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

Dressed in a butterfly gown, Miss Ma Xiu, as beautiful as an elf, stood up from the judges' panel with a smile.

"Welcome to Aroma City. I hope you enjoy this magnificent feast."

The audience, which had just quieted down, erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers again, giving the "grandmother" the highest respect.

Most people who fall in love with glamorous performances are drawn in by the performances of Ma Xiu.

Next is Mikoli.

"Mr. Michael, the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City and a world-renowned artist."

Mikoli, so beautiful that even men couldn't help but be captivated by her, stood up and gave an elegant bow.

"Let's witness together who can perform the most magnificent dance on this stage!"

Mikoli was also very popular, and the audience did not hold back their applause.

Next up are Xiaoxia and Lijia.

After Vivian finished introducing the judges one by one, she smiled mysteriously.

"Now, please welcome the first contestant of the inaugural Grand Contest, Ms. Ayako from the Hoenn region!"

After speaking, Vivian left the stage from the side.

On the other side of the stage, a graceful woman in a pinkish-purple cheongsam walked onto the stage.

Standing in the center of the stage, Ayako took a deep breath, gently placed her left hand on her chest, and bowed to the judges and the audience behind them.

The Poké Ball was thrown, and an elegant cat with shiny, bright fur, whose appearance showed it had been bred exceptionally well, appeared.

The first match of the Grand Contest has officially begun!

…………

In the players' lounge, Xia Chen also watched intently as this top Coordinator, who had won the Grand Festival in the anime, made his arena debut.

I wonder how she will behave in this parallel world?

"Johnny, use Blizzard!"

On the screen, Ayako and her elegant cat named Johnny have already begun their performance.

As the elegant cat softly called out, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the previously sunny sky.

Snowflakes, as white as goose feathers, fell heavily from the sky. In no time, snow was swirling around Ayako and the elegant cat, and the stage looked as if a pure white curtain had been hung up.

Frankly speaking, if this blizzard, which has neither a biting wind nor piercing snow, is a crowd control and damage move used in combat, it is definitely unacceptable.

But on the magnificent arena, this blizzard, which could almost be described as a "storm," actually showcased Elegant Cat's precise control over its moves.

The audience craned their necks to watch the stage, eager to see how Elegant Cat would use the blizzard to create a magnificent visual feast.

Before long, fine snowflakes covered the stage with a thick layer of pure white, and the elegant cat walked on it with light steps, leaving a string of small and lovely plum blossom footprints.

"Johnny, make snowballs!"

Ayako's second instruction seemed a bit strange: make snowballs?

This doesn't seem to be a move.

Both the audience members and the contestants in the rest area were curiously pondering the meaning behind Ayako's instructions.

Xia Chen watched the elegant cat spinning in circles on the screen, seemingly lost in thought. It looked like Ayako was about to use some moves in combination with Snowball.

…………

On the field, the elegant cat used its tail, which was as nimble as a hand, to roll a snowball the size of a ball.

It wasn't over yet; a second and a third snowball were made during the blizzard, making a total of seven such snowballs.

When the heavy snow stopped, the elegant cat also stopped rolling snowballs.

"Next, Johnny, use the 'Slap Slaps' combo!"

Its hand-like tail gently lifted the rolled snowballs, then used a series of slaps to send them flying into the sky almost simultaneously.

This is no easy feat; it demands a high degree of balance between strength and speed.

If you use too little force, the snowball won't fly high and will soon fall down; if you use too much force, the snowball, which isn't very solid, will undoubtedly be slapped apart.

The elegant cat perfectly exemplifies this with its masterful control over its tail.

Michael, sitting on the judges' panel, smiled and nodded slightly. Judging from the graceful and fluid movements of the elegant cat, one could tell that they had put in a lot of effort just for this one move.

Just as Elegant Cat used a series of slaps to send the snowball flying, Ayako shouted, "Johnny, now! Shadow Ball!"

"Theo!"

While still controlling its tail to launch snowballs, the elegant cat responded with a shout, then rapidly gathered the ghost-type energy within its body.

As the last snowball soared high into the air, and the first snowball began to fall, the elegant cat exhaled tiny, yet explosively powerful, purplish-black energy balls, like blowing bubbles.

The number of small shadow orbs fired was exactly seven, and their firing directions were also perfectly aligned with the seven snowballs in the air.

"boom--"

This was the sound of the first snowball being launched colliding with the first shadow ball, creating an explosion.

Like Mars colliding with Earth, the two structurally unstable spheres exploded with a deafening roar, and the molecules that made up the spheres scattered in all directions.

The crystal-clear white snowflakes collided and merged with the purplish-black ghost energy in the air, miraculously fusing into shimmering purple crystals that seemed to glow with an ethereal light.

Then came the soft sounds of the second and third explosions, followed by seven more explosions, after which pairs of snowballs and shadow orbs vanished.

No, they did not disappear, but transformed into a magnificent and beautiful snow scene that shimmered with crimson light, presented to tens of millions of viewers.

Purple snowflakes drifted down, covering the elegant cat and Ayako directly below. The two, radiant with light, bowed gracefully, bringing this beautiful performance to a perfect close.

…………

As the snow fell, the entire audience erupted in applause.

No one expected that the first match of the preliminary rounds would feature such a novel and beautiful performance.

Blizzard, Chain Slaps, and Shadow Ball – three seemingly unrelated moves – collided and produced such a strange reaction.

The first match alone gave the audience plenty of surprises!

The four judges couldn't help but applaud and nod in praise, giving full recognition to Ayako and Elegant Cat's performance.

Michael began by commenting, "A truly stunning performance, better than any performance I've seen online in the past two months. You've opened up even more possibilities for the future of glamorous performances!"

This is a very high compliment, but the audience didn't find it inappropriate; Ayako's performance deserved such praise.

Ma Xiu commented: "A very moving performance. More importantly, I saw the collision of different techniques in this performance, which is the most valuable point. I hope you can continue to maintain this."

Having witnessed Xia Chen's even more stunning performance these past few days, Ma Xiu's evaluation of this performance wasn't as high as it had been.

Lijia and Xiaoxia received similar evaluations to Michael.

The final scores given by the four people were 23, 21, 24, and 23.

Ayako, the first to appear, received an absolutely high score of 91!

Backstage, the contestants in the rest area were in an uproar, looking at Ayako with a mixture of amazement, worry, and envy as she bowed in gratitude.

The first contestant's outstanding performance was naturally not good news for those who followed.

Just like a cooking competition, if the dishes made by the earlier contestants are too outstanding, the judges will feel bored and lose interest as they eat more.

Therefore, these players inevitably harbored some degree of anxiety.

…………

Holding Piplup, Hikari gazed at Ayako on the screen, who seemed to be sparkling, her eyes filled with longing.

"Wow, that's amazing, Ayako-san! Bogarman, let's do our best in the next round too!"

"Bo-a-ga!"

The blue-headed penguin responded energetically, its eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

"Hmm, you've already thought of using combinations of moves to create amazing scenes, that's something, but still not enough."

A faint murmur beside him caught Xiaoguang's attention.

Something special?

But that's not enough?

The condescending praise made Hikaru, who was already impressed by Ayako's performance, frown and turn his head to look. He saw a tall, handsome young man in a beige suit stroking his chin and muttering to himself.

Even though he knew the other person was just talking to themselves, Xiao Guang couldn't help but chime in.

"Even Mr. Michael praised the performance as amazing. What do you think was lacking?"

Chapter 145 Watch closely, this is how the Grand Contest goes!

Xiao Guang wanted to add, "Is it really that hard to admit that others are excellent?" but it seemed too impolite to say it out loud.

After thinking about it, she decided not to say anything, since what she was doing was already impolite enough.

Seeing the handsome young man turn and stare at him in surprise, Xiao Guang suddenly felt a pang of regret. The boy was clearly just talking to himself; he'd made it seem like he was in a hurry.

What's wrong with me today?

As Xiao Guang was lost in thought, he heard the boy beside him ask, "In your opinion, how many dimensions can beauty be presented?"

This sudden, profound question left Xiao Guang a little dizzy, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer.

The handsome young man didn't embarrass her at all, and answered his own question: "Aesthetics is a state of psychological pleasure. It can be captured by the eyes, or by the ears, the nose, or any part of your body."

"Imagine you come to the beach on a moonlit night with few stars. Close your eyes and you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks, a flock of long-winged gulls flapping their wings and flying into the distance, and the long, drawn-out cry of the roaring whale king coming from further away. A refreshing sea breeze caresses your body, and you can smell the salty scent of the sea."

Do you think this scene is beautiful?

Xiao Guang nodded involuntarily. Although she couldn't experience the scene the boy described, his refreshing voice, like a summer breeze, helped her understand his point of view.

Drawing inferences from one instance, Hikaru suddenly realized, "I understand now. You mean, Ms. Ayako's performance can only bring visual beauty to the audience?"

The boy nodded, said nothing more, and quietly watched the second match on the screen.

Xiao Guang stared blankly at the boy's profile, suddenly wanting to ask his name.

…………