The original plan had been to hold most of the tournament's matches inside Omega Stadium.
However, after seeing the astonishing number of registrations, the organizers had no choice but to abandon that idea.
The preliminary rounds would instead be held at venues in cities throughout the various regions.
The top one hundred Trainers selected from each region would then be allowed to travel to Omega Stadium and participate in the subsequent knockout stage.
The senior Alliance officials had originally planned to invite only the top fifty Trainers from each region to compete in the knockout rounds.
However, Himeko was concerned that the overall skill levels of Trainers from different regions might vary too greatly.
Therefore, she increased the number of qualifying Trainers from each region.
Even so, once the tournament reached the knockout stage, the ten regions would still send a combined total of one thousand competitors.
One thousand Trainers.
That was already an extraordinarily large number.
Because of this, the senior Alliance officials completely discarded the original stadium blueprints.
They had initially planned to construct a main stadium containing eight separate battle arenas.
Now, however, it appeared that they would have to add two more, bringing the total to ten.
Only then would they be able to complete the final stages of the tournament within a single month and determine its champion.
Furthermore, because the number of participants had far exceeded expectations, the originally planned three-month registration period was shortened to one month.
One month later, the preliminary rounds would begin in every region.
According to the schedule, the regional qualifiers would take approximately eight months to complete.
Each region would determine its top one hundred competitors.
After that, the tournament would move to Omega Stadium for the knockout rounds and finals.
Although the entire schedule was somewhat rushed, these arrangements would at least allow the tournament to proceed smoothly from beginning to end.
After all, this was the first time the Alliance had ever organized a tournament of this scale.
Errors in their original estimates were inevitable.
Fortunately, they had made corrections and adjustments immediately.
Once all these changes had been assigned to the appropriate departments, preparations for the tournament once again entered an intensely busy phase.
As everyone had predicted, when the shortened one-month registration period ended, the total number of registered participants had reached an astonishing 2.22 million.
A full 2.22 million Trainers!
That was an absolutely terrifying number.
It was unquestionably the largest Trainer tournament ever held.
Moreover, since every one of those participants had successfully completed the required Gym Challenges, none of them could be considered weak.
At the very least, they had all reached the Gym level.
Looking at the staggering number of registrations, the senior Alliance officials knew that this year's tournament would undoubtedly be spectacular.
Unexpected figures would surely rise to prominence.
Numerous geniuses would also emerge from obscurity.
That was good.
The stronger and more outstanding humanity's younger generation became, the more gratified the older generation would feel.
Once registration ended, the regional preliminary tournaments began.
In regions with large numbers of applicants, such as the Great Axia Alliance, a total of 380,000 Trainers had registered.
Twelve city venues were assigned to conduct the qualifying matches.
In regions with fewer applicants, such as the Obsidian Alliance, only 110,000 Trainers had registered.
Just two city venues were assigned to host their qualifying matches.
However, regardless of the number of applicants or venues placed into operation, every region ensured that its preliminary rounds would be completed within the scheduled period.
Within the Great Axia Alliance, the preliminary rounds used a one-on-one format to maximize efficiency and save time.
In other words, each Trainer sent out only one Pokémon.
The winner was decided in a single battle.
Naturally, this format involved a certain degree of luck.
However, with such an enormous pool of Trainers, anyone capable of continuing to win until the very end could not possibly have relied on luck alone.
They could only have advanced through genuine strength.
The preliminary rounds proceeded with tremendous intensity.
The attention of the entire Alliance became focused on the tournament.
Whether on television, in newspapers, or across the internet, the tournament dominated trending rankings and attracted the highest levels of public attention.
Some exceptionally powerful competitors who delivered outstanding performances even received exclusive interviews from websites and media outlets.
For a time, these rising Trainers gained enormous popularity and attracted large numbers of fans.
That was not all.
As the tournament continued and more outstanding Trainers rose to prominence, underground bookmakers began accepting wagers on the eventual champion and the competitors most likely to enter the top ten.
Countless people immediately sprang into action and placed bets on the competitors they favored.
As a result, public interest in the tournament rose even further.
Naturally, the Alliance knew about the gambling.
However, they could not be bothered to interfere.
After all, such activities could never be completely eradicated.
If some people insisted on gambling, the Alliance would simply let them place their bets.
The worldwide excitement continued for a full eight months.
On the final day of October, the preliminary rounds in every region finally came to an end.
Each region had determined its top one hundred competitors.
When the complete list of one thousand qualifying Trainers was announced, excitement surrounding the tournament once again reached its peak.
The most tense and thrilling stage was about to begin.
Next came the knockout rounds and finals, held in the Capital!
(End of Chapter)
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