Chapter 301: The Kaina Grand Festival

Said to be a stroll, in reality he didn't dare go too far.

Kaina City had too many out-of-town tourists; the moment they heard a gorgeous contest was being held here, the crowd surged over in an instant.

In the blink of an eye.

The area around the gorgeous contest venue was packed wall-to-wall.

Among these people were not only spectators, but also a large number of contestants; groups upon groups of Pokémon of every color occupied the lawns, pools, and roads,

Looking both lively and noisy.

"Registration used to close at ten, now it closes at nine, and the contest time has been moved from one in the afternoon to ten in the morning…"

Baimu looked at the notification on his phone, clicking his tongue.

Different cities' gorgeous contests have different registration rules and start times; in big cities, gorgeous contests always start a bit earlier — no special reason, just the crowds.

So many that as he watched and counted, there were at least two hundred people.

Exaggerating a bit, giving each person one and a half minutes of performance time for their Pokémon, and factoring in switching time and halftime breaks, the second round of judging probably wouldn't happen until three or four in the afternoon.

Fortunately, the second round of judging usually only has eight to four people advancing, and each battle only lasts five minutes, so it'll definitely finish before dark.

"Me! I'm back!"

Dawn and Piplup squeezed through the packed crowd, panting as they came to his side, and said dejectedly: "Sold out…"

"Pip-pip…"

She had just spotted a temporary stall selling cute hairpins, and rushed in with Piplup to grab one; when Baimu asked if she wanted help, she replied with a "no problem."

The result, naturally, was that she lost out.

"Did you get the stall owner's number?"

Baimu asked.

"Why would I want his number?"

"Of course to ask him when he'll restock and have him save one for you. You don't think he'll make his money on this wave and never come back, do you?"

"Ah! That actually sounds doable!"

Dawn came to her senses, hurriedly turned to look for that stall owner, but the person had long since vanished; even more dejected, she said, "He's already gone."

"It's fine, we can come back out and buy after the contest ends — he's definitely still around."

Baimu offered a word of comfort, and said: "The contest is about to start, let's head in and get ready."

Dawn pulled herself together and nodded.

——

"Sea breeze, sunshine, golden beach."

"Excitement, thrill, gorgeous venue!"

The elegant brown-haired lady held a microphone and spoke in a sweet, girlish voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting — welcome to Kaina City!

"I am your host for this contest, Vivian, and I hereby declare the Pokémon Gorgeous Contest Kaina Grand Festival officially open!"

Cheers and applause rang out together; countless spectators sat in their seats with high spirits, looking forward to the wonderful performances to come.

Vivian smiled lightly as she arrived at the judges' panel and announced: "This is the Vice Director of the Grand Festival Executive Bureau, Mr. Patstein, who will provide strict yet caring judging for the contestants."

Gray-haired Patstein stood up and bowed slightly to the audience with a beaming smile.

"Mr. Yanase of the Pokémon Fan Club!"

The strikingly handsome Yanase nodded in greeting.

"And Miss Joy of Kaina City. These three judges will judge the contestants that follow."

Miss Joy smiled and curtsied.

Vivian looked up, and a green ribbon appeared on the giant silver screen above the venue.

"The coordinator and Pokémon who win this Grand Festival's championship will receive the Kaina Ribbon Medal; contestants who obtain five Gorgeous Contest Ribbon Badges will have the chance to participate in the Pokémon Gorgeous Contest Grand Festival!"

Thunderous applause.

"Then, the first round of judging begins! Please welcome our first contestant!"

The lights gathered on Vivian shifted, illuminating the first contestant to take the stage.

In the preparation room.

Dawn had changed into her princess dress — a pale blue and white gauze gown paired with long hair draped over her shoulders, star-shaped ornaments hanging on either side of her hair tips, deep blue gloves matched with pretty low-heeled leather shoes — looking both cute and beautiful.

A full-on aura of girliness washed over him.

She looked around, and quickly spotted Baimu in a crisp suit, radiating a pressure he normally didn't have; she hesitated a moment before approaching and saying: "Baimu?"

"It's me — changed clothes and you can't recognize me?" the latter said with a smile.

"No, no, I just now realized how tall you are — I actually have to tilt my head up to talk to you!" Dawn scooted up in front of Baimu and compared their heights.

She discovered that her forehead only reached his chest.

"I'm older than you, isn't it normal that I'm taller?"

Baimu spread his hands helplessly.

When interacting with Dawn before, he had always kept his distance, so that she wouldn't have to strain to look up to talk to him, nor feel uncomfortable being too close to the opposite sex.

"Hehe."

Miss No Problem beamed, looked his suit up and down, and couldn't help but praise: "This outfit really suits you, it feels like you've become a different person. If I'd seen you with this kind of presence back then, I definitely wouldn't have dared talk to you much."

Baimu replied: "It's fine, as long as Piplup dares to. And if you wore that dress out, I wouldn't dare talk to you either — people would think a princess was out on an inspection tour."

The two mutual flatterers both laughed.

Speaking of princesses, though, in the Diamond & Pearl arc there really is one who looks exactly like Dawn, except with different hairstyle, outfit, and voice.

If he remembered correctly, she was called Princess Salvia.

Dawn's Togekiss was given to her by this princess, in the hope that she could participate in the Grand Gorgeous Festival.

Unfortunately, in the end Xiaoguang failed to defeat Xiaowang and become a top-tier Coordinator.

On the other hand.

The moment he changed into this "battle outfit," he was immediately recognized by the people around him, and many stared at him whispering, clearly treating him as a formidable opponent to come.

And as their gaze shifted, Xiaoguang, who looked just like a Princess, also came into view. There was no doubt that as a winner of various regional Pokémon Contests, her fame was in no way inferior to All Baimu's, who had risen to fame entirely through videos.

For a moment, countless gazes were like sharp blades, forcing the two of them to move elsewhere.

"Being too famous doesn't seem like such a good thing."

Xiaoguang said with a smile.

"That's true."

All Baimu nodded in deep agreement, glanced up at the TV at the front of the prep room, and said, "Whew, time's passed pretty fast—only about ten more people before it's your turn."

"This young lady shall take her leave first."

Hearing his words, she deliberately switched to a different tone, lifted the two sides of her Princess dress, and gave a slight curtsy.

She probably picked that up from Princess Salvia.

All Baimu watched her leave, then shifted his gaze to the TV, observing whether there were any particularly threatening Coordinators.

It had to be said.

There were quite a lot of talented people in the Kaina Conference—within such a short time, two had already reached 28 points, and five had reached 27 points. The competition was so fierce it was painful to watch.

It was really even more cutthroat than a Gym Challenge.

Fortunately, participating in the Grand Pokémon Contest only required five Ribbons. If it were eight Ribbons like the Gym Challenge, the number of people who could enter the Grand Pokémon Contest would definitely not be that large.