group of unfamiliar supporters, especially when their numbers are quite substantial.
Yuu Tachibana brushed her hair and looked at her friend. "Today's the last day to register, right?"
"I wonder if he's already registered….The staff didn't provide a list of participants…"
Yui nodded. "He should have already registered. We came too late, and Slateport City is huge, so it's normal not to have run into him yet."
...
...
On a street in Slateport City, a boy with short black hair looked at the lively scene around him and took a deep breath.
As expected of a big city. Even though Fallarbor Town is developing, it's still far behind this place.
The boy looked to be just over ten years old, probably someone who has just started his journey. Everything looked novel to him, especially anything related to the Pokémon Contest, where he would pause and watch for a while.
It's unclear how long he wandered around before he suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead, thinking to himself, "Oh no, I forgot the most important thing."
He glanced around, then suddenly started running towards a large building—the Grand Festival venue.
After running all the way there, Chisana, now covered in sweat, gasped for breath before hurriedly asking at a counter, "Excuse me, are there still tickets available?"
This was one of the many counters set up outside the Grand Festival venue to answer questions of outsiders.
The staff, seeing the panting boy, was puzzled but maintained professionalism and patiently asked, "Are you asking about tickets for the Grand Festival?"
"Yes!" The boy's eyes lit up as he nodded repeatedly.
The staff couldn't help but laugh. "Online ticket sales ended half a month ago, and the on-site tickets sold out three days ago…."
Who would wait until the day before the Grand Festival to try to buy tickets?
"What?!" Chisana was dumbfounded.
"There is no need to worry, though. The competition will be broadcast live on five large screens at the center of Slateport City, and it will also be shown on television," the staff explained earnestly.
"But... fine." Chisana nodded helplessly. He knows it can be seen on TV…. but the whole reason he traveled here was to see the Grand Festival in person. It seemed like that wish was about to go unfulfilled.
"If you're planning to watch, I suggest you head over to the screens now and reserve a spot. The city staff has marked out viewing areas, so if you bring a stool and claim a spot, you won't have to stand all day," the staff kindly reminded Chisana.
This time, the preliminary round of the Grand Festival wouldn't be broadcast to the public.
Only the stage performances and Contest Battles would be live-streamed.
People outside are destined not to see the preliminary round. While those with Grand Festival tickets can watch it, there's not much entertainment value in it.
Just watching a single move being performed, with hundreds of contestants taking turns, would indeed be a tedious process.
If it weren't for the fact that Coordinators who had collected five Ribbons are performing, who would even care about a single move?
...
Choosing a spot is an art in itself. Chisana had initially planned to watch on the large screen outside the Pokémon Contest Hall, but unfortunately, all the good spots—or even just the ordinary ones—were already taken up by various kinds of seating, leaving him feeling quite frustrated.
"Right, I don't even have a stool. If I don't want to stand all day, I'd better get one..."
After wandering around for a while, Chisana eventually chose a large screen on the northern side of the city. While it was a bit out of the way, at least he managed to secure a spot with a decent view.
"Not bad. Compared to watching on TV, being here with so many people should make the atmosphere really exciting."
Grand Festival wouldn't start until the next day, so most people just claimed their spots, with only a few staying behind to wait.
Terrance noticed this scene as well, making him wonder how these people weren't afraid of losing their chairs.
However, most people had just bought temporary cheap stools that are practical but may break after a few uses. Since they're only needed for watching the Grand Festival once, how can the Pokémon Contest organizers, as the hosts, not prepare for this? They had already coordinated with vendors to provide these chairs for the audience.
...
The next day.
At dawn, Wingulls flew over the ocean, gliding on the sea breeze.
Even though the preliminary round would take a while to finish, most of the audience had already taken their seats before the contestants even entered the venue.
Why?
Because there was an opening ceremony, of course!
Master Wallace, the Top Coordinator and holder of the highest honor in the Coordinator world, would be performing in person—which is enough reason for many to arrive early and wait.
Chisana sat excitedly on his stool, and most of the people around him wore the same excited expressions.
As soon as the large screen lit up with a loud "boom," the entire crowd erupted in cheers.
"Master Wallace's performance is about to start, right? I can't wait!" Chisana looked around, hoping to find someone to watch with.
After all, watching alone would be too boring—
"Yeah, based on past experience, Master Wallace will most likely use Milotic for the opening performance!" Sure enough, as soon as Wallace was mentioned, someone joined in Chisana's conversation.
Chisana seized the opportunity to continue the conversation, and the two soon became engrossed in chatting while waiting for the opening ceremony to begin.
"So, you're a rookie who's just started traveling?"
"Yeah, I'm from Fallarbor Town."
Before long, during their chat, Chisana, who came from Old Green House, asked a question that was particularly important to him.
"This year's Grand Festival? I think it'll be really exciting! I've heard there are quite a few outstanding Coordinators, some of whom are already at the Top Coordinator level…the battles are likely going to be very intense."
"Like Gayle, Hani, Mizushima…" Chisana listened carefully as the other person introduced the top contenders, but when he mentioned a few more names, his expression changed.
"Finch, Terrance..."
"Brother Terrance?!" Chisana suddenly stood up…..
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