The next day, the opening ceremony.
Glory Plaza Fireworks bloom.
A huge circular stage is suspended in the center of the square. The edges of the stage are inlaid with countless lights, which change colors with the music.
The audience seats were arranged in a staircase shape around the stage and were already full of people, waving glow sticks and support boards in their hands.
Behind the stage, the highlights of the last high-level competition champion, Miss Aria, were being played on a huge holographic projection screen.
Delphox's Dance of Fire, Aromatisse's Waltz, and Gardevoir's Moonlight Solo.
Every frame is so beautiful that you can take a screenshot and use it directly as wallpaper.
Xiaoyun The group sat in the front row of the auditorium in an excellent position, facing the center of the stage.
"It's amazing, even more spectacular than what I saw on TV~"
Bonnie's eyes were wide open, his little head was spinning around, and he felt like his eyes were almost running out.
Clemont nodded. "Just looking at the scene layout, the investment in visual effects in the high-level competition is indeed much stronger than Pokémon League Conference."
Verified a sentence from the side.
People who do art are rich!
Ash stared at the performance moves. "These move combinations are also very good for use in actual combat!"
Phew!
Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the music stopped.
A bunch of Spotlight hit the center of the stage, and Pierre appeared on the stage in a dark blue dress. He held a microphone and his voice spread throughout the audience through the speakers:
"Gentlemen and ladies, welcome to the Pokémon Showcase Advanced Competition·Lumiose City venue!"
"I am Pierre, the host of this competition."
Pierre smiled and elegantly greeted the surrounding audience, which attracted a burst of applause.
"Before the competition begins, please allow me to introduce the special guest of this competition, who is also the most professional and strict judge of our Pokémon Showcase."
"Miss Palermo!"
The light turned to the side of the judges' seat, and a middle-aged woman wearing a neat suit, with short gray hair, and a serious face slowly stood up and nodded gently at the camera.
"It's Miss Palermo! I heard that she is the teacher of Queen Aria, and she has a very vicious eye!"
"Not only that, this person is said to have served as the previous Kalos Queen."
"With Miss Palermo here, the judging will be absolutely fair and impartial."
There was a murmur from the audience.
"The teacher's popularity is unexpectedly high."
Next to him, a girl with long light red hair and a white dress walked out slowly.
She has a delicate appearance and a gentle temperament with a hint of playfulness. She is followed by a Delphox.
Palermo tilted his head slightly. "Girl, are you teasing the teacher again?"
"No way, it's too late for me to respect you."
Aria said with a smile.
A rare gentle smile appeared on Palermo's face, and he looked at his proud disciple. "In terms of professionalism and popularity, Kalos is probably the only one who can compare with you, that kid Diantha."
Aria immediately made an exaggerated expression of collapse, and the image of the goddess instantly became more girl-next-door cute. "Miss Diantha, then your disciple and I are too far behind."
Their champion has the same side career as an artist like her
In the field of acting, she is at best among the top ten.
That person has always been ranked first in the list and leads the fault line. It can't be overstated to say that it is a blow to reduce dimensionality.
"Haha, then work hard, Minimize is the difference."
Palermo It was rare to see Aria showing such a childish expression, and the smile on his face became even deeper.
On the field, Pierre introduced several other judges one after another. Then he raised his voice and waved his arms to the center of the stage:
"Next, I would like to invite our Kalos shining stars, current Misses Kalos Queen and Aria, to deliver the opening speech for this high-level competition!"
"Aria Queen! Aria Queen! Aria Queen!"
The audience instantly erupted in cheers like a mountain roar and a tsunami of cheers, and the fluorescent sticks merged into a sea of light. The popularity is evident.
Aria stood up, walked to the center of the stage, smiled and waved to the audience, then took the microphone and said:
"Aria--!!"
"It's really Miss Aria herself! She's even more beautiful than on the poster!"
"This voice, I am dead! Queen kill me!"
"Is this Kalos Queen? So dazzling."
After a burst of cheers, Aria continued:
"I am very happy to come to Lumiose City again and spend this wonderful moment with all the outstanding performers."
"As Kalos Queen, I look forward to seeing everyone's wonderful performances and the birth of a new queen."
Her words are full of encouragement, but they also carry the Queen's unique sense of confidence and challenge.
Dawn looked at Aria on the stage with serious eyes.
The queen of Kalos exhibition competition is also worth fighting for.
Xiaoyun noticed her expression and asked in a low voice, "Are you nervous?"
"It's okay, it's acceptable."
Dawn said honestly, "Miss Aria's performance style is elegant and full of imagination, and her tacit understanding with Delphox is really a bit difficult."
"What happened?"
Xiaoyun held her hand with an exaggerated expression. "My Dawn is Sinnoh Princess who has been famous for a long time. How could he lose to Kalos Queen?"
Dawn was amused by him. "How can you say it is so exaggerated?"
In fact, I thought to myself: It's difficult, but that's all.
At this time, Pierre continued to announce the rules of the competition:
"This high-level competition is divided into two stages: a free exhibition competition, and the final title battle."
"There are 27 contestants in the free performance competition, which is divided into three rounds."
"The first round: a group of three people. Each person uses a Pokémon to perform freely. The judges will score. The person with the highest score in each group will advance."
"Second Round: Teams of three again, same rules."
"Third round: The remaining three contestants each use more than two Pokémon to perform in combination, and the one with the highest score advances to the final battle."
"And the final battle for the title--"
Pierre Sound improved:
"The winner of the free performance competition will have a free performance showdown with the current Miss Kalos Queen Aria!
"The winner will be given the title of the new Kalos Queen."
After the rules were announced, the audience was excited again.
Xiaoyun raised his eyebrows slightly and said to Dawn in a low voice:
"Twenty-seven people participated... this number is far worse than your Grand Festival."
There are so few local contestants, no wonder Pokémon Showcase is only popular in Kalos and has limited influence in other regions.
Dawn nodded and explained, "Pokémon Contest is the result of Master Wallace's efforts to promote it in various places for many years. It is really not easy to achieve the scale and influence it has today."
Xiaoyun quite agrees with this.
You can say that Wallace is not a good champion, but you cannot say that his contribution to Pokémon Contest is not good.
"Pokémon Showcase, it may still be in the development stage, and maybe it will become more and more popular in the future."
"Then, I declare--"
Pierre raised his right hand high. "Pokémon Showcase High-level competition has officially begun!"
The contestants entered the backstage one after another.
The 27 contestants were divided into 9 groups, with three people from each group taking the stage at the same time to show off the charm of Pokémon within five minutes.
The high-level competition has no theme and is all free performance.
It also tests the true strength of the players.
The judges will score from four dimensions: beauty, skill, tacit understanding and creativity.
Among the players in the first group is Serena.
She and two other players - Xinli, an indifferent girl who uses Glaceon, and...
"Oh ho ho ho ho! Master Jessie Lina is coming!"
Xiaoyun Almost took a sip of the drink Spit Up came.
"Sisters, do you want to be so Swagger?"
I saw Jessie wearing an extremely exaggerated purple tutu, with rich stage makeup on her face, and letting out a signature villain laugh.
Meowth was wearing an awkward little dress, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "So, why do you have to appear in such a shameful way every time, meow..."
Clemont and Ash obviously didn't notice. They were looking at the stage intently and cheering for Serena.
"Come on Serena, show your momentum."
"It's okay to win one game!"
On the stage, the lights turned on, focusing on the three contestants.
How could she win? She came here as a pure bastard.
Serena had a headache, so he naturally sent out Delphox.
Delphox is holding a wooden stick, his eyes are calm, and he has a mysterious aura, which actually creates a lot of scenes for the somewhat nervous Serena.
Serena thought: Just follow your feeling.
Delphox, this one depends on you!
The Pokémon sent by Xinli is Glaceon.
Jessie put on a pose that he thought was extremely elegant, and waved his hand to Meowth:
"Come on, my lovely Meowth! Let the world be enchanted by our charm!"
"The first group in the first round, the performance begins!"
Pierre announced.
Almost at the same time, Serena took the lead and decided to start the game in the most familiar and safest way:
"Delphox, Mystical Fire!"
"Fuho~"
Delphox waved the scepter, and a brilliant Mystical Fire spurted out, quickly forming several fire rings of different sizes in the air.
The fire rings move slowly and intersperse with each other, forming a simple dynamic flame totem.
"Yes, the flame control is very stable, and the trainer's rhythm with Pokémon Synchronize rate is very high."
At the judges' table, an old judge with a beard nodded.
Another judge wearing glasses frowned slightly. "It's okay, but a little bit ordinary in terms of creativity."
Xinli takes the cold and aloof route.
"Glaceon, Icy Wind."
Glaceon called out softly, exhaling the icy cold wind and weaving it in the air.
As it is controlled, the ice crystals form complex geometric patterns in the air.
Snowflakes, ice edges, and even a miniature ice castle!
"Wow! It's so beautiful." The audience exclaimed.
"The precise control of Ice-type energy and the transformation of moves into artistic creation are very thoughtful."
The female judge praised it.
On the other side, when Serena and Xinli were demonstrating exquisite energy control, Jessie pulled out a palm-sized portable speaker from his backpack at some point.
"Let me show you what a real performance is!"
Then she grabbed Meowth beside her, and one person and one cat immediately got into position, and an almost selfless dance began directly on the stage.
Jessie's movements are stretched and vigorous, and Meowth follows Jessie's movements throughout the whole process.
The two of them did not use any moves at all, but relied on their tacit cooperation to perform a unique and wonderful performance.
This unconventional performance has become the most eye-catching alternative scenery on the stage.
The judges also looked at each other and nodded. "Jessie Lina contestant's performance is very innovative..."
Palermo nodded. "Interesting way."
Aria also noticed this. "They are so happy, it feels like joy."
This dance without the blessing of moves seemed incompatible with the energy display on the stage, but their attention was on these two people.
So much so that Xinli and Serena in the performance were ignored.
When the performance time came, the three of them stopped.
Pierre announced the results, "The first group to advance is contestant Jessie Lina!"
Jessie raised his head and laughed proudly, "Haha! Did you see it, little girl! This is the art of big sister!"
Meowth curled his lips. "It's obviously all Meowth's fault..."
Serena looked at Jessie's confident look, then looked at Xinli's exquisite ice castle that was slowly Acid Armor, and then thought about his own rings of fire.
Forget it, it's not unfair to lose.
Her routine is okay in ordinary competitions, but it's almost useless in high-level exhibition competitions.
Anyway, I don't really want to dig deep on the satellite stage.
But as soon as she stepped down, Ash rushed up to comfort her:
"It's okay Serena, we will continue to work hard next time and we will definitely win!"
Serena smiled and nodded, "Okay."
"Double update +1"