Hearthome Conference

"I felt it was a bit noisy from the beginning," murmured Darren to himself.

After parting ways with James, Darren aimlessly wandered around.

When they separated, James was very reluctant. It was rare for him to meet someone his age that he got along with so well, but it was not something he could change...

He needed to hurry back to the hotel before his parents returned, and Darren was obviously not going the same way as him.

...

Hearthome City was said to be a huge commercial center, but what disappointed Darren was that he couldn't find a decent large-scale shopping center.

If he wanted to buy what he needed, he had to set his sights on the curtain market.

Veilstone Department Store there was the best-known and largest department store in this area.

Darren looked around while considering his next move.

As he made his way towards the source of the commotion, a distressed young woman cried out to him.

"Excuse me..."

"Could you tell me where the registration counter for the Hearthome Conference is?"

The girl had light blue twin tails and was wearing a white tracksuit. She looked very flustered.

"The Hearthome Conference?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"The Pokemon Contest, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's it! The Pokemon Contest... registration counter..."

"The registration counter is usually inside the venue, right?"

"If you're looking for the Pokemon Contest venue, it should be north of Hearthome City, in this direction, next to the Amity Square."

"Ah... Really? Thank you so much! I need to hurry and register. Sorry to bother you." The girl was overjoyed with the information and quickly ran in the direction Darren had pointed.

"The Pokemon Contest Hearthome Conference?" Darren hesitated for a moment.

It sounded like a great idea.

He didn't often get the chance to come out, so why not try his hand at the Pokemon Contest? After all, he had been training hard as a coordinator for so long, but he was still a complete novice coordinator.

If he missed this opportunity, who knows when he would be able to participate in the Pokemon Contest again.

"Let's give it a try. This will be my debut battle."

"That girl just now, did she say that the registration time is about to end? Is the Pokemon Contest tomorrow? Well, it's good, I'll stay in Hearthome City for another day," Darren said to himself.

Darren rarely gets interested, but participating in the Pokemon Contest is a way to entertain himself.

As for the nervousness of his first competition... Darren doesn't feel it.

Knowing oneself and the opponent leads to victory in every battle. Whether it's research in his spare time or his attention during his time at the Crown Academy, he knows quite a bit about the Pokemon Contests.

In Darren's opinion, the level of the Pokemon Contest in both the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions is much lower than that of events like Pokemon Battles.

Only large-scale celebrations are worth taking seriously.

Compared to traditional trainers, Coordinators are just a derivative profession. Perhaps more visible to the public than professions like Pokemon Breeders, but still a derivative profession.

The mainstream in this world is still the traditional Battle Trainers.

However, Coordinators are the profession with the broadest audience among trainers.

They are also a very large group, including individuals who can compete with excellent trainers, such as winners of large-scale contests and top coordinators.

Darren's goal is to become one of these top coordinators.

...

The next day, Darren, who had registered, arrived at the Pokemon Contest venue.

The registration for the Pokemon Contest is relatively lenient. For events like the Indigo League or the Lily of the Valley Conference in regions like Hoenn and Sinnoh, participants need to challenge eight gyms, obtain badges, and then the gym leaders record the challenger's trainer ID data before they can register.

In other words, the Pokemon League requires people who have registered as trainers to participate.

The Pokemon Contest is not so strict, as long as they are citizens under the jurisdiction of the Pokemon League, they have the right to register and participate.

The threshold is much lower than that for traditional trainers.

Beside Amity Square, there were many coordinators preparing to participate in the Pokemon Contest are practicing with their Pokemon.

Piplup, Shinx, Budew, Floatzel, Glameow...

Numerous Pokemon from the Sinnoh, along with their Coordinators, are warming up before the competition.

Until Darren's gaze falls on a Skitty.

In terms of the standard of the courtyard tree, the fur of this Skitty exudes a beautiful sheen. This is not only due to artificial cultivation but also because this Skitty's innate talent is definitely very good.

Especially when Skitty opened its narrowed eyes, the spiritual flash in its pupils indicated its intelligence.

"That person--"

The Coordinating trainer, who was standing next to Skitty, on a closer look, Darren saw that it was the girl who asked for directions yesterday.

"Have you found the registration desk?" Darren walked over and greeted her.

"Uh...you're the person from yesterday," the girl was very surprised.

"Thank you for your help yesterday. If it wasn't for you, I might have missed the registration time. By the way, my name is Abby, and this is my partner, Joni."

"The deadline for registration was 8 o'clock, so you wouldn't have missed it anyway," Darren said.

"My name is Darren, and I also registered for this Pokemon Contest. From now on, we are opponents."

"Wow...are you also a Coordinating Trainer? That's great. Please take care of me. This is my first time participating in the Pokemon Contest in Sinnoh region."

"Just as I thought. From your accent, you are from the Hoenn region, right?" Darren laughed. Both Skitty and the girl's attire and accent gave Darren a sense of familiarity.

"You're right..." Abby looked at Darren in surprise.

"Hehe...let's get to know each other again. I also come from the Hoenn region." Darren said.

Next, Darren tapped the Poké Ball on his waist, and with a red light flashing, his elegant Beautifly appeared, hovering before finally landing on his shoulder.

"This time, my partner is Beautifly."

With that said, Darren and Abby both smiled.

"Judging from your appearance, you're probably not participating in the Pokemon Contest for the first time, right?" Abby asked.

"Uh..." Darren hesitated.

"Because you don't seem nervous at all. When I participated in the Pokemon Contest for the first time, I was at a loss, but Skitty performed exceptionally, otherwise I would have embarrassed myself."

"I see. So Abby is a senior player," Darren said.

"I dare not say that, but I have already won a ribbon medal," Abby replied.