"Flint, what do you think—how about we go sit over there?"
Lucian sat in the Elite Four's seat, pointing toward the stands, and asked in a low voice.
"I think that works."
Flint nodded. Sitting here was truly too boring; he had to keep up appearances, and the space was cramped. The stands were different—the seats were spacious, open, and there were two cute little girls, plus he could chat with Lucas. It was much better than here.
More importantly—there was lots of delicious food—
"But can we go over there?"
Flint looked at Lucian, puzzled.
"Let's try."
Lucian pushed up his glasses, then turned his head to look at Champion Cynthia, who had just arrived at her seat.
"Boss, really can't we have Lucas come sit over here?"
Champion Cynthia was sitting elegantly. Hearing Lucian's words, she shook her head. "He refused to come over."
"If he won't come over, then wouldn't it be fine if we just go over there?"
Lucian said. Champion Cynthia fell into deep thought.
Lucian, Flint, and even Aaron were watching Champion Cynthia, waiting for her answer.
After a while, Champion Cynthia snapped her fingers.
"Let's go. He has food over there."
After saying that, Champion Cynthia stood up and walked toward the stands first.
Flint happily raised his hands toward Lucian, but Lucian pretended not to see, brushing past him to follow close behind.
Flint: "Damn you, Lucian, you actually ignored me!"
Afterward, he looked at Aaron, who cooperated by raising his hands and giving him a high-five.
Lucas was sitting in the stands, waiting for today's matches to begin, when the sound of high heels suddenly rang out behind him, and a familiar fragrance wafted to the tip of his nose.
"Why are you here?"
Lucas asked before even turning his head.
Looking back, he discovered that Sinnoh Champion Cynthia and all of the Elite Four had come.
"Why did you all come?"
Champion Cynthia found a seat at random, then opened her arms toward Shauna, pulling her into her embrace and letting her sit on her lap. She said, "Lucian and the others kept saying it was too boring sitting over there and kept begging me to come here, so I brought them over."
Lucian: ————
Flint: ————
Aaron: ————
Grandma Bertha: ???
"That's right, it's too boring over there. It's better to come over here and chat with our little Shauna and Little Tomoyo."
Lucian said with a smile on his face.
A qualified employee is one who, when their boss suddenly dumps a pot on their back, still has to carry it.
(Gengar seconds this)
"But it's empty over there; is that really okay?"
"It's fine. When the director sees us here, they will naturally aim the camera at us."
Lucian naturally took the melon seeds that Little Tomoyo shared with him and started cracking them.
He even crossed his legs elegantly.
"I might also get on camera?"
"Hahaha, that's right. How about it? Aren't you excited?"
Flint said, laughing and patting Lucas on the shoulder.
Lucas: ————
Watching Aaron and Flint on either side, pressing down on his shoulders, Lucas knew there was no way he could leave today.
Looking at Champion Cynthia and the others sitting in their seats, Lucas felt like something was missing.
"By the way, no one else is going to come up here, right?"
"No. This is a spot the Boss specifically reserved. Originally, this was for filming, but the Boss changed the filming location and left this spot empty just for you to watch."
Aaron joined Lucian and the others, snacking on melon seeds.
It really had to be said, these melon seeds were quite fragrant. The kernels were actually this big, and they even had different flavors.
No wonder the view here was so good.
Lucas nodded inwardly and looked at Champion Cynthia. Champion Cynthia met his gaze for a moment, then immediately turned her head away with an expressionless face, though her earlobes were a bit red.
"Then I'm relieved. How about it, Lucian?"
Lucian looked at Lucas, his eyes filled with confusion—what did he mean?
Lucas revealed a meaningful smile. "Would you like some tea? We can watch the match while drinking tea."
Lucian's eyes lit up.
"Can we do that?"
"Wait a moment, let's try."
After saying that, Lucas found a relatively hidden spot and raised his left hand.
On the other side, Giratina, who was working hard to repair the Distortion World, received Lucas's request to open a distortion portal.
Giratina: ???
Did Lucas run into some trouble? Does he need my help?
It agreed to Lucas's request.
Soon, a portal to the Distortion World appeared before Lucas. He stepped inside with Gengar and the others.
Champion Cynthia: ————
You're using the Distortion World of Giratina like this?
Lucian: ————
No wonder you said we could drink tea—
Flint: ??? What did I just discover?! Lucas is actually Giratina?! No, is he being impersonated by Giratina?
Aaron: Am I not awake?
Grandma Bertha: My eyes must be failing me due to age. Look at this, first thing in the morning and I see this young man, Lucas, opening a portal to the Distortion World.
Lucas looked at Giratina, who had stopped its work halfway through repairs. "Nice to see you again, Giratina. Wait a moment, don't close the portal yet; I'm going back to the Breeding House."
Giratina: ?
"imai—"
"You scared me—"
Alcremie was startled by the sudden appearance of Lucas and the others, dropping the mixer in her hand. Fortunately, Gengar performed a diving catch and saved the mixer.
"Nice catch, Gengar."
Lucas clapped, then had Gothitelle and the others start preparing things, while he went to the food storage area to grab more food, such as sausages, melon seeds, and some desserts.
"Alcremie, can you help me prepare some milk tea? Five big buckets will do."
"imai~"
"Okay~" The Breeding House began to clatter and clang.
"Gen Gengar!"
"What are you doing!"
Gengar looked at Giratina, who was trying to crawl out of the portal, and asked curiously.
Lucas quickly walked over and pushed its head back with his hand.
"It's too small here; it can't fit you!"
Giratina: ??
I can't even take a peek?
"I don't have time for you."
Giratina looked at Lucas, wanting to hit him with a Shadow Ball to give him a taste.
Giratina turned its head back and continued repairing the Distortion World.
Fine, if I can't look, I won't. Hmph. Like I'm interested in watching anyway.
Giratina looked back at the image of the Breeding House kitchen appearing in the sky of the Distortion World.
As if I can't watch it.
"Huh? Lucas? Why are you back?"
Steven leaned against the door, watching Lucas and a group of Pokémon busy in the kitchen.
"Yo, Steven, came back to prepare some things to take over to watch the matches."
Lucas looked up to greet Steven, then continued with his work.
Steven: ???
"Steven, would you like to come watch together? We can drink tea while watching the battles. I have a feeling this year's Lily of the Valley Conference will be spectacular."
Lucas asked Steven, thinking of something.
"Drinking tea and watching the matches with Champion Cynthia, Lucian, and the others."
"Champion Cynthia and Elite Four Lucian are there too?"
Steven asked.
"Originally they weren't, but later they said their original seats were boring, so they came over to watch together. That's why I came back to prepare tea and snacks to eat while watching the match later."
Steven was holding a teacup, which contained tea brewed by Alcremie. Alcremie had learned to brew tea from Gothitelle, so the flavor of the tea she brewed was second to none, possessing quite a distinct Alcremie flair.
He pinched his chin, then tossed his elegant, azure hair. "Then I will respectfully accept."
"Please wait a moment."
After Gothitelle and Alcremie were ready, Lucas asked, "Is everything ready?"
"Gen Gengar~"
"OK, let's go. Alcremie, thank you for your hard work, bye-bye."
Lucas said goodbye to Alcremie, then walked into the distortion portal first.
"imai~"
"Bye-bye~"
Steven, carrying his teacup with Metagross by his side, walked along the path in the Distortion World, curiously observing his surroundings.
"So this is what the inside of the Distortion World is like."
Steven said, taking a sip of the tea in his hand.
Lucas turned back, watching Steven drink tea, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Why does such an uncle-like action look so elegant on Steven?
As expected, money really does refine a person.
Giratina watched as behind Lucas, the Pokémon carrying chairs and tables, along with the large buckets floating beside Gothitelle.
What exactly do you think of my Distortion World?
"Thank you for your hard work, Giratina. See you next time."
Lucas greeted Giratina, who was watching him.
Giratina: ???
After watching Lucas and the others leave the Distortion World, Giratina began to regret sharing the ability to open the Distortion World with Lucas.
How could someone use the Distortion World as an Anywhere Door!
"Steven?"
Champion Cynthia said, surprised to see Steven coming out of the Distortion World.
"Champion Cynthia."
Steven greeted everyone present with a smile.
"Why did you come over?"
Hearing Champion Cynthia's question, Steven explained, "I was originally enjoying my vacation at the Breeding House, but then I heard you could drink tea and watch the matches here, so I came over."
Champion Cynthia nodded.
Gothitelle, Lilligant, and Gengar skillfully set up the area, and then Gothitelle began to brew tea.
"Does anyone want milk tea?"
Lucas asked.
"Me!" "Me too."
Shauna and Little Tomoyo raised their hands at the same time.
"Please bring me a cup too."
"Huh?"
Lucas looked at the information on the screen and said "Huh?" "Ash has already finished?"
"Yeah, the first match was Ash, and he won."
Little Tomoyo said with a hum.
"So fast? I didn't expect him to be in the first match."
Lucas felt a bit regretful that he hadn't seen Ash's battle.
"It's okay, I recorded it."
Shauna said, holding up her rotom phone.
"Oh? Little Shauna is amazing."
The second match was with the Trainer of Heatran.
"Heatran? The legendary volcanic disaster beast?"
Steven said, looking at Heatran on the field.
"Uncle Steven, there's also another Trainer who has Darrai. I heard from Uncle Lucas that he is also the Trainer of Latias's brother."
Shauna raised her little hand again.
"Darrai? You mean Darrai?"
"Huh? It's called Darkrai?"
Shauna giggled embarrassedly.
"Latias's brother? Latios? And Darkrai, Heatran—"
Steven placed his teacup on the table. After Gothitelle poured him tea, he said thank you, then continued, "No wonder Lucas said this Lily of the Valley Conference would be spectacular."
"No, they only make up a small part. They aren't the truly spectacular part."
Lucas's voice rang out at this moment.
"?"
Steven was curious about what Lucas meant.
Lucas didn't continue speaking.
I'm really looking forward to Infernape's outburst, and whether Charizard will come back to play—
You can say Unova Ash is bad, but you can't say the Diamond/Pearl idiot is bad.
While Lucas was speaking, Heatran on the field had already cleared the field with one Magma Storm, taking out one Pokémon.
Heatran's strength in the League Conference Top 16 matches was enough to sweep, at least for most of the contestants.
"This Heatran—the Trainer doesn't seem able to bring out its full strength."
Steven said, snacking on melon seeds.
"Perhaps the Trainer's own strength is not bad, but he relies too much on the Pokémon's strength, which leads to him being led by the nose by the Pokémon now."
Champion Cynthia hit the nail on the head.
"By comparison, that Trainer named Tobias is much better than this one. At least he doesn't completely follow the Pokémon's rhythm."
Champion Cynthia spoke again.
As expected of a Champion Trainer, her insights are always so precise, Lucas thought.
Just now, Heatran's Trainer had barely given any instructions and just let Heatran use its strength on its own.
The third match was Tobias's.
Tobias also defeated all of his opponent's Pokémon with just one Darkrai.
Lucas saw that Tobias's opponent was a girl who tearfully returned her Empoleon to her Poké Ball and then ran out of the arena.
Lucas looked at the information Lucian had sent him. This girl was on her first journey; she was quite strong and talented, but he hadn't expected her to run into the Legendary Trainer Tobias in her first League Conference—
I hope her mentality doesn't shatter, causing her to give up on being a Trainer—
Lucas felt incredibly sorry for that girl.
After all, it would be hard for anyone to accept running into a Legendary Trainer on their first journey—
A beginner accidentally stumbling into the final map—
If it were talented Trainers like Champion Cynthia or Steven, they might be able to secure a victory, but those Trainers are, after all, in the extreme minority.
In the upcoming matches, the powerful Tobias and the Heatran Trainer had already appeared. The remaining matches, except for Gary's, could be said to be evenly matched.
Even Paul encountered a evenly matched opponent. Lucas remembered him; he had practiced with Paul at the Breeding House for a while. He was a Sceptile Trainer, an Elegant Man with long hair.
In the battle against Paul, Sceptile's Dragon Dance had been learned at the Breeding House.
"Congratulations, you won."
The elegant long-haired man walked up to Paul and extended his hand.
"If it weren't for that Glameow, you might have won."
Paul thought of that Glameow with zero combat experience.
"Hahaha."
The elegant long-haired man laughed. "Winning or losing is not important. For me, I like working hard together with the Pokémon I love and witnessing things together; that is the most important thing."
"Is that so—"
Paul said softly.
The elegant long-haired man patted Paul's shoulder. "I think highly of you. Keep it up, just watch out for those two Trainers."
Paul hummed and then turned to leave.
"Really—the same temper as always."
The elegant long-haired man smiled helplessly and looked toward the stands. In the stands, Lucas waved his hand at him, signaling.
The long-haired man placed his left hand on his right chest, bowed slightly, and then left the arena.
With Paul's match over, the list of the Top Eight was finalized.
Ash and the others all advanced. He believed tomorrow's matches would only be more spectacular.
***************************
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