Terrance was no stranger to the "MPE," the energy measuring device used by the International Police system. Back when he was training under Teacher Julian, he often heard him use the device's standard to evaluate the power of his Pokémon's moves.
However, Terrance himself wasn't very interested in describing a Pokémon's strength in terms of "numerical data," so he never paid much attention to it.
He just hadn't expected that he'd actually see the device in person at this festival event.
"Then let's begin now, just follow the earlier order," the referee said, holding a list and addressing the numerous lined-up contestants.
"You only need to use a move to attack that machine, and the attack's power will immediately be displayed in numerical form. But do keep in mind, you must use a Dragon-type move, and each Pokémon can only use one move," the referee reminded them again, looking around at everyone.
"Then I'll be going first!" A petite twin-tailed girl cheerfully stepped out from the line.
"First contestant, Chloë," the referee checked the list and nodded.
The girl, dressed in a short skirt, slowly walked up to the "MPE" energy measuring device. Taking out a Poké Ball, she smiled and said, "Here I go."
"Go, Dragonair, use Twister!"
The Poké Ball was thrown, and a blue, serpentine Pokémon floated into the air. With a long cry, it instantly summoned a tornado, seemingly mixed with sand and gravel, which ferociously crashed toward the energy measuring device. A loud "bang" was heard as the machine's display started flashing.
Many people blinked. To be honest, those unfamiliar with the energy measuring device almost thought the machine would be destroyed by that move.
"Uh…" The referee quickly stepped forward, looked at the data displayed on the energy measuring device, and loudly announced into the microphone, "The score is 125!"
The number appeared. Apart from a very small number of people, most of the audience looked at each other in confusion.
It was only after the event had begun that they realized—they didn't actually know anything about this so-called energy measuring device.
"What does that score even mean?"
More than one audience member had that question.
"It seems quite a few people are confused. Without a reference value, it's hard to tell how the contestants are actually performing…" The referee looked around, noticed the crowd's puzzlement, and deliberately drew out his words.
At that moment, an Officer Jenny in charge of maintaining order happened to walk by. The referee called out to her, "Why don't we have Officer Jenny explain the MPE to us?"
Officer Jenny calmly took the microphone and said, "Not only the International Police, but even our regular police departments use the MPE in training. This score, for example, would be considered a pretty good result among new recruits at the police academy."
"Oh!! Police academy recruits?! So that means they can become police officers after graduation?" the referee said in surprise.
As the two talked, quite a few people in the audience were annoyed. Come on, at least get a more professional actor for this…
"Uh… Am I the only one who thinks this kind of explanation is actually kind of fun?" Terrance glanced around and thought to himself, "This feels a lot like a Grand Magic Games… I feel Altaria could just smash that machine to pieces." [TN: A tournament in Fairy Tail.]
Watching Chloë step down with a big smile, Terrance paused for a moment. The girl wore a Coordinator badge, but the attack just now was…..neither elegant nor practical.
Was it that the format of this event made it hard for Coordinators to shine?
"A simple and straightforward event like this does seem to favor Trainers," Terrance mused again. His judgment was based on the specialties and average skill levels of Coordinators and Trainers, so naturally it didn't include himself.
A score of 125; that was what his Swablu had achieved even back when it hadn't undergone much training.
Police academy students, to put it bluntly, aren't much different from regular Trainers. Right now, isn't Rina also studying at the police academy?
Terrance vaguely remembered the surprised expression on Teacher Julian's face, who had once been an International Police officer, when he saw Terrance's Swablu unleash "Dragon Rush" and "Draco Meteor".
Dragon-type moves were precisely what Altaria was best at, which was why Terrance had been so confident when faced with Shivana's declaration of victory.
"Next up is…"
As the referee read aloud, a Trainer stepped forward and summoned their Flygon to hit the energy measuring device with a Dragon Breath.
"Score: 166…"
The Trainer scratched their head with both hands, clearly not very satisfied with that number.
However, thanks to Officer Jenny's earlier explanation, the crowd didn't look down on the score.
Being considered among the top students at the police academy was already an impressive evaluation in the eyes of most people unfamiliar with the Trainer world.
"It's my turn now." A young master straightened his collar and walked up with a smile, then sent out a Bagon to use Dragon Claw.
"Oh… a score of 77. That seems a bit low."
The young master was practically in tears.
Time passed little by little. There were only so many Dragon-type Pokémon, and even Altaria had already appeared twice. At that moment, a Trainer in a black cloak stepped onto the field. As soon as he appeared, he instantly drew a lot of attention.
Because this person had made quite a splash in several earlier events. Although he hadn't taken first place, his strength was not to be underestimated.
Terrance remembered encountering him during the Flying-type event. If he recalled correctly, the man's Pokémon was a Dragonite, and he had remained in the top group of the Flying-type event.
Sure enough, the Pokémon he released was indeed a Dragonite. Compared to the average Dragonite, this one looked much more menacing, but paired with that goofy face, it somehow came across as adorably dopey. Even Terrance couldn't help but smile at the contrast.
But this man's strength was no joke. His Dragonite used Dragon Rush, and it immediately delivered the highest score so far.
"14… 25… 1425 points!"
The referee exclaimed in shock. Up to now, the highest score had only been 491 points, and this result had just tripled that.
"1425 points! This score… broke past 1000!" the referee shouted.
"Ah… that's over ten times my score…" said Chloë, the first contestant, her expression gradually collapsing.
"What's with that number…"
"That's insane. It broke past 1000 points."
"So strong." Many people looked in amazement at the young man in the black cloak.
Officer Jenny, standing beside the referee, was also looking at the young man in shock. She took the microphone and said, "This score is something even police academy graduates have never reached. With this Contestant's strength, if he were willing to enter the police academy, he could become an outstanding officer with just a bit of personalized training; an officer with a very bright future who could get promoted quickly."
Being a police officer, in the eyes of ordinary people, seemed far more reliable than being a Trainer.
After all, there weren't many Trainers who manage to rise to the top, but being a police officer, well, this profession inherently carries a powerful prestige.
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