Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

"Mmm—ah"

Ma Xiu gently touched the fairy cloth's clean, soft short fur, making a strange and unpleasant sound.

"How can there be such adorable elves in this world?"

Miss Ma Xiu, a deep enthusiast of fairy-type spirits, murmured softly.

"Chido."

Big Mouth turned its head away in a huff, using its other, fierce mouth to express its dissatisfaction to Ma Xiu.

Ma Xiu wasn't the type to get bored easily. She smiled and scratched Big Mouth Baby's chin, comforting him, "Alright, alright, you're cute too."

The baby with the big mouth then gave a soft hum and turned around.

After calming down the jealous girl, Ma Xiu asked curiously, "When did your Eevee evolve?"

"I call her Sylveon."

Xia Chen said, "Do you remember that night when I encountered a poaching gang? It was Eevee that saved me by evolving at the last second."

Ma Xiu suddenly realized, "No wonder, I knew your presentations at the press conferences always sounded like something was missing."

"So, how did she evolve? Sorry, is that something I can ask?"

Ma Xiu asked halfway through her question, then suddenly realized that Xia Chen might not want to reveal Sylveon's existence for the time being.

Xia Chen answered readily, "It's okay, the paper will be published in a few days, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just... that's about it."

…………

Ma Xiu, who had no academic knowledge, pretended to understand and nodded, then suddenly asked, "So, the reason you want to participate in this competition is because of her?"

Xia Chen smiled, "The world's cutest elves should be revealed to the world on the most magnificent stage, shouldn't they?"

Ma Xiu whispered a reminder to him, "The rule this time is that only trainers of senior level or above are allowed to register."

Because she was afraid of potentially hurting the man's inexplicable pride, Ma Xiu didn't finish her sentence, but she made sure the meaning was conveyed.

Xia Chen proudly pulled out his trainer certificate, the cover of which clearly read "[Senior Trainer Certificate]".

"I took the exam a couple of days ago, how did it go? Can I register now?"

Ma Xiu was surprised, "So fast? But you haven't revealed your true form yet, have you? So you won the 3v3 trial match with Zoroa?"

Starting from the senior-level assessment competition, it is no longer 1v1 but 3v3, and every Pokémon tested by the official team is at the senior level.

Xia Chen shook his head and said, "No, I didn't bring Zoroia either. Milotic and Ralts are enough."

Ma Xiu looked at him in surprise. Xia Chen had stayed at the Aromatherapy Dojo for half a month, and she would occasionally practice with him. She knew the level of his Pokémon all too well.

Back then, Milotic was barely at the senior level, and Ralts wasn't even close to amateur level.

And now, these two Pokémon alone are enough to earn you a Senior Trainer Certificate.

Has he grown so fast in just two months?

At this rate, he'll catch up to me in a few years, right?

After silently sighing, Ma Xiu nodded and said, "In that case, I'll give you my nomination spot so you don't have to participate in the preliminary rounds."

With so many people signing up, it was clearly impossible for them all to participate. Therefore, a three-day preliminary round was held before the main competition on March 15th.

Ultimately, out of tens of thousands of applicants, only one hundred were able to participate in the final competition, making the elimination rate incredibly brutal.

Although he was confident of passing the preliminary selection, Xia Chen did not mind using connections, so he gladly accepted Miss Ma Xiu's suggestion.

Everything is ready; all that remains is the arrival of March 15th.

…………

The fact that the entire preliminary round was broadcast live on Pixiv surprised many people.

The fact that many elite-level, and even a few gym-level, trainers failed to pass the preliminary rounds, while a large number of veteran-level trainers did, has sparked widespread discussion.

People have come to a deeper understanding that the spectacular performance is a competition format that is far removed from actual elf battles.

No matter how brilliant your achievements are in the world of trainers, it won't work here.

The beauty, cuteness, and coolness of the Pokémon's appearance, the way their moves are expressed, and the innovation of their combinations.

These are the most important factors in determining whether a spectacular performance is excellent or not.

In this respect, experienced trainers who are not too constrained by their own Pokémon battle experience have an advantage.

Ultimately, nearly half of the 100 trainers who made it into the main event of the first Grand Contest were veteran trainers.

This tournament, which overturned the tradition of Pokémon battles, has attracted more and more attention.

With the start of the main event approaching, the search index for this Grand Festival on Psyduck is almost on par with the recent Masters 8 tournament, demonstrating its immense popularity.

Amidst much anticipation, March 15th marked the first day of the inaugural Grand Prix.

After several days of overcast skies, the city of Aromatherapy finally welcomed a long-awaited sunny day.

Beneath the sacred tree, now decayed but still a landmark of Aroma City, inside the Sacred Tree Arena.

The first Grand Contest has officially begun!

Chapter 144 has some merit, but it's not enough!

Aroma City, Divine Tree Arena, inside the contestants' rest area.

Nearly a hundred people dressed in various styles sat orderly in their respective positions, waiting for the competition to begin.

Among them were those dressed boldly and sexily, those dressed modestly and elegantly, and those dressed in lavish attire.

Looking around, everything is a riot of colors.

However, their outfits weren't just random; most of them were chosen to match their own elves.

The girl standing next to Miss Skirt was wearing a light green floral long dress.

The trainer, who was calming the timid floating bubbles, was dazzlingly radiant; the upcoming performance would likely feature a sunny day.

A young lady wearing a light blue bikini, seemingly living in a different season, is cuddling with a Vaporeon.

In the back row, a handsome young man in a well-tailored beige suit held a diving ball in his hand, occasionally staring blankly in a certain direction.

……

Goodness, there seem to be quite a few familiar faces here.

Xia Chen silently withdrew his gaze, recalling the famous Coordinators he had seen in his past life's games or anime within the short half hour.

The girl wearing a sky-blue idol outfit, with cotton-like fluffy white clouds adorning her wrists and ankles, must be Rukia.

The girl with flaxen hair, surrounded by a hunting swallowtail butterfly dancing gracefully, is most likely Haruka.

The girl with light blue hair sitting right next to me, holding a Pogaman that looks around and occasionally flashes hearts in its eyes, is probably Hikari.

It seems that no matter which parallel world they live in, their love for the Grand Contest will never change.

With only ten minutes left before the start of the match, Xia Chen leisurely leaned back in his soft chair, closing his eyes to rest.

His turn to appear is quite late; he might not even get a turn until the end of this morning.

Besides, this is only the preliminary round, so there's nothing to be nervous about.

His confidence stemmed not only from his understanding of the Grand Contest, but also from his research and practice with Sylvanas and the others at the Aromatherapy Gym these past few days.

Even Miss Ma Xiu was amazed by the final selected performance plans.

Of course, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.

In his spare time, Xia Chen would occasionally watch videos of his competitors' performances online.

He found that the current mainstream performance style is still somewhat confined to showing the moves themselves and lacks imagination.

That's normal; after all, such a spectacular performance has only been around for two months in this world.

Every era needs a driving force, and Xia Chen, who secretly created the Grand Competition, doesn't mind becoming that person.

…………

The rules for the first Grand Contest were roughly the same as the plan that Xia Chen and Ma Xiu discussed in the dojo two months ago, which was then slightly modified by the league.

The competition will consist of three rounds: preliminary round, semi-final, and final.

In each round of the competition, players can use one, two, or three Pokémon respectively.

This is slightly different from the rules of the Grand Contest in my previous life.

Xia Chen believes that this approach not only makes the competition more engaging for the audience but also gives the players more room to perform in each round.

Xia Chen and Ma Xiu had also discussed the idea of ​​a spectacular battle, and they both agreed that it would be better for this type of competition to appear as a "version update" in later competitions after the competition has matured.

Therefore, the first competition will focus on individual performances by the contestants.

As for the scoring rules, Xia Chen didn't use those unorthodox methods common in variety shows in his previous life, such as public jury or online voting.

The four dojo masters who serve as judges each have 25 points. They score the contestants after their performances, and the sum of the scores is the final score.

The simple rules are designed to showcase the purest charm of the elf performance.

At 9:00 AM sharp, amidst great anticipation, the host stepped onto the stage, and the inaugural Grand Prix finally began.

The remaining ninety-nine contestants and their Pokémon, who were sitting in the rest area, also stopped what they were doing and looked at the large screen hanging on the wall.

------

"Good morning everyone, both those here and those watching the live stream! Welcome to the first annual glamour contest. I'm your host, Vivian."

The host, with a warm smile on her face, wore a burgundy dress and had long, golden waves draped over her shoulders, looking radiant and beautiful.

The packed audience responded enthusiastically with thunderous cheers.

Vivian smiled playfully and put her left index finger to her lips.

"I can feel everyone's fiery enthusiasm, but a splendid performance is completely different from a Pokémon battle. In order not to affect the performance of the players and Pokémon, as well as everyone's viewing experience, please let us keep as quiet as possible during the players' performances, okay?"

Those who can afford to spend a lot of money to watch the game live are mostly people who really enjoy the spectacular performances, and the volume in the audience instantly dropped a lot.

Vivian smiled and said, "Thank you all for your cooperation. Now, please allow me to introduce today's guest judges! They are all outstanding trainers who have conducted in-depth research on the beauty of Pokémon."

The first person to be introduced is naturally the host, "First and foremost, the owner of the Aromatherapy Center, the world-renowned fashion designer, Ms. Ma Xiu!"