He equipped Floragato with the Blue Buff and Misdreavus with Titan's Resolve.
With that, all his preparations for the World Pokémon Academy Tournament were complete.
After Xia Chi had enjoyed two days of proper rest,
on the night before the tournament's opening ceremony, he received the matchups from Lin Qunzhi.
There were sixty-four competitors from ten regions.
It was the perfect number for a knockout tournament-
64 down to 32, 32 down to 16, 16 down to 8.
And so on, until the champion was decided!
There was no fancy double-elimination format.
Every competitor who had made it to this tournament was among the most gifted young Trainers in their respective region and age group.
No one understood that better than Xia Chi.
So when he saw that his first-round opponent was Ruby from the Hoenn Region, he wasn't particularly surprised-
Running into an "old acquaintance" was perfectly normal at a world tournament packed with talent.
Who was Ruby in the original story?
A protagonist of Pokémon Adventures modeled after Brendan, the protagonist of Pokémon Emerald, and the son of Norman, who was hailed as the "strongest Gym Leader"!
Of course, Norman's title as the "strongest Gym Leader" was somewhat debatable.
People from Galar said it was Raihan, people from Hoenn said Norman, and people from Johto said Pryce.
Only Xia Chi knew that once Giovanni stepped onto the scene, all those guys would have to take a back seat.
Still, whatever else might be up for debate, Norman's strength being on par with the Elite Four was beyond question.
He had only chosen to stay in Petalburg City as a humble Gym Leader out of responsibility to his family and love for his wife.
It was easy to imagine how formidable Ruby was, having learned battle techniques from Norman