"Whirlpool!"
Lionel's order rang out; Feebas whipped its tail fin, a spiral of water erupting around it and instantly boiling to life!
Unlike the first round, this vortex now carried a force that shook the air, surging from center stage and climbing madly along a helical path.
In moments, a colossal waterspout that almost filled the stage shot skyward, water crashing like distant thunder and sending the entire audience instinctively leaning back.
At its core yawned a deep-blue spiral; Feebas had long vanished within the heavy current, swallowed from sight.
"T-this scale is insane!" Kotaro's microphone trembled in his grip. "It's at least three times bigger than the first-round waterspout!"
Stunned spectators stared at the towering column while Lionel, poised at the stage's edge, spoke in the same steady voice:
"Icy Wind!"
The instant the command dropped, a white frost rippled inside the waterspout!
A wisp of chill began at the very center, then spread outward with visible speed, the blue water whitening as it froze.
The spiraling wall of water turned into crystal ice, even its rotation locked in place, forming a motionless, glittering titan of an Ice Tornado!
The ice surface shone mirror-bright, reflecting the stage lights in cold, sharp glints.
Lionel issued no further orders to Feebas, and the crowd assumed the performance was over—surely this majestic water-and-ice dragon was the finale.
The sight dazzled, yet compared with the shock of the first-round entrance it felt a notch less overwhelming.
"That's it? It ends here?"
"Pretty, but after that first-round entrance, it feels a bit lacking."
"Lack of experience—played the ace too soon. Normally this combo would be superb, but following that first jewel, it looks tame..."
"For a rookie it's already great; just needs more experience. Next time he'll know."
Doubts rippled across the live-stream chat; loyal fans defended him, but skeptical murmurs had begun to surface.
Just as everyone decided the show was finished, a sharp cry rang from the front row:
"Wait! Look at the center of the Ice Tornado!"
All eyes turned; deep within the frozen spiral, a faint prismatic glow had appeared!
Like candle-flame it wavered, dim at first, then steadily brighter, each pulse a heartbeat,
"thump, thump!"
seeming to reach every ear through the ice wall.
"What is that?"
The arena's attention snapped back, every breath falling into rhythm with the pulsing light.
Suddenly—
"crack!"
A crisp fracture echoed; ice at the tornado's heart began peeling away, revealing the watery vortex still spinning inside!
Blue water whirled within the icy shell, faster and faster, forming a bizarre column of living water sheathed in frozen glass.
Outside, a motionless spiral of ice; inside, a churning swirl of water—ice and water coexisting in perfect form, like a storm sealed in frost.
At the center of that inner current, a violet figure spun at high speed—it was Feebas!
The water vortex within the ice sped up, dragging Feebas into ever-faster circuits.
A brilliant, otherworldly halo flared around it, its purple body nearly lost within the rainbow blaze.
Feebas accelerated still more, its glow blazing to the extreme, ricocheting off the inner ice walls so quickly only a streak of light remained.
With every rebound a burst of iridescent light shot along the icy inner surface, racing upward like playful silk threads.
"What... is that?"
Every spectator stared at the space above the frozen tornado.
More and more colored beams spiraled up the ice walls, layering and weaving at the summit into a flowing ribbon of light above the stage.
Before anyone could react, the tornado's crown erupted in an all-encompassing, dazzling radiance that turned the entire venue into a dreamscape!
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—rays intertwined—the Aurora descended, blooming slowly across the arena roof.
The light shifted into leaping ribbons, then condensed into brilliant arcs, and even tiny sparks flickered within the bands, like stars in the night sky.
"The... the Aurora?!" Kotaro gasped.
At that instant the hall fell utterly silent, then erupted in ear-splitting screams!
"My god! It's the Aurora! Feebas made the Aurora!"
"How did it do that? It's miraculous!"
"Who just said it had run out of tricks? Apologize!"
The livestream's bullet-screen overflowed with "OMG," "divine," "unstoppable." The viewer count maxed out and the server briefly stuttered.
At the judges' table Wallace shot to his feet, jade eyes wide with awe, and murmured,
"Light can pass through ice to form rainbows, but Lionel took that a step further!"
"He had Feebas's colored light refract again and again along the ice walls, merging layer after layer until it all converged at the top of the Ice Tornado, condensing into a dazzling Aurora! That's pure genius!"
Contest's eyes bulged, voice trembling with disbelief.
"The outer Ice Tornado is stable to a terrifying degree, while the inner Whirlpool's flow rate can be controlled at will—no deviation at all.
You have to simultaneously control Ice and Water energy with extreme stability, and on top of that you need the creative vision for this Aurora—truly the young surpass us!"
Sukizo was already clapping his palms red, tears of Joy on his plump face.
"I love this! Absolutely love it! This is true beauty—ice and water clashing, light and shadow weaving, and that pulse like a heartbeat... best performance I've seen today!"
Nurse Joy pressed her hands to her chest, stars dancing in her eyes. "So beautiful—I never thought I'd see an Aurora in competition. I'm so happy!"
Onstage the Aurora kept shifting shapes; within the Whirlpool Feebas spun faster and faster until it became a single violet ribbon of light.
Suddenly it leapt upward, burst through the watery vortex and slammed into the top of the Ice Tornado!
Crack—
The Ice Tornado shattered, but instead of flying apart the shards were drawn by the Whirlpool into countless tiny crystals that melted into the Aurora high above.
The Aurora flared brighter, bloomed like fireworks in mid-air, then drifted down as motes of starlight that landed on the stage and vanished.
Feebas landed center-stage, its violet body still dusted with fading color. It wagged its tail at Lionel as if asking for praise.
Applause and cheers erupted like a tsunami, rolling on and on until the arena walls trembled.
Lionel stepped forward, scooped up Feebas, and the little one nuzzled his cheek affectionately.
He bowed deeply to the audience, then turned to the judges, a calm, warm smile on his face.
Kotaro, microphone in hand, voice quavering with excitement, stammered,
"I... I don't know what to say... Contestant No. 86 Lionel and Feebas have surpassed my imagination—let's see the judges' scores!"
At the judges' table all four held up their scoreboards at almost the same moment.
Wallace: Perfect!
Contest: Perfect!
Sukizo: Perfect!
Nurse Joy: Perfect!
"Full marks again! Contestant No. 86 Lionel and Feebas earn perfect scores from every judge in the second-round review!"
Kotaro's voice finally steadied, booming across the hall as cheers shattered the ceiling—this time no one voiced a single doubt.
Everyone knew they had witnessed something extraordinary.
Lionel carried Feebas offstage. Passing Armani he saw the man pale, eyes conflicted, but in the end Armani lowered his head.
Grace watched Lionel's retreating figure, a flash of unwillingness in her eyes, yet she had to admit the performance was flawless.
Lionel looked down at Feebas in his arms; the little thing gazed back with round eyes, its violet tail cocked triumphantly.
"Well done," Lionel whispered, tapping its head gently with a fingertip.
The second-round review ended; the list of qualifiers was soon posted—twenty contestants advanced, with Lionel, Grace, and Armani taking the top three spots without question.
Next came the final Showcase Battle.
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