Meanwhile, Abigail.
She was currently sitting backstage at the conference, preparing.
Looking at the huge mirror before her, she adjusted the somewhat handsome little crown on her head, then turned to look at Gengar clutching an ancient sword nearby.
"Gengar~"
"I'm a bit nervous, Amber," Abigail said, looking at herself in the mirror.
The dress Emily made transformed her into something like a medieval prince.
She looked at herself in the mirror, still not quite feeling the reality of it.
She did enjoy performing on stage, but looking at today's setup, she felt somewhat stage fright.
"Are you alright, Abi?" Serena said, stepping forward to rearrange Abigail's hair.
Serena had a particular knack for braiding. In no time, that long purple hair became a high ponytail—a neat style that matched well with her princely outfit today.
"So handsome," Serena said, adjusting the crown again.
The crown was covered in densely packed purple crystals, flashing dazzlingly under the lights.
Amethyst wasn't exactly a precious ore, but this craftsmanship was definitely costly, appearing especially brilliant on the silver crown.
"Thank you," Abigail lowered her head shyly.
"Ready? You seem to be the third to perform," Serena asked again.
Hearing this, Abigail stood up and encouraged herself.
She knew deeply that today she wasn't just here for the Contest Ribbon—she also bore the important mission of perfectly showcasing Emily's outfit on stage.
So she took a deep breath and marched out with synchronized steps.
Serena laughed upon seeing this.
Meanwhile, in Pelican Town.
Watching the television announce the performance order, Joy estimated how long it would take to get from Penny's house while standing ready by the phone.
"Should I just call her over now?" Joy turned to ask.
"Who?"
"Robin. She also wants to watch Abigail's performance."
The Pokémon Contest generally consisted of two stages. The first qualifying round was a performance stage with a single Pokémon, while the second was the Contest Battle.
"Wouldn't that mean running back and forth twice?" Ron said upon hearing this.
Joy reacted as if just realizing this, her eyes widening.
"But it's not very far—at most ten-odd minutes of walking," Ron comforted her, looking at the television.
"Pokémon can actually perform like this—" Haley below looked at the television, where a Roselia was finishing its performance with Petal Dance, unable to look away.
Petals scattered throughout the venue. That Roselia slowly walked out from among the petals, standing beside its Coordinator and bowing elegantly to the audience.
"Oh my, I like this one," one of the judges showed a kind smile to the camera.
Then the camera turned to another judge nearby—Nurse Joy of Cyllage City.
Everyone knew the Joy family all had the same face, but seeing another Joy's face at this moment, everyone felt somewhat dazed for a moment.
"Speaking of which, how do you normally tell each other apart from yourselves?" Vincent looked up, looking at Joy, then at the Joy on television, asking with a completely confused face.
"They're actually different," Joy said, pulling out her graduation photo from under the counter and pointing it out to Vincent. "This is Cyllage City's Joy, this is Santalune City's, this one is——"
"This is you!"
Vincent recognized her immediately.
There was no other reason—only she had a Junimo pinned in her hair.
"Right, isn't it still quite easy to tell apart?"
"Ah, right. The phone, the phone," she said, calling Robin.
By the time Robin and Pam's family arrived breathlessly, the host Marian on television was just introducing Abigail.
So everyone's gaze immediately focused on the television.
"The next performer is Abigail from Pelican Town!"
The curtain opened, smoke billowing out from behind it, followed by a white light shining down from above. Though the figure couldn't be seen clearly, one could faintly perceive brilliant purple light refracting continuously within it.
The next second, a Poké Ball was thrown out.
"Amber, use Confuse Ray!"
As soon as she spoke, dazzling light burst forth from the shadows.
The smoke dispersed, revealing Abigail's true appearance beneath.
"Ah, choosing a brilliant Confuse Ray for the entrance."
That gorgeous dress refracted brilliant light as she slowly advanced under the stage lights. Emily couldn't help but hold her breath upon seeing this.
She only felt her eyes grow warm.
The effect of this outfit was exactly as she had imagined—even better than she thought.
"Amber, use Perish Song!"
Saying this, Abigail took out her flute. As her melodious flute music spread through the venue, Gengar's singing voice followed, materialized sound waves tangling with the smoke, mixed with that terrifyingly haunting vocal tone.
But this song absolutely couldn't be called unpleasant—it just sounded somewhat eerie.
That strange song seemed to bring a gust of damp, cold wind. Even though Kalos had just entered summer, the audience couldn't help but rub their arms, feeling cold continuously rising.
"Now, use Shadow Ball!"
As soon as she spoke, Shadow Balls gradually gathered from Gengar's body, and with Gengar's charged strike, hurtled toward the audience.
Before the people below could react to dodge, Gengar had already submerged into the shadows, and at the final moment, with Abigail's shout, leaped out from the shadows.
"Sucker Punch!"
Several loud sounds, and the Shadow Balls transformed into fireworks, exploding before everyone's eyes.
"Using Sucker Punch to shatter the shadows in one breath! This is the charm of Ghost-types!" Marian couldn't help but applaud after Abigail's curtain call.
"That really gave me a fright."
"I like this one."
"A seamless coordination with the Trainer! The melody played on the flute matches very well too—it gives an illusion of returning to medieval times." Nurse Joy tilted her head toward the camera.
As soon as she finished speaking, applause also rang out from the Pokémon Center.
Although everyone had only a superficial understanding of Contest rules and didn't quite understand how Abigail's performance specifically ranked, it didn't prevent everyone from feeling proud of Abigail at this moment.
"Speaking of which, was the dress made by Emily?"
Emily nodded somewhat proudly upon hearing this.
"Beautiful."
Clint nearby also nodded with some shared pride.
It wasn't anything else—every single crystal fragment on that crown had been personally polished and buffed by him.
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