"Rina, is Vivica okay?" Rex asked during dinner, noticing that Vivica, who was usually inseparable from Rina, was unexpectedly absent. Remembering Vivica's defeat in today's match, he voiced his concern.
"Vivica's mood has improved a bit after I talked to her, but she still doesn't want to come out for dinner. I'm planning to bring some food back to her after we finish eating," Rina replied with a hint of helplessness.
As a trainer who had earned eight gym badges, getting eliminated in the first round of the Ever Grande Conference was a hard pill for Vivica to swallow. However, Rina, knowing Vivica well, believed she would soon bounce back. After all, accepting one's failures is a crucial experience for any trainer.
Rex didn't say much more, understanding he couldn't truly empathize with Vivica's feelings as he wasn't the one directly affected.
Soon, it was the dawn of a new day. Today, the preliminary championship would eliminate most contestants, selecting the top 32.
To ensure the audience could enjoy all the matches of the participants who made it to the preliminaries, only one Pokémon battle was conducted at a time during the preliminary championship.
As the screen on the battlefield displayed the groups, the first round of the preliminary championship began. Rex soon found his grouping for the 10th match, facing a stunningly attractive young woman.
As the grouping completed, the matches swiftly commenced. To everyone's surprise, Ash was assigned the first match, facing a young boy named Dominick.
In this match, Ash sent out Torkoal and Corphish, while Dominick sent out Swalot and Tropius.
Right from the start, Dominick had Tropius take to the sky and attack Ash's Pokémon with Leaf Blade. After Ash had Torkoal and Corphish defend, Dominick had Tropius use Bullet Seed on Torkoal and had Swalot use Sludge Bomb on Corphish.
Then, Dominick had Tropius use Whirlwind. Though Torkoal held its ground against the wind, it countered with Flamethrower and Overheat, which Tropius evaded.
Dominick followed up by having Swalot use Body Slam on Corphish. Although this attack missed, Corphish's Bubble Beam was neutralized by Swalot's flexible body.
Afterward, Ash commanded Torkoal and Corphish to focus their attacks on Tropius. Despite taking hits, Tropius retaliated with Solar Beam.
During the charging phase, Tropius endured more attacks from Torkoal and Corphish but managed to fire the Solar Beam.
The Solar Beam from Tropius collided with Torkoal's second Overheat, causing an explosion, leaving both Tropius and Torkoal unable to battle.
Seeing this, Dominick believed he had the upper hand and instructed Swalot to launch a relentless attack on Corphish, pushing it back.
Ash then had Corphish close in on Swalot for an attack. Dominick countered by having Swalot use Thunderbolt on Corphish.
However, Corphish managed to grab Swalot by its whiskers and threw it, followed by a Bubble Beam into Swalot's mouth, defeating it.
Thus, Ash won the first round of the preliminary championship.
As the matches progressed, it was soon Rex's turn. By now, he knew his opponent's name: Tia, a fiery young woman with vibrant red hair and a sexy outfit, drawing much support from the crowd.
"Hello, Rex, I heard you have a very powerful Swellow!" Tia greeted with a smile.
"Tia, I hope our match will be memorable for both of us," Rex responded warmly.
Both sides quickly sent out their Pokémon. Rex chose Politoed and Flaaffy, while Tia sent out Rapidash and Flareon.
Although Rex didn't use his giant Swellow, Tia was somewhat relieved, knowing that Swellow was formidable.
Despite Politoed having an advantage over Tia's fire-type Pokémon, she had defeated water-type Pokémon before.
"Rapidash, Flareon, use Flamethrower on each other!"
Tia surprisingly didn't attack Rex's Pokémon but had her own Pokémon attack each other. The audience was puzzled, but soon realized that both Pokémon had the Flash Fire ability, which boosted their fire-type moves when hit by fire.
While Tia's Pokémon powered up, Rex had Politoed use Rain Dance, and Flaaffy used Charge to boost its special attack.
As the rain poured down, the intensified fire energy of Rapidash and Flareon was slightly suppressed. The water evaporated upon contact with their heated bodies, producing steam.
Knowing that prolonging the battle would be disadvantageous, Tia had Rapidash and Flareon launch dual Flamethrower attacks at Flaaffy.
"Politoed, use Surf!"
At Rex's command, Politoed summoned a massive wave towards Rapidash and Flareon.
The fiery attacks clashed with the wave, generating steam, but the rain-enhanced wave surged forward, overwhelming Rapidash and Flareon.
"Flaaffy, use Thunder at full power!"
Rex's voice rang out as thunder roared, and a bolt of lightning struck from the rainclouds onto Rapidash and Flareon, who were soaked and defenseless.
"Rapidash and Flareon are unable to battle. Rex wins!"
Thanks to the water's conductivity, the amplified Thunder attack from Flaaffy defeated both Rapidash and Flareon.
"That was an impressive combo. I concede, but I hope we can battle again someday," Tia said, accepting her defeat gracefully.
"Your Flash Fire strategy was great too, Tia!" Rex replied, shaking her hand before returning to the stands.
"Your turn now, Rina!" he said as he sat down.
Rina gave Rex a confident look and stepped onto the battlefield.
Her opponent, a man in his thirties, sent out Nidoking and Nidoqueen, while Rina chose Breloom and Roserade.
The battle started intensely, with Nidoqueen's Ice Beam aiming for Roserade but getting diverted by Breloom's Brick Break.
Nidoking's Hyper Beam hit Breloom, but it was hit by Roserade's Leech Seed.
Soon, both Nidoking and Breloom were out, leaving Roserade and Nidoqueen to duel.
Roserade paralyzed Nidoqueen with Stun Spore and used Giga Drain to sap its strength. Though Nidoqueen fought back, it fell to Roserade's Energy Ball, earning Rina a narrow victory.