Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

However, this time, the number of audience members gathered in the venue was significantly higher than usual.

"What's going on here?"

Although puzzled, Luo Wei still walked towards the backstage preparation room, taking Manchong and Lillie with him.

Although the rules state that only contestants are allowed in the preparation room, Luo Wei said that Lillie and Manchong were his assistants, so they readily let them in.

As long as the number of participants isn't too ridiculous, they won't make things difficult for the people the contestants bring, since many contestants do bring their own makeup and styling teams.

Arriving at the backstage preparation room, Luo Wei was considering picking out a performance outfit. Before that, he had spent three days looking but hadn't found one that suited his taste, and he was already prepared to just make do with whatever he could find.

As soon as he stepped into the backstage preparation room, he saw a figure surrounded by several contestants participating in the qualifying rounds, like a star surrounded by the moon.

"……what?"

Upon seeing the other person, Manchong immediately recognized them.

"Miss Rukia? Why would she..."

As a fairly famous idol, it's not surprising that Manch knows her, since the main body of Rukia's fans are teenagers of Manch and Luo Wei's age.

However, Luo Wei doesn't usually care much about these things; all his attention is on Pokémon, so he's not very familiar with them.

Fully charged up, which is quite consistent with the normal reaction of a teenager of this age.

Rukia spotted Rowe immediately and waved to him generously.

"Yay, we meet again~"

"...Hmm, we meet again. No wonder there were so many spectators out of nowhere, so that's why."

For a moment, Luo Wei was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry...

Chapter 125 Door-to-Door Delivery

"...So, Ms. Rukia will be serving as a special judge for this Super Tournament?"

"That's right, that's exactly it~"

"..."

For a moment, Luo Wei didn't know how to react. It seemed that this matter had little to do with him. After all, no matter who the special judge was, Luo Wei's task would not change.

He only needs to follow the script he has prepared and present the performance he wants to deliver; nothing else has any direct connection to him as a contestant.

Once I understood this, nothing else mattered, however...

"...Well then, this is a small gift from a senior, for you~"

As if by magic, Rukia casually pulled out a tote bag from behind her. Luo Wei was stunned for a moment, then quickly reached out and took it. When he opened it, he found a complete performance costume inside.

"……ah"

"I think if I'm going to participate in a glamour contest, I'll definitely need several outfits. Although these are styles I prepared based on my personal aesthetic, I don't know if they'll suit me~"

"...Before that, I have a question I'd like to ask: how did Ms. Rukia know my size?!"

If it was a performance outfit specially prepared for Luo Wei, then regardless of the style, isn't the body size more important?

Faced with this question, Rukia smiled and pointed to her eyes, "I'm quite confident in my ability to estimate size, you know. Besides, Luo Wei's build isn't anything special, just a very ordinary standard build, so it's easy to determine his approximate size~"

That's true. Luo Wei's body type is very well-proportioned and standard, which is commonly known as "one size fits all". Preparing according to this size will most likely not result in any accidents.

Luo Wei thought for two seconds. That's right, in the game, Rukia does indeed give players corresponding performance outfits during the Grand Contest storyline.

However, while you can treat it as part of the gameplay in the game, suddenly being given clothes by a senior in real life feels like there's some other unexpected element involved.

In an instant, everyone's attention turned to them. Of course, no matter what, this was just a personal action by this person, and even if others had doubts, they certainly wouldn't ask directly.

The manager standing next to her must have known beforehand, and it's highly likely that this performance outfit was prepared by Rukia at her request.

In short, after thinking for two seconds, Luo Wei felt that he should indeed feel a little guilty for refusing someone's invitation to add him on the phone number last time... and for refusing someone's kindness again this time.

"...Thank you, I will make good use of this costume and give a performance worthy of it!"

"Well, then it's worth it~"

After settling the matter, the girl waved her hand dismissively, then her gaze swept past Rowe before settling on Lillie.

"Oh, what an adorable child!"

She immediately hopped over in two steps, her eyes shining so brightly that Lillie couldn't help but instinctively take two steps back.

"...Huh? Ah?"

She was clearly somewhat confused by the situation, and so was Rowe.

Even the masked cat next to Rowe was stunned. Because of Ryukia's reaction just now, the masked cat's dissatisfaction was about to overflow. However, just when this dissatisfaction was about to be visible to the naked eye, Ryukia's attention actually shifted directly from Rowe to Lillie.

Lillie is now wearing a wig and colored contact lenses, which is more or less a makeover. She is suddenly being praised for being cute, which makes her feel a little overwhelmed.

Honestly, it's only because Rukia herself is a beautiful girl. If it were someone else, her words and attitude would have warranted calling the police.

"...Lucia," the manager standing next to her was also getting a little impatient, but Lucia didn't care at all and spoke to Lillie.

"So, interested in taking on the Grand Contest?"

"Uh, but... but I'm not a trainer..."

Lillie responded softly, a hint of regret appearing on her face at that moment, "Oh, that's a shame. She's so cute; even if she weren't an idol, she would definitely have been a very popular contestant~"

"..."

This should be considered a fairly high compliment, considering that the other party has achieved considerable success in the Contests. However, Lillie is not a Trainer, so it's certain that they have no chance in this area for now.

After confirming this, Rukia decisively took two steps back to step aside.

"Hmm, it was definitely the right choice to take a day off today. Alright then... please make sure I get a proper audience with you on the field later~"

She waved her hand and, as if appearing out of nowhere, vanished from everyone's sight with incredibly light steps.

She was truly a girl who came and went like the wind...

"So, that means... Miss Rukia came specifically for Rowe?"

Man Chong finally snapped out of his daze. There was no way he could help it; the situation was just too unbelievable, and it was understandable that he hadn't quite grasped it yet.

"...I think she probably just came here for fun, so don't overthink it. I've only met Miss Rukia once."

They didn't even have much interaction on that one visit; they didn't exchange more than ten words in total. Logically speaking, it was probably just a simple senior-junior relationship.

However, if it's just a senior-junior interaction, and this person specifically used their vacation to come over and even brought performance costumes, it seems like they're being overly concerned.

Of course, Luo Wei considered that Daigo had previously said that Rukia's master was also very interested in his performance, which was probably because of Michael.

In any case, this was just a simple little episode. After calming down, Luo Wei was ready to go on stage.

"Just do it the way we rehearsed before. Although we can't rehearse the last part, or rather, we can't rehearse the specific effect, it doesn't matter. According to the calculations, it should be about right, so let's just do it like this!"

Luo Wei was saying things that Lillie and Manchong were very concerned about: what exactly was this so-called special performance, and why was Luo Wei making it so mysterious?

Of course, I'll be on stage soon, and whether it's a good job or a bad one, I'll definitely see it soon.

and so……

After changing into his performance outfit and greeting Eevee and Masked Cat, Rowe stepped onto the stage from backstage and stood with several other contestants who were also participating in the qualifying rounds.

"Contestant Luo Wei, beginner level ribbon, please advise~"

Chapter 126 Please Begin Your Performance

"Contestant Luo Wei, beginner level ribbon, please advise~"

As soon as Luo Wei stepped onto the field, he immediately attracted most of the attention...

...The reason is simple: the combination of Meowth and Eevee is indeed quite eye-catching. Rare Pokémon without native populations in the Hoenn region are already attractive enough, and Meowth's own appearance is also quite striking.

With Ibrahimovic, a standard popular star, here, it's incredibly easy for him to capture people's attention at first glance.

So, the next step is to determine the stage theme...

"This time, the theme is... growth and bonds!"

"Oh?"

The theme of the first performance was "love," a grand and classic theme that has been performed countless times. However, because the theme was so vast, it was a bit presumptuous for a newcomer to choose it.

Fortunately, Lo Wei's presentation was decent back then, and this time, Lo Wei's theme is once again incredibly classic...

Growth and bonds are timeless topics that no Pokémon trainer can ignore. In fact, one of the core purposes of Pokémon battles and even Pokémon Contests is to showcase the process of growing together and building deep bonds.

As for Pokémon battles and Pokémon Contests, they are merely processes and means to witness the results of growth. The ultimate goal is to prove the bond between humans and Pokémon.

"Growth and bonds are truly classic themes. So, how will they be presented?"

Come on, let your performance begin!

Luo Wei and his companion nodded, and the performance began...

As the performance began, Lowe followed the rhythm and danced in sync with Eevee beside him. After counting to three, Eevee appeared on stage from the right side.

Meanwhile, Masked Cat, on the other side, also stepped onto the stage from the left side with steady steps.

"Ok?"

This mutual introduction on stage had already given the judges in the audience a clue.

Generally speaking, if characters appear on stage from different directions, those appearing from the right side of the stage are usually the "protagonists," while those appearing from the left side are the "villains."

Of course, there is no fixed rule. It doesn't matter which direction the main character enters from for the sake of stage effect. It's just a classic impression left over from the stage plays of the old days.

This is precisely why the classic rule exists: "Throughout history, the left side of a wave has always been the weakest point."

Since the villain is the one who appears on the left, naturally the villain loses in the end.

Judging from Luo Wei's stage presence, it seems he intends to clearly distinguish between the "pro" and "anti" factions, which means...