The quarterfinals officially began, with battles now following a choose-three-from-six format, which meant the competition would only grow fiercer.
However, Group A's matches moved along quite quickly. Although her opponent was certainly strong, Lacey still dispatched them fairly easily in the first match, with one Pokémon defeating their three.
As the only local Unova competitor to reach the semifinals, Lacey naturally drew enthusiastic cheers for her outstanding performance. Clay, who had sponsored the Light Stone as the tournament prize, was also very pleased.
But in the second match, Akari once again swept all three opposing Pokémon with Slowbro, drawing many spectators' attention back to this dark horse. She still hadn't revealed a second Pokémon.
Quite a few people had already discovered her identity: Blueberry Academy's youngest teacher, and Lacey's teacher at that. In other words, the first semifinal would be a battle between teacher and student!
"Miss Akari really keeps her cards close to her chest. Even I couldn't have Slowbro fight two battles in a row, then beat Spiritomb despite the type disadvantage and take the win."
Lacey offered her assessment quietly from the stands. Tomorrow's semifinal would undoubtedly be a very difficult battle for her. She wondered whether she could give Miss Akari enough of a challenge to make her go all out...
Group A's matches ended there. As the spectators began looking forward to tomorrow's battles, they also turned their attention to the upcoming Group B matches.
The first match was Ash against Kieran. One was the previous Lily of the Valley Conference Champion, while the other was Blueberry Academy's strongest student. Sparks were bound to fly between two Trainers so eager to battle.
"It's starting! It's starting!"
Carmine grew nervous and excited. She had watched the two battle plenty of times before, with wins on both