People from various countries had gathered together, discussing which nation they might face next.
However, every time Celestia was mentioned, all the contestants broke out in a cold sweat.
In their hearts, they all prayed silently: please, don't let us draw Celestia as our opponent.
Nathan was simply too terrifying—a monster. Facing such an opponent meant having no hope of winning at all.
Because he had obtained language proficiency from the system, Nathan could understand the languages of all the participating nations.
Listening to everyone talk about him, Nathan curled his lips. Am I really that scary?
But after the second round ends, he figured he might not be the only one being called a monster.
With a nearly 100-meter-tall Dynamax Gyarados on her team, Evelyn was definitely going to become the second terrifying figure after him.
After waiting for about half an hour, Nathan finally saw the tournament staff and the host walking over.
Two official World Tournament staff members each carried a box in their hands.
These boxes were used to draw lots and determine the matchups.
"Everyone, we will now begin the public drawing of matchups for each country's opponent."
"These two boxes contain ping pong balls—one box with yellow, the other with white…"
Once the host finished speaking, the draw began.
Yellow ping pong balls represented countries with odd-numbered rankings; white ones represented countries with even-numbered rankings.
"Oh! Looks like my luck's not bad. First draw and it's number one!"
The host smiled cheerfully upon drawing the first yellow ball.
He hadn't expected to draw Celestia right off the bat. But now the real question was—which unlucky nation would be paired against them?
As soon as the host called out number one, all the even-numbered countries began praying desperately that they wouldn't be drawn.
Being chosen meant almost certainly losing the match.
"Number eight—Swanntica!"
The representatives from Swanntica turned pale the moment their country's name was announced.
Why us…?
If attacking the staff wouldn't lead to disqualification, they honestly might've thrown a sack over the host's head right then and there.
Facing Celestia right at the start? What kind of sick joke was this?
Compared to the devastated contestants from Swanntica, representatives from the other countries all sighed in relief.
Someone else had drawn Celestia—which meant they were safe for this round.
After Celestia was drawn, the rest of the matchups proceeded more calmly.
"Alright, now that everyone knows their opponents for the first round, let's begin the first match!"
The host's announcement sent waves of excitement through the crowd—cheers erupted all around.
Everyone was pumped.
Everyone except Swanntica. Their faces were pitch-black with despair. No tears left to cry.
After giving Evelyn a few words of encouragement, Nathan backed away from the center of the battlefield.
This next battle might cause some widespread destruction, so it was best to keep a safe distance.
The already-heartbroken Swanntican contestant spotted Nathan walking away, leaving just a woman standing at the center.
"Both sides, please send out your Pokémon!"
The referee stepped forward to announce the start of the match.
Evelyn nodded, pulling out a Dive Ball and releasing Gyarados.
The Swanntica contestant stared at the massive tail before him.
Then he slowly looked up… and up… and up.
A nearly hundred-meter-tall Gyarados towered over him.
"Is there anyone normal on your team!?"
The Swanntica representative shouted in exasperation.
He had thought Nathan stepping back meant he was showing some mercy—giving them a bit of face.
But now, it was clear this was just another kind of torment.
"Isn't that the Gyarados that went berserk earlier!?"
"Yeah, I think that's the one!"
"How did someone from Celestia even manage to capture that thing?"
Among the spectators, many recognized the Gyarados. After all, seeing a Pokémon that could Dynamax to that extent was extraordinarily rare.
Catching a Pokémon was common—but capturing something that powerful? Practically unheard of.
The Swanntican contestant released his own Pokémon: a peak Elite-level Steelix.
Unfortunately, compared to the massive Gyarados, his Steelix looked no bigger than a worm.
Looking at his Steelix and then back at the towering Gyarados, the contestant felt completely lost.
How was he even supposed to fight this battle?
"Steelix, use Stone Edge!"
Despite his despair, the Swanntican trainer gritted his teeth and commanded Steelix to attack.
Steelix responded.
Stone Edge was launched and even managed to hit Gyarados.
But… it had zero effect.
The sharp stones shattered upon impact with Gyarados's massive body.
The Swanntican contestant was utterly crushed.
Steelix was his strongest Pokémon.
If even Steelix couldn't hurt this Gyarados, then who else on his team possibly could?
"Gyarados—use Giga Impact! Smash it away!" Evelyn pointed toward the opponent's Steelix.
With a roar, Gyarados lunged forward.
Its near-100-meter frame carried overwhelming power.
The collision sent Steelix flying.
The Swanntican trainer stared in stunned silence as his Pokémon flew farther and farther into the distance.
Then he scrambled to chase after it.
Because Gyarados had hit with such terrifying force, Steelix had been launched all the way out to sea.
Even the referee was dumbfounded.
So, this was why the World Tournament wasn't held indoors—this was what they were dealing with.
A whole island, and Gyarados just sent a Pokémon flying off of it?
If this were an indoor stadium, the whole arena would've been destroyed by now.
Realizing that the Swanntican contestant wouldn't be back any time soon, the referee directly declared Evelyn the winner.
Upon hearing she had won, Evelyn cheerfully turned to the camera and made a peace sign.
Meanwhile, the remaining Swanntican contestants huddled together, discussing how on earth they were supposed to fight this match.
It was obvious now that Celestia had terrifying strength.
Even if they brought out all their trump cards, it was still unlikely they'd win.
When Nathan revealed just some of his strength earlier, it was already intimidating.
Now with Evelyn and her Dynamax Gyarados added to the mix, the difficulty had become astronomical.
"…Should we just give up?" one of the Swanntican contestants asked quietly.
It was only the second round—burning their trump cards against an opponent they likely couldn't beat was not a smart choice.
"Yeah, I think we should just throw in the towel," another teammate agreed.
Very quickly, all the Swanntica contestants decided on the same strategy:
Give up on trying to beat Celestia.
It was simply too hard—not worth it.
So, in the matches that followed, the Swanntica trainers intentionally threw the games.
One trainer even took it to the extreme.
When matched against Evelyn, he casually sent out a Popplio and just started chatting with her in the middle of the battlefield.
It was such a bizarre sight that the audience was left utterly speechless.
Other countries' contestants quickly picked up on what was happening.
Swanntica had clearly given up on trying to win against Celestia.
But that also meant something else:
Anyone facing Swanntica in the next rounds would have to deal with their full strength.
After all, losing three rounds in a row meant elimination.
As Swanntica's early matches ended in complete defeats, the tournament atmosphere began heating up.
Because no one knew who would draw Celestia next.
What if it was your country?
That made winning early rounds even more important.
At least if you met Celestia in round two, you wouldn't go down 0-2 right off the bat.
Nathan continued watching the rest of the matches.
However, he didn't see any countries revealing their trump cards just yet.
The Pokémon being used were all ones he'd seen them use before.
It made things kind of boring.
It looked like the real intensity would begin in rounds two and three.
He waited idly as the first round wrapped up—it took the whole day.
The next morning, after the second-round draw, Celestia's next opponent was revealed.
And wouldn't you know it—by sheer coincidence, it was the Liberty Union, where Samuel was a contestant.
Samuel was stunned when he heard his country would face Celestia.
One in nine chance—and they got it.
Thankfully, they had won their first-round match the day before.
Even if they lost to Celestia today, they still had two more chances.
Still, Samuel really didn't want to lose.
So, what if Nathan's Pokémon were strong? So, what if that woman's Gyarados was terrifying?
They weren't invincible.
"This time, when we face off against Celestia, we're going in with everything we've got. Exposing our trump cards doesn't matter anymore. Got it?"
Samuel spoke seriously to his teammates.
And in the Liberty Union team, Samuel's words carried weight.
Once he finished speaking, his teammates all nodded in agreement.
(End of Chapter)