Hearthome City, Jiayuan Television.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the 24th for Li Wei. Coincidentally, Li Wei was with Xiao Huang, who was the 21st.
When Li Wei appeared, the audience's attention all turned to him.
During the promotion of this competition, even Li Wei was used as one of the promotional highlights.
After all, he was the man who had groomed the SinnohChampion's ace Garchomp.
"He's here. Is he really not just dominating the competition?"
"To be fair, he's only nineteen, so it doesn't count as dominating."
Young Breeders compete if they are under thirty years old. Li Wei and A Jin were the youngest.
"What Pokemon will he use? Lucario? Arcanine? Or a shiny Metagross?"
The audience below discussed in hushed tones.
"He should be like others; using smaller Pokemon would be easier, right?"
Because the grooming time was fixed, choosing smaller Pokemon would be simpler.
Someone like A Jin, who used a Typhlosion, was already using the largest possible Pokemon.
"Come out, Milotic!"
Li Wei's choice, however, surprised all the spectators.
Li Wei actually chose a Milotic over seven meters long!
"Huh? Grooming Milotic in such a short time?"
"Isn't that being too overconfident?"
A Jin also sent a voice message in the group chat,
"Damn it, he chose Milotic."
A Jin had just boasted about his temporary first-place finish.
Xiao Huang worried, "Ah? Won't the time be too short?"
Qinglv smiled, "No, for him, there's plenty of time."
Even Dai Lan, Tetsu Gorou, and Morikawa among the judges weren't optimistic about Li Wei.
"Although his Milotic is indeed beautiful."
"Milotic and he have a very good relationship."
Using their own Pokemon was actually for the judges to observe the relationship between the Breeder and their Pokemon.
The relationship between Li Wei and Milotic goes without saying, but they unanimously believed the time was too short.
Miss Joy smiled slightly, "I'm quite optimistic about Li Wei."
Miss Joy smiled, smiling because they didn't understand Li Wei.
That's right, Miss Joy was also a fan of Li Wei.
Dai Lan and Morikawa, these judges, had some information gaps.
Li Wei was the most popular Breeder in their Breeding Center.
This led to Li Wei having experienced peak battles, grooming from morning till night...
Li Wei was very confident about how much time he needed.
Unlike other hair grooming, Milotic needed scale polishing.
Li Wei prepared a special polishing powder for Milotic,
It contained pearl powder, gold bead powder, diatomaceous earth, natural beeswax...
This was formulated by Li Wei himself.
Anyway, this stuff wasn't cheap, and most people who could afford to raise a Milotic weren't from ordinary families.
Of course, as the saying goes, there are also cheaper grooming methods.
Mass-produced polishing powder on the market could also be used.
Wearing gloves, Li Wei used a powder puff to gently rub the Milotic in circular motions, two to three circles per area.
The parts polished by the powder formed a stark contrast with the un-groomed scales.
Especially under the light, the scales shimmered brilliantly.
"Whoa, dazzling!"
"Feels very smooth!"
Smooth scales, to a certain extent, could reduce the damage from moves.
The Metagross groomed by Li Wei could withstand Sludge Bomb, but the sludge couldn't adhere to Metagross at all.
Besides polishing, for a more meticulous job, a soft brush was needed to clean the gaps between the scales.
However, considering the time, Li Wei adopted a relatively simple solution.
"Milotic, Aqua Ring, full-body cleanse."
"Mew~"
Aqua Ring immediately covered Milotic's entire body, like a showerhead covering the whole body, simulating water flushing...
Rinsing away all algae and dirt, including the polishing powder stuck in the scale gaps.
Dai Lan looked slightly surprised, "It can even be done this way?"
A Jin was loudly explaining, "He actually had Milotic use Aqua Ring to clean its entire body."
Qinglv smiled, "That's a method he would come up with."
Red nodded, "Learned it, learned it!"
After wiping Milotic clean, Li Wei simply sprayed a layer of sunscreen on Milotic, and the task was completed.
Li Wei wasn't even the slowest to finish among the four.
Dai Lan raised the score of ten card,
"I don't know how to describe it. Even I learned something. Full marks."
Without a doubt, four perfect scores.
Li Wei replaced A Jin, who was in first place with 38 points, and temporarily took the lead.
"Thank you, Milotic."
"Mew~"
...
After the first round of competition,
Li Wei, A Jin, Sasha, Ge Li... these pre-favored contestants entered the second round.
Xiao Huang, who was not favored, also managed to break into the second round.
"Please, all contestants, take a break. The second round will begin shortly."
After the last group of people left the stage, staff quickly moved desks the size of school desks onto the stage.
The competition venue was set up, and after another round of advertisements,
The staff then announced the second round of competition.
"The second round of competition is about Berries and taste."
"In front of each of your tables are two items."
Li Wei looked down at the bottle and bowl in front of him.
"On the left is a powder made by grinding and mixing 21 common Berries. You can only look and smell, not taste."
"On the right is a juice made by mixing and pressing 16 types of Berries. You can taste it freely."
"Write your answers on the whiteboard. One point for a correct answer, one point deducted for a wrong answer, so please fill in carefully, contestants!"
Li Wei, who possessed Intermediate Identification, thought...
I know what it is without even drinking it.
This was the moment to test Li Wei's acting skills.
Acting time, showtime!
He just wanted to complain about the juice made from 16 Berries. What kind of dark cuisine was that?!
Would drinking it really not kill anyone?!
Meanwhile, A Jin was already sweating profusely...
When it came to Pokemon breeding and hatching, A Jin could say that no one present was his opponent.
He alone could take on ten.
But Berries, he was really unfamiliar with them.
A Jin glanced around nervously, while others had composed expressions...
Especially Li Wei, who had the demeanor of a big shot, as if the Champion title was already within his grasp.
A Jin felt like a Yamper that had mistakenly joined a team of Arcanine...
He was panicking inside, but A Jin still pretended to be calm as he picked up the Berry powder.
Li Wei picked up the powder and examined it carefully.
These Berry powders were ground very finely; it was impossible to distinguish their characteristics with the naked eye.
So this tested one's sense of smell and understanding of Berry flavors.
Excluding the interference of Intermediate Identification, Li Wei tried to judge the Berry powder himself.
He grabbed a handful of powder and started smelling it.
The most obvious were the Pamtre Berry and the Watmel Berry; their scents were very easy to distinguish.
The rest were mixed together, some having similar scents, just a matter of intensity.
Overall, it was a very counter-intuitive question.
This purely depended on individual talent.
Li Wei identified 18 of them, still missing 3.
[Identification, activate!]