Early the next morning, when Xia You met up with Ash and the others and went down to the dormitory's first-floor lobby, the matchups for each group in the preliminaries were already displayed on the big screen.
Looking up, they saw that the screen listed sixteen groups, with three contestants in each. A photo accompanied every contestant's name.
"I found myself!" Ash spotted his photo with a single glance and pointed at the screen. "I'm in Group H. Let's see who my opponents are... Huh?"
Hearing his surprise, Xia You and the others turned to look.
"What's wrong?"
Only after looking closely did they discover that, besides Ash, Group H contained a little girl and a somewhat chubby older boy. That boy was none other than Jackson, the childhood friend who came from New Bark Town along with Kenta and Marina!
"It's actually him. Well, this really is..." With a teasing look, Misty patted Ash on the shoulder. "I heard Marina mention him before. Jackson's really strong. You're pretty unlucky to end up in his group."
Ash, however, was eager to give it a try. "It's fine. No matter who it is, I won't lose!"
After checking Ash's group, everyone searched for Xia You's name to see how his group looked.
Misty narrowed her eyes and was the first to find Xia You's name. "Found it! Xia You's in Group C!"
Following her finger, Xia You indeed found his photo. His two opponents in the group were contestants he had never seen before.
"My luck's pretty good. I didn't run into Kenta or the others."
Seeing that he had not been grouped with anyone he knew made Xia You breathe a sigh of relief. After all, only one person could advance from each group. If he ended up grouped with