"Holy shit!" Even Liu Qing, with all his composure, could not help swearing at Xun Chaoze's words. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and asked, "All right, tell me what other rules this tournament has!"
"Even if I didn't tell you, someone from the Sinnoh League would probably notify you soon anyway. But since you asked, I'll give you a heads-up!" Delighted that he had managed to rattle Liu Qing, Xun Chaoze wore a broad smile. "The League only finalized these rules a few days ago. I won't repeat the first two. Also, since Youxing and I organized this Friendship Tournament through the League, there's an unwritten rule for the Eastern Hemisphere: only two competitors can come from prominent families! The remaining competitors will be selected through qualifying rounds among Pokémon Trainers from the various regions!"
"Wait, plenty of Pokémon Trainers come from prominent families too, don't they? I'm a Pokémon Trainer myself, for example. That unwritten rule doesn't hold up at all!" Liu Qing interrupted.
"I wasn't finished!" Xun Chaoze complained before continuing, "Under the tournament rules, there will be eight competitors from Unova and eight from the Eastern Hemisphere. The first round will pit competitors from the two regions against each other in one-on-one battles. The eight left after that round will compete in a mixed bracket, regardless of region, until we have a champion, a runner-up, and a third-place finisher."
"Those are the competition rules. Next are the registration rules. Of the eight competitors on each side, two won't have to participate in the qualifiers. For Unova, those two are Youxing and me. For the Eastern Hemisphere, you're definitely taking one slot. As for the other, the League might appoint someone directly, or leave the choice to you. The remaining six slots on each side aren't