Chapter 303: Mother vs. Daughter, Pokémon Contest Edition (Membership Extra Chapter)

The video continued playing.

The moment the battle began, Dawn gave the first command.

"Darkrai, Dark Void!"

Darkrai spread both arms.

The entire area above the stage instantly darkened as a dark-purple sphere of energy rapidly condensed in its palm.

Dark Void.

Darkrai’s signature move.

If it landed, the opponent would be put to sleep.

And in a Contest Battle, if a Pokémon fell asleep and became unable to perform, it would inevitably lose a huge number of Contest points.

Dawn showed absolutely no mercy with her opening move.

But Hina didn’t panic.

Before coming to Snowpoint City, she’d already simulated every possible strategy her mother might use.

"Cresselia, Moonblast. Aim at Darkrai’s shadow."

Cresselia gently fluttered its wings.

A silver-white sphere of light rose from its chest before shooting diagonally toward the floor.

The sphere struck directly in the center of Darkrai’s shadow.

Moonlight-like brilliance illuminated the entire ground.

The light caught Darkrai’s eyes.

Its whole body stiffened for an instant and the carefully aimed Dark Void missed its target.

Pop!

It shattered into countless particles of dark-purple light.

But those particles didn’t disappear.

Instead, they slowly drifted downward through the moonlight—

Like snow leaking out of a dream.

Dawn blinked.

Then the corners of her lips curved upward.

"Not bad, Hina!"

"Then..."

"How about this!"

"Piplup, Bubble Beam!"

Piplup performed a backflip and sprang out from behind Darkrai.

Blue bubbles erupted from its beak like machine-gun fire, spiraling through the air into an enormous vortex as they swept toward Cresselia.

Under the moonlight, every bubble shimmered silver-blue—

Like countless miniature planets.

Hina’s words came faster now.

But her voice remained perfectly steady.

"Audino, Heal Pulse!"

"Cresselia, Confusion!"

Audino brought both hands together in front of its chest.

A faint pink ring of light expanded outward from beneath its feet.

The pink ring collided with the spiraling Bubble Beam.

Every bubble trembled slightly—

Then burst with a series of tiny pops, breaking apart into even smaller droplets of water.

But those droplets never reached the ground.

Cresselia’s Confusion caught them in midair.

They gathered at the center of the stage forming a flowing silver galaxy.

Brilliant light reflected in Hina’s golden eyes.

She gently swept one hand forward.

"Audino, use Charge Beam."

"Light up that galaxy!"

The feelers on Audino’s head glowed pale gold.

An extremely thin current of electricity swept across the surface of the silver stream like a match striking sandpaper.

Bzzzt——!

The entire galaxy instantly lit up.

Electricity leaped between countless suspended droplets, linking them together until they became a radiant river stretching across the entire stage.

It struck Darkrai and Piplup simultaneously sending both Pokémon flying backward.

Dawn’s score bar immediately dropped by a large amount.

She bit her lip.

Then broke into a brilliant smile.

"That’s more like it!"

"Hina!"

"Mom’s getting serious now!"

"Darkrai, surround yourself with Dark Void!"

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

Darkrai’s entire body was swallowed by darkness, transforming into a rapidly spinning black sphere.

Piplup summoned a high-speed Whirlpool and launched it directly toward the sphere.

The instant the water struck—

It was dragged into the rotation.

A violently spinning ring of water formed around the black sphere.

The dark orb, wrapped in its watery ring, charged toward Hina’s side of the stage while spraying countless black droplets in every direction.

This was Dawn’s strongest combination technique—Nightmare Pirate Ship.

Hina stood in place.

The wind whipped her hair wildly around her face.

But she didn’t retreat.

Instead, she reached into a pocket hidden in the folds of her dress and pulled out the Key Stone she’d kept close to herself all this time.

"Audino!"

"Mega Evolve!"

The Key Stone erupted with brilliant light.

Countless multicolored ribbons of energy connected it to the Audinite on Audino’s chest, forming a bridge of light between Trainer and Pokémon.

Audino’s body stretched within the radiance.

White, skirt-like fur flowed down from its waist until it resembled a long gown trailing across the floor.

An additional glowing ring appeared around the feelers on its head—

Almost like a tiny crown.

Mega Audino brought both hands together before its chest.

Then thrust them outward.

"Audino, Fairy Wind!"

Fairy Wind had barely erupted from Mega Audino’s hands when the Nightmare Pirate Ship crashed directly into it.

The spinning black ring of water began slowing.

Slower.

Slower still... until finally—

It stopped completely.

"Now!"

"Cresselia, Moonblast!"

Cresselia swept in from the side.

Moonlight struck the suspended ring of water at the perfect angle.

BOOM!

The Nightmare Pirate Ship shattered completely.

Darkrai was blasted out of the black sphere.

It flipped through the air seven or eight times before crashing directly into Piplup.

The two Pokémon rolled across the stage like bowling balls.

Eventually—

They came to a stop near the edge of the arena, stacked awkwardly on top of each other.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Wallace]: Moonlight and black mist swirling together in the same scene, softness and darkness chasing after one another... Magnificent! This is what a Grand Festival should look like! I’ve waited through so many episodes, and at long last, we’ve finally gotten a genuine top-class Contest Battle!

[May]: When Dawn’s combination move came rushing in, even I couldn’t think of a way to break through it. But Hina actually used Fairy Wind to stop the entire water ring, and then added Mega Evolution on top of that... That scene was absolutely beautiful!

[Steven]: It certainly looked good, but I still think my artistic dance has the edge.

[Wallace]:@Steven, you don’t know jack shit about art.

[Lisia]: !!! Uncle! Watch your image!

[Raihan]: Wallace is usually such an elegant guy, and look what Steven has reduced him to. I recommend the League arrange some psychological counseling for him.

[Steven]: You people don’t understand. Wallace isn’t angry. He’s simply been overwhelmed by my art and hasn’t managed to process it yet.

[Raihan]: What overwhelms me is the thickness of Steven’s skin. You deserve a world record.

[Leon]: If Steven’s shamelessness could be converted into base Defense, he could probably tank Eternatus’s Dynamax Cannon.

[Diantha]: Steven’s position in the dance world is probably about the same as Groudon’s position among "Pokémon capable of flying."

[Skyla]: Hahaha! That’s pretty high, then.

The video continued playing.

Both contestants’ remaining scores froze.

"We have our Champion!"

"The winner of this year’s Sinnoh Grand Festival is—"

"HINA!!!"

Thunderous applause shook the entire venue.

Dawn immediately ran over and wrapped Hina in a hug.

Then she lifted her completely off the ground and spun her around in a circle.

"Hina!"

"You won!"

"Mom’s so happy!"

"I’m so happy I don’t even know whether I should laugh or cry!"

"Mom..."

Hina’s entire face had turned bright red, and even her voice was trembling.

"You’re already crying..."

"Because Mom’s just that happy!"

Dawn finally lowered her back onto the ground.

"From the very first time you stepped onto a stage until today..."

"I’ve never once worried about you."

"You’re even more amazing than Mom."

"I’ve always known that."

After being set down—Hina reached out and hugged Dawn again.

"Thank you, Mom..."

"And..."

"I’ll keep doing my best."

...

TL: Thanks to Orion for yet another month of membership!