The Powers of the West (Part 3) (Japanese: 西の強豪 後編 Nishi no Kyougou Kouhen) is the tenth chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
(cameo)
Story[]
The nurse treats Inori, who has sprained her ankle, and suggests a visit to the hospital. Tsukasa opts to skip the podium ceremony, but Inori asks to at least watch Ema's performance. Inori reports a recent soreness that subsides with exercise, and the nurse concludes she may be having shin splints. Learning this, Tsukasa tells Inori that they will need to take a break from practice until the end of summer break. He explains to her about shin splints, a result of overworking one's muscles, which will cause a stress fracture if ignored.
Ema steps on the ice, concerned for Inori as she used to suffer from leg pains herself. As she skates, Yudai recalls when Head Coach Kamegaya of the highly competitive Rengecha FSC suggested to have Ema switch clubs, due to her years of stagnation in Prelim and concerned that she'll come to hate skating. When Yudai approached Ema to talk about it, he found her refusing to eat her lunch, saying eating makes her grow too tall and causes her legs to hurt. If eating meant she couldn't skate, she reasoned, she would simply stop eating. Seeing this, Yudai decided to drop the suggestion, and encouraged her to keep her head up, vowing to help her become a great skater no matter how tall she grew.
Further flashbacks reveal Yudai adding breaks and leg massages into Ema's training schedule. Ema would fail her Level 1 Badge Test twice, and although she grew frustrated with her own clumsy self, she declared that she would never hate figure skating.
Meanwhile, the performance she is currently delivering is highly impressive as she executes elements advanced for her level with ease. Ema's years of hard work become evident to Inori, who now realizes the significant gap between them. Ema ends her program with a Flying Camel Spin, and as she shares a joyous embrace with Yudai, her score of 25.57 is announced, placing her ahead of Inori for first place. Even Seira now admits that she had judged the Level 1 skaters too harshly.
| Order | Element | Base Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2Lz2Lz | 2.10 |
| 2 | 2Lo2Lo | 1.70 |
| 3 | 1A1A | 1.10 |
| 4 | 2F2F + 2T2T | 3.10 |
| 5 | StSqBStSqB | 1.50 |
| 6 | FCSpBFCSpB | 1.60 |
The podium ceremony is held with Ema and Seira. Ritsuki Koguma is frustrated about missing the podium and becomes the target of her brother's teasing. To her further dismay, her coach introduces her to Seira and Miihi, who will soon transfer to her club to focus on figure skating rather than speed skating. Seira, having already forgotten their earlier fight, enthusiastically tries to befriend Ritsuki.
The Novice B competition begins next, and Suzu Kamoto declares to Coach Kamegaya that this year she intends to finally surpass Hikaru.
On the train home, Tsukasa apologizes to Inori, admitting that the day has taught him his shortcomings as a coach, particularly in preventing injuries. Inori, too, shares what she learned today — that there are many more children out there working hard toward a figure skating dream just like her. Though she can't hope to gain back the time she lost by starting late, she refuses to let it be an excuse to give up and is determined to keep believing in herself to win.
Glad to hear this, Tsukasa proceeds to hold an impromptu "award ceremony" for Inori, placing the silver medal around her neck. He congratulates Inori for her first medal, but suggests they try for a gold next time, which Inori gladly agrees.
Five days later, Tsukasa travels all the way to Kyoto with a box of cookies to meet Yudai to apologize for troubles, as demanded by Hitomi. When he asks why Ema is still in Level 1, Yudai shares that Ema once struggled with growing pains that led to him pausing her jumping practice. Desperate, she would repeatedly practice on her own, making her pains worse and leading to difficulty with her Level 1 test, which she failed twice. Once they identified the cause, they adopted a little-by-little approach. This helped her build a strong foundation in the background which then helped her immensely after the pains subsided, her hard work eventually paying off at the competition.
Tsukasa is moved to tears by the story before Yudai shifts the conversation to Inori. Tsukasa explains that they have decided to forgo the winter competition to focus on advancing in the Badge Test. The next time they face off against each other will be at the All-Japans.
In October, Hikaru lands a Triple Axel at the All-Japans, securing first place while Suzu falls in second once again. As time passes, Inori reaches Badge Level 5 and joins her second Meikoh Cup, where she nails a Flying Camel Spin and a 2F2F + 2T2T + 2Lo2Lo triple combo, earning 58.19 points and securing first place.