Alliance Calendar Year 3, July 15.
Today marked the official start of the first-ever Pokémon Grand Festival.
Since the number of participants in the Grand Festival was far fewer than in the Pokémon Battle Tournament, the entire event was significantly shorter. In just one week, the competition would be completed.
The first three days were dedicated to the Performance Stage.
The following four days were reserved for the Battle Stage.
After that, students would be free to enjoy their time off. Some would even have the chance to visit the Friendly Store and purchase the NERvGear-ProMax from Kayaba Akihiko's research institute, allowing them to dive into Pokémon Online alongside players from Blue Planet.
However, the game servers for Blue Planet's players and those from Pokémon Island were separate, meaning they wouldn't typically interact—except during the Rank Battles on the 100th floor.
During the week leading up to the event, over six million people had arrived in Alliance City.
According to surveillance records from the security department, a conservative estimate placed the number of visitors at around six million.
Considering the overall size of Alliance City, even if ten times that number arrived, it wouldn't be an issue.
However, with the majority of the six million people gathering in the city center, the streets became incredibly congested—crowds as far as the eye could see.
Thankfully, about one-third of the visitors found the city too crowded or were unable to secure tickets to the live event, so they opted to leave.
Many traveled to Yggdrasil, Fishman City, or even to the newly established villages and towns surrounding Alliance City. This helped alleviate some of the overwhelming congestion in the main city.
Most of these travelers came from the world of pirates or the world of shinobi.
Ordinarily, they had no way of using the teleportation gates to visit Pokémon Island, so they took advantage of this special occasion to explore other cities on the island.
Tezoro predicted that even more people would flock to future events, so he suggested that Dak consider expanding the city's size.
However, expanding the city meant encroaching on the surrounding countryside.
The natural environment of Alliance City's outskirts, as well as Yggdrasil, was something the environmental department fiercely protected. Even they themselves hesitated to modify it.
Now, with the finance department proposing development in these protected areas, the environmental department was naturally displeased. They even staged protests, complete with a gentle but firm Bewear leading their demonstrations.
Dak found himself caught in a dilemma.
The ecosystem of Alliance City's outskirts had already been designed to near perfection. He didn't want to destroy that.
But if the city wasn't expanded, future international events might cause the city to become unbearably congested.
After much deliberation, Dak turned his attention toward the inland sea near the Alliance base.
However, that was a matter for after the Grand Festival.
While the cost of tickets for the Grand Festival was the same as those for the Battle Tournament, the venue itself was vastly different.
The Battle Tournament was held in an open-air stadium, spanning a massive 100,000 square meters, as it only had one level.
The Grand Festival, on the other hand, was an indoor venue with two levels.
The first level was dedicated to the Performance Stage, designed like a grand opera house. However, unlike traditional semi-circular opera houses, it retained the round layout of the Battle Tournament arena, with the audience seating encircling the central stage.
The second level was designated for the Battle Stage, requiring a slightly larger space to allow Coordinators and Pokémon to showcase their dazzling battle performances.
The size ratio between the first and second levels was 4.5:5.5, meaning the second level appeared slightly wider when viewed from the outside.
At precisely 9:00 AM, nearly 100,000 spectators filled the audience seating on the first level.
Some had worried that being seated too far from the center stage would affect their view of the performances. However, those concerns disappeared the moment they sat down.
While the Grand Festival arena had a smaller footprint than the Battle Tournament stadium, its pricing was justified.
A visual barrier had been installed between the stage and the audience.
Not only did this barrier prevent unintended effects from Pokémon performances from affecting the crowd, but it also magnified the stage action, ensuring every spectator had the same optimal viewing experience—regardless of their seat location.
As a result, ticket prices weren't based on proximity to the stage but rather on the cardinal directions—East, West, South, and North.
Coordinators generally performed facing the three main judges, who were positioned in the East.
Thus, seats in the Eastern section were the most expensive, while the prices gradually decreased toward the South, where they were at their lowest.
"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests—welcome to the very first Pokémon Grand Festival!"
Right on time, the host stepped onto the stage, microphone in hand.
At that moment, a few spectators seated in the northern section of the audience became visibly excited.
"Kirito! That's…!"
"Mai-nee?!"
"Why is she the host?! She never mentioned anything about this!"
Kirito and Asuna exchanged stunned glances as they looked at the dazzling woman standing under the spotlight.
Uchiha Mai was dressed in a wine-red slit gown, paired with matching ten-centimeter high heels. Given the naturally striking features of the Uchiha clan, she now stood as the embodiment of elegance and allure, outshining everyone in the arena.
"Eh? You guys didn't know?" Lizbeth blinked in confusion. "I thought you already knew, so I didn't bother mentioning it."
Alongside them, familiar faces like Shino, Klein, and Agil were also present.
However, many of their friends from Sword Art Online hadn't been able to get tickets and were forced to watch the event through the live broadcast outside the arena.
"We've been in Alliance City this whole time—how were we supposed to know about this?"
"Liz, what's going on?"
Kirito and Asuna turned to Lisbeth with curiosity.
The two of them had spent most of their time in the Safari Zone, searching for suitable Pokémon partners, paying little attention to other matters.
"Well, originally, the Boss wanted Sensei to be the host for fun, but he wasn't interested, so he had Mai-nee take his place."
Lisbeth pointed toward the front row of the Eastern section, where Madara sat.
Alongside him were Izuna, Kakuzu, and Hanzō—all key figures in the Alliance. Dak had arranged for them to have the best seats in the house.
As for Kirito and the others, they weren't so lucky and had to scramble for tickets like everyone else.
Incidentally, Akihiko and Rinko, as members of the Breeding House, had also been seated in this VIP area, not far from Madara.
However, compared to their past selves, they had changed so much that no one recognized them.
Rinko still looked somewhat normal—aside from the third eye on her forehead. Since she wasn't particularly famous, Kirito hadn't paid much attention to her.
Kayaba, on the other hand, was nearly unrecognizable. Not only had he become significantly younger, but his hair had also taken on the deep red of the Uzumaki clan, and he, too, bore a third eye on his forehead.
As a result, Kirito and Asuna hadn't even realized that Akihiko was alive and living on Pokémon Island all this time.
"Madara-shishou looks pretty proud."
Even from a distance, Kirito's sharp eyesight allowed him to catch the subtle glimmer of pride in Madara's expression.
"Well, of course. Sensei may be strict with Mai-nee, but he truly cares for her. Their whole family is like that—tough on the outside, soft on the inside."
Lisbeth sighed and then suddenly remembered something.
"A few days ago, when the Boss came to have tea with Sensei, he said something that really stuck with me."
"What was it?"
Curious, Asuna leaned in.
"When dealing with the Uchiha clan, don't listen to their words—look at their eyes."
"That is… incredibly accurate."
Kirito crossed his arms, nodding in agreement.
Although Izuna was usually warm and kind, he occasionally let out some sharp and stubborn remarks.
"Now, let's introduce our three esteemed judges!"
As Mai's voice echoed across the arena, the large screen displayed the three judges seated in the Eastern section. Each of them gave a small wave toward the camera.
"Hello, everyone! I'm Vinsmoke Reiju, Head of the Alliance's Medical Department and Chief Director of the Pokémon Center."
"Hello, I'm Perona, Head of the Alliance's Referee Department."
"Listen up, you lot! I'm Sugar, Head of the Alliance's Security Department! Watch the performances properly and don't cause any trouble!"
The audience: "…"
"Hahahaha~"
Laughter erupted across the venue.
"Ahhh, I knew I shouldn't have let her come…"
From the stands, Dak groaned, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
Reiju and Perona were essential judges.
Reiju was one of the most well-known figures in Alliance City—a beloved angel in the eyes of countless Trainers.
Perona was needed to oversee the competition and ensure no one violated the rules.
The third seat, however, had been more flexible.
Dak had originally considered inviting Friendly Store's General Manager Stella, or Monet from the Research Department.
Even Olivia or Robin from the Education Department would have been good choices.
But Sugar had insisted on joining in on the fun.
Since the other four women adored the young Sugar, they gave up the spot for her.
Seeing that they had already agreed, Dak had no reason to refuse.
Who would've thought that Sugar would immediately cause such chaos the moment she took the mic?
Still, the audience seemed to find her antics amusing.
Dak even overheard people calling her "adorable," so he decided against rushing down to flick her forehead in reprimand.
(End of Chapter)
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