Alex returned to the waiting room, where Steven and Flannery were already waiting for him.
Flannery looked at him with a smile and said, "That was quick."
Steven nodded in agreement. "Very quick."
Alex sat down and replied casually, "I wasn't the one who surrendered."
The three exchanged a few words while the final Round of 16 match was being broadcast on the TV.
Once that battle concluded, only 8 competitors remained.
Alex looked at the updated tournament bracket and wasn't surprised to see that all of the top 8 seeds had successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
Although it occasionally happened that a competitor outside the top 8 managed to break into that group, the opposite was usually true. In most championship-level tournaments, the top seeds reached the final stages more often than not.
The screen soon switched to tomorrow's quarterfinal matchups.
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Participant 1: Winona: 58.66
Pokémon: Noctowl LV 56, Tropius LV 58, Pelipper LV 58, Dragonite LV 59, Skarmory LV 60, Altaria LV 61
VS:
Participant 8: Mark: 52.5
Pokémon: Magnezone LV 50, Weavile LV 51, Bronzong LV 53, Staraptor LV 53, Garchomp LV 54, Torterra LV 54
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Participant 2: Steven: 57.33
Pokémon: Claydol LV 56, Armaldo LV 56, Cradily LV 56, Aggron LV 57, Skarmory LV 59, Metagross LV 60
VS:
Participant 7: Flannery: 53.33
Pokémon: Arcanine LV 52, Houndoom LV 52, Rapidash LV 53, Magcargo LV 54, Camerupt LV 54, Torkoal LV 55
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Participant 3: Alex: 57.33
Pokémon: Ditto LV 56, Umbreon LV 57, Blaziken LV 57, Gardevoir LV 58, Scizor LV 58, Crobat LV 58
VS:
Participant 6: Leonardo: 54.5
Pokémon: Alakazam LV 50, Breloom LV 52, Metagross LV 53, Cacturne LV 55, Mawile LV 58, Exploud LV 59
--------
Participant 4: Amber: 56.66
Pokémon: Gardevoir LV 54, Dusclops LV 54, Walrein LV 55, Salamence LV 55, Blaziken LV 60, Entei LV 62
VS:
Participant 5: Nadia: 56.16
Pokémon: Gyarados LV 53, Crawdaunt LV 54, Milotic LV 55, Ludicolo LV 55, Swampert LV 60, Kingdra LV 60
--------
Seeing such a clean bracket, Alex was slightly surprised.
The tournament structure seemed considerably fairer than the one used in Kanto.
Here, the quarterfinals followed the rankings perfectly. The highest seed faced the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest faced the second-lowest, and so on.
In Kanto, the organizers always claimed that the final brackets were randomly generated.
Alex knew that was complete nonsense. No tournament of this scale would leave something that important entirely to chance.
Even if the pairings weren't openly manipulated, there were always rules and restrictions behind the scenes that influenced the outcome.
Looking at the bracket in front of him, Alex found himself much more satisfied. he had absolutely no complaints about his own matchup.
Leonardo was strong, but compared to some of the opponents Alex had drawn earlier in the tournament, this was probably the most reasonable matchup he had received so far.
For the first time since the tournament had started, Alex looked at the bracket and couldn't find a single thing to complain about. That alone felt surprisingly refreshing.
Steven looked at Flannery and said with a casual smile, "Congrats on making the Top 8."
Flannery immediately shot him an annoyed look. "Shut up. I don't want to talk to you. You're almost as annoying as Alex when it comes to Pokémon fights."
Stung by those words, Alex immediately said, "Hey, if you're going to insult someone, at least pick the right person. I have nothing to do with this."
Steven smiled and said, "That's not entirely true. Ever since I've known you, I've started becoming a bit more like you. So if I do something bad, it's at least 51% your fault."
Flannery nodded as if that made perfect sense. "Steven's right. I've known Steven for years, and it's only since he became your friend that his personality has taken a turn for the worse. He's just telling the truth."
Alex looked at the two of them and suddenly felt that perhaps he really was a bad influence.
Compared to the overly wholesome friendships that seemed common in this world, his friendships felt much more like the ones from his old world.
People insulted each other, made sarcastic comments, and constantly took cheap shots whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Of course, he and Steven had plenty of moments where they genuinely helped one another, but neither of them ever felt the need to openly talk about it.
Even after living in this world for years, Alex still wasn't completely used to how unusually friendly most humans—and even most Pokémon—seemed to be.
Seeing that the other two clearly intended to gang up on him, Alex ignored them and turned his attention toward the television.
The first quarterfinal was already beginning.
Winona versus Mark.
The battle lasted less than a minute.
Winona's Altaria defeated Mark's lead Pokémon almost immediately, and after losing his first Pokémon, Mark surrendered without hesitation.
Alex wasn't particularly surprised. The level gap had simply been too large.
A few minutes later, a staff member entered the waiting room and called Steven and Flannery. The two stood up.
Flannery glanced at Steven and said, "Try not to enjoy this too much."
Steven smiled. "No promises."
The two left with the staff member, leaving Alex alone in the waiting room.
A short while later, the match appeared on the television. Much like the previous battle, it ended incredibly quickly.
Metagross appeared on the field, used a single move, and knocked out Torkoal.
Flannery stared at her unconscious Pokémon for a few seconds before sighing and raising her hand.
The referee immediately declared Steven the winner. Alex wasn't surprised by her decision. Losing her strongest Pokémon immediately made the outcome almost inevitable.
Watching two quarterfinals end so quickly, Alex finally understood why many spectators considered the first two days of the tournament little more than a warm-up.
The level differences between participants were simply too large.
Only the third day, when the remaining strongest trainers finally began facing one another, contained the truly exciting battles everyone was waiting for.
Alex had to admit, however, that the remaining matches would likely be far closer than the previous two.
His own battle against Leonardo certainly wouldn't be a guaranteed victory.
Although Alex possessed a small level advantage in a 3-on-3 format, the difference wasn't large enough to decide the battle on its own.
Leonardo had several Pokémon that could potentially cause problems for Alex's lineup. If he wasn't careful, he could still lose.
The same was true for the upcoming battle between Amber and Nadia.
Amber held a slight advantage on paper thanks to her stronger overall team and her Level 62 Entei, but that advantage wasn't big.
Nadia's team was built around powerful Water-types, and several of her Pokémon were more than capable of threatening Amber's strongest Pokemon, Entei.
A single excellent decision, an unexpected tactic, or even one major mistake could easily decide the entire battle.
Unlike the first two quarterfinals, where the winners had been obvious from the moment the matchups were announced, the last two battles felt more uncertain.
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