There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

Just as the two were looking at each other in silence, a beautiful figure suddenly appeared on a hill not far away.

"Xiaoye?!"

Fujino Sakura waved excitedly towards the people below, slid down the lawn, stood up and ran to the boy's side.

"How come you're here so fast?!"

"I also participated in the Rainbow Gym Tournament at Clissober College. After the challenge, Gym Master Erica sent someone to send me here directly."

Looking at the girl's face so close to him, Shuo Guye hesitated for a while but couldn't help asking, "What are you doing..."

Fujino Sakura glanced at Sakutani Ye's fingertips, was stunned for a few seconds, and then suddenly reacted, raised her hands to cover her face, and took several steps back.

“This, this…”

"Stickers?"

Shuo Gu Ye did not give the girl a chance to escape. He approached her suspiciously and said, "The one on your cheek is a heart, and the one at the corner of your eye is a five-pointed star..."

Every time the boy said an extra word, Fujino Sakura would change the position of her hands to try to cover it.

However, the opposite happened. As the girl moved, more and more stickers of various kinds were revealed.

Not only did she fail to keep the secret, but she ended up rubbing off a lot of the sequins at the end of her eyes.

After looking at it for a while, Shuoya Ye asked in confusion, "Is he cosplaying an anime character?"

Fujino Xia also bent down to take a few glances after hearing this, then raised her head with a look of disgust, "It's colorful and ugly."

ugly…?

Fujino Sakura, who had worked hard to dress up all morning, became furious and completely gave up covering her face and pointed at the rude man.

The light brown eyes made her freeze.

“Brother?!”

Fujino Sakura looked as if she had seen a ghost, "Why don't you come out wearing your old man's shirt?"

“I’m wearing it.”

Fujino Xia unzipped her coat and tugged at it a few times. "It's getting colder, so just put on more clothes."

"Where's your beard?"

"Shaved."

"Where's the greasy hair?!"

"Under the hat—"

"That's enough, there's no need to show this!"

Fujino Sakura hurriedly stopped her brother's unpresentable behavior, "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"I heard from your aunt that you've been leaving early and coming back late recently. We're a little worried and wanted to come and see you."

Sakutani Ye took over the conversation, and his eyes uncontrollably lingered on Fujino Sakura's clothes for a long time.

"clothing...?"

There was a hint of hesitation in Fujino Sakura's eyes, and her toes rubbed lightly on the floor.

"Let me explain."

A person was walking in the weed-covered corridor.

"Xiaoyou?!"

Wearing a large fisherman's hat and a mask, Izumi Yu walked over slowly, nodded to Sakuya Ye, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"The rules for the first gorgeous contest in the Kanto region have been announced."

"Gorgeous Contest?" Fujino Natsu frowned. "What the hell? Aren't you a trainer?"

Fujino Sakura laughed awkwardly and hid behind Izumi You, leaving only a pair of wet eyes exposed.

"The competition is divided into two parts: [Gorgeous Performance] and [Gorgeous Battle]."

Izumi Yu put his left hand in his pocket and continued to explain, "The [Gorgeous Performance] stage requires coordinators to perform with no more than three Pokémon, in any form."

"Poetry, dance, drama..."

“Any performance you can think of can shine on the stage.”

Shuoya Ye's pupils dilated slightly.

This seems to be different from the gorgeous competition in Hoenn?

Influenced by Fujino Sakura, he often caught a glimpse of the colorful screen in the girl's hand at the dining table, and the gorgeous stage deeply attracted his attention.

But the gorgeous contest in Hoenn seems to have only one kind of performance...

"Of course, in order to prevent the coordinators from thinking too divergently, the competition has set a keyword."

Under the gaze of the two, Izumi Yu extended an index finger.

“[Cute] is the keyword of this performance.”

"Good soil."

Fujino Natsu's face twisted and she shrank her neck in disgust, "I thought this word could only be used to describe babies."

Fujino Sakura's face flushed as she rushed forward and covered her brother's annoying mouth.

"Cute, what happened to you!?"

Fujino Natsu pulled the brim of his hat down, avoiding the girl's hands in tender pink half-finger gloves, and murmured.

"Then don't even think about it. After all, this word has nothing to do with you since you were four years old."

"Hey!"

Fujino Sakura's nose was almost crooked with anger, "Is it that serious? Wasn't it just that I accidentally dropped your [Cartoon Clay Sculpture] at that time? Why did you remember it for so long?"

“It’s not a cartoon clay sculpture!”

Fujino Natsu stretched out her hand to push the aggressive girl away, and using her long arms and legs to press against her forehead, she corrected him.

"It's [The Brave, Fearless, Great and Wise Warrior Dragon Kachia]!"

"What's Kaya?"

Furious, Fujino Sakura glared at the man she disliked but could do nothing about, and walked back to Izumi You, "I'm sorry. Just like my cuteness, it had nothing to do with you when I was four years old!"

"Isn't it right?"

Fujino Xia opened her mouth in an exaggerated manner, "Guess why Dad ignored you for that month and always looked at you with resentment in his eyes?"

"Why, why?"

He pulled his lips apart maliciously, "Of course it's because of my persistent complaints that Mom got fed up and deducted Dad's pocket money for a month to buy me a bigger and more expensive [Brave, Fearless, Great, and Wise Warrior Shenlong Kachia] action figure."

"Ahhh! I'll kill you!"

Thinking that her monthly exam paper was discovered, Fujino Sakura lived in fear for a month. Recalling her humble life at that time, she became furious and desperately chased after the man who was running away.

"Damn it! If you have the guts, don't run!"

"Only a fool would not run."

“Damn it! Stop!!”

"See, I told you that you have nothing to do with cuteness."

The two, who had no chance of getting a word in, decided to ignore the "friendly" exchange between the siblings for the time being and started talking.

"I see."

Thinking back to Fujino Sakura's beret, slightly long plush sweater, black short skirt, white pile socks and small leather shoes, Sakuya Ye nodded and said, "It is indeed a very cute style."

"It was just her trying."

Izumi Yuu pointed to a place not far away and said, "Let's go over and talk."

----

On the park bench were neatly arranged cosmetics and a full-length mirror.

Izumi Yu nodded towards Galagala who was sitting on the ground, and said to the boy who was looking around.

"This gorgeous competition is of great significance to Sakura. She believes that she must be fully prepared before she has the courage to go on stage."

Shuoya looked at the bone stick with hand-painted strawberries on it and asked, "You want Pokémon too?"

"It's OK as long as there are no restrictions on the rules."

Izumi Yuu sat on a bench and said, "Perhaps these places that are not clearly marked are the key to victory."

Facing Gala Gala's enthusiastic greeting, Sakuya Ye, who couldn't find the word "appropriate", could only force a smile, "Very, very cute, Gala Gala."

Izumi Yuu caught a glimpse of the boy's stiff expression from the corner of his eye and said, "It's a compliment against your will."

The corners of his lips, which had just been raised, fell back down again.

While the boy was frantically trying to comfort Gala Gala, Izumi Yu continued, "If you think it's not good, the audience will naturally think so too."

“Every modification before the performance is a step towards a perfect stage.”

Izumi Yu threw out a handkerchief, which just covered Galagala's head. "Wipe it off. It really doesn't fit."

Gala Gala took off her handkerchief while crying, and reluctantly wiped off the strawberries that the girl had drawn on it.

"I'm back—eh?"

Fujino Sakura happened to see this scene when she came back with her beret, and she ran over to ask, "What, what happened?"

"This style doesn't suit you."

Izumi Yuu pointed it out directly, "An unsuitable style will make you look artificial, try something else."

"Change again?!"

Fujino Sakura hung her head in disappointment. "This is already the third set... I really can't think of any other clothes that have anything to do with cuteness."

"Don't be bound by 'cuteness'."

Izumi Yuu frowned. "If colorful clothes and sweet behavior are considered cute, then Geodude with a single element and Infernape with rough movements will never be as cute as you think?"

"You can't say that..."

Fujino Sakura's eyes darkened, "...but I really can't find what is [cute]."

"What do you think?"

Izumi Yuu looked at Sakuya Ye on the other side, "In your eyes, what is cute?"

Shuoya Ye, who was suddenly called out, was stunned for a moment and began to think about this question.

What is cute?

The clingy Eevee is very cute.

The greedy Ditto is very cute.

The cold and arrogant monarch snake is very cute.

Nidoqueen, Psyduck, Pteranodon, Gengar, White Sea Lion, and Ralts.

They are all very cute.

Even Professor Oak, Xiaozhi, Xiaomao, Xiaoying, Lingyou...

They are very cute too.

So cute is...

"Because I like it, I think it's cute."

Shuoya Ye responded slowly, "Cuteness is the sum of all positive connotations. It is my love that I cannot describe with any other words, so I can only express it with cuteness."

After hearing this, Izumi You nodded and looked at the confused girl.

“Cuteness is never limited to a certain expression. As long as you are willing, everything in the world can be called cute.”

"Put aside your definition of cute for now."

Izumi Yu freed his right hand to pick up the cosmetics scattered on the chair and stuffed them back to Fujino Sakura.

“Start practicing after you find the answer that you want to express the most, that is most suitable for you, and that satisfies you the most.”

“Only if you like it yourself can you win the audience’s love and gain the audience’s praise for your cuteness.”

"Otherwise, everything we do now is just a waste of time."

After saying that, he stood up, waved to the two of them, and turned to leave.

"call..."

After a while, Fujino Sakura folded her arms and murmured, "I got a good lesson."

"Has he been here these days?"

Shuoya Ye asked as he looked at the boy's slowly leaving back.

Fujino Sakura shook her head. "It was just a chance encounter. He is very busy, and I am already satisfied to get his guidance."

She remembered that the boy next to her seemed to be unclear about why Izumi You appeared in Golden City, so she hurriedly explained.

"Xiaoyou was invited by the official Gorgeous Contest to perform as a guest at the first Gorgeous Contest in Kanto!"

Her eyes were full of admiration and yearning. "After all, the Kanto Grand Contest can be said to be the result of his efforts. Almost all the coordinators in Kanto who yearn for the Grand Contest have seen his performance."

"Coordinator?" Sakutani Ye caught a word in her words and asked the same question as Fujino Xia.

"Isn't Sakura a trainer?"

"Uh...maybe..."

Fujino Sakura avoided his gaze and said hesitantly, "I, I don't really understand it, so I want to try out the feeling of being on the stage and being the center of attention..."

She raised her hand to cover her pounding heart, and composed a melody with overflowing expectations.

“What is it like to perform on stage as a coordinator?”

She murmured, thinking back to the party in Mocastle City.

"Excited? Nervous? Scared?"

"Or the excitement of dancing under the spotlight and the satisfaction of the audience's applause..."

"I do not know."

Fujino Sakura shook her head, pursed her lips and smiled, "So I want to explore it and give myself a clear answer."

"Trainer or Coordinator..."

"Which path do the Pokémon and I truly love?"

"Let me go for a walk."

----

On the way back, Fujino Sakura was still thinking about what is "cute".

Shuoya Ye, who was standing beside her, pulled the girl who was about to turn the corner helplessly and reminded her, "Go straight here."

"oh oh."

Fujino Sakura smiled awkwardly and stuck out her tongue, "I didn't notice."

Is it really not because of getting lost?

After listening to Fujino Natsu's description of the girl's "glorious achievements", Sakutani Ye asked with great doubt.

"The reason for leaving early and returning late is not to find the way, right?"

"How can it be?!"

Fujino Sakura rejected it outright, "This is Jinhuang City! No matter what, I can't even find the home I've lived in for sixteen years!"

She saw the distrust in the boy's eyes, and said with a twinkling gaze, "You...did you hear your brother say something strange?"

"Uh..." Shuoya Ye paused, "Like when you were six years old and got lost in the police station?"

"I knew it..."

Fujino Sakura held her head and gritted her teeth as she spoke word by word, "That's because he lied to me the night before and told me that my dad had found a new job at the police station and asked me to wait for him to get off work after school."

"Really? Why does he keep talking nonsense all day long?"

The man who was wandering at the entrance of the Pokémon Center not far away turned his head curiously after hearing the girl's angry voice.

His eyes lit up and his gaze was attracted by the young man with a warm smile beside him.

"Wait a moment!"

Sakutani Ye, who was listening to the angry Fujino Sakura exposing his brother's past, turned his head slightly confused and saw a handsome man with a briefcase catching up with them.

"Sakuya Ye, right?"

"I am, please..."

"Braitano, this is my business card."

Buratano handed over a business card, and after the boy took it, his eyes wandered uncontrollably to his waist.

Hmm...could Serpenti's Poké Ball be in here?

Fujino Sakura glanced at the business card and was about to say something, but happened to see the man's "obscene" gaze.

She suddenly felt a chill and hurriedly pulled the ignorant boy back a few meters.

"What are you doing?!" Fujino Sakura stretched out her hand and shouted angrily, "Stay away from us! If you don't leave, I will call Miss Junsha!"

After saying that, she raised her cell phone and retreated step by step towards the crowded place.

The Poké Ball in front of him suddenly disappeared, and when he looked up, he saw the girl's vigilant eyes and the contemptuous and disgusted expressions of passers-by.

BRAITANNO: ...Is there some misunderstanding?

"Wait a minute Sakura."

Shuoya Ye held down the girl's tense arm and read the business card.

"Kalos region, Pokémon researcher, Dr. Blatano..."

Bratano smiled and nodded, not caring about the girl's offense at all.

"One more thing to add, unlike Professor Oak you all know, my research specializes in the direction of [Pokémon Evolution]."

He took out a printed photo from the open pocket of his research coat and placed it in front of the two of them.

"I am here for the Monarch Snake that can evolve again."