Furthermore, judging by the order they had drawn, Ash—who had originally been the final contestant to appear yesterday—had somehow become the first among the four friends to go on stage today.
He had drawn contestant number 4, making him the very first contestant of Group 02.
Compared to Gary, Misty, and Clarissa, Ash would indeed be appearing much earlier today.
"Alright! The drawing for the second-round advancement matches has officially concluded. All contestants in the waiting hall should now have seen both their group numbers and appearance order~"
"I'm sure our audience judges are already eager to begin watching today's matches, so without further delay—I hereby announce the official start of the second-round advancement battles of the Cerulean Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest!"
"Would contestants of Group 01 please prepare to take the stage!"
As hosts, Daisy, Violet, and Lily loudly announced the start of the competition.
"WAAAAH—!!"
The stadium instantly exploded with cheers once more.
"Contestant No.1 Taruhide, Contestant No.2 Yamamoto, and Contestant No.3 Eri, please proceed to the stage."
"Contestants from Group 02—Ash, Shima, and Ona—please also prepare yourselves to enter next."
Amid the roaring excitement of the audience outside, the second-round advancement matches officially began.
At the entrance of the contestant waiting hall, the staff responsible for guiding participants also began calling names and organizing the order.
"Understood ×3."
"Got it ×3."
The three contestants from Group 01 stood up and headed toward the arena holding their Poké Balls.
Meanwhile, because Group 02 would immediately follow afterward, Ash and the other contestants in his group also straightened up and prepared themselves seriously.
As the first contestant from Group 02 to appear, Ash released Feebas from its Poké Ball and gave it a few encouraging words.
As for Feebas's makeup for today's second-round advancement match—
Because they had arrived early this morning in Misty's sisters' car after breakfast, Green had already finished helping Feebas apply its makeup long ago.
Yesterday's makeup design for Feebas during the first elimination round had been the very first style Ash ever created for it back when he initially decided to use makeup to help improve Feebas's confidence and Beauty condition.
That makeup style had been the classic mysterious purple aesthetic.
But today—
For the second-round advancement battle, Ash and Green had chosen an entirely different concept for Feebas.
A sweet and dreamy pink-themed style.
Combined with Feebas's moist, glossy lips that resembled soft peaches, the once "poisoned-looking fish" covered in ugly purple blotches had now transformed into an unbelievably adorable pink jewel-like fish.
Its appearance had undergone such a massive 180-degree transformation that it could practically be described as a "Feebas-version Milotic."
Ash was extremely confident that with looks like these, Feebas would absolutely advance successfully through today's group battle.
Because other contestants had already seen Green helping Feebas apply makeup earlier, Ash didn't bother hiding it anymore after releasing Feebas.
At this moment, nearly all hundred-plus contestants inside the waiting hall saw the pink cherry blossom-like Feebas floating inside Ash's fish tank.
"Waaah!! It's so pretty~!"
"Ash's Feebas looks absolutely adorable in this pink makeup style!"
"Seriously, seriously—it's way too cute!"
"The contestants grouped together with Ash today are probably under enormous pressure."
"What pressure? There's no pressure at all, okay? Ash is obviously advancing no matter what. Just look at how beautiful his Feebas is."
"But Ash is honestly incredible. He actually thought of giving Feebas makeup, and the results are this refined and gorgeous."
"Ash's Feebas has a completely different style from yesterday's purple makeup, but I love both of them so much. I wonder if Ash designed any other makeup looks for Feebas? If he released an art book, tons of people would definitely buy it."
Hearing the mixture of shock and admiration filling the waiting hall, Green—the exclusive personal makeup artist of Ash's Feebas—looked incomparably proud and satisfied.
After all, every single one of Feebas's makeup styles had been designed and painted by her personally.
So when people praised Feebas's beautiful and exquisite appearance, it was practically the same as praising her skills as a makeup artist.
However, unlike Green, who was simply enjoying the compliments with a smug expression—
Ash's eyes gradually became thoughtful.
Most of the surrounding praise entered one ear and left the other.
But one particular sentence stuck firmly in his mind.
"I wonder if Ash designed any other makeup looks for Feebas? If he released an art book, tons of people would definitely buy it."
That comment instantly sparked an idea inside his head.
"Back when Green and I were designing makeup styles for Feebas, we created no fewer than a hundred different looks."
"And the public hasn't even seen most of them yet."
"Plus, Feebas is probably going to evolve into Milotic soon, meaning many of those makeup concepts may become unusable afterward…"
"Maybe I really could publish a Feebas beauty makeup art collection."
"These makeup designs are genuinely beautiful. For people raising beautiful Pokémon, improving Beauty condition, or even Coordinators and Performers participating in Contest competitions, they'd have enormous reference value."
"And with my current popularity, if I released something like that, it would definitely become a huge bestseller."
As someone with sharp business instincts, Ash immediately sensed the massive commercial potential.
However, Green deserved a huge portion of the credit for designing Feebas's makeup styles.
If they really published an art collection, he would need to discuss it with her properly.
Her name absolutely had to be included as co-author.
And afterward, the royalties and profits would also need to be shared fairly.
Green was his neighbor and childhood friend.
They had grown up together since they were little.
And precisely because they were so close, financial matters needed to be handled even more clearly.
Otherwise, damaging their friendship over money would be completely not worth it.
"We're still in the middle of the competition. I'll discuss it with Green after the tournament ends."
Ash silently made the decision in his heart.
At this moment, hearing all the praise from the contestants around them, Green and the others felt genuinely happy for Ash and Feebas.
Meanwhile, Ash himself had unexpectedly discovered a brand-new money-making opportunity.
Naturally, everyone was in excellent spirits.
…Well.
Almost everyone.
Because the other two contestants assigned to the same group as Ash were definitely not feeling very happy right now.
Both were girls.
At this moment, the two stared at Feebas inside Ash's fish tank with miserable expressions.
Their eyes were filled with both amazement—
And utter defeat.
The Pokémon they had brought were also cute and beautiful.
After all, they had survived the brutal first elimination round by obtaining over 80% of the audience votes and fighting their way through hundreds of contestants.
But compared to Ash—
Compared to this overwhelmingly popular championship favorite and his unbelievably gorgeous Feebas—
They simply had no competitive strength whatsoever.
"…Sigh."
"…Sigh."
The two girls exchanged helpless looks before simultaneously letting out exhausted sighs.