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

She whispered, "Luca—(Um, if you could, could you tell me what it looks like after Mega Evolution?)"

Xia Chen chuckled softly. This guy, does he have to be so shy to ask a question?

"Of course, no problem. Just think of Super Lucario, it looks especially cool."

…………

"Okay, I have something to do in a bit, I have to go."

After chatting with the two lonely elves for a while, Xia Chen stood up to leave.

Before parting, Garchomp suddenly said meaningfully, "Kaa ...

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback, then turned his head and waved, saying, "Thanks for the reminder, that day will come."

Lucario smiled like an aunt and quietly closed the door.

Daigo, who had been waiting outside for a long time, scratched his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Which day will it be?"

"Nothing, let's go."

Xia Chen spent the morning checking on the experiment's progress with Daigo. In the afternoon, Mikuri urged him to return to the Grand Festival competition.

In theory, once you enter the semi-finals, you'll be using the newly implemented "Glamour Battle" format, which doesn't require judges to score you.

But that scoundrel Mikel went so far as to make Xia Chen also do the commentary job, saying things like, "With you commentating, at least ten million more viewers will watch."

Xia Chen couldn't refuse him, so she had to take on another job.

Actually, this wasn't his first time doing commentary. I remember at the end of the year before last, he did commentary on the Masters 8 tournament between Cynthia and Adek in his own live stream.

After the match, Cynthia even came to my live stream to send gifts, which was the beginning of their friendship.

Therefore, Xia Chen is not exactly a complete novice in the field of commentary. He is just more casual than the official commentators and sometimes makes some jokes.

Back then, he even commented that "Cynda doesn't know how to use the Pokémon Rockruff." Now, when commentating on matches featuring a group of people who are considered his juniors, he continues to offer sharp critiques.

"Wow, how can that flamethrower miss?"

"My fairy cloth is placed better with my feet than this."

"Uh... this meteor shower technique needs improvement."

Backstage, Mikoli watched the live stream data rise steadily, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Did this guy treat the official live stream like his private live stream?

The key point is that what I said before actually came true. Since Xia Chen started commentating, the number of viewers in various live broadcast rooms has jumped from less than 50 million to nearly 60 million.

"No matter what, it's a good thing."

Ma Xiu looked at the young man chatting and laughing on the screen and smiled gently.

…………

October arrived before we knew it, and the grand celebration entered its final stage.

On October 7th, the grand celebration ushered in its final day.

Besides Rukia and Melissa, who were considered the favorites to win the championship before the competition, the other two players who made it to the semifinals were quite unexpected: Hikari and Serena.

However, Xia Chen, who had watched the whole process, felt that the two girls' outstanding performances deserved their place in the top four.

Unfortunately, both of them faced two other opponents in the semifinals, and their chances of winning are slim.

Xia Chen is not in charge of the commentary today because Mikeli felt that it was a bit strange that the final award presenter had just stepped down from the commentary booth.

Xia Chen was happy to have some free time, so he let him be.

He then stayed comfortably in the VIP section to watch the grand celebration come to a close.

It's worth mentioning that the new battle format, "Glamour Battle," has gained considerable acceptance and popularity among viewers. Since entering the semifinals, the competition's popularity has been steadily rising. Although it's still quite a distance from the exhibition match at the opening ceremony, it's already on par with the traditional league tournament.

Xia Chen was very satisfied with the result, after all, this was only the second year since the Grand Contest was born, and the future was promising.

There were no upsets in the two semi-final matches this morning. Both Ryukia and Melissa won their matches by a large margin and advanced to the final.

Although the two girls were very sad, they forced smiles and held back their tears, preventing them from shedding their pearls on the field.

Perhaps their performance in the semifinals has already exceeded their pre-competition goals, but having come this far, it's impossible for them not to have any thoughts about the final championship trophy.

Regardless, their stage at this grand celebration has come to an end, and the ultimate champion will be decided between Rukia and Melissa.

…………

The afternoon finals were equally exciting, with Lucia and Melissa fiercely battling it out for a total of 15 minutes across three matches.

In the end, Lucia defeated Melissa, the Ghost-type Gym Leader from the Sinnoh region, with an extremely narrow margin of 30-0, and won the championship of this Grand Festival.

During the tense situation, Melissa remembered her identity as a gym leader and tried to win by overwhelming her with her strength. However, she was repeatedly thwarted by Ryukia with her gorgeous moves, which resulted in her losing a lot of points.

That's how spectacular battles are. Defeating your opponent's Pokémon to win is one way, but it could also be a wonderful trap.

Clearly, Rukia had grasped the essence of it.

Melissa, being a gym leader, generously congratulated Ryukia after losing the match.

Amidst applause and cheers from the audience, defending champion Xia Chen presented the trophy to the new champion, Liu Qiya.

The grand celebration has now come to a successful conclusion.

------

"Are you leaving so soon? Shouldn't you wait a little longer? The first batch of super stones should be ready in about half a month."

At the Mikuri Manor, Xia Chen was spending his last leisurely afternoon in Sootopolis with two friends he had met in the Hoenn region.

Upon hearing that Xia Chen would be leaving tomorrow, Daigo frowned and asked.

Today is October 10th, the third day after the grand festival ended. After saying goodbye to Serena and Milotic who went to Sky Pillar for training with Rayquaza, Xia Chen decided to end his two-month-long trip to Hoenn.

"Parting is inevitable. Things are mostly settled here. I still have a small island and a dojo waiting for me to build."

Xia Chen smiled slightly and invited, "When the dojo opens, you two must come and support us."

Daigo nodded without hesitation, "I'll go challenge the Gym with Mega Metagross then."

Michael elegantly set down his teacup, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Speaking of which, you're a gym leader now, so you'll be eligible to participate in next year's World Gym Leader Tournament."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chen suddenly became interested.

The matches between gym leaders are so much fun! You get to see a whole bunch of trainers you know from the games and anime.

However, the problem is...

"Are there really that many spots available for the competition? There are over a dozen dojos in our Donghuang region. How can a new dojo master like me go?"

Mikuri explained with a smile, "Only four gym leaders from each region can represent their region in the competition. If it's Xia Chen-san, I believe there won't be any problem."

Xia Chen nodded reluctantly, "Okay, I'll try my best."

Given Uncle Longyuan's strength, he will surely have one spot reserved. Among the remaining gym leaders, there are also many powerful individuals who are close to or even possess the strength of a Heavenly King.

The Donghuang region is vast and populous. While the top champions may not rank among the top in the region, the core strength is still very solid. Competing for the top four is no easy task.

Fortunately, there is still at least six months to prepare, so Xianbu is in a hurry.

Chapter 343 Can cross-server communication also reach a consensus?

October 11th, Zhijiang City.

After nearly two months away, Xia Chen returned to his hometown and finally met Nian Mei'er and Cang Yan Ren Gui, who had stayed at home.

Contrary to his expectations of a chaotic scene, the house, inhabited by only two elves, was remarkably well-organized.

To Xia Chen's surprise, Noodles had actually evolved into Noodles Dragon!

Standing over two meters tall, Xia Chen couldn't reconcile her with the clingy little one who used to stick to him like glue at the beginning of the year.

The massive steel shell on its back, almost as tall as the body, gleamed with a cool metallic luster in the sunlight.

The only thing that hasn't changed is Nian Meilong's clingy and affectionate personality; as usual, she throws herself into Xia Chen's arms the moment they meet.

Given her current size, the only outcome would be that she would end up hugging him and collapsing onto the soft grass in the yard.

"Okay, stop fooling around. It itches."

Ignoring the sticky tentacles that were wriggling haphazardly on his body, Xia Chen got down to business, "How did you evolve so quickly?"

Based on the energy intensity predicted before departure, it will take at least until the end of the year to reach the energy intensity required for evolution.

But it happened so much earlier than expected?

Nian Meilong looked around nervously, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the Azure Flame Blade Demon not far away.

He kept changing the subject, saying things like, "Sticky—(Oh, isn't it almost time? Oh right, when are we moving to our new house? I'm so excited!)"

Xia Chen looked at the sticky, giant steel dragon, which was already two heads taller than him, with a strange expression, and at the Azure Flame Blade Demon, which seemed to be resting with its eyes closed in the corner. He thought to himself that these two must have secretly done something while he was not at home.

It's worth mentioning that Goodra only took ten short months from birth to its final form.

Humans gestate for ten months, and this is a late-blooming quasi-god!

If we were to use a metaphor, she should be the kind of protagonist who is an ordinary person, so how did she become a protagonist who is a genius who sweeps across the world?

Xia Chen didn't know if this speed broke the world record, but even if it didn't, it was still somewhat astonishing.

But no matter what, evolution is always a good thing.

After having Guleton check Goodra's body and internal energy and finding nothing wrong, Xia Chen put aside his doubts and began testing Goodra's evolved strength.

…………

To sum it up first, it's very strong, extremely strong, so strong that it's impossible for a Pokémon under one year old to possess such power.

A one-year-old Gym Leader Pokémon—Xia Chen had never even dared to dream of such a thing before!

Eevee and Feebas are already exemplary in their rapid growth, but even if we take a year back from the point of meeting them, they would only barely reach the Elite level.

It wasn't until a year later, which is now, that they achieved gym-level strength.

The fact that Nume-ryu shortened her progress by half is likely due to her terrifying talent, which she displayed from birth, and probably also to the Azure Flame Blade Demon.

Speaking of Azure Flame Blade Demon, Xia Chen recalled the strange behavior he displayed during that video call, as if he had become a different Pokémon.

He couldn't help but scrutinize this special Pokémon, which had joined the team the latest, only to find that it was also gazing at him with a wistful expression.