[attr="class","howicontst2"] As people began to fill the seats within the contest hall, it seemed difficult to hear anything through what seemed like a cacophony of voices. Some people talked and laughed, and one could only wonder how they could hear each other over all the noise. After what seemed like forever, the lights turned off. The loud voices lowered into a hushed whisper as people readied themselves for a spectacle that only the Contest Hall could provide. For a moment, silence. Then--

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Pyrotechnics took the site by storm as confetti rained down from above as six contestants proudly stood upon the stage, silhouetted by the dark as the spotlight hit the center of the stage. In the center of the light stood a Amped Form Toxtricity as it began to wow the crowd with its talents on the guitar. Some of the younger members of the audience seemed absolutely thrilled by the sight. The older members of the audience were charmed by the sight of a pokemon playing an instrument. Right as the song hit its end, a puff of smoke shot out to the left of the Toxtricity. Upon clearing, the audience caught sight of whom they could only assume was the judge. Which was a safe assumption, at the very least. Jethro kept his right arm propped up to which his Abra clung to. They needed an entrance to kick off the contest, and what better than a guitar solo paired with a surprise teleport at the very end? (There were better ways, but Jethro couldn't help but want to see his little Abra involved in the contest, too.) He placed his free arm around the Toxtricity's shoulders and flashed a broad smile at the crowd, who in turn erupted into cheers.

"Hey hey now, settle down, would'ya?" he joked. "Welcome to the start of Hoenn's tour of the world! We're kicking things off with a taste of Kanto this time around. I'll be your judge tonight, name's Jethro. This big guy here killing it on the guitar is Hendrix. And this little guy is my boy Crowley. I'm hopin' we all get to know each other quite nicely!"

But enough about him. The stage lights soon came on to illuminate the stage so the crowd could see just what the contest had in store for them. Jethro took the liberty to step away from center stage and begin his formal greetings to the contestants, passing by them with a firm handshake and offering them all the luck he could muster. Thankfully he was good enough with names that he recognized them from their entry forms. A touch of near-eidetic memory allowed him the ability to memorize everything they had written down. But he opted to approach each with his own sort of introduction before he allowed the contestants a chance to introduce themselves to the crowd.

His first introduction fell on luka chêne . While plenty of folks cheered her on, Jethro was left to simply see what she had in store. It seemed she had a knack for taking on contests and to plenty, had become a contest favorite. Why wouldn't she be? She was quite cute, and people had a love for pink. And with the twinge in her voice, he could hear the faintest Kalosian accent. Goddamn, people loved the Kalosians so he could see why she was a hit just from that alone. But his attention soon fell on her Illumina Eevee. Perhaps she wished to approach the crowd with a flashy entry? Exciting! He couldn't wait to see what Miss Luka had in store with her performance.

As he followed suit, the judge approached El Sunderland and flashed a smile at them. The crowd grew a little quiet, and Jethro immediately worried that they underestimated the trainer due to their cane usage. But there was a sense of intrigue in the way they seemed to happily chatter, much to his relief. He could breathe easy knowing none of the crowd wanted to make a big deal out of it. They already loved the trainer's Nidoking, as the creature itself looked intimidating and strong. Perhaps they'd have to submit it into a tough contest in the future too! But given the way the crowd didn't seem to recognize El, Jethro could only assume they were new to the contest scene. He could only wish them some extra luck with their performance. The luck wasn't an attempt to show them patronage, but rather a genuine gesture, he was certain they'd do spectacularly.

His next approach came to mint frost , a far too familiar face to contest goers. As the crowd erupted into an excited cacophony once more, Jethro could only turn around, bewildered with the display. Seemed Mint was yet another crowd favorite! While he'd done the Contest Hall tour prior to debuting his first contest, Jethro didn't see any ribbons for Mint or any of his pokemon. Perhaps he was one of the folks that they deemed to be the charismatic entry. Jethro could respect it. As Mint spoke, he caught the faintest hint of a Sinnohan accent. He couldn't help but beam a little wider, as it seemed he was in the company of someone from home. The Flareon he chose to partner himself with seemed quite sleek, as though it were well-groomed to be performance ready. As much as he wanted to pet the dog-like pokemon, he didn't quite feel like getting scorched.

As he approached Michael Navidson , Jethro could only look up at his Charizard in surprise. He didn't realize how big the fire-type was up close! Though in the midst of his surprise with the height of the Charizard, he missed how some folks whispered among themselves, using words like 'strong' and 'hero.' Navy must've impressed some of the members in the crowd, given how Jethro hadn't recalled seeing the name in past performances. He was another that the blonde made sure to wish extra luck to. But if he was a so-called hero as some of the people had whispered, maybe he wouldn't need luck. Maybe luck was already on his side.

Soon his attention went to lam logan . Something about the man seemed absolutely chuffed to be there. He carried himself in a rather lax fashion, that much evident from his body language. And as he spoke, Jethro managed to catch the faintest hint of an Alolan accent. Ah, it explained the lax nature. Alolans were pretty chill yet friendly folks. It pleased him to see some folks from outside of Hoenn. He was yet another one who didn't elicit much of a response from the crowd, but Jethro certainly didn't count the young man out. Surely he'd surprise the crowd with his Raichu. The electric mouse seemed pumped to get out there and show everyone just what it was capable of.

Finally, Jethro approached Greyson Connors and the crowd seemed to go wild. He was certainly a face they all knew, and Jethro didn't seem surprised one bit. Wasn't the man a gym leader? There had been rumors of moving Greyson to the elite four, but those were merely that -- rumors. Still, the crowd and Jethro both seemed surprised to see such a prolific man enter a contest. But he wouldn't complain one bit. He was happy to have him along for the ride! His Blastoise seemed rugged and battle-hardened, but that tough appearance managed to translate into something cool.

He was admittedly pleased with just what the contestants had to offer and couldn't wait to see them in action.

"Now you've seen all of these folks, but let's hear what they've got to say as they introduce not only themselves, but their poke-partners, too! Let's make some noise!"