The rules for this Harvest Festival battle event were actually very simple.
Rather than battling on a fixed stage in the traditional sense, all registered contestants would receive an identification tag from the staff and use it to participate in battles.
The entire city was the battlefield.
Once the event began, contestants would spread out across the city and freely pair up for battles under the staff's supervision.
The matches were one-on-one, with no switching Pokémon during battle. Defeating an opponent earned the victor their identification tag, and whoever collected the most tags by the end would be the winner.
While Mayor Momendo explained the rules, Ash looked around at everyone beside him in the crowd.
"Which of you signed up?"
Cilan and Iris both raised their hands. Seeing that both his companions were participating, Ash turned his gaze toward Xia You and the others.
"What about you?"
"I'm not interested," Xia You said, the first to shake his head.
"I'm entering." Dawn raised her eyebrows at Ash. "It's been ages since we last competed together, hasn't it? It's time for a showdown to see which of us has gotten stronger!"
Faced with his former traveling companion's challenge, Ash's fighting spirit immediately blazed to life.
"Bring it on!" Ash clenched his fists, clearly excited. "I've gotten really strong lately. I'm not afraid of you!"
After saying that, he felt it was a shame that only Dawn would be joining in, so he turned toward Xia You, his gaze sweeping over Xia You's face with a familiar, eager gleam.
"Xia You, are you really not entering?"
Xia You shook his head again. "I'm not."
Ash stepped closer, and Pikachu, perched on his shoulder, leaned forward too. The boy and his Pokémon wore remarkably identical expressions.
"I've caught loads of new Pokémon