The one-minute voting session ended quickly.
Then, in the referee robot's emotionless electronic voice, Marill's final score was officially announced.
4985 votes.
Although it fell slightly short of Clarissa's perfect 5000-vote golden Magikarp record, the difference was only fifteen votes.
And among the ninety-eight contestants who had performed so far—
Misty's Marill had achieved the second-highest score overall, surpassed only by the golden Magikarp's full marks.
Clap clap clap…
"Not bad. Seriously impressive."
"As expected of Misty… and as expected of Cerulean Gym's Gym Leader."
Watching Marill's results appear on the screen, Ash couldn't help applauding.
"Phew…"
Seeing her Marill's final vote count, Misty finally let out a long breath of relief, her face full of joy.
With Marill's natural cuteness, advancing past the elimination round had never really been difficult.
But there was a huge difference between simply advancing—
And advancing with an eye-catching, overwhelming performance.
Misty wanted the audience to remember her.
To remember Cerulean Gym.
That was why she needed not only a good final ranking, but also unforgettable performances throughout every stage of the competition.
After all—
This Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest was organized by Cerulean Gym.
And as the Gym Leader and one of the event organizers, Misty herself was already under an enormous spotlight.
Once the competition ended, countless people online would inevitably discuss her performance.
So she couldn't merely rely on a strong final result.
Every round leading up to it had to be brilliant as well.
That way, even if someone later edited clips of her performances and discussed them online—
Absolute "strength" would silence criticism before it even began.
In fact, if she performed brilliantly throughout the entire competition, then not only would people remember Cerulean Gym—
They would also truly acknowledge her as Cerulean Gym's legitimate successor and Trainer.
—
After Misty's match concluded, the time had already reached 11:43 AM, nearing noon.
The competition continued for a little longer before Sakura, Violet, and Lily finally appeared to announce a temporary suspension of the event.
The contest would resume at 1:30 PM.
—
The organizers had prepared free lunch for all contestants.
After eating and resting briefly, time quickly reached 1:30 in the afternoon, and the competition resumed once more.
Since the number of participants was massive, the organizers had already estimated beforehand that the contest would likely last two full days.
Meaning the final results wouldn't be decided until tomorrow evening.
Because of that, nobody found it surprising that even the first elimination round hadn't finished by noon.
Everyone considered it perfectly normal.
Of course—
That calmness only applied to the schedule itself.
As for the contestants who hadn't performed yet—or those who had barely advanced—
Their hearts were still filled with anxiety.
—
At exactly 1:30 PM, the afternoon session officially resumed.
Ash and the others returned once more to the contestant waiting hall.
Among the four of them—
Gary, Clarissa, and Misty had already advanced with excellent scores.
Now—
Only Ash remained.
—
And when it came to Ash's Feebas…
Everyone was secretly nervous.
Even though Feebas looked stunning after makeup—
None of them could guarantee whether the audience would actually accept heavily made-up Pokémon in a beauty contest.
The rules themselves never prohibited makeup.
And several contestants earlier had already used cosmetics on their Pokémon.
But their makeup had been relatively subtle.
Ash's Feebas, however…
Could practically be described as wearing full glamorous stage makeup.
Without makeup and with makeup, it looked like two completely different Pokémon.
And Pokémon makeup itself was already a highly controversial topic.
Would the audience accept it?
How many of the five thousand spectators would accept it?
None of them could confidently say.
If the acceptance rate was high—
Then Ash truly believed Feebas could challenge for the championship.
But if the audience disliked it…
Then even if Feebas managed to survive the elimination round, it would likely be eliminated shortly afterward.
"So all we can do is hope the audience accepts it…"
Even Ash himself could only quietly pray.
—
Carrying that nervous anticipation—
At 2:40 PM, after waiting nearly the entire day, it was finally Ash's turn.
"Contestant Number 156, Ash. Please prepare your participating Pokémon, Feebas, for stage entry."
"Contestant Number 157, Doleil, please stand by."
At the entrance of the contestant waiting hall, the staff member responsible for calling contestants announced loudly.
"I'm coming."
Ash responded calmly.
Then he recalled Feebas from the small glass fish tank into its Poké Ball before turning back and waving toward everyone.
After that, he headed toward the contestant entrance tunnel.
—
"Ash, good luck ×2!"
"Ash, good luck ×2!"
Behind him, his four companions immediately cheered him on.
At the same time, the other contestants inside the waiting hall began looking toward Ash with all sorts of complicated expressions.
Those aiming for rankings and prizes looked at him as though facing an incredibly powerful rival.
Meanwhile, the contestants who had only joined because of Ash—
The fans who came mostly to participate for fun—
Looked at him with pure excitement and anticipation.
The gaze of fans toward their idol.
—
"Ash, good luck~!"
"Ash, fighting~!"
Even the contestant exiting from the previous match, along with the female staff member stationed at the waiting hall entrance, excitedly cheered for him.
Clearly—
Both of them were loyal Ash fans too.
"Thank you."
Ash smiled politely and thanked them before continuing toward the entrance tunnel with Feebas.
—
Since Gary, Clarissa, and Misty had already competed earlier—
And Misty herself was one of the event organizers—
Ash already understood the entire competition flow and all its details very clearly.
So when he arrived at the entrance tunnel—
He didn't hesitate at all.
Directly and decisively, he placed Feebas's Poké Ball into the blue launch slot before him.
At that moment—
Ash and Feebas's first-round elimination match in the Cerulean Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest officially began.
—
"Next, please welcome Contestant Number 156's Pokémon, Feebas, for its one-minute showcase."
The moment Ash inserted the Poké Ball into the launch slot, the referee robot's electronic announcement echoed throughout the arena.
—
"Feebas?"
"Does that literally mean an ugly fish?"
"If it's ugly, why is it participating in a beauty contest?"
"No, no, Feebas is actually a Water-type Pokémon from the Hoenn region."
"Although… to be fair… Feebas really is pretty ugly."
"That's not completely accurate."
"Normal Feebas are ugly, sure—but Ash's Shiny Feebas is incredibly beautiful!"
"You guys seriously haven't seen it before."
"Ash's Feebas is SUPER beautiful!"