20demayo Chapter 320 Selection Committee
Chapter 320 Selection Committee
Chapter 320 Selection Committee
The venue for this conference, Baiyin Town, is much more prosperous than the previous Quartz Conference venue. Even the villas in the athletes' village are small Western-style buildings by the sea.
Xiao Zhi looked at the bustling shops around him and thought to himself.
"The business here is really developed; it looks like a good place to make money."
Satoshi had instructed Kojiro and the others to come here to prepare a long time ago; I wonder how their shop preparations are going.
However, given the abilities of those three, there shouldn't be any problems. Ash has a lot of faith in their business acumen.
After walking briskly, the group finally arrived at the dormitory assigned to Xiaozhi.
As soon as they entered the room, Xiaoxia took out the guide she had just received and introduced the surrounding facilities to her companions.
"All facilities in the room are available for your use."
"The computer in the middle can be used to connect to the league database, and can be used to find information on all the Pokémon of the participants —"
"The living conditions are great this time!"
While Xiaoxia was having a good time, Xiaozhi and Caidou didn't listen to her at all and went straight to the balcony to get some fresh air.
Seeing the two stretching, Xiaoxia instantly became furious.
"Hey, you all better listen up! Don't leave me to handle all this alone again!"
"Especially you, Ash, do you know we're running out of time!"
Xiaozhi, who was being scolded by Xiaoxia, looked completely innocent.
"Didn't we arrive just before the opening ceremony started?"
Is there anything that's too late? But Xiaoxia shook her finger.
"The opening ceremony is tomorrow, that's true, but you have a match to play this afternoon."
"Huh?! What?!"
"I knew you wouldn't understand!"
Seeing Xiaozhi's shocked expression, Xiaoxia slapped her forehead.
She should have known that Ash would be so focused on the battles that he wouldn't have paid any attention to the tournament schedule.
Xiaoxia had no choice but to forcibly pull him over and make Xiaozhi read through the tournament schedule guide.
It turns out that the Silver Tournament is different from the Quartz Tournament. Before the Silver Tournament officially begins, there is an extra competition called the Selection Tournament.
The selection process will allow contestants to engage in multiple one-on-one singles matches against different opponents within a single day.
Then, based on the contestants' performance in the battles, hundreds of participants will be eliminated until only forty-eight remain.
These forty-eight are the official participants in the tournament.
"So many people are being eliminated before the opening ceremony even begins?" Xiao Zhi was a little surprised.
"However, there are many more players participating in the Johto Alliance Tournament than in the Kanto Alliance back then."
Xiaoxia was also confused. "Maybe this is the normal number of participants for the League Tournament. After all, the number of participants in the Kanto League Tournament has always been notoriously small."
"7
At this moment, Cai Dou also leaned her little head over to look at the competition schedule together.
"What time does Ash's match start today?"
"It officially started at 1 p.m.
"Oh, isn't it already 12:50?"
Finally realizing what was happening, Ash grabbed Pikachu and rushed out of the players' dormitory, leaving Misty and Bea bewildered in the wind.
"Hey Ash, do you know where the competition is?"
With Misty leading the way, Ash managed to arrive safely before the afternoon selection test began, thanks to the Hyper Beam.
The deafening noise he made when he rushed over startled all the staff present.
Fortunately, they were able to make it into the competition in the end.
The three followed the staff to the waiting area. The competition venue was nothing like the official competition.
Not to mention the lack of changes in terrain, even the surrounding barriers to the battlefield were simply a few barbed wire fences.
They look like tennis courts, and are rather rudimentary.
Ash couldn't help but suspect that this selection process was a last-minute arrangement made up by the tournament organizers because there were too many participants, and it wasn't originally intended to be one.
"But the Pokémon used by the trainers around here are all of very high level!" Ash was looking forward to his next opponent.
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Before he could dwell on his thoughts any longer, the referee blew the starting whistle.
"Ash from Pallet Town and Saburo from Luna City, please proceed to Field C immediately!"
By this time, the other players in the battle arenas around Ash's arena had already started battling, so he quickly ran to arena C with Misty and Bea.
Stepping onto the battlefield, Ash led Pikachu to their designated spot, while the two girls cheered him on from behind.
He arrived late, and his opponent, Saburo, was already waiting on the other side.
The two greeted each other with their eyes and immediately took out their Poké Balls to prepare.
This selection process involves the organizers assessing the overall performance of the players during matches to determine whether they should stay or leave the competition.
Because the matchups are completely randomized, the organizers have taken measures to prevent two very strong players from being paired together prematurely, which could lead to one of them being eliminated too early.
Therefore, the evaluation criteria only consider the player's and Pokémon's battle skills.
Even if a player accidentally loses a match, they may still advance to the preliminary league due to their strong skills.
But Ash has no intention of losing at all; after all, trying to perform well in front of the referee is too much trouble for him.
Since he was certain of advancing as long as he kept winning, he immediately sent out his Garchomp.
From the very beginning of the tournament, Ash decided to go all out, completely unafraid of revealing his trump card prematurely.
After all, he has so many cards to play, what can anyone else use to fight him!
"Garuda, let's have a good battle! — Ouch, that hurts!"
"Stop biting my head, you bastard! Get back to the battlefield!"
"Aww~"
Finally, the erratic Garchomp was kicked onto the battlefield. When it got serious, its eyes flashed red, and its whole body exuded the aura of a strong person. It looked like it was not to be trifled with.
But Saburo is a trainer who has successfully obtained eight badges, so he won't lose his fighting spirit just because he encounters Ash's Garchomp.
This, on the contrary, aroused his competitive spirit, and he followed Ash in releasing his own Pokémon.
"Please, Oobi!"
This is a familiar old friend; Ash has encountered this kind of Pokémon quite often in the forest.
"Come on, Oo Tail! We've worked so hard to finally get here—the hard work of collecting badges along the way is still inspiring us!"
'
"We absolutely won't lose, unleash Lightning Flash!"
"Oolong!" After exchanging a deep look with its trainer, Oolong seemed to feel the power of the bond flowing through it.
It quickly unleashed the powerful speed it had honed during its journey, seizing the initiative and charging towards Garchomp.
"Crush it."
This Tailforce has actually been trained to be quite fast, but unfortunately it has to face Ash's Garchomp.
Garchomp saw all of Big Tail's movements and when it crashed into Garchomp's chest.
The bite attack hit Garchomp's soft side, and the entire long catworm was bitten up by Garchomp, torn to pieces, and then flung away forcefully.
A loud bang.
"Ootengu is unable to battle. Ash Ketchum wins this match!" The referee quickly announced the result.
Too fast! With just one strike, the formidable Oota Riki was defeated.
Although he still had many moves left to use, Saburo could only retract his Great Tail Stand and leave the stage with tears in his eyes.
"This is the result of not having enough raw strength." Ash felt a little sorry for his opponent.
His bond with Pokémon isn't as strong as his bond with Garchomp!
Because of the tight schedule, the next round of competition started almost immediately, without giving the players any time to rest.
But in those battles, Ash still won all of them using Garchomp.
Among them, Heracross was sent to his death with a single Dragon Claw attack, and Exeggutor was also defeated by Garchomp lifting it up and unleashing a Draco Meteor.
The only trainer who managed to put up a real challenge was Clefairy, but ultimately lost to Garchomp's Earthquake.
After fighting all the way until evening, when the list of players who passed the preliminary rounds was announced at the Pokémon Center, Ash easily found his own photo in the first row on the screen.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have achieved the achievement "Silver Conference Selection Examination!": You have successfully passed the Silver Conference Selection Examination!]
[Rewards: Alliance Coins +4000; Free Attribute Points +4; Regional Reputation +5; Regional Favorability +5]
At this moment, Xiaoxia and Caidou also stayed by Xiaozhi's side to help him find his name.
"As expected, Ash passed the selection committee smoothly."
"It would be more accurate to say that his failure to pass was an accident."
After all, Ash has fought so many battles like it's nothing, so if this doesn't pass, Bea will have to suspect that there's something fishy going on in this tournament.
Even after seeing his own name, Ash didn't leave immediately.
He also wanted to see if the contestants he was interested in had passed the selection process.
Then, Ash quickly spotted Gary's smug face in the next few rows and couldn't help but smile.
"Hmph, as expected, Xiao Shige passed the selection committee as well."
Because Ash had been fighting in the protected area before the tournament, he hadn't been able to see his old friends.
It's a bit of a pity, but I should be able to encounter it soon.
Ash wasn't familiar with the others, and when he saw Gary, he stopped watching and left the center immediately.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they stepped out of the center's main gate, they were greeted by a familiar figure – it was none other than Chairman Dama Lanqi.
"Oh, isn't this Ash? You're here for the tournament too?"
He was still dressed in the same familiar, simple outfit, holding several balloons in his hand, as if he had just returned from the town's market.
No one would guess that this person is the chairman of the Kanto Alliance; they would just think he's an ordinary old man who just bought a toy for his grandson.
"President Dama Lanqi, what are you doing here?"
Xiao Zhi was a little confused. Normally, someone like him should be extremely busy and wouldn't easily wander around in areas that don't belong to him.
But the president of the association, Dama Lanqi, just chuckled.
"Haha, due to some unforeseen circumstances, it's me again, the old man, who's in charge of this year's league tournament."
"Huh?" Ash's confusion deepened. Did Damaranchi also take on the role of the Johto region's chairman?
Is this old man's body able to handle it? Or is it that Johto and Kanto are going to be merged again?
"It's not what you think."
Perhaps sensing the many questions from Ash and his friends, Damaranchi immediately explained with a smile.
"Speaking of which, we have to thank you, Ash."
"If it weren't for your help in capturing so many Team Rocket executives, we really wouldn't have been able to find Giovanni's hiding place so quickly."
Ever since he interrogated Team Rocket's executives alongside Ash, Lance has learned Ash's interrogation techniques.
Although the methods were much greener and healthier, they still managed to get the words out of many Team Rocket members and obtain information about Giovanni's location.
Although the tournament is currently underway, the Dodo is diligently leading its massive army, charging towards Giovanni's position.
Meanwhile, the Johto League also unleashed its full power, eliminating Team Rocket branches in several cities in succession.
The reason why Watari was in such a hurry to take action was mainly because he was worried that Sakaki would escape again.
Since Ash just wiped out the poacher group, it will take a lot of time for the criminal network to rebuild.
As a result, Team Rocket lost many opportunities to quickly replenish their powerful Pokémon at crucial moments.
Previously, several other branches responsible for important research projects were also destroyed by Ash, causing Team Rocket to suffer heavy losses in its technological reserves.
This was an extremely rare opportunity, and through the league's inside contact within the Rockets, Awa learned that Giovanni was currently at headquarters.
He immediately decided that he could not wait any longer and led the entire army to attack.
Boss Sakaki felt like he had met with the worst luck.
It's fair to say that without Ash, the Johto League's operation wouldn't have gone so smoothly, and they're practically at the city gates now.
That's why Damaranchi said it was Ash's doing.
The reason Damaranchi is here is because the champion and president of the Johto Alliance are currently on a mission and cannot return in time.
However, the League Tournament has always been a place where the new generation of trainers pour their hearts and souls into their training, and it is a symbol of the League's stability and prosperity.
Since the event couldn't be easily canceled, Watari had no choice but to specially invite the highly respected Damaranchi from the Kanto region to help preside over it.
But Damaranchi wouldn't casually tell others these things, because the current calm on the surface could easily cause panic.
He chuckled and handed three balloons from his hand to Ash and his friends.
"The current competition is the most important thing; you can't go around talking about these things."
Ash and his friends immediately nodded in understanding. Damaranchi looked at him and Pikachu on his shoulder and continued.
"Ash, this Silver Conference is very different from the Indigo Conference you participated in."
"Among the participants, besides Professor Oak's grandson Gary who has made great progress, there are also many veteran trainers who have traveled for a long time —"
Compared to the previous Indigo League's free-for-all for beginners, the players who entered the official tournament this time are several levels stronger.
"I wonder if you still have the confidence to win the championship again this time?"
"Of course! I'll definitely be the champion!"
Compared to Ash during the Indigo League, he has become much stronger now.
Moreover, no matter how strong the enemy, Ash always has the determination to win, which is the bond between him and his Pokémon.
Seeing that Xiaozhi was still so energetic, Dama Lanqi happily stroked his beard again.
"If this kid really wins the league championship again, maybe it'll be time to talk to him about that."
A glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes as he pondered what was on his mind, but President Damaranchi quickly pretended to be nonchalant and patted Ash on the shoulder.
"The tournament will be incredibly exciting with you participating, so please fight to your heart's content, Ash."
After saying that, Damaranchi turned and headed towards the Pokémon Center.
Dama Lanqi will have to host the opening ceremony of tomorrow's competition, so he needs to get some sleep.
That evening, after returning to the players' dormitory, Xiao Zhi did not choose to go to bed early as usual.
Instead, he took Pikachu for a walk by the lake in the contestant village. The Orange League wasn't a formal competition, and this was his second time participating in a league tournament.
Even though he is already very strong now, he is still excited about the upcoming battle tomorrow.
Filled with anticipation for their upcoming rival, Ash and Pikachu strolled slowly.
But unexpectedly, as they walked, Ash spotted Gary's figure on a large rock by the lake.
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