CHAPTER 600: BEFORE BATTLE

"I understand what they mean."

Raoul Contesta fell into deep thought. Although in his view, Terrance had more potential than Fantina, his opinion still greatly differed from that of the other high-level members of the Contest Committee.

What he valued was Terrance’s potential; the kind of potential that might reach the level of Wallace.

But the other high-level members of the Contest Committee valued Fantina’s current worth. It could be said that every time Fantina starred in a movie, the box office in Sinnoh almost always broke previous records. This kind of direct money-making ability was even more impressive than that of someone like Master Wallace, who was considered a representative figure among Coordinators.

After all, Wallace nowadays didn’t focus on taking advertisements or filming movies.

"Hmm... that heavily promoted movie is about to premiere. What they mean is, there’s no need for Fantina to go battle Elite Four Leo."

"Compared to Miss Fantina, even if someone like Terrance loses the match, no one will say much given his age. It wouldn’t cause any real impact. On the contrary, if Terrance performs well in the battle, he could even receive praise from others."

"That’s actually not really unfair either." Sukizo shook his head. Matters like this were inherently complex and involved the interests of various parties.

"In fact, it makes sense. Potential is just potential, after all. How many people stay in the same place for decades, unable to advance further... Rather than heavily promoting Terrance, a promising rookie, giving him the right amount of challenges and pressure might be better."

Both men fell silent. Letting a rookie at Terrance’s age challenge an Elite Four... to be honest, that wasn’t fair.

But if everything were completely fair, then this festival would lose its purpose. The battle segment that follows should be entirely random then.

But that wouldn’t align with the interests of this festival, so the only choice was to make the most optimized adjustments within an acceptable range.

"That’s true." Raoul Contesta could only try to convince himself. After all, within the Contest Committee, he wasn’t the one with absolute power; he didn’t yet have the authority to overturn the opinions of the majority.

Without enough leverage to persuade others, Raoul Contesta could only comply with the decision.

He paced around the room for a long time. It seemed this was the only thing he could do.

Behind-the-scenes manipulation? Such things existed even in the League Conference. For the sake of entertainment, this kind of approach was entirely justified.

Let alone something even more important like this festival... some appropriate maneuvering might bring even greater benefits. On that point, Raoul Contesta couldn’t deny it.

"I just hope Terrance can perform well."

Raoul Contesta was silent. He had great hopes for Terrance, because he had personally witnessed Terrance grow from a rookie into who he was today.

It could be said that every step of progress Terrance made, every victory he achieved, Raoul Contesta had seen with his own eyes. As someone who had poured a great deal of effort into Pokémon Contests, he prefers to support fresh talent.

Wasn’t the purpose of this festival to elevate the status of Pokémon Contest, so that more outstanding rookies could emerge from them?

When it came to the arrangements for Terrance, Raoul Contesta couldn’t say whether they were right or wrong, it was simply a matter of differing perspectives. After thinking it through for a long time, he came to realize that as long as Terrance was good enough, how things were arranged didn’t really matter anymore.

"If possible, I still want to fight for him a little."

Raoul Contesta had once made a promise to Terrance: if Terrance could shine in this festival to a level second only to Wallace, then Raoul Contesta would, on behalf of the Contest Committee, give his full support to the Fallarbor Gym. In other words, he would invest in Terrance himself.

Now, within the entertainment events, Terrance had already pulled it off, and while Raoul Contesta was pleased, he believed he didn’t misjudge him.

As long as Terrance can continue this in the battle segment, Raoul Contesta was fully prepared to honor those promises.

It’s just that, right now, the difficulty for Terrance to earn recognition has undoubtedly become much harder. Battling an Elite Four, compared to facing ordinary Trainers, even if Terrance displays the same level of skill, the perception in the eyes of the audience is worlds apart.

...

At this moment, back in Sootopolis City, Terrance still didn’t know that his next opponent, chosen from the three Trainers, was the former Electric-type Elite Four, Leo—the one with the greatest overall strength.

"Mr. Terrance, you’re back!"

After receiving Terrance’s call, the assistant Sharan hurried over to greet him.

"Sorry for troubling you, I need to register Pokémon, right?" The first thing Terrance did upon returning to Sootopolis City was ask about the next steps in the event procedure.

"Yes. The three Pokémon you plan to use next have to be registered," Sharan nodded.

Terrance let out an exclamation. It was standard procedure, but he had been so wrapped up in research that he had almost forgotten. But, at this moment, another important thought struck him.

He remembered that Fujiki only had two Pokémon; how was she planning to take part in the battle segment?

Unless she had caught a new Pokémon in the past half-year.

After completing his own registration, Terrance went straight to look for Albus.

"What are you doing here?" Albus looked at Terrance and asked bluntly.

"Just dispeling my curiosity," Terrance chuckled, looked around, and asked, "Where’s Fujiki?"

"Gone out, I guess?" Albus glanced around, didn’t see Fujiki, and shrugged.

"Did you two finish registering?" Terrance stroked his chin, wearing a curious expression.

Albus froze for a moment and said, "We registered ages ago! What are you plotting?"

Terrance laughed. "Plotting? I’m just bored and scouting the enemy. I remember Fujiki only has Roserade and Ninetales. So, did you guys catch a new Pokémon in the last six months?"

"Nope." Albus shook his head. After going through the Nightmare Island incident together, the three of them were good friends; there wasn’t much worth hiding.

"Oh?" Terrance was slightly taken aback.

"You’re wondering how she managed to register, right?" Albus smiled helplessly. "That girl captured a Feebas at the last minute just to make up the numbers. She caught it only a few days ago. That’s how she registered."

"..." Terrance.

"Still, she’s got about half my style. The staff doing the registration were probably stunned. After all, there aren’t many Trainers that casual, hahaha!" Albus roared with laughter.

"You guys are something else..." Terrance exhaled.

"Say, you can use it, right?" Albus suddenly turned serious.

"Mega Evolution, you mean?" Terrance confirmed. "Of course, scared?"

"Compared to six months ago, my Altaria can wield that power perfectly now."

Albus shook his head. "I only asked because you didn’t use it during the Dragon-type event. In battle, it’s only fun if we both go all out. If we end up facing each other, don’t hold back."

"Naturally." Terrance nodded.

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