While Xia You was being interviewed, his opponent for the next match, Tetsuya, was putting his Hat-Wearing Meowth and his other Pokémon through their final training at the Open-Air Training Field on the other side of the contestants' dormitories.
But no matter how they trained, he found one problem he could not resolve.
It was the condition of his Pokémon.
They had clearly prepared thoroughly in private and trained every day, but once they actually entered the Battle Arena, it was as though invisible shackles bound them, preventing them from bringing out their full strength.
He could visibly tell that the Pokémon's jumping, running, and moves were all affected, becoming very inconsistent. Of course, none of those were the main issue. The biggest problem was their mental state. Even he felt a little nervous, and it was precisely that nervousness that caused their movements to become slightly distorted.
It was unavoidable. After all, they were competing in a conference like this, under the eyes of tens of thousands of spectators, with everyone's attention focused on them. It was hard to remain unaffected.
Perhaps they would need a few more matches to gradually adjust...
For some reason, he thought again of his next opponent, the man named Xia You.
Although he had only watched one of his matches, he had the impression that Xia You's Pokémon were not affected by this issue, though he did not know whether he was imagining it.
That man's own mental state, in particular, seemed very calm, as though this was not his first time facing such a scene.
That was something he found puzzling and somewhat concerning. Overall, however, although Xia You's Pokémon had delivered some brilliant performances, he felt that Xia You's commands were not decisive enough. There had clearly been opportunities to win,