Both John and Derek were startled by Magnus's intense reaction, silently staring at him, wondering why his response was so extreme.
Realizing he'd lost his composure, Magnus hurriedly explained. "That's not what I meant. It's just... John and I have already battled before. The audience won't find it fresh or interesting. I suggest giving this opportunity to another Master? I'm sure they'd all love the chance to have an exhibition match with John during the opening ceremony."
Derek looked at Magnus with deep, knowing eyes.
'You fought him once and now you're scared? I originally chose you and John for this exhibition match to give you a chance for revenge.'
When Derek had first planned the warm-up exhibition match, his immediate thought had been the combination of John and Magnus.
"Once we've confirmed your opponent, I'll notify your assistant first," Derek said to John.
"Alright." John nodded and stood up. "Anything else? If not, I'll head out to take those promotional photos."
"Nothing else. Please, go ahead."
"Uh, what about me...?" Magnus also stood up.
Derek gestured dismissively.
John and Magnus left the conference room together.
Although both needed promotional photos taken, they wouldn't be photographed at the same location or by the same photography team, so they had to go separate ways. As they parted, Magnus said politely, "Good luck in the Masters Tournament."
John wasn't sure why, but he could detect unwavering determination in Magnus's voice, as though he'd made some kind of resolution.
For the next three hours, John and his Pokemon became marionettes under the photographer's direction, striking every pose imaginable.
The photo shoot that started at 6:00 PM didn't finish until 9:00 PM.
John believed it was finally over and prepared to return to his residence when Emerald approached him.
"Boss, here are the complete competitor files for all Masters Tournament participants. You might want to take a look."
While John had been in seclusion training, Emerald hadn't been idle. She'd even assembled an entire team to gather intelligence for John. The thick stack of documents she handed him contained detailed information on all seven other Masters.
And by detailed, she meant detailed.
Beyond the essential Pokemon team compositions and move combinations, the files even documented each trainer's personal preferences and habits.
After all, Emerald understood her boss's tactical style, at certain moments, it could be very dirty... very strategically calculated!
"Thanks for all the hard work," John said, accepting the documents and flipping through them briefly.
"Island King" Tang Neijin; "Steel Emperor" Chadri; "Sunset Queen" Elis...
John vaguely remembered seeing the Masters Eight roster before, but most of the names didn't match up with what he recalled. Including himself, there were eight Masters total. Aside from Magnus, he didn't recognize any of the other six.
That made sense, though. While he'd been in seclusion, the entire world had been in chaos fighting over the Masters Eight positions. Brains had practically been beaten out over those spots. It wasn't surprising that the roster had been completely reshuffled.
"Senior Damian isn't here?" John remembered that Damian had once held a Masters Eight position.
"Elite Four Member Damian was defeated by a trainer nicknamed 'Dragon Tamer' Lance just three days before the roster was finalized," Emerald explained. "The files include the complete recording of that battle."
John immediately flipped to the section on Lance.
Damian's team composition remained unchanged, centered around his Gengar with a full Ghost-type squad. But Lance's team had his ace Haxorus with Dragon and Steel typing as the core, with his second ace being a Mega-evolvable Mega Sableye with Ghost and Dark dual typing...
Ace versus ace, having Dragon and Steel-type Haxorus was indeed Gengar's natural counter.
The Dragon typing resisted Ghost-type moves, while the Steel typing provided immunity to Poison-type attacks.
Thinking deeper, Damian's signature technique Phantom General didn't follow the Ghost-type's usual tricky playstyle, but rather favored direct, overwhelming frontal assaults. This played perfectly into Haxorus's strengths, a Pokemon whose body itself was a weapon built for head-on combat.
Defeat was inevitable.
Unable to enter the Masters Eight himself, Damian had placed his hopes on John instead.
John closed the file and looked up at Emerald.
Emerald nodded silently, understanding what her boss was thinking.
"This really is quite the coincidence," John said with a slight smile.