In this preliminary match, Ash used his best partner—Pikachu.
His opponent was a man in a white judo uniform. He had a red ribbon on his head. When you saw someone dressed like that, you could guess their Pokémon. Because of his clothes, his Pokémon would surely be Fighting-types!
A bit further ahead, the Pokémon appeared. It was a Hitmonlee!
Ash was lucky with the type match-up. His opponent did not have an advantage over him. But even if he did, Ash would not care.
People call him the Master of Type Disadvantage for a reason!
Because they arrived early, they saw the start of the battle. When the match started, Hitmonlee ran fast toward Pikachu. It tried to use Close Combat.
But Ash's Pikachu was not afraid. Hitmonlee tried to hit Pikachu with a wide kick. Pikachu jumped high. It then used Iron Tail. It hit Hitmonlee right on its large, round head. Hitmonlee was slammed to the ground!
The difference in skill was very clear!
This was only the first exchange, but Pikachu took the lead. Natsui knew this match would be easy for Ash.
It happened just as Natsui thought. Hitmonlee got up and attacked again with High Jump Kick. Pikachu moved away easily with Quick Attack. With another Iron Tail, Hitmonlee was knocked down. It could not battle anymore!
In the whole match, Pikachu did not even use any Electric moves!
This showed that Ash had grown a lot.
Natsui realized he could not think of Ash as a clumsy child anymore.
Ash was now a very strong opponent!
Ash left the field and met the group outside the player tunnel. After talking, Natsui met the two extra people.
One was a big boy with orange hair in a ponytail. He was a bit chubby. He wore traditional clothes and called himself "ore." He looked scary, but he was actually clumsy.
Natsui learned the boy's name was Morrison.
Ash met him recently on his journey. He was like Ash because he won with a lot of spirit. He was competitive, so the two of them compared themselves in everything. They were friends and rivals.
Even if the others had not introduced Morrison, Natsui already knew about him.
Morrison was a rival for Ash in Hoenn. He was strong, but he had to fight Ash in the tournament. He eventually lost and finished in the Top 16.
Natsui looked at the other person.
This was also a man. He was older than Morrison. He looked two or three years older than Natsui. This man would do better than everyone else in the Ever Grande Conference!
He was the person May and the others met at the ramen shop. He was the torch runner with the sacred flame. He had a Meowth that wore a hat. His name was Tyson!
He was special because he won the Ever Grande Conference in the anime!
Because of that, he would be the biggest enemy for Natsui in this tournament.
Since they were not close, Natsui just nodded politely to greet them.
The preliminary matches ended in the afternoon. All 256 people for the next round were chosen. But it was not over. At sunset, everyone gathered in the stadium for the opening ceremony.
The players and audience watched as the sacred flame was taken to the high platform. It lit the torch.
At that moment, the Ever Grande Conference truly began!
After a day of rest, the qualifying tournament started. But first, the group lists were shown.
The players gathered in the hall. Natsui saw his potential opponents for the first time.
Besides Morrison and Tyson, he saw many familiar faces. He had met them during his journey. He did not expect to see them here.
The 256 players filled the hall. It was very noisy even when people whispered.
It was lucky that many players had already lost. If they were all in this room, it would be too hot and crowded.
Nurse Joy explained the rules again.
The rules for the qualifying tournament were different from the preliminaries. Each player had to do three double battles. You had to win all three to go to the finals. If you lost one match, you were out immediately.
The 32 players who won would enter the final rounds. There, they would have six-on-six full battles to find the champion.
Most people knew the rules, but some were finding out now. Everyone was excited about the matches.
Everyone watched as the groups appeared on the big screen.
The screen flashed with everyone's photos.
Natsui looked for his group. Before he found it, Ash shouted, "I see it! My match is in the afternoon at Arena C!"
Morrison also shouted loudly. He wanted to be louder than Ash. He said, "I found mine too! I'm in Arena E in the morning!"
These two were always competing. Natsui did not know why they were shouting about an announcement.
Natsui shook his head and looked at the screen again.
He scanned carefully and found his photo in the bottom right corner. His match was the fourth one in the afternoon at Arena F!
It was good news that he was not in Ash's group.
He was not afraid of Ash. He just did not want Ash to lose and leave the tournament early because of him.
Would Ash defeat him?
Chuckle.
Natsui looked at his opponent. It was someone he knew!
It was Anthony. He was the trainer with a private gym who said he had the world's strongest Pokémon. It was actually a Pelipper with Poké Balls in its mouth!
It was him!
Natsui was surprised that Anthony joined the Ever Grande Conference.
On the other side of the hall, Anthony saw his opponent. It was the man who beat him before. He was also surprised.
But he did not want to give up. He clenched his fist and looked ready to fight.
"Just you wait. I will definitely show you how much I've grown during this time! I must get my revenge for the last loss!"
When rivals meet, they feel competitive. He and Natsui were not enemies, but Natsui had beaten him. He wanted to win back his pride.
Also, he had to beat this man to go to the second match. For personal and business reasons, he had to win!
The group left the hall and went to the restaurant.
On the way, a woman blocked Natsui's path.
Natsui was surprised at first. Then he saw who the woman was.
She was Alexa. She had interviewed him at the Indigo League and the Silver Conference!
Alexa was dressed as a reporter. Her Gogoat was with her. It carried equipment and helped her.
"We meet again," Alexa said to Natsui with a faint smile. "I made a special effort to arrive early just to get the first interview with you!"
Natsui gave a small smile. "Miss Alexa, it's been a long time. I can only say you really think highly of me. I won't run away, so why make such a big deal out of it?"
Alexa shook her head. "You are a very popular figure. People in the Hoenn region don't know you yet because they don't know how powerful you are. Once you move to the next round, they will realize who you are. By then, people wanting to interview you will come in crowds. I don't want to be behind them!"
While they talked, May, Max, Tyson, and Morrison were surprised to see the reporter.
May and Max were okay because they knew Natsui was a champion. But they were surprised a reporter came to Hoenn to find him!
Tyson and Morrison were very shocked.
They did not know Natsui. They had never heard his name. They did not understand why a reporter wanted to talk to someone from the preliminaries.
Why didn't they get an interview!?
Tyson was a famous trainer in Hoenn and a torch runner. He thought he was more important than this man.
They were jealous. They tried to look better so people would notice them. But the beautiful reporter did not look at them!
She only looked at Natsui!
They felt defeated. They did not understand why they were treated differently.
Then, they heard fast footsteps. A woman and a man with a camera ran toward them. They were breathing hard.
They're here! They're here!!!
Did someone want to interview them now!?
They felt happy. They thought the reporters were coming for them. They smiled. They were about to speak, but the reporters ran past them! They went straight to Natsui!
What!?
They were very confused.
They looked at the scene. They did not understand why all the reporters liked that man!
He was a bit taller and more handsome than them. He was in good shape.
But what else was different!?
Natsui was the center of attention. He was surprised to see this man and woman. Then he remembered them.
They were the reporter and assistant from Mauville TV. He had met them in a park.
"You are... Miss Emma and Mr. Ida, right?"
Mary and Ty looked embarrassed. They smiled. "It's Mary and Ty."
"Huh?" Natsui felt bad. He had the names wrong! "Sorry..."
"It's okay, it's okay." Mary waved her hand. She looked at Alexa carefully. Then she asked, "Um, Mr. Natsui, I wonder if you still remember that you promised me an exclusive interview?"
This...
Natsui thought about it. He remembered them pestering him before. He told them to wait for the Ever Grande Conference. He did not think they would find him!
This was a difficult situation.
He looked at Alexa. Both sides wanted an exclusive interview. He did not know who to choose.
Alexa realized why Mary was there. She became serious.
She was glad she arrived first. Reporters in Hoenn were starting to notice Natsui!
Morrison was confused. He whispered to Ash, "Ash, who is this guy exactly? Why do so many reporters want to interview him?"
Tyson also tried to listen to the answer!
"Him..." Ash looked at the sky. He sounded serious. "His name is Natsui. He is the goal I want to surpass in my life."
Morrison and Tyson were even more confused.
They knew Ash was usually very direct.
They thought Ash was speaking in a strange way.
They only knew the man was named Natsui. They still knew nothing else!
But they knew one thing.
If reporters were chasing him and Ash acted like this, the man must be very powerful!
They looked at Natsui seriously for the first time!
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