After meeting up with Chloe and the others, they headed to the Ice Field together to watch Ash's match.
As the tournament progressed and the number of matches dwindled, attendance at the venues kept rising. Ever since the third round began, the Grass, Rock, Water, and Ice Fields had all been almost completely packed.
After finally finding a few empty seats, Xia You and the others had barely sat down when Ash's battle began.
What they had not expected was that Ash would lose the very first bout!
His Squirtle might have been off its game, or perhaps the cold air of the Ice Field had hampered its movements. Sho's Pokémon beat it so thoroughly that it could not fight back at all.
Fortunately, Ash adjusted in time, using Kingler to defeat two Pokémon in succession before finally sending out Pikachu to finish off Sho's Arcanine and claim victory.
Looking at the battle as a whole, Ash was slightly stronger overall. At the very least, his performance was steadier than in the previous round.
When Ash left the field and saw Xia You, the two exchanged a smile over their successful advancement. Everything seemed to go without saying.
To treat himself that afternoon, Xia You skipped the Athlete Village's dining hall and instead found an upscale restaurant for a lavish meal.
After lunch, as they returned to the dormitory area, they spotted a large crowd milling around outside Xia You's small building while they were still far away.
Before they could figure out what had happened, the crowd spotted Xia You and swarmed around him like sharks scenting blood!
"Xia You! I'm a reporter from Saffron City Television. There are a few questions I'd like you to answer!"
"I'm from Celadon City Television! Xia You, could you tell us how