Natsui stepped out of the player tunnel and immediately saw Ash and the others waiting for him outside.
The moment he appeared, Ash and the group started clapping. Misty had even bought a bouquet and handed it to him.
"What are you guys doing?" Natsui said with a laugh. "This is way too formal. I almost thought I'd already won the championship."
Max was still young and terrible at keeping things to himself. He did not care that Ash and Morrison were standing right there. He was the first to speak.
"Natsui! You're seriously amazing! You're unbeatable! With just two Pokémon, you won two one-against-three matches in a row!! You didn't see it, but when you won just now, the fans in the stands were insanely loud!!!"
Ash and Morrison both looked uncomfortable.
Max had used the word "unbeatable," and that included them too. They knew they might not be able to beat Natsui, but they definitely did not want to hear it said so openly. Morrison did not mind as much, but Ash was already in the Top 8. He would have to face Natsui sooner or later. Max was practically saying Ash would definitely lose.
Still, they had to admit that Natsui's performance had been incredible. If they had been the ones on the field, they could not have achieved a result like that.
"It's not as extreme as you make it sound," Natsui said with a laugh, waving his hand. "I wouldn't dare say I'm invincible. But at least in this tournament, I don't think anyone can stop me from winning."
Ash: ...
Morrison: ...
That was basically the same thing Max had just said!
They had thought Natsui would be modest, but he had admitted it directly!
Morrison quickly looked at Ash. He had already been eliminated, so there was no point in being stubborn now. All he could do was hope Ash would say something.
But Morrison was disappointed. Although Ash clenched his fists, he stayed silent. That was rare!
What!?
How could he not argue back?
Was this still the Ash he knew?
Morrison understood Ash well, but he did not understand just how much Ash respected Natsui.
If anyone else had said in front of Ash that they were going to win, Ash definitely would have argued right back about who was stronger. But with Natsui, Ash saw him as both a rival and someone he trusted completely.
It was a strange feeling, but Natsui had left such a strong impression on him over time that Ash felt that if anyone was going to defeat him and become the champion, it should be Natsui.
By the end of the day, all the Top 8 contestants had been decided.
Besides Natsui and Ash, there were six other trainers. However, they had not met any of those people during their travels. They had no chance to get to know them, so there was nothing for them to talk about.
Even though they were all in the Top 8, the treatment they received was completely different.
A huge number of reporters rushed straight toward Natsui. They surrounded him so tightly that it looked like they wanted to shove their cameras right into his face. Compared to him, the other seven contestants had no interviewers at all. Even though Ash was standing right next to Natsui, the reporters ignored him and even pushed him aside!
"This is scary..." May said. She felt these people were going way too far. It was only the Top 8, so why were they crowding around like this?
Only Misty and Brock looked used to it. They had already seen scenes like this at the Silver Conference and the Indigo Plateau.
"It's no big deal," Misty said with a shrug. "These people do this for a living. They're really good at spotting a big story. You haven't seen what it's like after the finals yet. That's the truly scary part."
Standing in the middle of it all, Natsui felt those intense stares more than anyone else.
Still, he had already prepared for this. He announced that he had already agreed to interviews with Lumiose Press and Mauville TV. He rejected all the others. Then, with the help of the security staff, he got away cleanly.
Since they were the ones interviewing him, they would also have to protect him. Next, he would let the people from Mauville TV deal with everyone else.
That night, the new matchups were released.
At that moment, every remaining player except Natsui felt uneasy.
No one wanted to be paired against someone that strong. No one wanted to become the stepping stone for his rise.
The eight contestants were divided into four groups. One unlucky person had to face him. Even if someone managed to avoid him this round, they would still have to face him in the next.
It was only a matter of time. That made all of them feel the pressure.
No one had expected that even in the Top 8, they would still feel as though they could be eliminated at any moment, just like at the very beginning of the tournament.
But the time to reveal the answer had finally arrived.
The hall that had once been packed with players was now almost empty. Only a few people remained. Other than Natsui and Ash, who stood together, everyone else kept their distance. The further they advanced, the more wary they became of one another. They were afraid their secrets would be exposed.
At exactly 7:00 p.m., the giant screen updated.
The atmosphere became tense in an instant. No one even dared to breathe too loudly. It was as if they were afraid that the slightest sound might bring them bad luck.
Even Ash swallowed hard from nerves. His hands were tightly clenched.
May and Max were also nervous. Morrison was sweating so much that it looked like he was the one about to battle!
In that heavy atmosphere, the image on the screen shifted and revealed the pairings.
Before Natsui could even see them clearly, he heard cheering from off to the side. Ash's shoulders relaxed, and he let out a long sigh.
Hmm?
Natsui was confused and looked more carefully at the screen.
He saw that in the first row, the first image was his own. Across from him was a man no older than twenty, with spiky hair and slanted eyes.
The man in the hall scratched his head and looked miserable. He silently cursed his bad luck for being matched with Natsui.
How could he be that unlucky?
After confirming his own opponent, Natsui looked toward Ash's side of the bracket.
Ash's opponent was a blue-haired girl. Natsui wanted to see how their match would turn out.
Back on Earth, when he had watched the anime, some people said Ash only lost because the story forced it. If he had not run into Tyson, he might have made the Top 4. Now that Natsui had already defeated Tyson and Ash had a different opponent, Natsui wanted to see whether Ash could reach the next round with his current strength.
"Sableye is down! Metagross wins! The winner of this match is Natsui!"
The host shouted loudly, the crowd cheered, and his friends applauded. Natsui defeated his opponent with a 6-0 victory.
Natsui was still completely unstoppable in the first match of the day.
In this battle, he used four Pokémon. For the first two rounds, he sent out Gardevoir and Gengar. He just wanted them to have some fun. He won easily and never gave his opponent a real chance.
Gardevoir fought cleanly and finished her part of the battle quickly. Even with a type disadvantage, she won through sheer strength. Gengar, on the other hand, was ruthless. It toyed with the opponent until they were exhausted. It even used its own methods to keep the opposing trainer from throwing a Poké Ball before ending the round with obvious satisfaction.
For the remaining four rounds, Eevee and Metagross each handled two matches. They did not pull off three straight wins, and they were not as flashy as Blaziken or Milotic, but they still performed extremely well.
To sum up the battle, today's opponent was about as strong as Katie had been the day before. They did not cause much trouble, and Natsui advanced into the Top 4.
The battle itself had been one-sided, but the audience still loved it. More and more people were now hoping he would win the championship.
At this point, Natsui only had to defeat two more opponents to lift the Ever Grande Conference trophy!
There were four matches scheduled for today in the tournament.
As soon as Natsui's first match ended, Ash's battle began right after it. Natsui stayed in the stadium and went to the stands, taking Ash's place there.
Ash looked extremely nervous and worried. It was a different kind of emotion from what he had felt when facing Morrison.
That was not surprising. Ash had reached the Top 8 before, and he had always wanted to go further and make the Top 4, but he had never done it. Now that he had another chance, he was carrying a lot of complicated emotions.
If he won, he would go even further and set a new personal record.
If he lost, he would stop here again and repeat the same failure as before.
Ash stood in the trainer's command area and looked at the flame burning on the high platform. Its light reflected in his eyes, and his expression was full of determination.
Natsui, wait for me! I'll definitely beat my opponent and challenge you!
"Pikachu is down!! The score is now 4 to 5. This is very bad for Ash. After all, all he has left is a Grovyle in terrible condition. Under these circumstances, can he still turn this battle around?"
The host's voice rang across the stadium while cold sweat ran down Ash's face.
Pikachu had lost again, and the situation had become extremely dangerous.
Ash hugged Pikachu tightly and clenched his teeth. Then he pulled out his last Poké Ball and threw it onto the field. A badly worn-out Grovyle appeared.
The host was right. Grovyle was in terrible shape.
Its stamina was nearly gone, and its body was covered in wounds. It looked as though it might collapse at any moment, not continue battling.
But Ash had no other choice. This was his last Pokémon!
This opponent was extremely difficult to deal with. Their strength and performance were both above Ash's.
It felt like facing Morrison at his absolute best, or perhaps someone even tougher.
Ash had been losing this entire battle. Glalie and Swellow had each taken down one of the opponent's Pokémon. But Pikachu, Torkoal, and Corphish had all gone down in succession. The opponent had beaten them one by one.
Only Grovyle had managed to give Ash a fighting chance. It had performed far beyond normal. Even with its body already worn down, it had still defeated two Pokémon. That was how the score had reached 4 to 5.
But once Pikachu fell, Grovyle had only gotten a single round of rest. Now it had to force its exhausted body back into battle and try to win everything for Ash.
"The situation is terrible..."
Brock's eyes were wide. To him, it looked like Ash had no chance of winning.
"It really is," Natsui also said, slowly shaking his head. "If Grovyle were at full strength, then maybe there would still be a chance. But now... it's already in this state. One good hit will finish it. And the opponent still has two Pokémon that haven't come out yet. Even I would be powerless here."
Natsui was right. At this point, even a weak attack could finish Grovyle. There was almost nothing it could still do with a body like this.
It had already done everything it could.
If its teammates had been stronger, or if Pikachu had performed better, they would not have ended up in this situation.
But things had turned out this way.
Natsui had once thought that without Tyson in the bracket, Ash might really make the Top 4. But now it seemed Ash still was not ready.
You could already see that in the match with Morrison. Ash had only won because Morrison had practically handed over the first two rounds. Now he was up against someone stronger than Morrison, so even reaching this point had already been difficult.
He's still a little inexperienced.
And his team still is not strong enough overall.
If this were Ash from Kalos, Alola, or Galar, he would have won this easily.
Natsui slowly shook his head and looked back toward the battlefield.
Ash's opponent sent out another Pokémon. A blue light flashed, and a Typhlosion appeared in front of Grovyle.
Everyone who cared about Ash felt their hearts sink. Even the light in Ash's eyes dimmed.
He had already been pushed to the edge, and now he had to face a Pokémon with a type advantage over Grovyle. There was no way to win this.
It was not that he wanted to give up or lose heart. But in this situation, he knew he could not change the outcome.
The referee waved the flag, and the battle began.
No miracle happened.
Typhlosion released a stream of fire. Grovyle could not dodge. It was swallowed by the flames.
In the end, he still lost.
Natsui slowly shook his head again. He really did feel bad for Ash.
When the flames faded, Grovyle had already fallen.
That meant Ash's run in the Ever Grande Conference ended right there.