When the match finished and Natsui walked out of the stadium, he met Ash and his friends. They had arrived late.
Misty was still talking a lot into his ear. She talked about how happy the audience looked in the stands. She was in the middle of her story when she saw Natsui stop walking. She was surprised. She looked up and saw Ash and the others running toward them.
"Eh?" Seeing that Natsui had already left the stadium, Ash looked sad. "Is your match already over? That is too bad! I was hoping to get here fast to watch it. I didn't think I would be late!"
It was not just Ash. Morrison and Tyson were standing nearby. They also felt a bit sad.
They already thought Natsui was a strong opponent. They wanted to watch him to learn his style. They did not expect to miss the match, even though they ran.
But they could not do anything about it. Natsui's battle was late, and he stayed on the field for a long time. However, the stadiums were far apart. It was impossible to go from one stadium to another in a few minutes.
Natsui waved his hand. He smiled and said, "There was nothing special to see. It was just a normal battle. Look, it took me a long time to come out, right?"
After he finished speaking, the group saw a person walking alone far away. He was also leaving the arena through the player tunnel. He was walking away into the distance.
Ash looked at the man's back. He asked with curiosity, "Is that Anthony? Was he your opponent for this match, Natsui? Why does he look like that?"
Anthony looked like something very bad had happened to him. He had no energy or spirit at all.
Max stood to the side. He moved his glasses up. He said with a very sure voice, "Isn't it obvious? He must have lost all his spirit because of Natsui!"
"Eh!? No way?" Ash rubbed his head. He found it hard to believe. "That Anthony guy... I fought him before too. He used some mean tricks to beat many people, but he is actually strong. What kind of battle could take his spirit away like that?"
Morrison and Tyson became even more curious when they heard this.
But Misty had learned a lot after traveling for a long time. She knew what she should say and what she should not say in front of others. Before Natsui could speak, she smiled at Ash and the others. She said, "It was actually nothing much. It was just a long battle of endurance. Anthony could not handle the feeling of that match. That is why he looks like that."
Morrison and Tyson were confused, but they believed her.
They had been on the field themselves. They felt the atmosphere there. It was very different from normal battles or Gym battles. A Pokémon could not do its best. They could only use about half of their real power.
Most trainers had this problem. Since everyone became weaker, they did not think it was strange.
Then, Natsui asked about everyone else. They had all won and moved to the next round.
Only Ash's battle was a bit hard. Maybe his opponent was too strong. Or maybe he chose the wrong Pokémon. He and his opponent fought until they were both very tired. Their Pokémon fainted at the same time. In the end, Corphish worked very hard. Because of Corphish's spirit, Ash won the hard battle and moved forward.
May and the others were very worried about him. They were afraid Ash would lose before the Victory Tournament.
But Natsui trusted Ash. He knew Ash better than the others. He knew Ash would reach the Top 32!
It was not because he knew the story from the show. It was because he could feel something from Ash. Ash felt like a great trainer!
After the first round ended, 128 trainers were gone. 128 trainers stayed. Soon, these 128 trainers were matched again in their groups for the second round.
For example, Natsui's next opponent was also from Arena F. His name was Ryohei.
At first, Natsui did not know Ryohei. But he saw Ryohei's family with him. Ash and the others also told him about Ryohei. Then Natsui understood. Ryohei was a member of the Winstrate family. They were very famous in the Hoenn region!
The Winstrate family was famous because of five people. There was the grandmother, the father, the mother, the brother, and the sister. All five of them loved Pokémon battles. When they met trainers on the road, they made them fight. They were difficult people. They would not let you leave unless you beat everyone in a row!
Because they did this, many people knew them. They became famous.
Ryohei was the strongest person in that family!
Ash said that he fought the Winstrate family before. But Ryohei was not at home then. He heard that Ryohei was training for the Ever Grande Conference. Ash did not expect Natsui to fight him now.
It was a coincidence.
Natsui also remembered the Winstrate family.
They were in the show and the games.
In the games, these five people were not very strong. They were easy for practice. If your Pokémon were a higher level, you could win easily.
He wondered if the strongest Winstrate was strong in this real world.
...
Natsui rested for one night. He went to Arena F early the next morning.
His match was the first one of the morning. Ash, Tyson, and Morrison could finally watch him. They all came together.
More matches were moving faster now. There were fewer people than yesterday. The total number of battles today was half of yesterday.
The Athlete's Village was getting quiet. But more people were in the stadium. The audience was very excited.
It was the first match, but the stands were full of people.
Some people were watching Natsui for the first time. But some people had watched him yesterday. They liked how he looked or how strong he was. They came early just to see him!
This showed that Natsui was becoming famous at the Ever Grande Conference. People were starting to watch him.
The crowd cheered. Natsui and Ryohei walked onto the field from different sides.
Ryohei was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He had green hair in a ponytail. He was not tall or short. He had a neat face. He did not look like a mean person. He looked gentle.
But he was from the Winstrate family. Natsui would not think he was weak.
Natsui looked at Ryohei, and Ryohei looked at Natsui.
Ryohei came to the Ever Grande Conference, but he was different from his family. He did not care about fighting as much as they did. He liked other things in life.
He thought Natsui looked very good. Natsui was more handsome than he was. Ryohei liked this. He thought handsome people were more polite than rough people. He thought Natsui's fighting style would be peaceful too.
The audience cheered for both of them.
The referee gave a signal. Natsui and Ryohei used their Poké Balls at the same time.
There was a blue light. Their Pokémon appeared.
Ryohei used Alakazam and Swellow. Natsui used Blaziken and Eevee.
He used Metagross and Milotic yesterday. Now it was time for these two. All his Pokémon needed a turn to practice fighting on the field.
He wanted to be fair so everyone could fight.
The battle started. Natsui and Ryohei gave orders at the same time.
Alakazam is a Psychic-type. Swellow is a Flying and Normal-type. Both had an advantage over Blaziken. It seemed like Natsui had a bad start again.
Other people might feel worried or sad in this situation. But Natsui did not care.
If the opponent relaxed because they had an advantage, they would have a big problem!
On the field, Swellow flew high. It looked for a chance to attack from the sky. Alakazam sat in the air with its legs crossed. It held two spoons toward Blaziken and Eevee.
Ryohei did not attack immediately like Anthony. But he was ready. If Natsui made a mistake, Ryohei would attack very hard!
Natsui acted like everything was fine. He gave a command. Blaziken used Flamethrower from far away. Eevee ran in a curve toward Alakazam.
Tyson and Morrison watched closely. They wanted to see Natsui's real skill.
Ash watched with big eyes. He wanted to see how Natsui's Pokémon fought. He wanted to know if he was as strong as Natsui.
May and Max were sitting nearby. They had heard Ash talk about Natsui. Max had seen him on TV. But they had never seen him fight in person!
They wanted to see if this man was truly as strong as they heard!
In a second, everyone was watching the battle.
The Flamethrower was close to Alakazam. Alakazam was calm. It raised one spoon. An invisible barrier appeared in front of it. It protected Alakazam.
The fire hit the barrier. The fire was strong, but it could not break the barrier.
Right then, Eevee ran toward Alakazam very fast.
Ryohei and Swellow saw it. Ryohei did not need to say anything. Swellow moved. It flew down toward Eevee to stop it!
Alakazam also raised its other spoon. It pointed it at Eevee.
Swellow got close to the ground. Its claws almost touched Eevee. On the other side, Alakazam used its psychic power. It moved toward Eevee.
The two Pokémon attacked Eevee from the sky and the ground. They trapped Eevee. Ryohei's Pokémon worked together very well. They were better than Anthony's Pokémon.
Ryohei thought Eevee would be hit and fall down!
But at that moment, Eevee turned very quickly. It dodged Swellow. Then, it used Quick Attack. It became very fast. It dodged Alakazam's Confusion. Then, it hit Alakazam with its head!
"Beautiful!!!"
The announcer shouted. Eevee did a great job. The audience became very excited!
No one expected an ordinary Eevee to move like that!
And that was not all. Because Eevee hit Alakazam, the barrier broke. The Flamethrower went through the broken barrier. It burned Alakazam!
In one second, the battle changed because of Eevee!
Tyson and Morrison felt many things. They were amazed by Eevee.
They could tell that Natsui was very skilled because of how Eevee fought.
Ash and Pikachu looked at each other.
The move looked simple. It was just a dodge and a hit. But the timing was very important. If Eevee was too fast or too slow, it would have been hit by Swellow or Alakazam!
Ash's Pikachu could move like that. But Pikachu had traveled to three regions to learn.
He did not expect this Eevee to have such fast reactions. It had only been traveling for a short time!
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