Chapter 302: They’re Even Offering to Lay Duck Eggs for Master Ducky Now

[VIP Chat Group]

[Volkner]: So Regigigas went from being so hyped it practically turned into a different Pokémon one second, then fell asleep again the next? So the Power of Viridian was basically just a one-use power bank?

[Raihan]: Charge for three minutes, standby for three hundred years. Sounds perfectly reasonable. Its Ability is Slow Start, after all.

[Leon]: I feel like the most ridiculous part of this entire thing is that Hina was underground talking to Regigigas while Asher and Dawn were sitting up above eating roasted sweet potatoes and casually making a bet.

[Steven]: What’s so ridiculous about that? Brother Asher obviously arranged everything! Where else do you think a stone monument like that came from in the middle of nowhere?

[Wallace]: Steven is being insufferable again, but I actually think he’s right this time.

[Lorelei]: This is already the fifth episode. Haven’t you people gotten used to it yet? Which one of Asher’s children hasn’t had him standing behind them with a baby bottle, making sure nothing goes wrong?

[Misty]: Right now, I just want to know what exactly that "a bet’s a bet" was referring to.

[Dawn]: I-It was probably just normal household chores or something... It’s not what you guys are thinking!

[Johanna]: Who believes that? Do you believe it yourself?

[Dawn]: Mom!

[Valerie]: Dawn’s face is probably redder than that roasted sweet potato by now. Maybe everyone should stop teasing her.

[Misty]: But that just makes me want to ask even more! So what exactly did you bet on?

[Diantha]: Misty, you’re being a little too straightforward. Some things aren’t convenient to discuss in the group chat.

[Elesa]: Not convenient in the group chat? So private messages are okay?

[Diantha]: Elesa, when did you become this nosy?

[Elesa]: I learned from you.

The video continued playing.

Snowpoint City.

The opening day of the Grand Festival.

At Marian’s command, the enormous screens inside the main venue lit up as icy-blue light poured down from the ceiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

"Today, the Sinnoh Grand Festival officially begins——!"

"Now, let’s see which contestant will be the first to kick things off!"

Portraits of every participating Coordinator began scrolling across the giant screen.

Marian pressed a button.

The portraits spun like a top for half a minute before—

Snap!

They stopped.

"Our first contestant—Hina, from Twinleaf Town!"

The curtain flew open.

Dressed in an elaborate Contest outfit, Hina jogged onto the stage and threw her Poké Ball into the air.

"Ducky, take the stage!"

As a cloud of dazzling smoke dispersed—

Quaquaval appeared wearing its sunglasses and immediately launched into a moonwalk.

Halfway across the stage, it suddenly pulled a folding fan from between its feathers.

Snap!

The fan opened.

Two enormous words were written across it: QUAXMEN FOREVER

The entire venue instantly exploded.

"MASTER DUCKY!!! I’LL LAY DUCK EGGS FOR YOU!!!"

"NO! Master Ducky belongs to everyone!"

"QUAXMEN! QUAXMEN! QUAXMEN!"

"What’s Quaxmen?! I only know Master Ducky!"

"Then you’re already halfway into the sect!"

With its beautiful move combinations and polished performance, Hina earned a perfect score in the opening round and smoothly advanced to the second stage of judging.

She continued cutting through the competition in the second round.

Glaceon glided elegantly across sheets of ice while Roserade accompanied it with spectacular floral dances.

Every performance drew thunderous applause.

On the other side—

Dawn’s performance was equally dominant.

Her first-round performance took only three minutes.

Piplup’s Bubble Beam created eighteen rainbows across the snowy stage, earning high scores from all three judges.

Ursula and Andodo were steamrolling through the competition as well.

Before every appearance, mother and daughter would snap open their folding fans and loudly declare: "THE GLORY OF SINNOH’S NUMBER-ONE COORDINATOR FAMILY!"

They had even gained their own cheering squad in the audience.

Every member held a folding fan, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Then came the semifinals.

Hina versus Andodo.

Andodo sent out Buizel.

Hina chose Glaceon.

"Hmph! Hina, witness the results of my special training!"

Andodo flicked open her folding fan.

"Buizel, Bubble Beam!"

Hina’s command was simple and precise.

"Icy Wind!"

Glaceon cut into the battlefield from the side.

A blast of Icy Wind swept perfectly across the path of the Bubble Beam.

The bubbles instantly froze into strings of tiny ice beads suspended in midair like countless stars frozen in time.

The audience erupted into applause.

Andodo’s score dropped accordingly.

In the end, Hina successfully defeated Andodo and advanced to the finals.

In the other semifinal—

Dawn also defeated Ursula without incident.

After losing, Ursula sat on a bench in the waiting room with her folding fan completely covering her face.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Andodo approached carrying a cup of hot cocoa.

"I’m fine! I’m completely fine!"

Ursula lowered the fan just enough to reveal two bright-red eyes.

"This is my fighting spirit burning!"

"That’s right!"

"My fighting spirit is burning so fiercely that it’s making me cry!"

Andodo placed the hot cocoa beside her.

"Then drink some. It’ll replenish your fighting spirit."

Ursula didn’t take it.

Instead, the flames in her eyes burned even brighter.

"I never imagined that even with the two of us fighting side by side, we still couldn’t defeat Dawn and her daughter."

"It seems this grudge will have to be avenged by your future daughter."

Andodo nearly dropped the hot cocoa.

"Mom, I’m only ten!"

"Isn’t it a little early for me to start thinking about that?!"

"Early?"

"I’ve already planned your future training schedule all the way until you’re eighty."

"I’m still competing in Pokémon Contests when I’m eighty?!"

"What?"

"Your mother hasn’t retired yet, and you already want to retire?"

...

The finals.

Amid deafening cheers—

Two spotlights lit up simultaneously, shining down on the entrances on opposite sides of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

"The finals of the Sinnoh Grand Festival begin—NOW!"

"In this mother-versus-daughter showdown, will the veteran Top Coordinator mother successfully defend her crown?"

"Or will the rising dark horse make history?!"

"No more words!"

"Five minutes on the clock!"

"Begin!"

Dawn was the first to throw two Poké Balls.

"Darkrai! Piplup!"

"Make your dazzling entrance!"

Golden stars and black-purple spheres of mist poured from the Poké Balls, transforming the entire stage into something resembling a dream beneath the night sky.

Piplup somersaulted through the starlight and landed gracefully.

Darkrai slowly materialized from within the black mist.

Hina took a deep breath.

Then she threw her own Poké Balls.

"Cresselia! Audino!"

"Take the stage!"

The Poké Balls burst open in midair.

A gigantic cloud resembling cotton candy billowed outward—

Before transforming into the elegant figure of Cresselia.

Audino, meanwhile, floated out from a cluster of pink-and-blue bubbles before gently landing on the stage.