Motostoke, Wyndon Stadium.
It was still early, but outside the stadium, tens of thousands of waiting spectators had already gathered in the plaza. As they chatted animatedly, they would occasionally look toward the enormous screen above the stadium.
On the screen.
The images of two handsome young men, along with their representative Pokémon, were displayed.
Whenever they looked at the screen, many young people's eyes would fill with admiration and longing.
"Gary, did you see that? It's Professor Xia Yan!"
Ash excitedly grabbed the brown-haired young man beside him, who wore a look of disgust, and pointed at Xia Yan's portrait on the screen as he shouted.
"Ash, there are too many people. Don't drag Gary around."
Behind them, Delia, Mr. Mime, and Professor Oak were struggling to make their way through the crowd.
"There are so many people."
Only then did Ash realize that, without noticing, they had reached the busiest part of the plaza.
"It's way livelier than the Silver Conference we took part in, right, Gary?"
At the mention of the Silver Conference, Gary's expression darkened slightly.
At the recently concluded Silver Conference, Gary had lost to Ash in the round of sixteen.
To be honest.
Gary had never imagined that he would lose to Ash.
But because of that match, Gary had finally begun taking Ash seriously.
He had to admit it.
Although Ash usually seemed rather dim-witted and unreliable, he had his own unique strengths when it came to raising Pokémon and battling with them.
"Ash!"
A familiar shout suddenly came from the distance, making Ash pause.
He turned around and saw two familiar figures.
"Brock, Misty?"
"Long time no see, Ash." After greeting Delia and Professor Oak, Brock and Misty turned to Ash.
Ash immediately grinned. "You came too."
"Pika-chu~~"
Pikachu on Ash's shoulder