Especially when the staff appear, shouting out the names of participants to make them take the stage or prepare.
"Is my protégée in the middle?"
Liuqia stood on tiptoe, observing the number card in Baimu's hand. Due to the large number of participants, today would be entirely used for the first evaluation.
Numbers in the middle are likely to wait until the afternoon.
"It's no big deal." He smiled, looking at Xiaoguang, who was slightly nervous, as she was the earliest to take the stage among them—number eighteen.
Sensing the gaze of those around her, Xiaoguang quickly adjusted her mood.
"I've got this! Watch me come back with a super high score!"
She made a cheering gesture to everyone, and at her feet, Piplup proudly held its head high.
"Piplup!"
Although the little penguin was not going to perform, with the strength of her companions, scoring thirty-nine or forty points would be easy as pie.
It shyly glanced at the Mawile beside Baimu, thinking if it could perform, it would offer the high score to its goddess. But alas, alas...
On the other side.
Baimu praised Wula La's deep blue princess dress and learned that she smoothly obtained the ribbon for the Pacifidlog Conference, just one ribbon away from participating in the Hoenn Grand Festival, like him.
"This time, I definitely won't lose to you!" Wula La said with great interest.
"Wait and see."
He chuckled, his brow twitching as he sensed someone was watching. Turning his head, he found it was Xiaoshun.
However, before he could react, Xiaoshun nonchalantly diverted his gaze, as if he had only casually glanced over.
Was this Xiaoyao's fierce rival...
When Baimu first watched Advanced Generation, he was too young to understand what's called shipping, so he paid no mind to the strange filler episodes the writers added.
Growing up, he cared even less about revisiting old episodes, as Xiaoshun was just another background character lost in the crowds.
But being here now made him rethink.
There's no doubt Xiaoshun's strength is formidable, having never scored below twenty-nine in the first evaluations of ordinary competitions, and achieving the runner-up position in his first Grand Festival.
He must not be overlooked.
"The first person is on stage! Look!"
The passerby's shout pulled his focus back to the television, watching the tense young boy make his entrance as introduced by host Vivian.
The Mikoli Club finally started!
——
As the competition began, time flew by.
The atmosphere in the preparation room wasn't exactly relaxed.
After all, the Mikoli Club's viewership was several times that of typical competitions; if one performed poorly, it would be quite embarrassing.
Precisely because of this invisible threshold, ordinary Coordinator Trainers generally wouldn't participate in the Mikoli Club, so the participants here were somewhat skilled.
Of course, there were sure to be some clueless ones, but they likely weren't many.
After the fifteenth participant's evaluation.
The venue entered a brief intermission, allowing the judges to relax and avoid eye strain.
The participants whispered together, each with a grave expression.
The reason was due to the previous performances, where despite the judges' abundant praise, not a single person scored above thirty-eight, let alone thirty-nine.
The rigorous evaluation made them somewhat nervous.
At this time, commercials began on the television, mostly endorsed by Mikoli, including one by Liuqia.
It was for soft candies shaped like various Pokémon.
"Are these candies tasty?"
"They're okay, a bit sticky. I have plenty in my room, wanna try some when we get back?"
"Sounds good."
Baimu nodded, glimpsing Xiaoguang being led away by staff.
Piplup waved goodbye to Mawile with reluctance.
"Piplup~~"
Getting prepared early.
Why do I feel like something's missing?
He bowed his head in contemplation, sensing something minor but adding flavor hadn't appeared.
Yet he couldn't figure it out.
Suddenly.
A person rushed in from outside, shouting, "It's bad! Rocket Team is here!"
Rocket Team? Rocket Team!
Baimu's eyes lit up, of course, that's it!
Although the main character Ash Ketchum isn't here, with so many side characters gathered, it's like a spin-off animation, surely featuring them.
He eagerly ran over and asked, "What's happening? Where's Rocket Team?"
"Uh, they're at the main venue."
The person gasped, pausing for breath before continuing, "They descended from a hot air balloon, trying to steal the Pokémon stored by the participants!"
Stored?
Baimu was slightly perplexed, seeing the participants around him turn pale, realizing some unknown mishaps had occurred.
Losing God's perspective, even behind-the-scenes schemes of Rocket Team were unclear.
Yet, he was very interested, with a desire to do the right thing.
He'd previously caught many Rocket Team members, creating an irreconcilable conflict, so sending a few more to jail was justified.
There's just one problem.
The ones appearing now aren't the Rocket Team trio, right?
"Brother Baimu! Wait for me!"
"I'm coming too!"
Xiaosheng and Xiaogang's voices came from behind, having interacted with Rocket Team for hundreds of episodes, well-acquainted with their scheming, and knowing how to handle them.
Baimu glanced back at them, intending to head to the main venue when another staff member arrived.
"Please don't panic, the mishap has been resolved by Master Mikoli, your stored Pokémon are safe and sound."