Meanwhile, Ash happened to run into his rival Morrison while doing some special training.
Ash's Corphish had a thin white cord tied around his head and was happily waving his two big pincers.
"Hey! Hey!"
Hearts suddenly appeared in Corphish's eyes when he spotted an adorable Mawile wearing a red ribbon. He immediately took off on his little legs. "Hey, hey—!"
"Hey—Corphish!"
Ash hurriedly called out.
Bang!
Corphish slammed into a Charizard who looked as though he were clad in armor, then bounced backward.
"Are you okay, Corphish?"
Ash rushed over and apologized to Charizard's Trainer, then his gaze immediately grew serious. "That's...!"
"Yes, Mr. Yingyue. A very formidable opponent."
Brock sighed. "Ash, remember Ritchie from the Indigo Plateau Conference and Tyson from the Johto League's Silver Conference? Apparently, they're entering this tournament too. They say even a few Gym Leaders have come. This tournament is going to be really tough."
"Yeah! That's just how I like it, right, Morrison?"
A fire called fighting spirit burned in Ash's eyes. Originally, he had only planned to compete with his Hoenn Pokémon, but now he decided to give it everything he had and select a team from all the Pokémon he had ever raised.
"Fighting spirit? Heh."
Paul, who was passing by, gave a cold chuckle.
"Paul from the Sinnoh Region. He seems to be the cold, strategic type."
Kohei secretly crouched in the grass, studying the Trainers passing by.
"Of course! No matter who your opponent is, you've got to show some fighting spirit!" Morrison flicked his red sleeve, his voice brimming with enthusiasm.
Elsewhere, Dian had also met plenty of familiar faces along the way: his fellow Gym Leader Jasmine from Olivine City, Cheren, whom he had personally certified, and Danshu and Ayaka, who had joined him in courting disaster,