"Oh—okay!!"
Hearing the staff member's suggestion, Jun Matsumoto immediately placed his Poké Ball into the red launch slot without hesitation.
The moment the Poké Ball settled into the socket, the audience outside saw a streak of crimson light descend onto the diving platform above the Water Cube arena.
The light faded.
A large orange-red crab Pokémon appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was Kingler.
Since this was a Pokémon Beauty Contest, the organizers had installed countless cameras around the diving platform and the Water Cube arena to fully capture each Pokémon's "beauty" from every possible angle.
The footage would then be projected in crystal-clear quality onto the arena's massive electronic displays and holographic screens.
—
"Kingler…"
SPLASH!!
No one knew whether the Trainer had failed to rehearse properly with his Pokémon beforehand…
But the instant Kingler appeared atop the diving platform and saw the countless cameras along with all five thousand spectators—
It panicked.
The poor thing became so nervous and stiff that it immediately lost balance and tumbled straight into the pool below.
—
"Kinglr-gulu…"
Because it was too tense, even after sinking into the water, Kingler's movements became completely awkward.
Normally, Kingler walked sideways.
But now?
It was somehow walking vertically while flailing around in utter panic.
The entire scene instantly turned into a complete disaster.
—
"Hahahahaha!!"
"Hahahahaha!!"
The audience burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Meanwhile, backstage in the contestant waiting hall, the remaining participants only grew even more nervous after witnessing Kingler's catastrophic performance.
—
"Contestant showcase complete. Audience judges, please begin voting."
After the one-minute showcase ended, an emotionless electronic voice echoed throughout the arena.
The spectators immediately picked up their voting devices and began casting votes for Kingler.
Although Kingler's awkward vertical walking had entertained everyone, the overall performance had undeniably been a disaster.
On top of that—
Kingler simply wasn't considered a particularly "beautiful" Pokémon to begin with.
One minute later, voting officially closed.
"First Round Contestant Number One — Kingler."
"Final vote count: 1,327 votes."
"Did not meet advancement requirements."
"Eliminated."
The electronic announcer emotionlessly declared the results.
Immediately afterward, a hidden underwater passage beneath the Water Cube pool opened, and Kingler exited the stage in disappointment.
"Sigh…"
Backstage, Jun Matsumoto retrieved his Poké Ball from the return slot and shook his head helplessly.
His expression was full of regret.
On the electronic display showing the First Round contestant order, his portrait card at the very front had already transformed into a glaring red "×".
The disappointment on his face became even more obvious.
No one nearby stepped forward to comfort him.
Because honestly—
Kingler's earlier performance had served as a brutal wake-up call for everyone else.
Before participating in a Pokémon Beauty Contest, Trainers needed to communicate properly with their Pokémon.
The Pokémon had to understand beforehand that they would be stepping onto a stage in front of five thousand spectators for a public showcase performance.
The Trainer couldn't be the only one mentally prepared while the Pokémon knew absolutely nothing.
Not only that—
How to enter.
How to perform.
What to do during the showcase.
The entire process needed to be communicated clearly in advance.
These were all extremely basic preparations.
But unfortunately, many Trainers had only signed up for the contest on a whim after hearing about the event and rushed over simply to join the fun.
The quality of the 646 contestants varied wildly.
And there were genuinely quite a few clueless participants like Jun Matsumoto and his Kingler—
People who had clearly come not for a beauty contest…
But for comedy relief.
Now that everyone had witnessed this "example," many unprepared contestants hurriedly began giving last-minute instructions to their Pokémon.
Temporary cramming at its finest.
—
Ash, however, was obviously not one of them.
Ever since Misty had informed him over the phone that Cerulean Gym planned to hold this event, Ash had already decided he would participate.
The contest had been advertised for an entire week.
And during that same week—
Ash and Feebas had also been preparing nonstop.
Both of them had arrived fully prepared.
More importantly—
They had come here with the determination to win the championship.
—
"Beautiful, watch the others carefully."
"Learn from both their successes and mistakes."
"When it's our turn later, we absolutely can't make those same errors."
"We prepared so carefully for this, so we need to perform perfectly."
While watching the contestants on the waiting hall television, Ash lowered his head and gently reminded Feebas inside the glass water tank in his hands.
—
"Gulu~"
"Don't worry. I've already prepared myself completely. I won't get nervous or embarrass myself on stage."
Feebas blew a string of bubbles confidently.
Compared to the shy, self-loathing Feebas that had first been sent over from the Tsuchihara Family, the current Feebas was practically a different Pokémon.
Now—
It was confident.
Confident in both its appearance and its strength.
Even without makeup, Feebas no longer felt inferior.
After all—
True confidence came from strength.
For a Pokémon carefully trained by its Trainer, power was the greatest source of pride.
Appearance mattered far less.
And through countless training sessions and battle victories, Feebas had already developed absolute confidence in its own abilities.
That was the greatest difference between it and the other participating Pokémon.
At this moment, Feebas' inner thoughts could probably be summarized in one sentence:
"I'm prettier than all of you… and I don't even rely on my looks."
—
The competition continued.
"Kingler."
"Goldeen."
"Magikarp."
"Shellder."
"Magikarp."
"Psyduck."
"Magikarp."
Although the contestants who followed had learned from Jun Matsumoto's mistake and hurriedly prepared their Pokémon beforehand…
Most of them still hadn't prepared nearly enough.
And their overall standards simply weren't high.
As a result, many contestants after Kingler still produced hilariously disastrous performances that left the audience laughing nonstop.
Of course—
Not everyone was bad.
There were definitely some contestants who had genuinely prepared carefully and seriously aimed for a high placement in the contest.
Their performances genuinely impressed the audience.
Yet even then—
Not all of them managed to advance.
Because the required eighty percent approval vote threshold was simply too harsh.
The organizers had intentionally set such a high standard for two reasons:
First, with so many contestants participating, they needed to eliminate a large portion of competitors during the opening round.
Second—
They wanted to guarantee the overall quality of the tournament itself.