A day later, after Ash Ketchum won the Bronze Final of the Silver Conference, Leaf Green faced Hareta Rowan, who was representing Sandgem Town Laboratory of Sinnoh.
Seeing the confident smile on her opponent's face, she recalled the words Aizen had said to her the other night.
And so, she decided to play a little dirty.
However, as soon as their Pokémon were revealed, she was glad she had made the right choice.
It was a Pokémon she had never seen before, but she had read a study on it that Aizen had given her.
"Round 1: Deoxys vs Dusknoir. Begin!"
As soon as Leaf saw the Pokémon enter its Attack Form and set up a Future Sight, she let out a sigh.
"Dark Pulse," Hareta called out the move, and so did Leaf.
"Destiny Bond."
Dusknoir's body blinked, and then a malevolent Aura surrounded it before becoming invisible.
As soon as the Dark Pulse landed, Dusknoir lost consciousness, and the malevolent Aura suddenly appeared under the Psychic Pokémon and stole away its consciousness.
Hareta was shocked at what had just happened, and even after the Referee announced the result, he stared at Leaf in disbelief.
When he saw her smile and quickly choose her next Pokémon, he tensed up.
Did she already know that he was going to send out Deoxys? How?
Questions loomed in his mind, but he managed to get a grip on his thoughts and sent out his second Pokémon into the battle.
"Round 2: Luxray vs Annihilape. Begin!"
The two Pokémon stared at each other with determination, and then a battle of their lifetime ensued between them.
Everyone stayed on the edge of their seats, and they grew more and more nervous with time.
After a round that lasted for twenty minutes, which had both Leaf and Hareta breathing heavily, both the Pokémon fell to the ground and fainted.
"Round 2 ends in a draw!"
The boy turned solemn and took his time as he chose his next Pokémon, but Leaf already had the Poké Ball in her hand as soon as she had recalled her Annihilape.
"Round 3: Empoleon vs Arcanine. Start!"
Even though her Pokémon was at a type disadvantage, Leaf brightly smiled at the match-up, and Hareta too understood the danger.
Using Extreme Speed, Mala left Empoleon at her mercy, and since it was not resistant to her Fire type moves, she had quite an easy time.
Arcanine did get hit twice by Waterfall, dodged the Hydro Pump, and ended the third round by finishing Empoleon off with a Close Combat.
The orange pup howled to the sky, and Hareta stared at it thoughtfully.
Making up his mind, he sent out his Alakazam, and to his surprise, Leaf did not recall her Pokémon.
Arcanine fought hard against the elusive Psychic Pokémon, and somehow, after suffering from several Psychic attacks, it managed to land a Flare Blitz, which ended the round.
Being four Pokémon down, the boy gritted his teeth and sent out his fifth pick. It was a Pokémon that caught Leaf by surprise again.
She quickly recalled her Arcanine, thanked her for the hard work, and then took a deep breath and sent out her Poliwrath, whom she had not revealed in the Conference so far.
Aizen smiled when he watched his Assistant exploit the type advantage to the best of her ability, but she was caught off guard when Regirock used Zap Cannon, and it hit the mark.
Leaf, however, did not panic, and her Pokémon used Protect in time when a Stone Edge was sent its way.
Hareta ordered his Pokémon to use Thunderbolt when Poliwrath was thrown up into the air, but the Water Pokémon managed to land his Hydro Pump as well.
Both the Pokémon fell to the ground, and both stood up again, however, only Poliwrath was able to attack, and it ended things with one last Hydro Pump.
"Regirock is unable to battle. Poliwrath wins the fifth round!"
Hareta recalled his Pokémon and then stared at the field, lost in his thoughts.
The countdown was about to end when he suddenly picked up a Poké Ball and threw it into the air.
Aizen narrowed his eyes when he saw the boy call out a Darkrai, and everyone in the lounge was shocked as well.
Most people in the stadium were seeing it for the first time, and they were all very curious when the Referee announced the name of the Pokémon after Leaf chose to stick with Poliwrath.
"Round 6: Poliwrath vs Darkrai. Start!"
"Focus Blast."
To Hareta's surprise, the Pokémon managed to use the move very quickly, but even though Darkrai used Light Screen and then Psychic to block the attack, it ended up getting blasted away.
Poliwrath fell when the Psychic hit it, now unconscious.
In the next round, Leaf sent out her Arcanine, who used Extreme Speed, and with the last bit of her remaining strength, she used Burn Up and made the Legendary Pokémon suffer.
However, Arcanine failed to handle the powerful Dark Pulse that snatched her consciousness away.
Seeing that her opponent's Pokémon was still floating strong, Leaf chose Florges as her fifth Pokémon.
Her Fiona engaged Darkrai in a battle that later became the top highlight of the entire Conference, but the Flower Fairy fell short after two Poison Jabs landed on it.
Darkrai looked beaten up, but Leaf was sweating.
Everyone expected her to send out her Pangoro, Charizard, or Sylveon. Even Hareta was expecting the same, but instead, she revealed her Dragonite as her last Pokémon.
The Dragon let out a proud roar into the sky, and then grimly stared at the Nightmare Pokémon.
Hareta saw some hope and managed to smile when the Referee asked them to start the battle.
"Draco Meteor."
"Ice Beam!"
The two Pokémon used their moves, and to Hareta's disbelief, Leaf's Dragonite used Safeguard, which nullified the Ice Beam.
And on the other hand, Darkrai failed to evade the meteors that fell on it.
The Nightmare Pokémon then suffered again when the Dragon used Extreme Speed and slammed into it with Superpower.
Most people, and even Hareta, thought that the match was over, but his Pokémon was still conscious.
When Darkrai tried to get up, Leaf immediately called out the next move, not letting her surprise cloud her judgement.
"Thunder Wave."
And it worked as the Nightmare Pokémon briefly became paralysed.
"Focus Punch."
"Ice Beam!" Hareta screamed, but Darkrai was extremely tired and failed to use the move in time.
The moment the Focus Punch connected with its body, it was sent crashing into the wall of the Arena, having lost consciousness before the crash.
"Darkrai is unable to battle…"
The Referee's voice was drowned by the powerful roar of the Dragon, and Leaf immediately rushed into the battlefield and jumped onto her Pokémon's back.
Deafening cheers erupted in the stadium, and no one noticed Hareta as he recalled his Pokémon and walked into the tunnel with his head lowered.
"She's brilliant." Charles Goodshow complimented Leaf, and Aizen smiled and nodded his head.
"Yes, she is."
The President of the Pokémon League Committee then left the lounge to go see the two Trainers and give them the list of Pokémon they could make a pick from as their reward.
Sabrina too left the lounge to go and congratulate her friend, but the Orayen Prince stayed with Ilene and chuckled before he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.
"I feel a little bad for that boy. Had the first round gone as he planned, Leaf would have stood no chance in the match."
He smiled at his wife's words.
"He underestimated Leaf's obsession with winning. She would unhesitatingly play dirty if that would give her the victory."
At his words, Lance nodded his head.
"I was half expecting her to send out her Lapras against Darkrai instead of Florges."
"Perish Song?" Ethan grinned when his fellow Champion nodded his head.
"She wanted to have a round with her Florges, and also her Dragonite. In the end, she chose to stick to her plan because she was certain about her victory," Aizen informed them, and they both nodded their heads.
"Her Dragonite is very strong. It's no surprise that she was this confident in its ability." Lance stared at the Dragonite on the screen and smiled.
"Yeah…"
They chatted for a while before the call for the Official Ceremony was given, and Aizen was surprised when Charles Goodshow informed him that he and his wife would hand Leaf the Winner's Trophy.
Ilene handed Alexis to Anira when she came into the lounge with May and Iris, and happily carried her nephew in her arms as the two left to partake in the Closing Ceremony.
Leaf did not care in the least about the cheque of 5.5 million PokéDollars. She did not care about the other rewards either. However, when Charles Goodshow handed her the Poké Ball of the Pokémon she had selected, she beamed a smile as she revealed it to the world.
Aizen held back his chuckle when he saw that she had chosen a Riolu, but failed to hold it back when she grinned at him.
She had earned her first League title with Dragonite in the last round, just like him, and she had chosen a Riolu, just like he had.
And finally, when he and Ilene stepped onto the podium with the beautiful golden trophy, the girl from Pallet Town accepted it with trembling hands.
She laughed when she received a joint hug from the two of them, and then she proudly lifted the trophy, showing the world that she was a Silver Conference Winner.
And later that evening, she visited the Hall of Fame with Aizen, and the two stared at her name on the Golden Wall of the Silver Conference.
"199th: Leaf Green."
"Anira will have her name next to mine," she happily said, and Aizen smiled at her words.
"You still haven't put your name on the other wall."
"Oh, I forgot." She mischievously said, and then shyly looked up at his face. "You should kiss me often to remind me of my promise."
"Is that so?" He chuckled and then leaned in to capture her lips.
Only Arceus knew how relieved she was when he kissed her, and she just melted in his arms.
As much as she wanted to keep kissing him the entire night, they had to join their friends and family, who were waiting for them.
The celebrations were just about to start…