The weather was sunny, and it seemed that the heavens knew there was going to be a beauty pageant today. There were no clouds, no wind, and no rain, which made Ash a little uncomfortable.
To be honest, Ash didn't really want to attend this beauty pageant because it was boring, but he couldn't resist Misty and Brock's interest. So, he could only follow them, and went to the beach early after breakfast.
The beauty pageant was held on the beach, with no shade from the sun. Ash wondered if the heat would be unbearable.
When they arrived at the beach, it was only eight o'clock, and the beauty pageant wasn't until nine. Although they came early, there were already people on the beach, and a large stage had been built. Some people were doing debugging on it.
Below the stage was the divided auditorium. After a rough look, Ash estimated it could only accommodate two to three hundred people. There were also people guarding the seats, preventing anyone without tickets from entering.
"Damn it, you have to buy a ticket to get in, and it's already sold out!" Brock went to find out the situation and returned to Ash and Misty a while later, saying with regret on his face.
"I said this beauty pageant was pointless..." Ash said speechlessly. Since there were no seats, they could only stand outside and watch. Pikachu also sighed.
"No matter what, I want to see these beautiful ladies!" Brock's fighting spirit ignited, undeterred by the scorching sun!
As nine o'clock approached, more and more people gathered on the beach, surrounding the stage like a sea of people.
Ash wanted to leave, but Misty grabbed his clothes tightly and refused to let him go. In the end, he had no choice but to stay. As the start of the pageant drew nearer, the crowd grew larger.
Ash did his best to protect Misty. They were positioned very close to the front and had a clear view of the stage. Brock, who was next to them, had been squeezed out of sight.
The beauty pageant soon began. Although Ash wasn't interested, he was curious about the competition's process, so he watched quietly while protecting Misty.
Introduced by the emcee, three judges emerged from backstage. Among them, Ash only recognized Nurse Joy, who seemed to be the Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center in Rampur.
The other two seemed quite popular, as the audience cheered after their appearance, but Ash didn't recognize them, having never paid attention to this aspect.
After a while, the beauty pageant started. The number of contestants seemed to have been screened, with only 32 remaining. As the first contestant took the stage, Ash discovered that the beauty pageant involved not only the contestants but also their Pokémon.
"Is this a beauty pageant similar to the Contest? Or... is this the prototype of the Contest?" Ash touched his chin, but the people behind him suddenly bumped into him, forcing him to put his hands down immediately and brace himself against the fence in front to avoid hurting Misty.
"She's so beautiful, this contestant!"
Misty's eyes sparkled as she watched the contestants dancing with their Pokémon on stage.
The first contestant was indeed very beautiful, with long black hair and a contrasting white swimsuit. Her skin was snow-white, complementing the white swimsuit and highlighting her delicate complexion.
Each contestant's performance lasted about five minutes, followed by scoring from the three judges. Ash estimated the time. With thirty-two contestants, it meant the preliminary round alone would take the entire morning.
At twelve o'clock noon, the preliminary round finally concluded. The list of sixteen contestants advancing to the semi-finals in the afternoon was determined based on their scores.
The competition temporarily paused, allowing the judges to rest and eat, and the audience dispersed. At 1:30 p.m., the competition resumed.
Ash and Misty couldn't find Brock, but they weren't worried about him. They went to eat together, and during the meal, Misty kept talking to Ash about how beautiful the contestants were, while observing his reactions.
But Ash was genuinely not interested and didn't respond much to Misty, focusing mainly on his lunch. This made Misty quite satisfied.
In the afternoon, the beauty pageant continued. After the semi-finals, eight contestants remained, competing for the championship.
"Next, the rules of the finals differ from the preliminary and semi-finals.
While the contestants need to showcase themselves, they must also allow their Pokémon to display their charm.
This can be achieved in various ways, even by using moves." Before the start of the finals, the emcee introduced the rules.
"Isn't this the Contest competition?" Ash was taken aback and couldn't help but say aloud. It wasn't just the Contest competition, but also some shadows of the Triple Crown satellite competition.
"Contest competition...?" Misty, who was leaning against Ash's arms, was slightly taken aback, then turned her head to look at Ash behind her and asked in confusion.
"Well, it's the rules of the Contest competition, just the rules of the first round of the Contest competition." Ash nodded, and then explained to Misty what the Contest competition was.
The Contest competition is also a kind of Pokémon competition, but compared with Pokémon battle competitions, Contest competitions pay more attention to the charm that Pokémon can display.
The first round involves the combined performance of Pokémon and Coordinator, showcasing the Pokémon's charm. The second round is the Contest battle.
The purpose of the Contest battle isn't to defeat the Rival, but to show the charm of moves through the use and combination of various moves, thereby reducing the opponent's score. When time runs out, the side with the lower score loses. Of course, you can also win by defeating your Rival.
After listening to Ash's explanation, Misty nodded slightly but didn't pay much attention to it. She wasn't very interested in this kind of Contest competition, but she was somewhat intrigued that Ash knew so much about it.
"I also learned about it from Professor Oak." Ash could only lie like this, and then quickly changed the subject, "It seems that the Kanto Region intends to introduce the Contest competition project."
When Misty heard this, she understood what was going on after thinking about it. This so-called beauty pageant was probably just to see how the market responded. If the public accepted it, maybe they would really introduce a Contest competition.
The reason for introducing the Contest competition was simple: to attract more Trainers from all over the world to the Kanto Region, so that the Kanto Region could have more talents of all kinds to join and help it grow.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, the competition ended, and finally the first, second, and third place winners were announced. The three winners were all beautiful, and during the demonstration session, Ash had to admit that the combination of some moves gave him some inspiration.
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