When morning came, Natsui's group once again arrived at the selection hall.
Compared to the second round, the number of people was now halved again, with only 64 competitors remaining. Although the selection hall had become even more empty, after the elimination of the first two rounds, those who remained were almost all high-level, elite trainers. Starting from the third round, the opponents would become much tougher to deal with.
The staff member who had previously attended to them was unfortunately busy with other people at the moment. Natsui and his group didn't disturb her, instead moving to another empty workstation.
After two rounds of competition, they were already very familiar with the selection process. After greeting the staff member and pressing the button, the results were quickly generated.
Ash was assigned to the Ice Field. His opponent was a trainer named Sho. Judging from his previous performance, Sho's strength was considerable. It probably wouldn't be so easy for Ash to defeat him.
As for Natsui's draw...
After the Rock Field was first displayed, the portrait of a beautiful girl immediately followed, appearing on the screen.
"Is... is this?" Looking at her, Misty was first taken aback, then she quickly turned to Ash and teased, "Natsui, do you remember I said before that Ash once praised a girl for being cute during our journey? It's this person. I remember her name, I think it's—Giselle, right?"
Ash's face turned red in an instant.
Damn it, why can't this memory just be erased from their minds!?
Giselle, huh?
Natsui stroked his chin.
So, the top student from the school who was hailed as a top contender for the championship along with Gary, that must be her!
Judging from the photo, she was indeed quite cute; no wonder Ash had a crush on her. And her outstanding aura clearly indicated that she was the type of young lady who came from a prestigious family.
In Brock's words, in another eight years, she would surely grow into a stunningly beautiful woman!
Seeing Ash's embarrassed look, Natsui also joked, "Haha, so you've been hiding it all this time, Ash. You like this type of girl, huh!"
Faced with such a dark history, Ash's face turned even redder, and he shook his head like a rattle drum.
"I don't, I'm not, don't talk nonsense!!"
Just then, perhaps hearing someone mention her name, a cute girl in the distance suddenly turned her head and looked in their direction.
When she saw Ash's group, she was first taken aback, as if remembering something, then, accompanied by a few boys dressed as students, she slowly walked over.
"It really is you," the girl said with her arms crossed, uncertainly. "I remember, you're called Ash, Brock, and Misty, right?"
This person was, of course, Giselle!
No one had expected that just as they were talking about her, she would appear right in front of them. The feeling of being caught talking about someone behind their back was really quite awkward.
"That's right, it's us," Misty coughed lightly. To ease the atmosphere, she tried to make small talk. "You made it to the third round too? Huh, strange, why don't I see Joe? Didn't he participate in the competition?"
The Joe Misty mentioned was the boy who was being specially trained by his classmates that Ash and the others had met when they stumbled into the Pokémon School.
"That guy Joe was eliminated in the first round," Giselle shook her head in disappointment. "Although he also entered the League Conference through the school, his skill is still too low!"
At this point, Giselle asked again, "I just heard someone say my name. What? Did something happen?"
Before Misty could answer, Giselle had already seen her photo on the big screen.
"Oh?" Her gaze then fell upon Natsui. "So, you're my next opponent, is that it?"
"That's right," Natsui nodded. "I'll have to ask Miss Giselle to go easy on me."
Giselle lifted her head, her expression a bit arrogant, "The arena is a battlefield. How could a campus star like me possibly hold back in a battle? But don't you worry. A grown-up like you, I don't think you'll be easily beaten to tears."
Natsui was speechless.
He was just being polite, but he didn't expect this Miss Giselle to be so confident. Her tone made it sound as if his defeat was a foregone conclusion.
How dare someone bad-mouth Natsui right in front of her!?
Despite having lost to Giselle in the past, the quick-tempered Misty was immediately ready to argue with her. But before she could open her mouth, Natsui stopped her.
And when they left the selection hall, Misty was still fuming.
Seeing this, Natsui shook his head and smiled at her, "Why bother arguing with her? With people like this, isn't it better to just beat them in a match!"
...
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third round of the Indigo League on the Rock Field!"
"The two sides in this battle are incredible! First up from the red corner is the top-class prodigy from a prestigious family at the Pokémon Research School, Giselle! Within the school, she is a star-level competitor whose skills not only crush her peers but even her teachers are no match for her. She is extremely formidable!"
"And from the green corner is competitor Natsui, who has advanced with ease and a huge advantage in every battle! After the first two rounds, we can see that his skills are also outstanding. But in this match, there will only be one winner. Who will advance smoothly? Next, let's wait and see!"
When Natsui and Giselle made their entrance, a wave of cheers erupted from the stadium.
However, it was clear that Giselle's popularity was greater. Even with the bikers cheering, the momentum of her audience clearly suppressed Natsui's supporters.
And it wasn't hard to tell from the sound that her supporters were almost all male.
Looking at it from another perspective, if Natsui himself weren't competing, he would also be cheering for such a cute girl.
The Rock Field, besides the hard ground, was composed of dozens of giant boulders and hundreds of smaller rocks, appearing as a stretch of earthy yellow from a distance.
When the referee signaled for both sides to show their Pokémon at the same time, Natsui thought for a moment and sent out Blastoise. On the other side, Giselle sent out an Onix!
The announcer commented, "Oh? To take advantage of the terrain, competitor Giselle has sent out the Rock and Ground-type Onix! And competitor Natsui seems to have anticipated this move, directly sending out the Water-type Blastoise! In terms of typing, it seems competitor Giselle is at a complete disadvantage!"
Even without the announcer's mention, Giselle naturally knew that the current type matchup was unfavorable for her. But despite this, she showed no signs of panic.
In fact, back when Ash and his friends had entered the Pokémon School and battled her, she had used a Golem to easily defeat Misty's Starmie, despite being at a type disadvantage.
Therefore, in terms of reverse-attribute battles, she could be considered an expert on par with Ash!
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