Empoleon

On the third day of the Five School League, there were two more Elite Four members present than yesterday.

Rather than sitting in the VIP Stand, they chose seats in the audience sections for their respective regions.

The Chengdu region's Elite Four members, Hitomi and Koga, were seated not far from Eichi, radiating an aura that warned strangers to stay away.

Eichi did not rashly go over to greet them either. There was no need.

Before long, the host announced from the VIP Stand, "The second round of the Five School League officially begins. Please look at the big screen."

Sixty-four portraits appeared on the big screen, then began constantly scrolling and changing. Everyone stared at the screen with rapt attention.

"3."

"2."

"1."

"Stop."

The big screen stopped changing, displaying thirty-two pairs of opponents.

Eichi quickly searched for his own portrait. Within a second, he found it, then looked downward and saw that his opponent was a girl from the Sinnoh Region.

His match was the fifteenth, near the middle. If things moved quickly, it would be over by morning. If he was unlucky, he might not get to fight until the afternoon.

The contestants for the first match soon took the field. It was still three-on-three, but they were much stronger than before, their levels having risen by a whole tier.

The two sides in the first match were evenly matched, fighting fiercely and relentlessly. It took a full half hour before a winner was decided.

The second match was the same, taking more than half an hour.

An entire morning passed, yet only six matches had been completed. Only one battle had ended quickly; all the others had lasted at least half an hour.

Afternoon soon arrived. Some Chengdu Academy contestants went up to compete, with both