I caught a Pokémon

Unfortunately, they went down the wrong path.

When Xia You and Xiao Xia arrived at the arena where Xiao Zhi was, they found that Xiao Zhi was coming onto the field from the player tunnel. It seemed that his match was about to begin. There were also two unfamiliar figures next to Xiao Yao and the others in the audience.

Chapter 764 Who exactly is this man?!

In this qualifying round, Ash naturally fielded his most trusted partner—Pikachu.

His opponent was a man dressed in a white judo uniform with a red ribbon in his hair. Whenever you see someone dressed like that, you don't need to guess; you can tell just by their attire that their Pokémon must be Fighting-type!

Sure enough, if you look a little further ahead, you'll see his Pokémon – a Hitmonlee!

In terms of attributes, Ash made the right gamble, as he didn't encounter any opponents that countered him. However, even if he did, given his personality, he probably wouldn't care.

The title of "Master of Reverse Attributes" isn't given lightly!

Because they arrived early, just as the battle had begun, Hitmonlee was already running towards Pikachu at an extremely fast speed, attempting to engage it in close combat.

However, Ash's Pikachu was not afraid of it. Just as Hitmonlee was about to launch a sweeping kick, Pikachu jumped high into the air and used Iron Tail to hit Hitmonlee's round head, slamming it to the ground!

Sit down!

Although it was just a single exchange, the fact that Pikachu was able to gain the upper hand first means that this match shouldn't be too difficult for Ash.

Just as Xia You had imagined, after Hitmonlee got up, it launched another Flying Kick at Pikachu, but it was easily neutralized by Pikachu's Quick Attack. In the next Iron Tail, it was knocked to the ground and lost its ability to battle!

Throughout the entire match, Pikachu didn't even use a single Electric-type move!

This also shows that Ash has indeed grown a lot.

This also made Xia You realize that she could no longer treat him as the careless and somewhat sloppy child she knew when they first started their trip...

Ash, he has become a formidable opponent!

After Xiao Zhi finished playing, the group gathered outside the contestants' tunnel. After their introductions, Xia You learned who the two extra people next to them were.

One of them was a chubby boy with orange hair tied in a ponytail. He wore traditional clothing and often referred to himself as "I." He looked somewhat fierce, but was actually rather careless.

Through the introduction, Xia You also learned that the big boy's name was Zhengzong.

He was someone Ash met recently while traveling. He's very similar to Ash; both are trainers who win with their spirit and share the same competitive nature. So, the two of them always have to compete in everything, which makes them both friends and rivals.

However, even if Xiaozhi and the others didn't introduce Masamune, Xia You still had some understanding of him.

Masamune can be considered a formidable rival of Ash in Hoenn. Although his strength is quite good, he could not escape the fate of a destined duel. He was grouped with Ash at the tournament and ultimately lost to him, stopping at the round of 16.

Xia You turned her gaze away from Masamune and looked at another person.

This was also a man, but he was a little older than Masamune, and even looked to be two or three years older than Xia You. This man's performance at the Saiyou Tournament was undoubtedly more dazzling than anyone else's!

He was the same Tetsuya who had met Haruka and the others at the ramen shop and was the torchbearer with the cat wearing a hat during the torch relay!

The reason he is considered dazzling is not because of anything else, but because in the anime, he ultimately won the championship of this year's Ayaka Tournament!

From this perspective, this will also be his biggest enemy in the Rainbow Tournament.

Since they weren't familiar with each other, Xia You simply nodded politely to the two of them as a greeting.

Today's preliminary rounds took only one morning and afternoon to determine all 256 people who would advance to the next round. But that wasn't all. As the sun set, all those who had advanced gathered at the main arena to participate in the opening ceremony of the Rainbow Tournament.

Witnessed by the athletes and spectators, the Olympic flame was passed to the high platform and lit.

And only then can the Rainbow Tournament truly begin!

After a day of rest, the qualifying tournament was held as scheduled, but the group list had to be announced before the competition began.

All the contestants gathered in the hall, and Xia You met her potential opponents for the first time.

To be honest, besides Masamune and Tetsuya from before, he actually saw many familiar faces. These were people he had met during his previous travels, and he never expected to run into them here again.

The hall was packed with 256 contestants, and even the whispers made it feel chaotic.

Fortunately, nearly four hundred contestants were eliminated. If all of them were included, and they were all crammed into this place, doing nothing, they would probably die from the heat even if they weren't crushed to death.

Miss Joey then explained the rules of the game again.

Compared to the qualifying rounds, the rules of the qualifying tournament have changed. Each player needs to participate in three doubles matches, and only those who win all three matches can advance to the finals. Losing just one match will result in immediate elimination.

The 32 players who win the preliminary tournament will enter the final decisive tournament, where a six-on-six all-out battle will determine the final champion.

Although most people learned the rules from the guidebook released by the conference, a small number of people only learned the process at this moment for various reasons. But no matter who they are, since they have made it this far, they are all looking forward to the competition.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the grouping information was displayed on the large screen.

The screen flashed, and everyone's avatars appeared on the screen simultaneously.

Xia You looked up to find his group, but before he could find it, Xiao Zhi shouted, "I see it! My match is in Arena C this afternoon!"

Masamune, seemingly trying to outdo Satoshi in who could shout the loudest, retorted, "I found it too! I'm Morning from E Arena!"

These two seem to be really going at it. I don't know why they're shouting so loudly when they're just in a group.

Shaking her head, Xia You turned her gaze back to the screen.

After scanning carefully, he finally found his avatar in the lower right corner of the screen, and his match was the fourth match of the afternoon at F Arena!

It's definitely good news that I wasn't grouped with Ash.

Of course, he wasn't afraid of Ash; he simply didn't want Ash to leave the stage prematurely because he had met him.

As for whether Ash will defeat himself?

Ha ha.

Pulling her thoughts back, Xia You looked at her opponent again, only to find that he was also an acquaintance!

It was Anthony, the trainer he had met before who ran a private gym and claimed to have the world's strongest Pokémon, but in reality, he was just a Pelipper with a few Poké Balls in his mouth!

It turned out to be him!

I didn't expect him to participate in the Rainbow Swimming Contest either, what a coincidence!

On the other side of the hall, Anthony also saw his opponent, the man who had defeated him before, and felt a sense of surprise.

However, he showed no sign of backing down; instead, he clenched his fists, eager to try.

"Just you wait, I'll show you just how much you've grown over this time! I'll avenge my last defeat!"

As the saying goes, enemies are especially hostile when they meet. Although he and Xia You were not enemies, Xia You had defeated him before. Now that the opportunity was in front of him, he naturally hoped to get revenge.

Most importantly, only by defeating this man can I have a second duel. So no matter from any perspective, both personally and professionally, I must defeat him!

After leaving the lobby, the group headed straight for the restaurant.

However, Xia You had only taken a few steps when she was blocked by a woman.

At first, Xia You was a little surprised, but after seeing who the woman was, all she could do was feel helpless.

And this person was none other than Pansy, who had been interviewed by both the Quartz Conference and the Silver Conference!

Pansy was still dressed as a reporter, with her goat carrying equipment and acting as her assistant.

"We meet again." With a faint smile, Pansy said to Xia You, "I came here early on purpose, just to get the first interview with you!"

Hearing this, Xia You gave a wry smile: "Miss Pansy, it's been a long time. I can only say that you really think highly of me. I'm not going to run away, so why make such a fuss?"

Pansy put one hand on her hip and shook her head: "You're a hot commodity. People in the Hoenn region don't know you yet because they don't know how amazing you are. Once you advance to the next round, they'll realize who you are, and people will flock to interview you. I don't want to be behind them!"

While the two were talking, the sight of Pansy dressed as a reporter surprised Haruka, Katsuyuki, Tetsuya, and Masamune, who were standing nearby.

It was alright for Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng, since they all knew that Xia You had won the championship in two regions before. They just didn't expect that there would be reporters who would come all the way to Hoenn to find him!

Tetsuya and Masamune were undoubtedly extremely shocked.

The two had no prior knowledge of Xia You, not only had they never heard of him, but this was also their first time meeting. They couldn't understand why, when the preliminary rounds had just ended and they hadn't even played in the preliminary tournament, a reporter had already come to interview them.

Why don't they have any?!

Especially Tetsuya, who is a well-known trainer in the Hoenn region and was previously a torch runner. No matter how you look at it, he should be more worthy of being interviewed than this man, right?

If you're talking about envy, that's for sure. The two of them subtly tidied their appearance, hoping to make themselves look more eye-catching, but they didn't expect that the beautiful reporter wouldn't even glance at them the whole time!

She just kept her attention focused on this man!

This made them somewhat discouraged and frustrated, wondering why they, who had also passed the qualifiers, did not receive the same treatment.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from afar, and a woman and a man, carrying a camera and holding a microphone, ran breathlessly toward them.

They're here! They're here!!!

Finally, someone wants to interview them!?

The two were overjoyed, thinking that the man and woman had come to interview them. Their faces lit up with smiles. Just as they were about to say something, the man and woman walked straight past them and ran to the man next to them!

what! ?

They were completely dumbfounded.

Looking at this scene in disbelief, I really couldn't understand why all the reporters were going to find that man!

Isn't this man just a little taller, a little more handsome, and a little better in physique than them?

Besides that, what else is different?

Unlike the two people, Xia You, who was the center of attention, was somewhat surprised to see the man and woman there, but she immediately recognized them.

It was the same Zijin TV reporter and her assistant whom I had met in Zijin City Park!

"You... are Miss Emma and Mr. Ida, right?"

Mary and Dai stood there awkwardly, then laughed and said, "It's Mary and Dai."

"Huh?" Xia You was also a little embarrassed, not expecting that she had remembered their names wrong! "Sorry..."

"It's alright, it's alright." Mary waved her hand, first glancing warily at the pansy that was looking at her with curiosity, before tentatively asking, "Mr. Xia You, do you remember the exclusive interview you promised me?"

this……

Xia You thought about it carefully and remembered that when she first met them, she couldn't stand their harassment, so she pushed the matter to the Caiyou Conference. She didn't expect that they would remember and actually come looking for her!

This is a bit tricky...

Xia You glanced at the pansies beside her and was surprised that they would appear together here. Now both of them wanted to do an exclusive interview with her. Who should she agree to?

At this moment, Pansy understood Mary's purpose and her expression immediately became much more serious.

Fortunately, she arrived here a step ahead of time. Unexpectedly, she was right. Reporters in the Hoenn region had already started to notice Xia You!

Just as Xia You was caught in a dilemma, Zhengzong, who was standing to the side, was really puzzled. He turned to Xiaozhi and quietly asked, "Xiaozhi, who exactly is this person? Why do so many reporters want to interview him?"

Even Tetsuya secretly pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what kind of background this man had!

“Him…” Xiao Zhi looked up at the sky, his tone seemingly filled with complex emotions, “His name is Xia You, and he is the goal I want to surpass in my entire life.”

Hearing Satoshi's answer, Masamune and Tetsuya were even more confused.

Because they've known each other for quite some time, they understand what kind of personality Ash has.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhi, who is usually straightforward and outspoken, spoke in riddles at this moment!

After all that, the two of them still knew nothing about the man except that his name was Xia You!

But one thing is certain.

The fact that Xiaozhi was chased around by reporters like this, and that he reacted this way, means this man must be really amazing!

This was the first time the two of them had seriously looked at Xia You!

Chapter 765 Teasing the Opponent

Xia You finally used the tactic of 'delaying' to postpone the interview once again.

After all, the qualifiers have only just ended, the qualifying tournament hasn't even started yet, and everything is still undecided. What's the point of giving an interview so early?

He needs to at least reach the final tournament; otherwise, making such boastful claims too early could easily alienate the audience and make them think he's overconfident.

Seeing Xia You's resolute attitude, Pansy and Mary had no choice but to give up for the time being.

Pansies were alright, since I had already interviewed Xia You twice before and knew that this was just his personality, so I didn't take it to heart.

Only Mary was filled with doubt and uncertainty. After all, she knew that the man in front of her had won the championship in two regions and was the biggest competitor in this year's Rainbow Dance Competition. Getting first-hand information from him, or even an exclusive interview, would definitely play a decisive role in whether she could return to the station!

Thinking of this, she glanced at the pansy, her eyes filled with determination!

……