Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Several days ago, those evolution stones had already shown signs of transforming into Mega Stones, so the final successful transformation shouldn't be too far off.

Daigo said helplessly, "It's still early. It's just a prototype. It's expected to take at least another month."

Xia Chen was somewhat surprised, "Isn't a month fast enough? That island has existed for who knows how long, and only a few have been born there."

Daigo explained, "That's because the number of evolution stones on the island is limited, and it has nothing to do with time. However, a month is indeed quite good. Without the catalytic stimulation of life energy, the time might be more than ten times longer."

…………

The two chatted as they entered a room with cartoon images of Garchomp and Lucario hanging on the door.

Needless to say, these are the two elves that Cynthia left behind here.

Xia Chen smiled slightly and decided to go in and offer his condolences.

Speaking of which, when I stayed at Cynthia's house last year, my elf got along quite well with them.

I politely rang the doorbell, and Lucario, my dog, answered the door.

Upon seeing Xia Chen, her initially wary gaze turned to surprise and gentleness.

Lucario turned slightly to the side and invited Xia Chen and Sylveon behind him into the room, while Daigo was ruthlessly blocked outside. It seemed that the dog was not very friendly to strangers.

Xia Chen gestured to Daigo, who looked somewhat embarrassed, to wait outside for a while. The latter nodded helplessly and took out the few super stones that had not yet been fully transformed.

It seems he's trying to pass the time while engrossed in the stones, which is very Daigo-like.

Xia Chen ignored him and closed the door to tour the two elves' temporary residence.

The room was spacious and simple, just like most people's impression of an elf's dwelling.

While it's possible that some Pokémon enjoy playing mobile games, they are a minority. Most Pokémon have very simple needs for shelter—to put it bluntly, they just need to be able to eat, drink, and relieve themselves.

Garchomp and Lucario obviously don't have that bad habit.

"But aren't you guys bored? Staying here all the time."

Xia Chen sat down cross-legged on the ground, holding Fairy Cloth. The two Pokémon, like their trainer, were clean, and the ground was spotless.

"Kaaaaaah—(Not bad, when I'm bored I go find other Pokémon to fight, most of them are pretty strong.)"

Garchomp said so.

Xia Chen chuckled and shook his head. These must be the Pokémon left here by the other trainers who were invited to conduct the experiment.

Starting at Gym Leader level, that's pretty impressive... Garchomp is still the battle maniac it always has been.

Xia Chen turned to look at Lucario and asked curiously, "What about you? Are you the same as Garchomp?"

The dog shook its head, its black twin tails swaying back and forth.

"Luca—(I'll only hit her.)"

The paw-shaped claws covered in sharp, short bony spikes pointed at Garchomp, who looked at it with disdain.

"Kahoo? (Can you beat me?)"

Although the two elves have known each other for many years, their competitive spirit has never ceased. Xia Chen had witnessed this at Cynthia's house before, so he was used to it now.

He acted as a peacemaker, saying, "Alright, that's all in the past. Let's have a showdown after you've all super-evolved."

This topic, as expected, calmed the already not-too-strong atmosphere in the room. The two of them had seen Super Sylveon's amazing performance on TV a few days ago, and now they were filled with anticipation for their own super evolution.

Lucario, who is usually aloof and arrogant, suddenly blushed as if he were shy.

She whispered, "Luca—(Um, if you could, could you tell me what it looks like after Mega Evolution?)"

Xia Chen chuckled softly. This guy, does he have to be so shy to ask a question?

"Of course, no problem. Let me think... Super Lucario looks especially cool..."

…………

"Okay, I have something to do in a bit, I have to go."

After chatting with the two lonely elves for a while, Xia Chen stood up to leave.

Before parting, Garchomp suddenly said meaningfully, "Kaa ...

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback, then turned his head and waved, saying, "Thanks for the reminder, that day will come."

Lucario smiled like an aunt and quietly closed the door.

Daigo, who had been waiting outside for a long time, scratched his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Which day will it be?"

"It's nothing, let's go."

Xia Chen spent the morning checking on the experiment's progress with Daigo. In the afternoon, Mikuri urged him to return to the Grand Festival competition.

In theory, once you enter the semi-finals, you'll be using the newly implemented "Glamour Battle" format, which doesn't require judges to score you.

But that scoundrel Mikel went so far as to make Xia Chen also do the commentary job, saying things like, "With you commentating, at least ten million more viewers will watch."

Xia Chen couldn't refuse him, so she had to take on another job.

Actually, this wasn't his first time doing commentary. I remember at the end of the year before last, he did commentary on the Masters 8 tournament between Cynthia and Adek in his own live stream.

After the match, Cynthia even came to my live stream to send gifts, which was the beginning of their friendship.

Therefore, Xia Chen is not exactly a complete novice in the field of commentary. He is just more casual than the official commentators and sometimes makes some jokes.

Back then, he even commented that "Cynda doesn't know how to use the Pokémon Rockruff." Now, when commentating on matches featuring a group of people who are considered his juniors, he continues to offer sharp critiques.

"Wow, how can that flamethrower miss?"

"My fairy cloth is placed better with her feet than this..."

"Uh... this meteor shower technique just needs improvement."

Backstage, Mikoli watched the live stream data rise steadily, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Did this guy... treat the official live stream like his private live stream room?

The key point is that what I said before actually came true. Since Xia Chen started commentating, the number of viewers in various live broadcast rooms has jumped from less than 50 million to nearly 60 million.

"No matter what, it's a good thing."

Ma Xiu looked at the young man chatting and laughing on the screen and smiled gently.

…………

October arrived before we knew it, and the grand celebration entered its final stage.

On October 7th, the grand celebration ushered in its final day.

Besides Rukia and Melissa, who were considered the favorites to win the championship before the competition, the other two players who made it to the semifinals were quite unexpected: Hikari and Serena.

However, Xia Chen, who had watched the whole process, felt that the two girls' outstanding performances deserved their place in the top four.

Unfortunately, both of them faced two other opponents in the semifinals, and their chances of winning are slim.

Xia Chen is not in charge of the commentary today because Mikeli felt that it was a bit strange that the final award presenter had just stepped down from the commentary booth.

Xia Chen was happy to have some free time, so he let him be.

He then stayed comfortably in the VIP section to watch the grand celebration come to a close.

It's worth mentioning that the new battle format, "Glamour Battle," has gained considerable acceptance and popularity among viewers. Since entering the semifinals, the competition's popularity has been steadily rising. Although it's still quite a distance from the exhibition match at the opening ceremony, it's already on par with the traditional league tournament.

Xia Chen was very satisfied with the result, after all, this was only the second year since the Grand Contest was born, and the future was promising.

There were no upsets in the two semi-final matches this morning. Both Ryukia and Melissa won their matches by a large margin and advanced to the final.

Although the two girls were very sad, they forced smiles and held back their tears, preventing them from shedding their pearls on the field.

Perhaps their performance in the semifinals has already exceeded their pre-competition goals, but having come this far, it's impossible for them not to have any thoughts about the final championship trophy.

Regardless, their stage at this grand celebration has come to an end, and the ultimate champion will be decided between Rukia and Melissa.

…………

The afternoon finals were equally exciting, with Lucia and Melissa fiercely battling it out for a total of 15 minutes across three matches.

In the end, Lucia defeated Melissa, the Ghost-type Gym Leader from the Sinnoh region, with an extremely narrow margin of 30-0, and won the championship of this Grand Festival.

During the tense situation, Melissa remembered her identity as a gym leader and tried to win by overwhelming her with her strength. However, she was repeatedly thwarted by Ryukia with her gorgeous moves, which resulted in her losing a lot of points.

That's how spectacular battles are. Defeating your opponent's Pokémon to win is one way, but it could also be a wonderful trap.

Clearly, Rukia had grasped the essence of it.

Melissa, being a gym leader, generously congratulated Ryukia after losing the match.

Amidst applause and cheers from the audience, defending champion Xia Chen presented the trophy to the new champion, Liu Qiya.

The grand celebration has now come to a successful conclusion.

------

"Are you leaving so soon? Shouldn't you wait a little longer? The first batch of super stones should be ready in about half a month."

At the Mikuri Manor, Xia Chen was spending his last leisurely afternoon in Sootopolis with two friends he had met in the Hoenn region.

Upon hearing that Xia Chen would be leaving tomorrow, Daigo frowned and asked.

Today is October 10th, the third day after the grand festival ended. After saying goodbye to Serena and Milotic who went to Sky Pillar for training with Rayquaza, Xia Chen decided to end his two-month-long trip to Hoenn.

"Parting is inevitable. Things are mostly settled here. I still have a small island and a dojo waiting for me to build."

Xia Chen smiled slightly and invited, "When the dojo opens, you two must come and support us."

Daigo nodded without hesitation, "I'll go challenge the Gym with Mega Metagross then."

Michael elegantly set down his teacup, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Speaking of which, you're a gym leader now, so you'll be eligible to participate in next year's World Gym Leader Tournament."

Upon hearing this, Xia Chen suddenly became interested.

The matches between gym leaders are so much fun! You get to see a whole bunch of trainers you know from the games and anime.

However, the problem is...

"Are there really that many spots available for the competition? There are over a dozen dojos in our Donghuang region. How can a new dojo master like me go?"

Mikuri explained with a smile, "Only four gym leaders from each region can represent their region in the competition. If it's Xia Chen-san, I believe there won't be any problem."

Xia Chen nodded reluctantly, "Okay, I'll try..."

Given Uncle Longyuan's strength, he will surely have one spot reserved. Among the remaining gym leaders, there are also many powerful individuals who are close to or even possess the strength of a Heavenly King.