I caught a Pokémon

“That person…” Ash scratched his head, then suddenly realized something and chuckled, “I know! That person must be one of May’s suitors. Since he couldn’t get close to May, he asked Max to deliver the flowers!”

"Suitors?"

Xiao Sheng suddenly realized what was going on, and then smiled as he handed the black rose in his hand to Xiao Yao.

"I never thought that someone would like a woman like my sister!"

Xiaoyao blushed slightly: "What nonsense are you talking about..."

Although she felt a little embarrassed, she instinctively reached out her hand to take the black rose from the rose in front of her.

However, his hand had only reached halfway when Xia You suddenly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from going any further.

"Huh?"

She looked at Xia You in confusion, not understanding why Xia You had stopped her.

Is it...

She even suddenly had an idea!

Could it be that Xia You doesn't want to accept flowers from others?

The moment she thought of this, her face flushed red, and she felt her heart start pounding!

However, the moment Xia You spoke, she immediately shut up the fluttering heart in her chest.

"I've been fooled so many times already, but I didn't expect you to still be so forgetful." Xia You sighed helplessly as she looked at Xiao Yao. "It would be fine if it were any other time, but in a place like this, to give someone something with such unclear meaning, and to dress so suspiciously, it's obvious that only one person would do something like this, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyao, Xiaozhi, and the others changed their expressions, and then one person simultaneously came to mind.

Harry!

That's right, that's something only he could do!

Moreover, that figure, although it was completely covered up, did look a lot like Harry from its build!

Most importantly, if he had no ulterior motives, why would he hide himself?

Thinking of this, Xiaoyao quickly withdrew her arm.

Just then, perhaps it was time, or perhaps some mechanism was triggered, the petals of the black rose in Xiao Sheng's hand suddenly sprang up and burst open in all directions, revealing the spring inside!

Xiao Sheng was startled by the sudden turn of events and instinctively let go, causing the dried rose to fall to the ground.

Seeing this, everyone understands that someone is indeed teasing Xiaoyao!

"Damn it, it really was a prank!"

Xiao Zhi immediately frowned and said he was going to find Harry to settle the score, but when he turned around, there was no sign of Harry in the crowded crowd.

"That's all the tricks he has left." Xia You didn't seem angry at all. Instead, she laughed and said, "The more Harry uses these methods, the more it shows that he clearly feels that he can no longer beat Xiaoyao on the battlefield. That's why he keeps using these methods. Think about it, what would he have done in the past?"

Without a second thought, Xiao Sheng replied, "Of course, I'll appear in front of my sister with a smug look on my face..."

At this point, he realized that if it were the usual Harry, he would either come up to Haruka with a smug look and provoke her, or he would pretend to be completely innocent.

But Harry isn't doing that right now. If he hasn't suddenly changed his personality, then he's either harboring an even worse idea or he doesn't have the confidence to show up in front of them!

"It must be because of Mr. Xia You," Xiao Sheng laughed. "Didn't Harry lose face in front of you before? Now that you're here, how dare he show his face!"

"That has little to do with me," Xia You shook her head. "Given Harry's personality and thick skin, even if I were here, as long as he doesn't provoke me, it wouldn't make any difference to him. What really makes him uncomfortable is that as Xiao Yao's strength increases, he feels he can no longer control her!"

After hearing what he said, Xiao Sheng and the others thought about it and realized that it seemed to be true.

But in any case, now that Harry has come here, we should definitely be careful.

……

On the day of the competition, at the Pokémon Grand Festival venue.

Compared to the Pokémon Tournament venue, the Grand Festival venue is more like a huge circular silo surrounded by four smaller silos, which looks a bit low-end and small in scale.

But the number of audience members it can accommodate is by no means small!

The venue was divided into more than a dozen sections in a tiered layout, and each section was filled with enthusiastic and excited spectators, all welcoming this magnificent annual event!

Xiao Zhi had a lucky draw and managed to snag some great seats for himself and his friends, allowing them to watch the competition up close, unlike most spectators who had to rely on a large screen to see the details.

It can only be said that sometimes he is very unlucky, but other times, he seems to be surrounded by good fortune.

As expected of the world's protagonist!

This also allowed Xia You to benefit from the situation.

Amidst the intense attention, the female host, Lillian, dressed in a strapless top and a blue mini-skirt, walked onto the stage in a casual sporty outfit.

"The Pokémon and Coordinator's Love Festival, the Pokémon Tournament, and the long-awaited Indigo League—the Grand Festival—are about to begin!"

As Lillian's impassioned speech came to an end, cannon salutes rang out outside the venue, while applause and cheers erupted throughout the hall!

It can be said that such a simple sentence completely stirred up the atmosphere!

That's the charm of the conference!

Even Xiao Zhi, who was standing next to Xia You, got excited. Xia You just turned her head and saw him clenching his fists, his body trembling with excitement, as if he wanted to join in!

Seeing him like this, Xia You couldn't help but find it amusing.

"If you're so envious, why didn't you join in back then? It was all on the way anyway, and you might have actually managed to collect all five forging medals."

"Let's forget about it." Ash rubbed his nose and smiled sheepishly. "I'll just participate occasionally. I still have my goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, so I can't afford to be distracted!"

Actually, there was one more thing he didn't say: wasting energy at the grand event would inevitably cause Xia You to fall further and further behind, which was unacceptable for someone like him who had Xia You as his goal!

Now that the atmosphere in the arena had cooled down a bit, Lillian continued, "This time, 270 people have gathered here, risking their honor as top Pokémon Coordinators! And the one who stands at the very top will receive the reward—"

As she pointed to the side, a huge, gleaming gold trophy shone brightly under the spotlight!

"—A luxurious ribbon trophy symbolizing the highest honor for a Coordinator! And with it, you will join the ranks of the top Coordinators!!"

Just as Lillian said, whether it's the trophy or the title of top Coordinator, it is something that countless Coordinators dream of, but only one person can seize this opportunity.

It can be said that the person who stood out from 270 contestants is undoubtedly the strongest of the strong and deserves this honor.

After introducing those people, Lillian then introduced the judges for this event.

There were four judges this time.

Two of them, of course, need no introduction: Conkenstein, the permanent NPC who never misses a Contest, and Sugizo, the president of the Pokémon Fan Club.

These two referees are like a constant presence at any major conference; they're always there, no matter where the conference is held, and everyone has gotten used to it.

As for the third one, it is Miss Joey, whose face remains the same despite the change in person, and who is said to be the one shared by dozens of sisters!

The only difference might be that this time, Nurse Joy isn't the Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center in this town, but rather someone who came from Celadon City.

Of course, this is not hard to understand. After all, Nurse Joy here also has to treat the injured Pokémon in the second round of battle review, so she has to be in charge of the treatment room.

Next up was the last referee.

Upon seeing the face that was almost identical to that of the host, Lillian, Xia You and the others immediately recognized her as Vivian, the host of the Grand Tournament in the Hoenn region and Lillian's twin sister!

No one expected that Vivian would travel all the way across the ocean to Kanto to serve as a judge at the conference.

Needless to say, she must have been invited here by her sister Lillian.

When the two sisters appeared on the same stage, people could clearly see the differences in their temperament and habits.

"Alright, that concludes the introductions!" Lillian smiled, then shouted, "Now, let's begin the first stage of today's preliminary round: the captivating stage performance!"

Chapter 896 The Underworld Scene

In this preliminary stage, each contestant can only use their best move once, and the judges will score them based on their performance to determine the list of those who will advance to the next round.

It can be said that because the opportunity is only once, it is extremely precious and will directly determine the fate of these trainers. If anyone underperforms, they will basically have to say goodbye to this stage.

Although it can be brutal, and a single mistake could waste a year's worth of effort, it is precisely these tense moments that can fully unleash the potential of the trainer and the Pokémon, giving the audience a satisfying performance.

In short, whoever performs better and has a more spectacular stage presence will advance!

One move decides the outcome!

However, due to the large number of contestants, perhaps to speed up the process, the performances were divided into two smaller stands. The assistant judges on the smaller stands conducted the initial review, and based on their scores, the four official judges, after mutual discussion, further selected and screened the contestants, and will ultimately decide on the 64 contestants who will participate in tomorrow's main competition.

Hearing this, many viewers, including Xiaozhi, didn't understand the rules about the small stands, the main stands, the assistant judges, the official judges, the preliminary judges, and the final judges. But they didn't need to worry about that. They just needed to keep watching the competition and cheer for Xiaoyao!

Finally, before the match officially began, Lillian introduced the two assistant referees in the small stands.

The assistant referees for the first grandstand were three Miss Joeys from different regions. While this combination was somewhat surprising, it made perfect sense.

After all, only their scores can truly convince the contestants.

As for the assistant referee in the second match...

As Lillian spoke, under the spotlight, Wu Ling, who had just been broadcasting outside, disguised as Musashi, suddenly appeared on the stage!

Upon seeing this, Xia You raised an eyebrow slightly.

It's not for any other reason.

She simply hadn't expected that such a grand and highly anticipated celebration would choose someone whose background was unknown to be the referee. Even though he was just an assistant referee, it showed how incompetent the decision-making of the event was.

Could it be that Musashi exaggerated his abilities to the point that these people actually believed him?

But that's even more wrong!

Shouldn't the organizing committee of the grand festival decide on the referees several days or even more than ten days in advance? How could they let Musashi in, especially in such an important position!

From this perspective, the world really is just a giant makeshift operation...

But this is good too. Compared to the exciting but somewhat monotonous competition, Musashi's participation is bound to make this festival different!

Based on the principle of "the more trouble you see, the better," he was even slightly looking forward to it!

It can only be said that the type of trainer determines the type of Pokémon, and conversely, the personality of a Pokémon will gradually change its trainer.

Just like Xia You now, this feeling of watching the show is something she has unknowingly been infected by Gengar!

But you know what, this kind of job is actually quite suitable for Musashi.

As soon as she appeared on stage, she excitedly addressed the audience with a microphone, saying, "I'm Wu Ling! The atmosphere here is super lively! It seems everyone is eager to see the performance. Ladies and gentlemen, are you all getting excited? Let's wait and see!"

Musashi had only just appeared, but a few words had already raised the audience's enthusiasm even higher. Although Xia You had never underestimated her, this still made him think more highly of her.

Indeed, in a sense, the Rockets' trio are all geniuses!

After the warm-up and explanation sessions concluded, the ceiling above everyone's heads opened up to allow the bright daylight to stream in through the huge skylight, officially marking the start of the initial preliminary round.

The first contestant to appear was a teenager.

As the person who opens the show, not only is he under a lot of pressure, but the audience also has higher expectations of him.

Fortunately, despite his youth, he and his partner, Flaming Horse, used dazzling flames to not only complete their performance well, scoring 80 points—a relatively safe result—but also lived up to the audience's expectations and successfully opened up the situation.

Following him, the contestants took turns taking to the stage, bringing wonderful performances to this magnificent celebration.

Moreover, because there were so many contestants, some people who were trying to get higher scores adopted rather unusual performance styles in order to attract more attention and get higher scores, which broadened the horizons of the audience.

It was truly spectacular and a celebration of the highest professional standards!

Not only were the audience members engrossed in the show, but Xia You and Xiao Zhi were also completely absorbed in it.

As time passed by unnoticed, and the contestants continued to appear, perform, and leave the stage, they welcomed Xiaoyao to the stage.

Xiaoyao's stage was the primary stage for the three Miss Joeys to serve as assistant referees, which made Xia You secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I wasn't assigned to Musashi's stage; otherwise, if Musashi wanted to cause trouble, it would have been too easy for him.

Fortunately, although they didn't pay special attention to Musashi, judging from the equally exciting performance on the second stage and the fact that nothing unexpected happened, Team Rocket's trio didn't seem to have any intention of causing trouble.

Well... although it might only be temporary.

Since there are no requirements for the trainer's attire, May wore her signature travel outfit.

After a running start onto the stage, she launched her Poké Ball high into the air, and her Mighty Chicken appeared on the stage.

This made Xia You nod in approval.

Compared to May's other Pokémon, this is the best choice.

After all, once you step into this venue, every performance is extremely important, especially the preliminary rounds. Whether you can advance from among 270 contestants and only be able to use one move is crucial!

And the strong chicken is undoubtedly the one that Xiaoyao trusts the most!

Although Xiaoyao couldn't hear it, Xiaozhi, Xiaosheng, and Xiaogang in the stands still cheered for Xiaoyao with all their might, and even Xiayou was banging her support stick.