Amid thunderous cheers, Xia You and Nana walked to their respective Pokémon Trainer's Battle Areas at the same time.
While the announcer introduced the two competitors to the audience, Xia You and Nana gazed at each other from afar.
Compared with when they had met earlier, Nana had regained her composure. Her face was radiant now, with no sign of her earlier unease.
She recovered pretty quickly.
"Xia You." Perhaps she had broken through her own psychological barrier, but Nana followed Misty's example and stopped acting bashful, immediately bringing them closer with the way she addressed him. "I'm ready. Please give me a serious battle!"
Xia You smiled and nodded. "Of course. Give me everything you've got."
Seeing that both were ready, the referee announced, "We will now determine who goes first!"
They looked at the big screen, where a roulette wheel spun continuously. After more than a dozen rotations, it finally stopped, the pointer slowly settling on the red that represented Xia You.
At the sight, Xia You couldn't help sighing.
His luck at this conference could only be described as terrible. In every previous battle, he had drawn the first move. Although Xia You didn't particularly mind, drawing it every single time inevitably left him feeling somewhat unhappy.
"Red Side, please send out your Pokémon first!"
At the referee's signal, Xia You took out the Poké Ball he had prepared and released his first Pokémon without any hesitation.
With a flash of blue light, his Jolteon appeared on the battlefield.
Just as Xia You had watched videos of Nana before, Nana had naturally checked Xia You's lineup before the match, so seeing this Jolteon didn't particularly surprise her.
Only the announcer flipped through the script in his hand upon seeing Xia You send out Jolteon, his ringing voice