In the first round of the elimination stage, among Ash, Gary, Misty, and Clarissa, both Gary and Clarissa had already completed their performances.
Now—
Only Misty and Ash had yet to take the stage.
There were simply too many contestants participating today.
Although neither Ash nor Misty had drawn particularly late numbers, Misty had drawn Number 98 while Ash had drawn Number 156.
At the moment, Clarissa's Number 16 performance had only just finished.
That meant there was still a very long wait before it would finally be Misty and Ash's turns.
However, neither of them showed the slightest impatience.
Instead, they sat in the contestant waiting hall with great interest, watching the ongoing performances together with their Pokémon on the massive wall-mounted television.
After all—
Whether it was a talent show for people or a beauty contest for Pokémon, these kinds of programs were universally entertaining.
Men, women, children, elderly—
Nobody could resist watching them.
—
Although there were many contestants and the variety of Water-type Pokémon native to Kanto was relatively limited, resulting in many repeated appearances—
Especially Magikarp, whose appearance rate was absurdly high—
There were still quite a few truly beautiful Water-type Pokémon appearing on stage.
For example:
The adorable little bald-headed Squirtle
The tongue-sticking cutie Shellder
The elegant underwater dancer Goldeen
The ink-painting artist Horsea
The jewel-like luxurious Starmie
The brilliantly colorful Corsola
—
Although Clarissa had achieved the contest's current ceiling score with Ash's golden Magikarp—
A perfect unanimous vote—
There were still many highly skilled contestants and excellent Pokémon appearing throughout the competition.
One contestant in particular left a very deep impression on Ash.
The Trainer had actually sent out a Wingull to compete.
Most Water-type Pokémon primarily lived underwater.
Even those capable of moving on land were usually amphibious species like Poliwag or Poliwhirl.
So when a Wingull suddenly appeared—
A bird among countless fish—
The sheer novelty of the visual contrast instantly captured the audience's attention.
Just like Valor earlier, the Wingull hadn't performed any fancy techniques either.
It had merely flown gracefully in circles above the water.
Yet because the audience had been staring at fish after fish for so long, the sudden appearance of a seabird felt refreshing and exciting.
As a result, the Wingull easily earned enough votes to advance.
And it wasn't even a particularly special Wingull.
—
The Cerulean Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest officially began at 9:00 AM.
Although there were many contestants, each Pokémon only had one minute to perform.
Including entrances, exits, and audience voting time, each contestant averaged only about three minutes total.
By the time the clock reached 11:30 AM—
It was finally Misty's turn.
—
"Misty, good luck ×3!"
"Misty, do your best!"
Seeing Misty stand up after the staff member called her name, Ash and the others immediately cheered her on.
Although everyone here was technically a competitor—
Misty carried pressure far greater than anyone else.
She was not only a contestant.
She was also the Gym Leader of the Cerulean Water Gym.
And more importantly—
She was one of the organizers of this entire Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest.
Other contestants could fail without major consequences.
But Misty was different.
If she failed to achieve an excellent result—
Cerulean Gym's reputation would plummet instantly.
That was something she absolutely could not accept.
—
"I can only give it everything I have."
At the contestant entrance tunnel, Misty's gaze became exceptionally determined.
"Marill, let's do our best together."
"For Cerulean Gym…"
"And for our shared dream."
With that, Misty gently placed the Poké Ball into the blue launch slot before her.
—
"Next, please welcome Contestant Number 98's Pokémon, Marill, for its one-minute showcase."
"Gulu~"
Following the referee robot's announcement, the transparent crystal-clear waters of the Water Cube arena rippled softly.
Then—
Marill swiftly floated out from the opened underwater gate.
Or rather—
"Floated" wasn't entirely accurate.
It looked more like drifting weightlessly upward.
Marill's greatest charm lay in its adorably round body.
Even ordinary Marill ranked among the cutest Water-type Pokémon in existence.
And Misty's Marill—
Even among its own species—
Was exceptionally adorable.
Misty had perfectly understood this point and built her entire performance around Marill's overwhelming cuteness.
Most contestants desperately tried to showcase their Pokémon as hard as possible.
But what they failed to understand was this:
The most touching kind of beauty was never something deliberately forced.
True charm appeared naturally in unguarded moments.
And thanks to all the "how to charm boys" techniques constantly taught to her by her older sisters, Misty deeply understood this principle.
So while every other contestant tried their hardest to show off—
Misty chose the exact opposite strategy.
As the underwater gate opened, Marill slowly floated upward.
But instead of looking like a Water Mouse Pokémon—
It looked more like a Sleeping Mouse Pokémon.
The little Marill was hugging its buoy-like tail while peacefully "sleeping."
That unusual entrance instantly drew the audience's attention.
Under the camera close-ups, Marill's soft, cuddly sleeping expression was magnified perfectly onto the giant screens.
—
"AAAAAHHHH—!!"
"So cuteeeee!!"
"Kyaaaaaaa!!"
"AWSL!!"
"Oh my god…"
The audience instantly exploded.
Watching the sleeping Marill curl into a tiny floating ball while hugging its tail and drifting upward with soft bubbling sounds—
The entire scene was unbearably adorable.
Although the presentation itself was incredibly simple—
The design was brilliant.
It perfectly showcased Marill's strongest appeal:
Its pure cuteness.
And precisely because the performance was so simple, it left enormous room for future rounds.
The elegance of restraint.
The beauty of intentional blank space.
It was an extremely clever, advanced performance design.
And the audience's overwhelming reaction proved it.
—
"Contestant Number 98's Pokémon, Marill, has completed its showcase. Audience judges, please begin voting."
Misty's timing had been absolutely perfect.
Just as Marill floated to the water's surface—
It suddenly woke up.
Then blinked its sparkling eyes innocently toward the audience, looking completely confused about what was happening around it.
And at that exact moment—
The one-minute performance ended.
—
"AAAAHHHHH!!!"
"TOO CUTE!!"
"KAWAIIIIII!!!"
"I'M VOTING!!"
The moment they met Marill's bright, innocent eyes, countless audience members clutched their chests in emotional overload.
It felt like they had just taken a direct critical hit from Sweet Kiss itself.
Not only were the live spectators unable to resist voting—
Even the viewers watching from home were completely melted by Marill's overwhelming cuteness.
Unfortunately, they didn't have voting devices.
—
"One minute voting period complete."
"Contestant Number 98 — Marill."
"Final vote count: 4985 votes."
"Successfully reached advancement threshold."
"Advancement successful."
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