The group met with Risa's parents and her older brother, Rick, who had lost to Egnar yesterday after an unfortunate meeting with the Silver Conference winner early in the tournament.
The family was quite sincere, amiable, and cheerful.
Risa quickly found great friends in Anira, May, Leaf, Misty, Ritchie, Gary, Brock, and Ash.
As for Aizen, the moment she met him her cheeks warmed up in a furious blush.
The girl was crushing hard on him, and she was already his die-hard fan, something that made the other girls giggle a lot.
Later, the group watched Egnar's battle against Jack, which turned out to be quite an exciting contest after the latter successfully predicted and countered Empoleon with his Annihilape.
It was the first time the Silver Conference winner had lost a round in the ongoing tournament.
However, he managed to make a comeback with his Hisuian Zoroark, who dealt with the Fighting and Ghost Pokémon.
Jack was dismayed at how he lost his Annihilape, having not expected the Hisuian Zoroark to be that strong, but he managed to compose himself and sent out his Tyranitar.
Egnar quickly recalled his Pokémon and revealed his last choice for the match, which happened to be a Swampert.
The third round ended in Tyranitar's defeat, and seeing that Swampert looked ready to tear apart his final Pokémon, while the Hisuian Zoroark was still in play even if not in good shape, Jack took thirty seconds to make up his mind.
Sceptile versus Swampert was an exhilarating show of resilience, but the Water Pokémon lost eventually.
The final round kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.
Somehow, the Hisuian Zoroark managed to keep standing on its feet after Sceptile fell, and as soon as the referee called the result, its body swayed and it dropped to its knees.
Jack stood in his grid with his head lowered after recalling his Sceptile and whispering some words of appreciation to his Pokémon.
A minute later, he raised his head as he saw Egnar approaching and managed to smile.
The two Trainers shook hands, and the boy with the bandana congratulated the Silver Conference champion on making it to the Top 32 and wished him the best of luck against Harrison.
Aizen's match was in the same battlefield, and he met Jack when he arrived in the Western Lounge.
The Orayen Prince appreciated his performance, which the boy accepted, and he wished him the best in return.
Everyone was excited about the Orayen Prince's match, which was against Paul.
When he arrived in the battlefield, he heard Ash cheering his lungs out for him, something that made his opponent smirk.
"You are friends with that fool?" Paul asked him after the countdown started, and Aizen raised his brow at him but did not give him an answer.
Both of them grabbed their Pokéballs and threw them onto the battlefield.
A sweet yet haunting howl sounded as soon as the Ninetales stepped onto the field, and it made the girls squeal in delight.
Paul, on the other hand, was thanking God in his heart that he had not sent out his Metagross as he had planned before.
The harsh sunlight that suddenly fell in the arena made both him and his Pokémon feel quite uncomfortable and also gave him a very bad premonition.
"Round One: Ninetales versus Electivire. Begin!"
As soon as the referee gave the go, Xeno's eyes eerily glowed as he set up a Future Sight and used Double Team.
"Discharge!" Paul immediately called out, and soon the entire battlefield was surrounded by electricity which eliminated all the images of Ninetales and paralysed the real fox.
"Thunder!"
Paul called out again but was stunned when his Electivire received a sharp invisible slap that sent it crashing into an icy boulder.
Ninetales managed to regain mobility and immediately used Will-O-Wisp, which landed, and Electivire cried out in immense pain at the burns left on its body.
"Get up!" Paul shouted, clenching his fists, and his Pokémon listened to his command.
Electivire quickly used Agility to approach Ninetales, but it slipped on the melting ice when it closed in, and by the time it managed to regain balance, it found the fox right in front of it with its eyes eerily glowing.
Then a terrifyingly hot breath escaped the fox's mouth, which worsened the burns on its body.
Electivire groaned in pain and rolled on the battlefield to relieve the burns, then madly lunged at Ninetales with a powerful Thunder Punch, which was blocked by Extrasensory.
Xeno then showed the Electric Pokémon the difference in their speeds and gave his opponent nine Tail Slaps, making the burns on its body worse.
Electivire fell on the melting ice and fainted, unable to bear all the damage that had been inflicted on it.
Upon his victory, Xeno let out a haunting howl, and then his eyes landed on Paul, which unnerved the boy.
"Go, Gastrodon!"
Seeing which Pokémon his opponent had chosen, Aizen quickly recalled Ninetales and sent out his Ivysaur.
And for the first time in the Conference, he called out a move.
"Giga Drain."
Ivysaur, who was confused at seeing the strange Pokémon, followed the command, and whatever Paul was about to order his Gastrodon to do no longer mattered.
His Pokémon suffered, and though it bore the pain, it did manage to use Earth Power, which made Ivysaur groan in pain as well.
"Use your vines to grab it."
"Acid Armour!" Paul called out the counter, but Gastrodon's body blinked again and it failed to react in time.
"Leech Seed."
A glowing green seed shot out of Ivysaur's flower and landed on the Ground and Water Pokémon, dealing damage and helping the Grass Pokémon heal.
"Acid Armour!" Paul shouted again, and this time, despite its strength being sapped away, Gastrodon liquefied its body, freed itself from the vines, and then shot upwards before giving Ivysaur a powerful Body Slam.
"Recover," Paul smiled and ordered after seeing that Ivysaur was struggling to push Gastrodon off it. "Earth Power!"
Aizen smiled at his opponent's enthusiasm.
"Sleep Powder," he playfully said, and the moment Gastrodon used Earth Power, both the Pokémon were pushed off the ground and separated. Even though Ivysaur was in pain, he had managed to execute the move.
Gastrodon found itself engulfed in the cloud of Sleep Powder, which lulled its senses.
A few seconds later, it dropped to the ground, fast asleep.
There was still more than a minute on the clock to hit the five-minute mark of the round, so Paul could not recall the Pokémon without forfeiting it.
"Magical Leaf." Aizen did not show any mercy and ordered to end things quickly, which his Ivysaur did.
Paul stared at the Ivysaur, who was tired but still had some fight left in him, and then he took a deep breath and sent out his Garchomp, who was not too pleased at being summoned on an icy battlefield.
Aizen recalled his Ivysaur and sent out his Lapras, whose sweet voice made his fangirls go even crazier.
Lapras felt right at home on the icy battlefield, and seeing the Garchomp, he immediately started charging an orb of light above his horn and then shot out light blue energy in all directions.
The Garchomp tried to fly up to evade it but failed as the Freeze-Dry chilled its body.
However, the stubborn dragon was unwilling to fall easily and used Dragon Rush.
Lapras failed to evade it, suffered the immense damage, and then shot out an Ice Beam at the Pokémon that was trying to get away.
Garchomp fell on the icy field, its body shivering in the cold, and it was helpless against the Icicle Spears that Lapras shot in its direction.
It did not even look like a fair battle as everyone winced for the poor dragon. As cute and adorable as Lapras was, it was ruthless too...
When the result was announced, Paul recalled his Pokémon and immediately turned around to leave.
Aizen, on the other hand, walked onto the icy field and planted a kiss on the head of his Lapras, a moment which was captured by drones and hundreds of cameras.
When he arrived outside the arena, he saw Ash confronting Paul, and both were about to call out their Pokémon before Misty intervened and reminded Ketchum about the rules of the League Village.
He was still in the tournament, and he could be disqualified on the grounds of misconduct if he engaged in a fight of any form here.
Paul taunted the boy, trying to rile him up, and then looked at Aizen.
"You should not associate with such weak Trainers. They are a bad influence."
"You!!!" Ash growled, and even Ritchie, Leaf, and Gary looked dark now.
"They are not weak." The Orayen smiled, and his words relieved all their hearts. "As for you, your Pokémon are talented, but they are unfortunate to have you as their Trainer."
Paul frowned at his words.
"Are you also going to give me a lecture on my attitude towards my Pokémon?" He smirked. "No wonder you are friends with these fools."
"You say this even after losing to him so pathetically?" Gary grinned at the boy.
"I just got unlucky in the first round with the match-up. It is easier once you win the first round and your Pokémon does not suffer much in it."
"Oh?" Aizen smiled at him.
"Yes."
"Want to have a battle?" Anira suddenly said, wearing a light smile. "I will use either Vulpix or Togepi." She smiled some more, and Paul glanced at the Vulpix in her arms and then at the Togepi, who was in May's arms. "If you have any Pokémon in its first stage of evolution, and do not have a type advantage or weakness against either of them, you can accept my challenge."
"Huh? Do you even have a Trainer's Licence?"
"No." She shook her head. "Why? Are you worried about losing to someone who is not officially a Trainer yet?" She grinned at him.
"Worried? What is in it for me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "I am not in the mood to waste my time."
"Seventy-five thousand PokéDollars," Aizen suddenly said, surprising them all.
Paul frowned at the large bet and then nodded his head.
Since Leaf and the rest had their matches in the evening, they all followed the Orayen Princess and Paul to the Pokémon Centre, where the Trainer from Sinnoh made some changes to his roster.
The group found an empty training field, away from people, and both Anira and Paul took their positions on their respective grids.
"I will fight the Vulpix," Paul announced and then called out a Chimchar, making Risa squeal at its cuteness.
Misty quickly took the position of referee.
"Chimchar versus Xena. Let's go!"