At 5:00 PM, the long first round of the Grand Festival finally came to an end.
The staff finished counting the contestants' scores and then prepared to announce the top 64.
Everyone was nervous. The people who had done well were eager to see their names, and even the ones who had made mistakes kept staring at the big screen, hoping they might still squeeze into the next round.
Most of them already knew their own scores, but that still was not enough to feel safe. There were too many contestants, so it was hard to judge the final rankings. Until the full list appeared, no one could be sure.
This was a major event with both fame and prize money on the line. If they failed, they would have to wait another full year for the next chance. Of course they were tense.
"Now, let's reveal the results!"
Vivian spoke in an excited voice, and the image on the giant screen changed. One by one, sixty-four faces and names appeared.
Robert was at the top with the highest score. In second place was a woman with long blue hair. That surprised Natsui and the others. She had even scored higher than Drew. But when they thought about it, it made sense. There was still a gap between Drew and Robert, and with so many strong Coordinators gathered here, it was normal for someone else to place above him.
They quickly scanned the list. Before long, they found May's picture in 48th place.
May's face lit up at once. She felt much better.
She had expected to qualify, but actually seeing her name there still made her relax.
"A feast! A feast!"
"To celebrate May making it into the main round, we have to celebrate properly!"
Ash shouted loudly.
While everyone was happy, Natsui kept looking down the list. He did not recognize many names. But near the bottom, he saw Harley's picture.
Harley had made it through as well.
His personality was awful, but he really did have skill.
Honestly, it was a waste. If he stopped spending so much energy scheming against people, he could probably go even further. But that was simply the kind of person he was. Unless he changed completely, that would never happen.
That evening, they really did go out for a big meal.
But this time, Caroline paid for it instead of Natsui.
She wanted to celebrate her daughter getting through the first round. She also wanted to thank Ash, Brock, and the others for looking after both May and Max.
Ash did not care who was paying as long as the food was good. He and Pikachu ate at top speed, like they had not eaten in days.
Everyone except Caroline was already used to that. To them, it was just Ash being himself.
The first day of the Grand Festival ended on a happy note.
According to the schedule, the next day was a rest day.
The main round would not begin until the third day.
That gave May a little more time to prepare.
The next morning, after finishing breakfast in the dining hall, they ran into that annoying Harley again.
"Good morning, May!"
It was hard to be rude to someone who walked up smiling. Even though May and the others were bothered by him, they still greeted him politely.
"Good morning to you too, Mr. Harley."
Harley acted as if he were already a close friend. Either he truly could not read the room, or he simply did not care. He walked right up to May with a fake smile.
"You're going to practice, right? I'm heading out too. If you don't mind, why don't we practice together?"
"Um..."
"I'm really sorry. I already made plans with my friends. We're going somewhere farther away today, so I won't be able to practice with you."
May repeated exactly what Natsui had told her to say the day before. Harley froze for a moment.
This was the first time May had directly turned him down.
He knew she was kind and soft-hearted. Normally, his little tricks worked well on her.
But now...
This did not sound like something she would say on her own.
Harley did not back off. He kept that same smile on his face.
"Come on, don't say that. We're both Coordinators, and we both made it into the main round. Shouldn't we help each other? Besides, aren't we friends?"
Harley was unbelievably persistent. He clung on like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe.
No one knew exactly how he had first gotten close to May, but now that he had latched onto her, it was hard to shake him off.
He was right about one thing, though. May really was not good at turning people down. If she had been alone, she probably would have had no idea what to do.
Luckily, she was not alone.
May did not answer him. She looked toward Natsui, clearly asking for help.
The moment Natsui saw that look, he sighed.
He had wanted May to handle this herself as part of her growth.
But Harley was still too much for her right now.
Natsui stepped in front of May and blocked Harley's path. He looked at him calmly.
This was the first time Natsui had dealt with Harley face to face. The moment Harley met his eyes, he felt pressure.
"Didn't you hear May say she already has plans today?"
"If you know what's good for you, leave now. You look like the kind of guy who cares about appearances, so don't wait until I throw you out. If it comes to that, I won't be as polite as I am right now."
Natsui's tone was cold, much sharper than May's.
Misty was standing behind him. The moment she saw him step in, she loosened her hands.
She was glad Natsui had moved first. If she had been the one to deal with Harley, she probably would have hit him.
Harley frowned and glared at Natsui. His voice dropped.
"Who are you?"
"You seriously don't know who he is?"
Ash spoke from the side.
He looked ready to start listing every one of Natsui's titles, but Natsui stopped him with a hand.
"Who I am has nothing to do with you."
"All you need to know is that you're not welcome here."
Natsui clearly had no interest in wasting time with him. He let out a small scoff.
That was openly rude.
Harley hated being talked down to like that in front of everyone.
"What did you say?!"
"Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like that?!"
Harley shouted so loudly that the whole hall could hear him.
"I'll only say this once."
"If you bother May again, don't blame me when I stop being polite."
Natsui stayed just as cold as before.
Harley wanted nothing more than to lunge at the man who had suddenly appeared and humiliated him.
But then he remembered his plan.
He had spent so much time trying to mess with May and make her lose.
He could not let all of that go to waste now.
He absolutely could not fail here.
Harley took a deep breath, forced his anger down, and turned to May with a fake gentle tone.
"May, you can't really think this way, can you? Aren't we friends?"
"Well..."
May had not expected Natsui to be this direct. He had left her no room to soften the situation. And now Harley was staring at her, waiting for her answer. She did not know what to say.
It was obvious what Harley was doing. He was trying to force May to step in for him.
He assumed Natsui was just someone she had only recently met. After all, he had never seen Natsui at other contests.
He thought May would naturally side with him because they had known each other longer.
May looked torn.
She knew very well that she liked Natsui far more than Harley, and she wanted to reject Harley.
But saying something harsh directly to someone's face was still hard for her.
So once again, Natsui stepped in.
"This is getting ridiculous."
"You're a grown man. Can't you act like one? Why are you always targeting a younger girl? And can you stop with the fake expressions and that forced, sugary tone?"
Natsui looked openly annoyed as he said it.
Those words hit hard.
Misty, Ash, and Brock were all surprised.
They had not seen Natsui act this aggressively very often.
The words were harsh, but honestly, they were satisfying to hear.
Harley could not take that kind of mockery.
Back then, May had only called his Cacturne "scary," and he had held a grudge over that ever since. Now Natsui was insulting him to his face.
Harley might be willing to use tricks against May, but with Natsui, he wanted to hit back right away.
"I see."
"So you've decided to stand against me on purpose. Fine. If that's how you want it, I'll deal with you myself."
Harley's voice had gone calm, but the anger under it was obvious.
That was exactly what Natsui had wanted.
Talking would never be enough to make Harley back off. Natsui already knew this was going to end in a battle.
"At least you chose the straightforward way to settle this."
"Then follow me to the field out back. I want to see what you can actually do."
Natsui pointed behind him and gave a faint smile.
Harley said nothing. His face was dark as he followed Natsui out of the building.
Ash, Max, and Brock followed after them too.
May wanted to say something, but Misty stopped her.
"Just leave it to Natsui."
"This is basically a fight between two guys over a girl. It's straight out of a romance drama. And with someone like Natsui involved, it's not exactly something you get to see every day."
"What are you even saying?!"
May's face turned bright red.
Still, deep down, she knew it was better to let Natsui handle Harley than to keep letting Harley stick to her.
They left the building and headed toward the open battle field behind it.
It was only 7:00 in the morning. Since there were no matches today, very few people were around. Most of the other contestants were still inside or had not come out yet.
The place was quiet and mostly empty.
Harley followed behind Natsui, staring at him with hatred.
Then a nasty idea formed in his mind.
No one else was nearby. He quietly released Cacturne and kept walking behind Natsui. Natsui did not seem to notice. Harley glanced at Cacturne and gave it an order.
Attack from behind.
And the target was not Natsui's Pokémon.
It was Natsui himself.
Among Trainers and Coordinators, there was an unspoken rule. In a battle, you did not attack the Trainer directly unless it was self-defense.
There was no formal law about it, but people despised anyone who crossed that line. Most people followed that rule without question.
Harley, however, did not care.
Cacturne raised its arm and swung toward the back of Natsui's head.
Ash and the others saw it the moment they came outside.
Natsui did not have a single Pokémon out, and Cacturne was already right behind him. Ash and the others went pale.
"Natsui! Look out!"
Ash shouted at the top of his lungs.
They were too far away to help. Even Pikachu could not reach him in time.