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Night
The matches on the second day had all concluded, and by nightfall, all the Trainers had returned to the Pokémon Center to rest.
However, at this hour, all the Trainers gathered in the Pokémon Center lobby because this was when the next round's competition bracket would be announced.
"I wonder what kind of person my next opponent will be?" Ash and his group naturally came to the hall, and Misty spoke with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
They also spotted Green and the others, as well as Giselle's group. At this point, there weren't many people remaining in the competition.
After the conclusion of this second round, several competitors had been eliminated at once. Now, except for Giselle, everyone else from her group seemed to be in low spirits. Judging from their current morale, they likely wouldn't advance much further.
"I hope I don't get matched against anyone I know!" Yellow said nervously, clasping her hands together.
While the two girls expressed their concerns, the announcement had begun. Groups of matchups on the large screen soon started cycling through various combinations.
Many Trainers had already discovered their own bracket placements, and Ash was naturally searching for his own listing as well.
"Ash, there it is!" Brock quickly located Ash's position, and everyone looked over simultaneously.
Looking at the field icon displayed on the screen, Ash confirmed that he had been assigned to a Grass Field.
"So it's a Grass Field next?"
The environment of a Grass Field was slightly more favorable than that of a Water Field or an Ice Field. When battling, there was no need to worry extensively about the terrain's particular challenges.
Basically, any Pokémon could be used effectively. Since Trainers practiced in the wild, the most common environment they encountered was grassy terrain, and most had already adapted to it well.
"Now for my opponent..."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The avatar display quickly cycled through options, and soon a girl with long purple hair who appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old appeared on the large screen.
"It's a girl!" Misty and Yellow exchanged glances. This would be Ash's first time facing a female Trainer in the tournament.
Even though she was a girl, she must be quite strong to have made it this far! The two were concerned about her strength, but obviously some people weren't focused on that aspect at all.
"She's so beautiful! Hehe!" Brock, standing to the side, lost his composure just from looking at the photo on the screen.
"Seriously, here he goes again!" Looking at the scene unfolding before him, Ash couldn't help but cover his forehead in exasperation.
The matchups for other competitors were also revealed one after another, scheduled for different times and different venues. Fortunately, none of their group had been paired against each other.
This was now the third round. There were four rounds total in the qualifier stage.
At this point, none of them had been grouped together, so they had indeed been fortunate. However, as more and more people were eliminated, the chances of encountering each other would naturally increase.
"So, for the Grass Field tomorrow, Ash, which Pokémon are you planning to use?"
"I haven't decided yet. Anyway, since it's an afternoon match, I'll figure it out then!" Ash responded casually.
If it were a morning match, he would need to decide in the evening. But with an afternoon match, there was much more time to consider his options.
"Ash, would you like me to help you gather some information about your opponent?" Brock asked, looking eager as he listened to Ash's words. However, anyone could tell what he was really thinking by the infatuated smile he couldn't quite hide.
"Why didn't you help me collect information for the first two matches?"
"Uh... hehehe!" After hearing this, Brock scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
Yellow and Misty also looked at Brock with disdain, his ulterior motives now completely exposed. Of course, they knew that Brock genuinely did want to collect information, but mainly it was an excuse to see attractive women.
"Ash, aren't you going to gather any information about your opponent?" Yellow also asked. It seemed that Ash hadn't paid much attention to opponent research since the beginning of the tournament.
"It doesn't really matter to me. It's actually more interesting not knowing what kind of Pokémon my opponent will use!" Ash replied.
This was partly true, but the most important reason was that for Ash, his current opponents weren't significantly different from what he remembered from his previous journey.
The difference was that the process of battles varied slightly. For example, because he had captured Moltres, he had intimidated his second opponent, who had ultimately sent out Graveler. That was a different development from his memories.
But Ash didn't mind at all. In fact, it would be more interesting to him if events unfolded in unexpected ways.
"That makes sense!" Yellow nodded slightly after hearing Ash's explanation.
Next Day
Ash first went to watch the matches between Green and Ritchie. Both of them were competing in the morning session, and without a doubt, they both successfully defeated their opponents and advanced to the next round.
During the lunch break, Ash registered his Pokémon selections and then had lunch with his companions. After resting for a while, he soon heard the announcement that his match was about to begin.
He accompanied everyone to the competition venue, then separated from Misty and the others. The three of them headed to the spectator seating, while Ash made his way to the player lounge to wait for the match to start.
"Miss Jeanette! Miss Jeanette! Miss Jeanette!"
"Miss Jeanette, you're the best!"
The match hadn't started yet, but already a lively atmosphere filled the competition venue. A large number of spectators held up banners and had started cheering enthusiastically before the battle had even begun.
"This Jeanette is Ash's opponent, right? She's incredibly popular!" Yellow observed.
"Yes! It's really impressive!" Looking at the cheers erupting around them, the two girls were somewhat taken aback.
"Heh heh heh! This Miss Jeanette is from Crimson City, and she's a major celebrity in that town!" Brock suddenly interjected, holding the information he had collected in his hands with a proud expression.
"Since most of the people in that town are women, there are very few accomplished Trainers. She's the only one who has appeared on the Indigo Plateau Conference stage in the past few years, so naturally she's extremely popular!"
It was obvious that although Ash didn't need the information, Brock still couldn't restrain himself from gathering it.
"What exactly did you collect?!" Misty sounded exasperated.
So there was no actually useful battle information—it was all just this kind of trivia? Well, they couldn't have expected him to focus on anything serious anyway.
At that moment, the commentator's voice also rang out across the arena.
"Thank you to all the audience members for your patience! The third round of the Indigo Plateau Conference qualifiers, the fourth match on the Grass Field, is about to begin! Now we invite both competitors to take the field!"