Everyone watched as Skitty began to hit its own face many times with Double Slap.
It hit itself over and over. Just hearing the sound made it seem very painful.
Most of the audience felt very confused by this. They thought it was a strange part of the show. However, people who knew about Pokémon understood. They knew May wanted to use this method to stop Skitty from being confused!
Surprisingly, the slaps worked and May succeeded!
However, this was the end of her show. Skitty was calm again. May gave a command, and Skitty suddenly jumped up. It jumped high and spun in the air. At the same time, Skitty used Blizzard. A spinning wind formed under it. Before the wind stopped, a giant ice crystal appeared! It was made of many sharp and smooth ice thorns.
The sunlight hit the giant ice crystal and reflected the light. It was as shiny as a diamond. It was clear and very beautiful to see.
It was a very good way to end the show!
The audience cheered and clapped loudly. You could tell they liked it!
Most importantly, this was Skitty's own move. It did not borrow the move from another Pokémon!
Skitty landed well. It stood on the very top of the ice crystal to finish the show.
At that moment, Natsui and the others looked at the big screen.
They saw the score change quickly. After a few seconds, it stopped at 79 points.
79...
This was a dangerous score. It was a bit surprising, but it made sense.
May did very well at the start and the end. However, the judges saw her two clear mistakes. She got this score because of that great ice crystal at the end. Without it, her score would be even lower!
Everyone felt disappointed.
May looked sad on the stage. Caroline and Max felt sorry for her too.
Max sighed. "This score is not looking good..."
Natsui nodded. Max was right. This score meant May had to wait for the other results. If the other people did great, May would lose her place in the rankings. They could only hope the other contestants did not do well.
Two more people went on stage after May. After they finished, it was time for the third favorite of this Grand Festival.
This person was Drew. He was third in the first round too!
Drew walked onto the stage while the crowd cheered.
People always liked handsome men and pretty girls. Like May, Drew made the female audience cheer. Drew looked very good and had a strong aura. His Pokémon were also strong. He was also very young. If he and May did not have a fight at the start, they might be friends now.
Their relationship was a bit better because they met often while traveling. They were not angry at each other anymore. However, it was still hard for them to talk normally.
Drew used his Masquerain this time. It is a Pokémon that looks like a moth. It has a bright blue body and four wings. The head looks like a long water drop or a big nose. The wings look like eyes. Together, it looks like a strange face!
Masquerain used Hidden Power as soon as it appeared. Bright light came from its wings. This made the sky look very colorful.
Drew lowered his head and looked very cool. His eyes were half-closed. He held his right hand up high. Then, Masquerain spread the light over the whole arena.
Small lights fell from the sky. People watched the light. Then, Masquerain made many big bubbles. The bubbles filled the field. It used Silver Wind to blow the bubbles. This looked like a waterfall of wind and bubbles!
It was very flashy!
Many people clapped for the show. Some people even stood up because they were excited!
The show looked better than May's ice crystal. Because the clapping was so loud, everyone knew Drew's score would be high.
The numbers on the screen changed and then stopped. A score of 100 points appeared!
It was a perfect score!
Vivian shouted in surprise when she saw it. "It is here! The first perfect score since the start of this festival has appeared!"
Drew was perfect in this round. He looked good and Masquerain did everything right. There were no mistakes. The moves were smooth and flashy. He showed how great Masquerain is.
He did even better than in the first part of the contest!
You could see the difference between him and May.
May's show was also flashy. However, she used moves from other Pokémon. She did not show Skitty's own power. This was not the point of the festival. That is why her score was low.
She needs to keep growing...
Natsui sighed to himself. He leaned back and watched the bubbles near him.
May was likely worried after seeing Drew. The people who went after Drew felt more pressure. They were quite unlucky.
However, experts are not afraid of challenges. Pressure helps them do better.
Drew left the stage. More than twelve people went after him. They were affected by Drew's score. They made many mistakes. Some could not show their real strength and got low scores.
Because of this, Drew helped May.
Then Robert appeared. He was the favorite to win. He did not feel the pressure. Instead, the pressure made him want to do better.
After Drew, Robert also got a perfect score. His show was wonderful!
The crowd became very loud and cheered. Everyone was excited!
One perfect score was surprising. A second perfect score was amazing!
It was a great sight to see!
After Robert's score, the other people did not do well. Until the first round ended, no one else had a great show. No one else got a high score.
"This is really..." Max scratched his head. He felt happy for his sister. "It is lucky that my sister performed before those two. That is why she was not affected by them. Now it seems like she really might enter the second round..."
Things changed very fast. It was a surprise. But they did not know for sure yet. They had to wait for the final list to see if she moved to the next round.
They waited nervously. Then the results appeared.
"The people who successfully passed the first round of judging and can move on to the second round of Contest Battles are..."
Vivian spoke slowly. The big screen changed. A list with photos appeared again.
The names appeared one by one.
Robert was first. Drew was second. Drew was higher than the girl who was ahead of him before.
Both Robert and Drew got 100 points. Robert was first because of his score from before.
This was fair. Robert did better than Drew in the first part of the contest. Other people who did well were on the list too. But the girl who was ahead of Drew before did not make it.
She was very unlucky. The order was random, and she went after Robert. She saw Drew and Robert do so well, and she felt too much pressure. She did a bad job and got a low score!
She did well before, but this score made her lose her spot. She was the unluckiest person in the festival!
Soon, Harley's photo appeared on the list. He got 89 points. That was a high score compared to the others. It was normal for him to be there.
The list continued. More names appeared. The waiting room felt very quiet and tense. May was very nervous. Her hands were sweating!
When her name was not at spot 29, 30, or 31, May felt even more scared!
Luckily, the 32nd name was May. She saw her photo and was very happy!
She was in 32nd place with 79 points. Some other people did poorly, so May went to the next round!
Misty and Max were very happy too. Caroline was so happy that she cried a little!
Mothers always want their children to do well!
Now it was time to see who would battle who. They had to do this today.
The screen changed. It showed pictures of trainers changing fast. After two rounds, something important happened in the third group.
The pictures stopped spinning. May and Harley were paired together.
"Oh?" Misty was surprised. "This is really interesting. Did the organizers do this on purpose? Do they also know about the fight between May and Harley?"
"That is not possible." Natsui smiled and shook his head. "It is just a coincidence. There are 32 people and 16 pairs. It is likely they would be in the same group."
...
Knock, knock, knock...
Natsui had dinner and took a bath. He was wearing a towel and getting ready to sleep. Then, someone knocked on the door.
He felt confused. He opened the door and saw May!
"Nat—"
May started to speak. Then she saw Natsui. His hair was wet. He only wore a towel and his chest was bare. Her face became very red!
Natsui felt embarrassed too. He pulled the towel closer and smiled to say sorry. "I thought it was Misty."
Misty?
Did he mean he could dress like that in front of Misty?
May was overthinking. Natsui asked her, "It is so late. What do you need from me?"
May stopped her thoughts and looked shy. "Um... could you please teach me how to battle?"
Huh?
Natsui was very confused.
Why was she asking him to teach her to battle?
Ash and Misty were there too. Why did she come to him?
He looked at the sky. It was dark. The moon and stars were out. It was not very late, but not many people were outside the dorms.
"Of course. Just wait a moment, I will go change my clothes."
Natsui changed and went to meet May.
May did not want to call anyone else. Natsui did not ask about it. He followed her quietly. They went downstairs and walked to an outdoor battlefield.
The snack street was far away. It was bright and full of people. This place was quiet and dark.
They stopped at the nearest battlefield.
They did not talk on the way. When they arrived, Natsui asked a question. "I do not understand. Since you have Ash and Misty, why did you come to me?"
He was just curious. They had known each other for a long time. However, he was never alone with May before. It felt a bit strange.
May looked down because she felt shy. She answered, "Because Natsui, you are the strongest person I know!"
The strongest person?
Natsui was surprised. May thought very highly of him!
Did she think he was stronger than her father?
He touched his nose. A cute and beautiful girl said nice things to him. He felt proud, but he also felt other things.
"Just call me Natsui like the others do," he said with a smile. "Since you are friends with Misty and Ash, you can just call me that from now on."
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