Giovanni and Silver's battle raged on.
Silver was strong—very strong—but the gap between him and Giovanni was still obvious.
Facing Giovanni's opening Great Tusk, Silver thought for a moment before sending out his Feraligatr.
It was the Johto water starter Professor Oak had deliberately helped him obtain from Professor Elm.
Silver had trained it with great care, making it one of his main partners. Feraligatr was powerful, yet it still fell to Great Tusk.
Next, Silver switched to the Iron Treads he had received from Dylan, and with difficulty, it managed to take down Great Tusk—but Iron Treads was already in terrible shape.
This alone showed just how vast their difference was.
Both Feraligatr and Iron Treads had type advantage, yet even then, defeating Great Tusk took everything Silver had.
The rest of the match needed no explanation. Giovanni's second Pokémon was Nidoking, and it defeated three of Silver's Pokémon before it finally fainted.
Then Giovanni, to show his respect for Silver, used Mega Kangaskhan and completely overpowered Silver's Tera Weavile.
Silver knew full well—his father still hadn't used full strength.
"Forgive me, Father… I couldn't make you fight seriously."
Giovanni walked to him. Silver lowered his head, ashamed.
He had fought his hardest, but the gap was too wide—he couldn't force Giovanni to use his true full power.
"It's fine. You did incredibly well. I think this might be the happiest match of my life."
Giovanni placed a hand on Silver's shoulder, his mature and magnetic voice entering Silver's ears, making him lift his head subconsciously.
"Silver, through this battle you've shown me—you're already a mature trainer."
Giovanni smiled softly as he met his son's gaze.
"To stand on the same battlefield as my son—that alone already brings me joy. I look forward to the day you become as strong as I am, and we battle again."
"For now, sit in the stands and watch your father continue fighting. I'll win, Silver."
Silver's pupils trembled. He stared at his father, dazed for a long time.
"I will!"
Watching father and son walk side by side into the tunnel, Dylan couldn't help but smile.
This really was…the best possible outcome.
For Giovanni and Silver, they weren't just father and son—they were each other's salvation.
Because of Silver, Giovanni had found a path from darkness to light.
And because of Giovanni, Silver experienced warmth and love, no longer shutting out the world.
How wonderful.
With their battle concluded, Giovanni advanced, leaving one fewer spot in the Top Sixteen.
The battles continued.
Next was Lance versus Mustard. Lance won and advanced smoothly.
The third match of the afternoon was Lillie's brother, Gladion, against Karen, the top Johto Elite Four member.
Their battle was intense—Karen was strong and specialized in tricky Dark types, giving Gladion a hard time. But in raw power, Gladion surpassed her, and he won.
The fourth match was intriguing: N of Unova versus Hoenn Champion Steven.
"Damn! Why him?!" Wallace's face turned green at the matchup.
Steven looked helplessly at the large screen showing N's gentle face.
Among the Top 32, aside from Dylan, quite a few trainers possessed legendary Pokémon.
Red had Tornadus, Blue had Thundurus, May had Latios, Silver had Urshifu… These were strong legendaries, but still within reasonable limits—only slightly above pseudo-legendaries.
But one person was different.
Aside from Dylan, the hardest legendary to deal with was N's Zekrom—the ideal Dragon of Unova's founding myth!
This wasn't on the same level as Tornadus or Thundurus at all.
If Tornadus and Urshifu counted as mid-tier legendaries, Zekrom—even if not on the level of Kyurem—was still high-tier.
"It's fine, Steven! I believe in you! Champion Lance once forced N to the brink in the wild, even defeating his Zekrom!"
"If Lance can do it, so can you!"
Wallace slapped Steven's shoulder encouragingly.
"Thanks a lot," Steven muttered, glaring at him.
"No need to thank me—c'mon, you're Hoenn's Champion! Even if you lose, lose standing tall!"
Wallace waved dismissively, acting like someone with no pain in his waist while lecturing others. Steven's eyelids twitched violently.
"Go for it, Steven-nii! You can do it!"
May cheered with bright eyes and tiny fists raised.
"Mm." Steven instantly felt much better.
Unlike Wallace—that menace—May was genuinely cheering for him.
"When you get eliminated, Steven-nii, I'll avenge you later!"
And then May added cheerfully, sticking out her tongue.
"…!" Steven clutched his chest and stepped back.
So even May didn't think he could win?!
The battle began. N versus Steven was one of the most anticipated matches.
After all, N being Zekrom's hero wasn't much of a secret.
The battle itself wasn't complicated. N's strength had also grown greatly this year.
He naturally had immense talent, but he had never trained his partners properly before. This year, he finally put in the effort.
It was an intense and evenly matched fight.
But everything came down to the aces: Zekrom versus Mega Metagross.
Steven's Mega Metagross was strong.
Zekrom was stronger.
The result was clear—Steven lost and was eliminated. N advanced.
"Oof… Mr. Steven really got unlucky," Lillie murmured.
The obsidian-black dragon hovering in the arena radiated terrifying pressure.
She truly felt Steven had Top Sixteen strength, but matching into N was indeed bad luck.
"This Zekrom feels kinda overtuned, Dylan. Other than you, I don't think anyone could handle it," Leaf said, tilting her head.
The ideal dragon was too powerful—even Mega Metagross barely scratched it.
"Not necessarily," Dylan replied.
"Don't underestimate top-tier trainers. Zekrom alone can't steamroll them."
Dylan rejected her assumption without hesitation.
Zekrom was strong, but Red and the others couldn't be stopped by just one Zekrom.
Leon had pushed Eternatus to its limit without Dynamax.
Giovanni in the original material had defeated and captured Deoxys (even if it was 'picking up leftovers') and later fought against one of the Sinnoh creation trio with Lance.
Red defeated and captured a wild Mewtwo.
And characters like Selene and May—protagonist types—were even more extreme.
Even if their strength wasn't as absurd here as in the games, they were terrifyingly strong.
Leon himself admitted that Silver was no weaker than him now.
The third day of matches ended with four more trainers advancing, leaving only four spots.
On the fourth day, the first match was Hilda versus Iris.
No need to say more—Champion Iris lost, and Hilda advanced.
Overjoyed, Hilda hugged Iris tightly in thanks for her "sacrifice."
Her massive chest nearly smothered Iris, who, already depressed from losing, went expressionless for the rest of the day.
Next was Serena versus Paldea's Nemona—a matchup that even Dylan anticipated.
Serena was the protagonist of Gen VI XY, while Nemona was the rival of the Gen IX protagonist Juliana.
Both were extremely powerful trainers.
Their match was explosive.
Compared to the team Serena used earlier in the year against Blue, her lineup had evolved:
Her ace was now a Tera Fighting Pheromosa, she'd added Dragapult as a new core member, and—most shocking of all—Serena had somehow found and captured the Mythical Pokémon Volcanion.
These three new powerhouses massively increased her strength.
Without them, she might not have been Nemona's match. Nemona herself had caught the paradox Pokémon Iron Valiant, but ultimately still lost.
Thus her World Championship run ended here.
But Nemona wasn't discouraged—in fact, she was thrilled, immediately clinging to Serena.
Serena found Nemona's enthusiasm charming, and the two walked off together chatting happily—well, Nemona talking and Serena listening.
In the stands, Juliana suddenly felt something… oddly green above her head.
The third match was Dawn versus Bruno. Dawn won decisively.
The fourth was Selene versus Diantha. Selene won effortlessly.
And with that, the Top Sixteen was fully decided.
"The first round of the main tournament has ended! One week from now, the second round will begin!"
The host's excited announcement echoed across the stadium.
The big screen lit up with the sixteen portraits of those who advanced:
Dylan, Juliana, May, Leon, Blue, Red, Yellow, Cynthia, Giovanni, Lance, Silver, N, Hilda, Serena, Dawn, Selene.
Sixteen trainers—displayed neatly.
The arena boiled.
In one week, these sixteen would fight for the eight spots in the quarterfinals.
The Top 32 list was as follows:
Dylan, Red, Leon, Selene, Lance, Giovanni, May, Hilbert, Leaf, Blue, Serena, Dawn, Cynthia, Rosa, Hilda, Steven, Nemona, Kieran, Brandon, Yellow, Silver, Zinnia, Karen, Bruno, Lorelei, Iris, N, Diantha, Wallace, Peony, Mustard.
(This list is not sorted by ranking.)
(End of Chapter)