"Let's congratulate Xia You on becoming the first contestant to advance to the finals! His opponent will be decided in the other match about to begin, between Tobias and Ash! Now-let's give him our loudest applause and cheers!"
As the announcer spoke with impassioned enthusiasm, Xia You took out a Poké Ball and recalled Infernape. He nodded to the Pokémon Trainer opposite him, whom he had beaten to one knee, then turned stylishly and left the Battle Arena, walking into the Contestant Entrance.
Behind him, he could still hear the crowd cheering for him.
In this battle, Xia You had used the same lineup as yesterday. Yet despite having that example to learn from, and having seen how he fought with these Pokémon yesterday, today's opponent had not performed any better.
He still had no answer whatsoever to Xia You's lineup.
Their overall strength was simply too high, and they had no weaknesses at all.
From that perspective, these two opponents of Xia You's were actually almost identical in ability.
Still, thanks to them, Xia You's five Pokémon had become completely familiar with this feeling. Not only had they adapted to the conference's atmosphere, but they had also adjusted their mental states.
Under tens of thousands of watching eyes, amid the enthusiastic cries all around them, their movements were no longer affected at all. That also meant they had grown once again.
After all these days, Xia You finally stood on the stage of the final showdown. Although he was still one last battle away from lifting the trophy, the passage of time left him feeling a little dazed.
So much time had passed without him even noticing...
He had not felt much about it when accompanying May to the Grand Festival, but now that it was his own competition,