Chapter 274: Michael Quackson

After getting Hina settled in the lounge area, Fantina thoughtfully brought over some tea.

Just then, the Gym doors suddenly opened, and a woman carrying several large bags hurried inside.

"Fantina, I’ve brought the design sketches for the latest batch of custom outfits—"

The newcomer stopped halfway through her sentence when she noticed Hina sitting in the chair.

Her footsteps paused.

Then her eyes lit up.

"Oh my, do we have a guest?"

"So you’re Dawn’s daughter? No wonder you looked a little familiar."

Paris’s eyes brightened further before her gaze shifted toward Quaxwell, who was standing nearby in its sunglasses.

"Is this little one your Pokémon?"

Hina gave a small nod.

"Yes."

Paris walked a full circle around Quaxwell, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

"I’ve seen plenty of Quaxwell, but this one has the most perfect physique and muscle distribution I’ve ever encountered."

"How do you usually train it?"

Hina scratched her cheek.

"Um... actually..."

"I’m not the one who trains Ducky..."

"It gets up and goes running by itself every morning..."

Paris blinked.

"It runs by itself?"

"Mm..."

Hina’s voice became even softer.

"Ducky gets up before sunrise every day..."

"First, it runs five kilometers to warm up..."

"Then it does one hundred squats..."

"And after that, it practices kicks for another half hour..."

Paris fell silent for a moment.

Then she looked back at Quaxwell.

"...This is genuinely the first time I’ve met such a self-disciplined Pokémon."

Quaxwell pushed up its sunglasses with one wing.

Then it pulled a pen from its pocket, spread a napkin flat across the table, and wrote four neat words on it.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRAISE.

The handwriting was clean and precise.

It was neater than the registration forms filled out by most Trainers.

Paris lowered her eyes toward the message.

She fell silent again.

Then, in a tone that didn’t quite match her normally composed image, she asked,

"...Has this duck achieved enlightenment or something?"

[VIP Chat Group]

[Korrina]: Leg training? One hundred squats? Half an hour of kicking practice? That’s almost as much training as I do!

[Steven]: Come on, this is a duck from Brother Asher’s family. Did you really expect it to be an ordinary duck?

[Raihan]: I’m starting to suspect that Quaxwell is hiding a pair of Sharingan underneath those sunglasses.

[Leon]: What’s a Sharingan? You’re getting harder and harder to understand every time you talk.

[Raihan]: Something from another world I saw in the Points Shop. Apparently, it can copy all kinds of techniques.

[Leon]: ...What exactly do you spend all day searching for in that shop?

[Raihan]: Things that can help me beat you.

[Leon]: Find anything yet?

[Raihan]: Yeah. Can’t afford any of it.

[Jasmine]: I’m starting to think this duck’s actual evolutionary line isn’t Quaxly → Quaxwell → Quaquaval.

[Sophocles]: Then what is it?

[Jasmine]: Ordinary Duck → Disciplined Duck → Enlightened Duck.

[Flannery]: Hahaha! Disciplined Duck evolves by running five kilometers and doing one hundred squats every day. Miss even one and it can’t evolve.

[Roark]: No, no. The evolution requirement should be "learn how to write with its wings."

A duck that can’t write doesn’t qualify to evolve.

The video continued playing.

Paris composed herself and sat down beside Hina.

"Hina, since fate happened to bring us together like this, there’s something I’d like to suggest."

"Three days from now, Hearthome City will hold its annual Hearthome Collection."

"If you’re interested..."

"Why don’t you give it a try?"

"B-But..."

Hina pressed the tips of her index fingers together in front of her chest.

"I’d have to appear in front of so many people..."

"I-I might get so nervous that I’d start walking with the same arm and leg..."

"Oh, that won’t be a problem."

Fantina joined in.

"The star of the Hearthome Collection is the Pokémon. The Trainer only needs to guide them from the side of the stage."

"And besides..."

Fantina looked toward Quaxwell.

"Your Quaxwell seems quite interested."

Hina turned toward Ducky.

Quaxwell pushed up its sunglasses.

Then it raised one wing and gave her an extraordinarily confident thumbs-up.

"Quax."

Seeing that, Hina gave the tiniest possible nod.

"Then..."

"I-I’ll try."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Dawn]: It’s the Hearthome Collection! This brings back so many memories. I’m remembering the first time I entered!

[Ash]: I think I entered that competition too!

[Paris]: I remember now. Dawn and Ash both performed very well that time.

So now I’m looking forward to seeing what Hina can do too.

The video continued playing.

The Hearthome Collection began.

One performance after another took the stage, and the atmosphere inside the venue grew increasingly lively.

"Next up is the final contestant in this year’s Hearthome Collection—"

"Contestant Hina from Twinleaf Town and her Quaxwell!"

The moment the announcer finished speaking, every spotlight swung toward the contestants’ entrance.

Hina emerged wearing a sapphire-blue Chinese-style pleated dress.

She had also paired it with a dark-blue wig decorated with a fluffy white hair ornament, making her look especially adorable.

Quaxwell—

Was wearing sunglasses.

On its head was a black bowler hat, the brim pulled down low enough that only the lower half of its flat beak could be seen.

White gloves covered its wings.

White socks and polished black shoes completed the outfit.

Standing there beneath the spotlight—

It no longer had the presence of an ordinary duck.

Quaxwell slowly raised its right wing, covered by a white glove.

Snap.

"Quax." (Perfect~)

The next second—

The toe of its leather shoe lightly tapped against the stage floor, as though testing the beat.

Michael Quackson had officially taken the stage.

Quaxwell slowly raised one wing.

The tip pointed toward the sky.

Its chin tilted upward at forty-five degrees.

Its eyes narrowed halfway.

Then its knees bent slightly.

Its center of gravity shifted backward.

Its left foot planted firmly against the floor—

And its right foot began to...

Slide backward.

Yes.

It wasn’t walking forward.

It was sliding backward.

One foot remained against the floor while the other visibly glided backward—

Yet Quaxwell’s entire body somehow moved smoothly in the opposite direction.

Then its body leaned forward at nearly thirty degrees.

That angle already seemed to completely violate the laws of physics.

No living creature should have been capable of standing like that—

Let alone moving.

And yet—

It was moving.

"Quax-quax-quax-quax-quax-quax-quax——!"

Ducky slid across the stage while producing a perfectly rhythmic chain of cries.

Its flat beak opened and closed in time with its footwork, as though it were singing a song whose lyrics only it knew.

In the front row, a man with slicked-back hair grabbed his own head with both hands.

His mouth fell open wide enough to fit an entire Poké Ball.

"W-What kind of dance move is THAT?!"

Quaxwell glided through several full circuits across the center of the stage.

Every turn was accompanied by a perfectly timed adjustment of its hat—

And the crisp snap of its wing.

Its footwork became smoother and smoother.

Beneath the spotlights, it glided from one end of the stage to the other—

Then all the way back again.

Every single step landed perfectly on the beat of the background music.

Finally—

Its right foot slammed against the floor.

Quaxwell launched itself into the air and completed a full 360-degree spin.

Its white glove traced a silver arc beneath the spotlight.

It landed.

Both wings folded across its chest.

Its left leg bent slightly.

Its right leg extended straight forward, the toe lightly touching the floor.

The classic moonwalk finishing pose.

The entire venue was silent for roughly half a second.

Then—

It exploded.

"HOLY—!!! THAT DUCK IS SLIDING!!!"

"NO!! IT’S FLYING!! IT’S FLYING ACROSS THE GROUND!!!"

"THAT’S NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE!!! HOW IS A DUCK DRIFTING ACROSS THE FLOOR?!"

"AM I HALLUCINATING?! DID THAT DUCK JUST SNAP ITS FINGERS?!"