Chapter 368:
January 16th.
Fourth day of the Pokémon League Conference.
Today will host the Round of 16 and the Quarter-finals.
The Semi-finals and Final will be held tomorrow morning.
As time progresses, the hype around the Pokémon League Conference grows higher and higher.
Without a doubt, this year's Conference has achieved tremendous success in terms of participant investment, field additions, and various format reforms.
Both the viewership ratings and the number of people paying attention have reached the highest peak since the Conference began!
For the Champion of the Eastova League, Kazephyr, this is undoubtedly the situation he most hoped to see!
Because this can greatly boost the courage and determination of young trainers to embark on journeys, encounter more Pokémon, and also facilitate the laws he wants to enact next.
Especially after he heard this piece of news from the information department:
"A quarter of the search hotwords are provided by Hayashi Kaede. The most searched terms are 'Speedrun,' 'Hayashi Kaede's Pokémon,' 'Gardevoir,' 'Serperior,' 'Alolan Ninetales,' 'Aesthetics-focused faction,' 'Latios,' 'Champion'..."
Although some hotwords were hard to understand, it didn't stop Kazephyr from feeling increasingly satisfied.
*As expected of the contestant I selected.*
And thankfully, Kaede was allowed to participate in this year's Conference.
Otherwise, just one Legendary Pokémon, Latios, couldn't possibly support this level of hype.
Online, massive discussions have already erupted about who will win the championship this year.
Some say it's Tobias, because this young man always wears a confident smile facing all opponents, and he owns a Legendary Pokémon.
Some even speculate whether his other unrevealed Pokémon are also Legendaries?
But most people support Hayashi Kaede.
Because each of Kaede's Pokémon is strong, and they all have high visual appeal!
This is the key point, because another faction's opinion is: *Who cares if they're strong or not, looking good is what matters!*
With public opinion fermenting like this, the sentiments in the audience stands are similar.
What everyone anticipates most now is tomorrow's championship battle... or perhaps, the two might face off even before the finals?
.....
"Dear audience friends, hello everyone! Welcome to the Eastova Stadium. I am Satoshi, the commentator for this Pokémon League Conference. Without further ado, let's get straight to the main event!"
Satoshi, riding his Aegislash, flew out from behind the stage.
The entire audience erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
In the contestants' seating area, after several days of matches, except for a very few contestants still holding back, basically every contestant has gained some understanding of the others.
Moreover, at this point, all sixteen contestants are in the seating area and won't be waiting in their rooms.
The central screen began spinning their portraits.
What made Hayashi Kaede raise an eyebrow was that the first selected portrait was his?
This made most people present tense up, afraid the next selected contestant would be themselves.
It also made the audience's eyes light up.
The first match features Hayashi Kaede?
The selection process was quick. Before the audience could even fantasize about a direct match with Tobias, the second contestant was already chosen.
And the moment it appeared, someone in the contestants' seating area heart quietly shattered.
Kaede also curiously looked over... It was Yūji...
Generally speaking, the scale of the Silver Conference and the Eastova Pokémon League Conference is similar. In the previous Top 32 to Top 16 match, Yūji had a slight field advantage, so his advancement wasn't too difficult.
He had just been pondering who he would need to face to have hope of reaching the Quarter-finals.
But before he finished calculating... the result was out.
"Bro... Brother Kaede..."
He forced an ugly expression towards Kaede.
"Mhmm... See you on the battlefield."
Although they had some acquaintance, once on the battlefield, Kaede wouldn't let his Pokémon lose just because of that.
*'It's over, it's over.....'*
Yūji's mentality completely collapsed.
He suddenly remembered when he returned last time, he went to Kaede's place, then impulsively boasted about reaching the Top 8 in the Silver Conference, even though he only made Top 16.
He even bragged to Kaede, saying he would aim for Top 4.
Looking at it now....
He sighed, feeling disheartened.
But the matches wouldn't wait for him. After the contestants were selected, the match began immediately.
The two took the field. The selected field was the most common Rocky Terrain.
This field, which offers no bonus to any Pokémon type, naturally didn't require much special attention.
Kaede chose Milotic because he knew Yūji would send out Flareon.
And indeed, as he predicted.
When Flareon appeared and saw it was him, it was momentarily stunned.
But then it quickly lowered its stance, adopting an offensive posture.
However, it was of no use.
Kaede directly ordered, "Water Gun!"
The Water Gun Milotic mastered from watering was precise and swift, directly dousing Flareon and sending it spinning, quickly defeating it.
Then the second match, the third match....
Whether it was Snorlax, Jynx, or Jolteon...
None could last more than a few moves against Kaede's Pokémon.
This result, although expected, still left Yūji disheartened and disappointed as he left the stage.
Kaede didn't say much upon seeing this.
Yūji was already a trainer who had been traveling for a long time.
It should be said that those who made it to the Pokémon League Conference basically have rich travel experience. They've surely faced setbacks along the way, and their mental fortitude is strong.
They can quickly adjust from on their own from this bit of emotional disappointment.
Of course, besides him.
The match result was unsurprising and didn't bring much novelty, so Kaede's match didn't cause much stir in the audience stands.
But this didn't mean they weren't paying attention to Kaede's subsequent matches.
One could even say they were growing increasingly anticipatory about who would ultimately become champion in the finals.
The trainer who never sends out a second Pokémon, Tobias? Or Hayashi Kaede, whose every Pokémon's strength seems maxed out?
After the first match ended, Kaede didn't leave but returned to the contestants' seating area, planning to watch the remaining matches.
Second match... Third match.... Seventh match, Eighth match...
By the end of the morning, all Round of 16 matches had concluded.
At this stage, each contestant had basically gained considerable fame.
Among them were Tobias, who never sends out a second Pokémon; Fiona, who specializes in Ghost-types; Kensuke with his shiny Charizard...
Interestingly, Contestant Sheryl, whom Kaede originally thought would easily make the Top 8, was defeated by Kensuke.
During the battle, Sheryl still employed her previous tactic, sending out Salamence first, wanting it to defeat the first Pokémon and stack the ability boost.
Unfortunately, in the first match, Kensuke chose Charizard.
The two similarly unruly, similarly shiny Dragon-type Pokémon clashed in the sky and on the field with various energy and physical collisions, making the audience cheer with excitement.
Although Charizard was initially at a disadvantage, in the end, spurred by its trainer's shouts, it activated Blaze... and both Charizard and Salamence lost the ability to battle.
This made even Kaede exclaim in admiration.
*That's Fire-type Pokémon for you... always bringing hope to their trainers in desperate situations....*