Manor Lord in the Pokémon World

N？

The thought flashed through Fangzhou's mind like lightning, giving him a jolt.

How come the king of Team Plasma from the Unova region is in a small town in the Hoenn region?

Fangzhou instinctively pushed through the crowd in front of him and took a few steps in the direction where the figure had disappeared.

However, the square was teeming with people, and the figure had long since vanished without a trace, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

Fangzhou shook his head. He must have seen wrong. Besides, there are so many people with white hats and green hair. Maybe he was just someone who shared the same aesthetic sense as N.

Keep moving forward; the competition venue is just ahead.

The stage was illuminated by dazzling lights, making it as bright as day. Below were tiered seating arranged in a fan shape, which was now packed with people.

Each audience member holds a light stick, which emits different colors of light when a switch is pressed.

This is not only to create a lively atmosphere, but also a prop for voting on the contestants later.

"Ark, you've finally arrived!"

She had barely peeked out of the venue entrance when Emily, who had been waiting nearby for ages, spotted her.

She ran forward enthusiastically, about to pull Fangzhou into the venue, when suddenly a series of heads popped out from behind Fangzhou.

"My goodness, Ark, why did you bring so many Pokémon?" Emily was clearly startled by the sudden appearance of a bunch of Pokémon.

Upon closer inspection, this team is indeed quite unique, looking travel-worn and dusty.

The immobile cocoon, the tiny gecko, the silly tailed thrush, the exhausted cricket, and the goofy Psyduck give the impression that this team deserves all the credit for arriving here, even if they didn't do anything special.

Fangzhou smiled and said, "These are all Ralts' good friends. It's coming to participate in the competition, so all the friends want to come and support it."

Fangzhou asked somewhat nervously, "Is it allowed for so many Pokémon to come to Unseen Plaza?"

After all, there are still people in this world who are afraid of Pokémon. For example, Lillie would be terrified if she saw so many Pokémon all at once.

"Of course, look over there."

Emily stepped aside, and Ark saw that the mayor was also followed by a large group of Pokémon.

A proud swallow perched affectionately on his shoulder, preening its feathers, while a lazy otter dozed leisurely at his feet.

Behind the mayor was a lotus leaf child, with the mayor's thermos bottle balanced on its head.

Seeing such a heartwarming scene, Fangzhou couldn't help but smile. The mayor was really loved by the Pokémon.

"Let's go, the competition is about to start. I'll take you to the players' area."

Emily led the Ark through the crowd to the area marked off with barriers at the back of the stage.

"Look, your main competitors this time are these two. They are both my long-time customers, and the quality of the silk they provide is outstanding. They are some of my recent masterpieces."

Emily lowered her voice and secretly pointed to the two people standing opposite her who were talking in hushed tones.

One was the big-bearded guy from that day, and the other was a young guy with blond hair.

"They were the runner-up and third place winners last year. Professor Birch went on a business trip to the Sinnoh region and won't be back for another two days, so they had a very good chance of winning the championship this time."

Emily put on a very pleased and appreciative expression, patted Fangzhou on the shoulder, and said, "Now that you're participating, they'll have to play second fiddle again."

At this moment, the two people opposite also noticed Fangzhou and looked over. The bearded man had met Fangzhou before and nodded politely, while the blond man glanced at him and then looked away.

"Alright, fellow villagers, good evening everyone. Today is our Weibai Town Textile Festival..."

On stage, the mayor began his carefully prepared opening remarks. Unlike the boring speeches Fangzhou had encountered as a child, the mayor shared some interesting stories from his many terms of office, which made many people laugh.

Fangzhou only then learned that so many festivals in Weibai Town actually started more than a hundred years ago, and the Weaving Festival was the first festival to be born. Later, it was combined with festivals from other places and incorporated many legends.

Just then, several flashes of light went off in front of me.

Fangzhou looked over there and saw two people wearing orange clothes with the words "Purple City TV Station Staff" written on them.

The TV station also sent people over. In the game, you can also encounter those two reporters in the wild. After defeating them, if you accept the interview, you can see your interview on TV.

I wonder if there will be an interview after the competition ends, so I can get some screen time.

On stage, the mayor began to explain the competition rules in detail: "...Each contestant's Pokémon will perform on stage wearing costumes made from the insect silk produced by their own farm! After the performance, all the audience members present, along with our three specially invited professional judges, will score the performances!"

"The audience's votes and the judges' professional scores will each account for 50% to determine the final ranking!"

In other words, in addition to ensuring that the quality of the silk is high enough to earn high scores from the judges, the performance must also be visually stunning enough to attract the audience, since the audience is not that professional and will only give high scores to those that are visually appealing.

Ralts clenched her little fists. This part of the score depended on her own efforts; she had to get a high score.

"For this textile festival competition, we invited a total of three judges, all of whom are highly professional experts in their respective fields!"

"First up is Mr. Conkenstein, the director of the Pokémon Contest Secretariat! He has his own unique understanding of Pokémon's spectacular performances."

A man in a red suit stood up and bowed to everyone; he was Mr. Conkenstein, who appeared in every Grand Contest in the anime.

It seems the town mayor really went all out for this event, managing to invite even him.

"Next up is Mr. Lin Feng, who has been the champion of the Hoenn region's manor lord rankings for five consecutive years. A well-rounded warrior, his manor has won numerous awards in various events, making him an extraordinary and very young manor lord!"

A young man who looked five or six years older than Fang Zhou suddenly stood up and greeted everyone with his arms outstretched.

"Finally, let us give a warm round of applause to Professor Barton, a highly respected scholar in the field of insect silk research and a renowned Pokémon professor from our Hoenn region! She is known for her sharp insight and rigorous standards."

An old woman stood up. Perhaps due to her serious and unsmiling personality, or perhaps due to long-term exhaustion from work, she seemed somewhat lifeless, much like Aoki, the king of part-time jobs in the game. She bowed slightly to the crowd.

Each time the mayor introduced a guest, the audience would applaud enthusiastically.

"I declare the competition open!" As the mayor announced the start of the competition, the surrounding lights went out.