Sudden Explosion

Upon hearing Suzuye's words, Jenny Nan's swaying crossed legs hesitated for a moment. Immediately, she quickly sat up, pulled out the fishing rod stuck in the ground with force, but it didn't budge.

The underwater Pokémon tugged on Jenny Nan's fishing line, trying to swim deeper, but Jenny Nan's strength was formidable, and pulled the struggling Pokémon forward.

"Milotic!"

A Pokémon was pulled out of the water, and its slender body stirring the river into a tumult, sparkling water droplets and the Pokémon's beautiful scales shimmering in the refracted sunlight.

"It's a Milotic!"

"Really Milotic! Milotic has actually been caught!"

"Oh no, the champion has appeared! We have no chance."

...

Seeing the Milotic struggling on Jenny Nan's fishing line, the surroundings erupted into commotion—envy, jealousy, unwillingness. The young man who was previously glared at by Jenny Nan muttered fiercely: It's just like the Gyarados, If you can't beat it, just let it go!

Unfortunately, Jenny Nan is not Tachibana Shizuka. As a figure that comparable to Joyna in the Jenny family, her strength is evident.

Beside Jenny Nan was a small and elegant Espeon. The purple-red gem on its forehead added to its nobility. It flashed a purple light from its eyes, rendering the Milotic immobile under its psychic pressure.

"Milotic!"

The Milotic, much larger than the Espeon, was pulled out of the water. It landed on the shore, and Jenny Nan casually threw a Poké Ball, capturing the Milotic.

As the Milotic disappeared before their eyes, sighs echoed around, while Jenny Nan burst into triumphant laughter.

"Goose, goose, goose... I never expected my luck to turn around. What does it matter if I catch more Pokémons! In the end the championship is still mine!" Jenny Nan's arrogant attitude almost stirred up anger, but her status as Jenny family member kept people from speaking out.

Watching the satisfied Jenny Nan, Suzuye couldn't help but smile bitterly. Despite patiently fishing for so long, the Milotic she longed for had fallen into Jenny Nan's hands.

"Ah... forget it. The YoYo Day Care has recently launched Beautie Pokéblock. I can spend some time cultivating a Milotic myself. Maybe that will be even more to my liking." Suzuye couldn't help but think this way.

At this moment, many people had thoughts similar to Suzuye's. It had to be said that Yuga's advertisement was very effective, using a Milotic to ignite people's desire, leading to the popularity of Beautie Pokéblock.

"Miss, please be quiet and don't disturb other participants' matches!" Just as Jenny Nan was about to flaunt her achievements to others, the patrolling staff warned her.

...

Jenny Nan's goose calls came to an abrupt halt: Fine, I'm in a good mood, I'll give you face.

The successful catch of Milotic boosted Jenny Nan's confidence. She changed her previous careless attitude, intending to secure the hidden winner as well.

On the other side of the river, Shizuka Tachibana saw Jenny Nan's expression of "I'm drifting away" and knew exactly what she was thinking. He could only shake his head helplessly.

The news of Milotic being caught by someone spread quickly throughout the competition venue, and both Solidad and Drew also learned about it.

Solidad: "Ah... one moment it's Gyarados, the next it's Milotic. It seems like we have no business here. I'll think about how to get into the top ten, which is more practical."

Drew, though young, remained calm: "Don't we still have a chance for a special winner? We still have a chance."

Solidad, with a disdainful expression, retorted, "If I had that kind of luck, my performance wouldn't be so miserable now. But hey, during this time, where did you go for training? You've made progress. Before, if you lost a match, you'd quietly shed some tears backstage, but now you can stay so calm."

Solidad's words made Drew's face stiffen.

When Drew participated in the Pokémon Contest for the first time, he lost miserably. Later, he continued to lose several times in a row. So, once he couldn't endure it, he secretly shed a few tears in the backstage. Unexpectedly, he was seen by Solidad who has beaten him in the competition, which was why he later went to his family's flower planting base for special training.

Losing a match and was caught dropping tears was an embarrassing event in his life, but it also led to him becoming friends with Solidad. That's why they participated in this fishing competition together.

Solidad, seeing Drew's embarrassed expression, set aside the idea of teasing him further and sighed, "Ah... let's hope we still have a chance."

As time passed, it soon came to the moment of score calculation. Still, the highest score went to Tachibana Shizuka.

However, even with his high score, he could, at most, secure second place because the champion had already been claimed by his superior and childhood friend, Jenny Nan.

After this round of score calculation, Suzuye and Solidad's scores saw significant improvement. Especially for Solidad, after teasing Drew, she seemed to be posessed by Koi spirit, she consecutively catching three final-stage Pokémon. It seemed like she was on the verge of entering the top ten.

On the other hand, Drew and Jenny Nan's situations remained unchanged. Drew's performance was still average at best, while Jenny Nan, far from improving, seemed to have worsened.

Before, she could catch two Pokémon, earning her some points. However, since catching Milotic, it's as if she used up all her luck in one go. She hasn't caught a single Pokémon since, not to mention any final-stage ones; she hasn't even seen the tail of a Magikarp.

After another half hour, Jenny Nan exhausted all her patience. She laid back on the grass, resuming her lazy posture, swaying her crossed legs. "Anyway, the championship is mine. Why bother trying so hard?"

As for the hidden winner or even Gyarados, she didn't care. After all, they were just two green potential Pokémon. With her status and wealth, she wasn't lacking. If it were a blue potential Pokémon, she might consider it.

If other participants knew her thoughts, they would undoubtedly roll their eyes at her—typical wealthy person!

However, not long after, there was commotion on the field. The white-bearded old man was commanding his Pelipper to attack Gyarados in battle. Despite Gyarados being fierce, it was being pushed back by Pelipper.

The white-bearded old man was currently second in scores, just below Tachibana Shizuka. Everyone thought he would maintain this position till the end. However, no one expected him to turn the tide and directly catch the seemingly doomed Gyarados.

Boom!

Pelipper forced Gyarados back with a Water Gun, followed by a hurricane hitting it. After a pitiful cry, Gyarados's upright body fell into the water. The old man calmly threw a Poké Ball, and capturing Gyarados.

Taking the Poké Ball handed by Pelipper, the old man chuckled. He ignored the discussions around him, calmly sat back on his little stool, baited the hook, cast the line, and continued patiently fishing.

Seeing the old man's calm demeanor, people around him gave thumbs up: It's really an expert!

Champions and runners-up emerged one after another. As more and more participants lost patience, some with initially low scores followed Jenny Nan's lead in giving up. However, those with hopes of breaking into the top ten remained earnestly focused on fishing.

As for the hidden winner, many had thoughts but not much hope. They were unclear about the true identity of the hidden Pokémon.

In Drew's case, despite appearing calm, being young and seeing the competition's end approaching, he was still at the bottom. At this rate, not to mention hidden winner, even the top ten seemed elusive, making him feel a bit anxious.

Suzuye had come to terms with the results. According to her estimation, entering the top ten should be no problem for her. So, compared to the initial disappointment, her current mindset was much more stable.

As time ticked away, with only a little over ten minutes left until the end of the competition, the hidden winner still hadn't surfaced. At this point, some participants were quietly complaining that the organizers might have deceived them, suggesting there might not be any hidden Pokémon at all.

However, at that moment, a loud and arrogant laughter shattered the tranquility of the competition.

The current fourth-ranked participant was excitedly commanding his Shiftry to attack a Politoed in battle. Standing behind the young man was Yuga, disguised as a staff member.

The reason for the young man's excitement was Yuga telling him that Politoed he caught was the hidden winner for this competition.

Dressed in the staff uniform, Yuga was not doubted by the young man, hence why he was laughting so openly.

However, others were unaware of the reason and assumed he was just happy about catching Politoed. After all, it was a very rare Pokémon.

Yet, there were some astute individuals present who noticed Yuga standing behind the young man. Combining this observation with the young man's excessive joy, their minds started speculating.

However, the young man's joy was short-lived, akin to someone grabbing him by the throat. His laughter and smile vanished when his Shiftry was frozen into a block of ice by Politoed's Ice Punch.

Shiftry, being a Grass-type Pokémon, should have had a clear advantage over Politoed in terms of type effectiveness. However, it failed to withstand even three to five rounds against Politoed.

The unexpected situation of participants losing to their catches in a fishing competition surprised everyone. After all, weren't the Pokémon in the fishing competition supposed to be weak?

Seeing this, Yuga chuckled. He had anticipated this situation, though he didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Indeed, Politoed was the highest-level Pokémon in this fishing competition, and being a wild Pokémon, it had rich battle experience. Since it was designated as the hidden winner, its difficulty level matched its status.

However, Politoed's strength was not exaggerated. After all, this was just a fishing competition, and the young man losing to Politoed wasn't a testament to Politoed's overwhelming strength but rather the young man's inadequacy as a trainer.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Politoed, with Shiftry incapacitated, rushed towards the young man, and delivering a Double Slap to his face. Thankfully, Slowking submerged in the river, promptly intervened, preventing the young man from being knocked unconscious.

While the young man only ended up with slightly swollen cheeks and no major injuries, other participants couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune. Jenny Nan, in particular, laughed the loudest.

Serves him right! You shouldn't have mocked Shizuka earlier! Jenny Nan inwardly cursed.

The distinct laughter from Jenny Nan made the young man feel extremely irritated. Recalling the disdainful look he received earlier, he believed Jenny Nan was retaliating against him.

Of course, his assumption wasn't entirely wrong. Jenny Nan's laughter was indeed a form of retaliation, given the overly dramatic nature of her laughter compared to the others. However, Tachibana Shizuka's calmly disdainful look also left him feeling mocked.

Feeling insulted, the young man threw his fishing rod aside and walked away indignantly. "Humph, this damn competition! I won't play along anymore!"

Watching the young man storm off, Yuga shook his head. The young man really lacked resilience against setbacks.

After the young man left, the competition neared its end. Following the fourth score tally, the top ten rankings were quickly revealed.

Apart from the champion, Jenny Nan, and the runner-up, the white-bearded old man, standing third was Tachibana Shizuka. With the highest score on the field, awarding him the title of Best Angler seemed fitting.

Suzuye secured the tenth position, placing her at the bottom of the award recipients. Solidad, ranking slightly higher than Suzuye, claimed the ninth spot, thanks to her strong performance in the later stages.

As for Drew, his rank fluctuated minimally from start to finish, and he had no chance of winning any prizes.

The young man who left experienced a rapid drop from fourth to sixth place in just a short time.

Following the competition's conclusion, the award ceremony took place, with Mr. Kobayashi as the presenter. Yuga never made a formal appearance throughout.

The champion, Jenny Nan, and the runner-up, the white-bearded old man, unsurprisingly chose Milotic and Gyarados as their prizes. The third-place winner received a Incense set worth 100,000 Pokédollar provided by YoYo Day Care.

For the participants from fourth to tenth place, they received Pokéblock as rewards, with the quantity varying. Nevertheless, the quality of YoYo Day Care's Pokéblock was guaranteed and highly praised by those who had used them.

As for the young man who left, Mr. Kobayashi intended to give him a reward, but since he had already left the competition site, Mr. Kobayashi had no choice but to abandon the idea.

After the awards ceremony, Mr. Kobayashi made a statement: "Although no one can take home the Beautie Pokéblock and Extender Pokéblock this time, don't be disheartened. Starting tomorrow, YoYo Day Care will officially sell these two products. With them, having Milotic and Gyarados is no longer a dream. It's that simple to reach the pinnacle of life. What are you waiting for?"

Mr. Kobayashi passionately promoted the Beautie Pokéblock and Extender Pokéblock, and Yuga was very satisfied with his performance. After all, Yuga independently sponsored the entire fishing competition, from fishing rods and bait to the Poké Balls used to capture Pokémon.

"Mr. Kobayashi, may I ask how much one set of Beautie Pokéblock and Extender Pokéblock costs?" someone in the crowd asked loudly, a question everyone wanted an answer to.

Holding the Beautie Pokéblock in one hand and the Extender Pokéblock in the other, Mr. Kobayashi replied, "Not expensive at all, only 9,999 Pokédollar for one set. Yes, you heard it right, just 9,999 Pokédollar."

Upon hearing Mr. Kobayashi's pricing, the crowd erupted with discussions. Wasn't 9,999 still expensive? This wasn't a one-time consumption; it was meant for long-term use. Could anyone afford it in the long run?

Hearing the discussions below, Mr. Kobayashi said, "How can you call this expensive? These are Milotic and Gyarados, things you can't normally buy with money. How is this expensive? It's practically so cheap that you wont regret it!"

Mr. Kobayashi felt that he was truly miserable, he was a league official after all, and yet he have to livestream selling products here. The world was indeed going downhill.

But there was no choice; after all, who made Yuga the Sponsor daddy!

Upon hearing Mr. Kobayashi's pricing, many people backed off, but there were also some sly individuals planning to buy a few sets discreetly, like Suzuye. The world's most abundant resource was wealthy people.

While Mr. Kobayashi energetically used his eloquence to promote the Beautie Pokéblock and Extender Pokéblock, a sudden explosion from the river not far away startled everyone.