Hiroshi had been a formidable opponent at the Indigo League ten years ago. Back then, I had lost without a fight because Charizard refused to battle.
I invited Hiroshi into our room, and we shared what we had seen and experienced over the past ten years.
"Ash, you know what? After we encountered Lugia together, I met other Legendary Pokémon too, like Fire Bird and Celebi!"
"I've met lots of Legendary Pokémon too! For example..."
As we chatted about everything under the sun...
"By the way, Ash, I'm your opponent in the semifinals!"
"What? Are you serious?" I had been so busy adjusting my lineup and getting my Pokémon into shape that I had forgotten to check who my semifinal opponent was.
"That's right. Ten years ago, you said you'd definitely beat me next time. I'm really looking forward to our semifinal match!"
"This time, I'll give it everything I've got!"
After seeing Hiroshi off, I buried myself in adjusting my lineup again.
"Ash, why don't you open the box Giovanni gave you?" Serena took the box out of the storage cabinet.
"Oh! I completely forgot about it!" Only Serena's reminder brought Giovanni's gift back to mind.
I took the box from Serena and opened it. Inside was...
"What? It's actually...!" The object in the box left me speechless.
"I thought it would just be an ordinary battle item or a Technical Machine at most. I never expected..." Serena was startled by its contents too.
"I never imagined Giovanni would give away something this valuable." Brock had only rejoined us on the way to the Indigo Plateau, so he found Giovanni's gift even harder to comprehend.
Over the next few days off, I continued putting my Pokémon through their final training.
In the blink of an eye, the semifinals were