"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our Semi-Finalists for the second Semi-Final..."
The cheers from the crowd were deafening, and Leaf blushed when she saw that she had more support than Aizen in the stadium.
Everything felt like a dream to her right now.
She was still not over yesterday's victory, and her body still trembled every time she thought about it.
Facing Aizen in the Semi-Finals of the Indigo Conference, with the Silver Conference Winner waiting for one of them in the Final; yes, it all felt like a dream.
Leaf had never even imagined achieving so much in the first year of her Pokémon Journey.
And when she saw the Orayen Prince smile at her and nod his head, she blushed and nodded back before she took a deep breath and turned her heart cold.
The Pokémon around them were not the only ones who had learned a thing or two from the proud Silver Fox.
Rinko had rubbed off on her as well.
"There are no friends and family in the Official Matches..."
She repeated Misty's words in her heart, and she knew that the Orange Waterflower was right. Right now, Aizen was just an opponent she needed to beat. Nothing more, nothing less.
Leaf also knew that her chances were not high. She was the underdog going into this match, but she was here to win. And she wanted to win.
The countdown started, and she felt a little chilly today.
There was snow slowly falling on the Battlefield, and when the stadium quietened down, everything felt so surreal to her.
She reached for the Pokémon she had decided to start with this morning, and as soon as the Referee's whistle sounded out, she activated the Pokéball and threw it up.
And the match-up stunned her.
"Round 1: Lapras vs Raichu. Begin!"
Her heart started racing in hope.
She could, at least, win this round. And if she did, she would be able to lead the match at her pace.
Leaf quickly started giving instructions to her Pokémon.
Lapras did not even take Raichu seriously and focused on his own thing, which was to transform the battlefield into an icy field.
The weather was in his favour and even though he took a powerful Iron Tail and Thunderbolt from the Electric Pokémon, he kept his focus on the task and on repelling the Pokémon.
Lapras did not take much time. In three minutes, he had transformed the entire Battlefield, and Leaf realised that Raichu had no hope left in the round.
The battlefield had turned into a slippery ice field, and her Pokémon was struggling to keep its pace now.
And then the Siren Pokémon used Sheer Cold, and her beloved Raichu was caged inside an ice coffin. It soon cracked, but her Pokémon was unconscious now and in need of medical attention.
"Raichu is unable to battle. Lapras wins the first round!"
The girl from Pallet Town sighed in her heart as she now knew that Aizen would lead her throughout the match.
There was no one better than him at it, and he would never give anyone a chance to get that breakthrough in this free fall.
And just as she had expected, when she sent out her Ludicolo, he switched his Pokémon and sent out his Crobat, leaving her Pokémon helpless against its speed.
When she sent out her Arcanine next, he switched again and sent out his Ninetales, rendering almost all of her Pokémon's moves useless.
She was left stunned when Xeno defeated Mala, despite her Pokémon giving its all, but then she sighed before sending out her Golem.
And to her agitation, Aizen sent out his Lapras again to deal with her Pokémon and to restore the icy Battlefield.
Even though she absolutely loved Lapras, right now, in her eyes, he was the monster she feared the most.
She was not even shocked this time when the Siren Pokémon took Golem out with a powerful Hydro Pump. She knew very well how strong it was.
After all, during their time at the Oak Corral, Anira had used Lapras against her in the battles to help her train, and this Pokémon had never once lost.
Leaf looked at the battlefield and sent out her Magnezone next, hoping to bait Ninetales, but Aizen did not let her dictate his choices.
Of course, he knew what she was planning and that Ninetales was too tired after the battle with Arcanine to take on the Electric Tank.
He sent out his own Arcanine against her Pokémon, and she now knew she had no chance to even win a single round.
For her last Pokémon, she chose to not send out her Florges, knowing well how powerful his Scizor was.
Instead, she sent out her Charmeleon, deciding to have some fun, and Aizen smiled and finally took it easy on her.
He sent out his Gengar...
Leaf wanted to scream at him for being mean, but she held her cool and helped Charmeleon give its all in the battle.
The girl from Pallet Town quickly realised that Gengar was not interested in defeating her Pokémon.
It was instead interested in making it angry and pushing it to its limits.
Charmeleon kept fighting for a good fifteen minutes, and the crowd was cheering for it now after seeing how hard it was trying to defeat its opponent.
For some strange reason, people wanted to see Aizen lose a round.
His perfection was subconsciously disturbing them, getting on all their nerves.
"You can do it..." She supported her Pokémon, helping it push itself beyond its limits.
And when the clouds in the sky parted and the rays of the sun fell on the Battlefield, the moment Charmeleon was swaying on his feet, Leaf's mouth dropped open at the magical sight that followed.
The stadium turned quiet too as the audience witnessed the Charmeleon's body enveloped in light and growing bigger.
"Charr!!!"
The Charizard that came out of the shell of light proudly announced himself to the world, and then he cruelly looked at Gengar, his Old Friend, whom he was very mad at right now.
The Ghost Pokémon snickered at seeing the anger in the Fire Pokémon's eyes and then sent out its sinister Shadow Ball.
Their battle soon became the highlight of the match as the two Pokémon kept fighting for another half an hour before the Fire Pokémon fell.
The Outrage it was surrounded by faded as well.
However, the Fire Pokémon had not fallen unconscious. He was just too tired to continue now.
Leaf was not disappointed at all when the result was announced, and she happily walked over and met Aizen in the centre of the Battlefield.
"I will beat you one day." She grinned at him as the two shared a handshake, and the Orayen Prince smiled at her.
"Focus on winning tomorrow's match first." He teasingly said, and then he congratulated her on Charmeleon's evolution.
Leaf happily returned to the Lounge, skipping through the tunnel, and after submitting her Pokémon in Nurse Joy's care, she answered a few questions from the journalists and rushed out to meet her friends.
For the rest of the evening, everyone celebrated Aizen's victory, and she joined them, happy from the bottom of her heart for the Orayen Prince, but after dinner, when she returned to her room, she started working on her plan for tomorrow.
There was still one match left for her. The Bronze Final.
Right before she went to bed, she opened her Pokédex and took a look at her Official record.
There was finally a loss registered on it, but she smiled when she saw Aizen's name and picture.
Her first loss was against someone very special to her, and her cheeks warmed up at his image.
Leaf slept comfortably that night. The best sleep she has had in the last few months. And she lazed around in bed even after waking up.
Anira, May, and Risa came to see her, and she had her breakfast with the girls, who were already making plans for the evening to celebrate the new year and her win in the Bronze Final.
All of them had complete faith in her.
At 10 a.m., Leaf left the Center to walk to the Indigo Stadium, and she smiled when she saw people greeting her from afar and wishing her the best for her last Match in this Conference.
At noon, she entered the arena, opposite Virgil, and brightly smiled after taking a deep breath.
"I am winning this." She told herself, and then her eyes turned cold.
"Round 1: Flareon vs Tauros."
Leaf took charge of the very first battle after her Tauros defeated Flareon with a powerful Giga Impact.
In the second round, against Espeon, she sent out her Dusknoir, who helped her win within the five-minute mark.
In the third round, she recalled her Pokémon again and sent out her Magnezone against Jolteon.
In the fourth round, she struggled a little when she sent her Exeggutor against Vaporeon, who was a little too powerful, but in the end, the Type Advantage paid off.
In the fifth round, Virgil finally stopped using Eeveelutions and sent out his Ampharos, and Leaf did not take the bait and sent her Magnezone into the battle.
Instead, she chose to send her Golem and managed to win the round.
In the sixth round, the boy from Unova sent his Bouffalant, and Leaf sent her Charizard into the battle, who was still upset about yesterday's loss.
The Fire Pokémon showed no mercy to his opponent, and when he achieved victory, he shot out plumes of flame into the sky to show its might.
Leaf was extremely happy at her win, and after hugging her Igneel, she shook hands with her opponent.
Later, she accompanied Virgil to the Royal Stand since they had been summoned by the Chairman of the Pokémon League Committee.
Inside the Royal Stand, she met Queen Ilene, Queen Grisha, Lance Blackthorn, Cynthia Draegor, Sabrina Moonheart, Ethan Hunt, who was the new Champion of the Johto Region, and finally, Charles Goodshow.
The Old Man Charles complimented them on their performance in the Conference and then handed her and Virgil tablets where the list of Pokémon they could choose from was on display.
Leaf did not know if the two lists were the same, but the one she had on the device contained a lot of powerful Pokémon.
Had she been the same girl who had just started her journey, she would have unhesitantly chosen a Grass Type Pokémon.
However, she was not the same girl anymore.
It was not an easy decision for her because she was already thinking about improving her existing Team and winning the Silver Conference eight months later.
She chose not to look at the Eggs and checked for the well-bred Pokémon, who were listed on the screen.
After having watched all sorts of Pokémon perform at the Conference, there was one that had stood out a lot to her. One that was very versatile.
Swampert.
She needed such a powerhouse on her team, and Mudkip was a very cute Pokémon as well, which was a plus.
"Good choice." Sabrina, who was standing by her side, appreciatively nodded her head, and Leaf felt even more confident after making her pick.
"Thanks, Rina."
She could not wait to hold her Mudkip in her arms, whom she would receive tomorrow at the Closing Ceremony.
When she came out of the Stadium, she happily ran towards her friends, and she did not know why, but she hugged Aizen.
"Well done."
And hearing him say those two words to her made her day even brighter.