Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Leaves rained from the sky as Roselia finished its Magical Leaf performance.
"Rose!"
It was utterly convinced it had taken first place.
But the other Pokémon clearly disagreed. All of them chattered at once, insisting they were the real champion.
"Chiu-chiu!"
"Pika!"
"Dana!"
Just as the Pokémon were stuck in a noisy deadlock, an orange, big-headed lizard slowly made its entrance, riding atop a pale green, four-legged radish.
Its eyes remained closed as it rode through the woodland as though no one else existed, carrying a noble grace and poise that seemed inborn.
The king had arrived.
The other Pokémon were stunned. They had never seen a Pokémon this elegant.
Then came the riding tricks, the fire hoops, the Tarzan act...
One circus performance after another dazzled the crowd, leaving these village Pokémon who had never left their little patch of woods absolutely awestruck.
Then Chikorita suddenly launched Razor Leaf at the berries hanging from the treetop, clearly planning to snatch them by force.
Just as the others gasped—
Whoosh!
A snake of fire lunged out and bit through the Razor Leaf.
Without even opening its eyes, Charmander had precisely and elegantly stopped its servant's rude behavior.
Then it smacked Chikorita on the head a few times, as though lecturing it on manners and proper breeding.
This...
This was theater.
High art.
That grand entrance instantly crushed the rustic Pokémon's sense of glamour.
How were these country bumpkins supposed to have seen a performance this refined before? They all looked at one another, suddenly aware of how severely lacking their cultural upbringing was.
"Rose!"
"Chiu-chiu!"
"Pika!"
"Dana!"
The Pokémon all nodded.
The winner of this contest was now beyond dispute.
[Rotom! They've been completely won over by your brilliant performance! Flare and Wildbloom have earned their approval!]
Asher smiled brightly.
He realized that wild Pokémon had a surprisingly interesting social side in addition to the danger and feral instincts people usually talked about.
As the wild Pokémon gradually dispersed, Silver and Asher excitedly slapped hands.
"Haha! We did it! You've really got something, Asher!"
Asher's lips curled slightly, but he said nothing.
At that moment, he somehow carried the gorgeous, elegant aura of a Pokémon Coordinator.
[Rotom! Your partner performance with Silver was perfectly in sync! Bond +66!]
Just as the two of them were about to head for the prize platform, a silver whirlwind swept in from the distance and snatched the Nanab Berry off the branch in the blink of an eye.
?!
Silver and Asher both turned toward the source of the wind.
There, standing atop a flashy Masquerain, was a handsome green-haired young man holding the Nanab Berry and smiling smugly.
"Ahahaha, my apologies. This Nanab Berry has had the honor of catching my eye. As for the performance you two just gave, an objective evaluation would be this: if there were a beginner division, you might manage to make the second round. Still, it was nothing more than amateur work barely fit for the table."
Staring at the thief floating overhead, Silver's face went cold.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
The handsome young man's expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly resumed his elegant, leisurely pose.
"I am Drew Joel, of the Joel family of LaRousse City. My family has passed down the graceful and beautiful traditions of Pokémon Coordinators for generations. Elegance is something inherited, something you're born with, just like an inherited move!"
"The way you're trying to act elegant is as ridiculous as a Beedrill trying to learn Silver Wind without having it in its bloodline!"
Asher gave him a long look.
He understood at once: this was one of those self-important elites propped up by the inherited skill [Born Rich].
[Rotom... scanning target.]
[Target: Drew Joel]
[Relationship: boorish underlings]
[Social advice: This is a flamboyant narcissist. There is a massive class gap between you.]
While Drew was introducing himself, Silver snarled,
"Get lost! I hate spoiled idiots from those old Pokémon League families the most. You think you're stealing my stuff? Dream on!"
"Chiko!"
Wildbloom swung the big leaf on its head and slashed a Razor Leaf toward the Masquerain in the air.
Masquerain merely flicked its wings and carried Drew aside with effortless elegance, dodging the attack.
In the face of Silver's vulgar language and sudden strike, Drew showed no anger. Instead, from his superior perch, he pointed down at them with open disdain.
"See? Utterly lacking in elegance. It only took an instant for the savagery and crudeness you were born with to come spilling out. Let me show you what true grace and elegance look like!"
As he spoke, Drew began to dance atop Masquerain.
At the same time, Masquerain's wings whirled as it began to glide in tandem with him.
Their gorgeous dance whipped up a fierce silver storm.
[Showpiece: Silver Wind!]
Fwoooosh—
The gale, wrapped in shimmering powder, slammed into Wildbloom.
The moment it was hit, Wildbloom's legs gave out. It collapsed onto the ground, limp and dejected, unable to move.
Asher's expression immediately turned grave as he looked at Masquerain.
[Rotom... scanning target.]
[Target: Masquerain]
[Level: 27]
[Element Affinity: Wind 24, Water 22]
[Relationship: potential enemy]
[Social advice: It's strong! For where you are right now, this is a very hard creature to beat!]
Asher almost wanted to cough up blood.
These League trainers really did all have Pokémon in the twenties or thirties. His own crash-course team just couldn't compare.
Drew took out a red Pokédex and scanned Silver's and Asher's Pokémon, then looked down at them from above.
"Tsk, tsk. Battle me? Your Pokémon are absurdly weak. Though I suppose that makes sense... low-class people like you probably can't afford Pokéblocks, can you?"
Asher smiled faintly and pulled out the Pokéblocks Silver had given him, slapping Drew in the face with the evidence.
But Drew only looked at the crude, impure-looking Pokéblocks in Asher's hand and shook his head.
"Trash like that? I wouldn't even feed it to my Houndoom."
Then Drew pulled out a red heart and gently brushed back his green hair before addressing the two below.
"This was supposed to be a gift for Miss May, but now that I have something better, you can have this instead. Don't say I stole your things. I, unlike you, was raised with manners."
Asher's eyes lit up.
It was a transparent box, with red Pokéblocks inside arranged in the shape of a heart.
Flare stared at that red heart with its eyes wide.
It patted Asher's leg and pointed at the heart in Drew's hand.
Asher rubbed his chin.
So this was the high-end stuff. Even Flare could tell it was good...
While healing Chikorita with Viridian Power, Silver said bluntly,
"Quit talking and hand it over already."
Drew rolled his eyes at the hicks. Then, with a flourish, he tossed the box high into the air and shouted,
"You two, enjoy my farewell performance!"
Whoosh—
Masquerain beat its wings and stirred up a storm, sending the Pokéblocks in the sky bursting apart like fireworks.
Seeing the Pokéblocks scattering in a gorgeous shower, Silver exploded in rage.
"You asshole—"
"We're leaving."
Asher grabbed Silver and turned away on the spot without picking up the Pokéblocks scattered across the ground.
Sniff, sniff—
Flare twitched its nose. The Pokéblocks on the ground smelled unbelievably strong, and it very nearly gave in on the spot.
But sensing Asher's intent, it managed not to pick up any of them. Instead, it scampered after him.
Seeing Asher act like that, Drew snorted coldly.
"Hmph. No appreciation for art."
With that, without even sparing the scattered Pokéblocks a glance, he drifted off atop Masquerain.
After they had walked a fair distance, Asher said to Silver in a low voice,
"Don't make it obvious. Sneak a look. Has that guy gone far enough?"
Silver secretly glanced back with [Keen Eye].
"Yeah... probably!"
The two looked at each other, then sprinted back like mad and started scooping up the Pokéblocks from the ground in perfect unison.