Besides the main stadium, the Quartz Conference features sixteen smaller battle arenas. These arenas host the preliminary rounds of the tournament. Trainers who win all their matches in these preliminary venues become the top sixteen competitors. After that, they advance to the main stadium for the championship rounds.
Each of the sixteen arenas has randomly assigned terrain types. A trainer might find themselves battling on a fire field, a water field, a grass field, or a rock field. Whether the assigned arena suits the Pokémon and battle style a trainer specializes in depends entirely on luck. After all, luck is part of what makes a strong trainer.
When Eddie faced these randomly assigned terrain types, he simply smiled with confidence and sent out his Greninja.
For a Greninja with the Protean Ability, these random terrain types posed no challenge at all.
Besides, even if Eddie found himself at a disadvantage, his strength was more than enough to overcome any opponent he faced here.
In short, Eddie used his Elite-level Greninja to defeat three opponents with ease.
During the preliminary rounds, battles followed a three-on-three format. Only after reaching the top sixteen would the format change to six-on-six.
However, regardless of the battle format, the outcome remained the same.
Throughout the following matches, Eddie continued using Greninja exclusively, achieving a perfect streak of three consecutive knockouts in each battle.
Very few participating trainers could withstand even a single attack from his Elite-level Greninja.
In fact, not just the participating trainers—even many of the Gym Leaders watching from the stands would struggle to defend against a blow from that Greninja.
"This kid actually broke through to this level during the war. He's quite the promising young trainer," Blaine remarked.
As an Elite-level trainer himself, Blaine could clearly see that Eddie had reached this exceptional level of strength. He couldn't help but feel amazed at Eddie's incredibly rapid progress.
"However, two of those girls have just reached this level as well. And the one from Cerulean City has also become a Quasi-Elite trainer. With two Elite-level trainers and one Quasi-Elite, you're going to have your hands full, Eddie," Blaine said with a knowing laugh.
Blaine observed Erika and Sabrina carefully. It appeared that both of them had broken through to Elite-level status either during or after the war. Meanwhile, Misty had risen from Gym Leader to Quasi-Elite rank. Naturally, Blaine felt some amusement imagining Eddie dealing with those formidable women.
Of course, Blaine didn't know that this situation had already played out a few days earlier.
"I've heard that trainers from the Kanto region are generally strong, but this Eddie is a bit too strong," one Johto Gym Leader muttered.
When the Gym Leaders from the Johto region watched Eddie's battle-hardened Greninja in action, they were all secretly shocked.
Since they weren't from the Kanto region, they had only seen reports about Eddie or watched him on television and the internet. Previously, they thought the League's coverage might be exaggerated promotion, and it was hard to say whether Eddie was really that powerful.
But now it seemed the League's coverage wasn't exaggerated at all. In fact, it actually understated Eddie's true strength.
"The strongest Gym Leaders in the Johto region are Pryce and myself—both Elite-level trainers. But even with only half a year of training, Eddie has already broken through to Elite level. Isn't that guy a bit too frightening?" Claire thought to herself.
Living in Blackthorn City, which was known as the 'Home of Dragons' because of the Dragon's Den, Gym Leader Claire was a genius whose talent rivaled that of her cousin Lance.
But at this moment, even she felt intimidated by Eddie's terrifying strength and growth rate.
Right then, all the Gym Leaders from the Johto region made sure to remember Eddie as a formidable force.
Of course, besides Eddie, they also kept Ash, Gary, and Green in mind.
After all, the brackets those three were in showed similarly one-sided results. Even the weakest among them, Green, was now close to reaching Elite level.
Although both Ash and Gary had reached Elite level, their performances weren't as overwhelming as Eddie's. Still, having achieved such strength at their age, practically no one would ignore their existence.
Due to Eddie's strength far exceeding that of ordinary competitors, the preliminary rounds in his bracket concluded very quickly. Now it was time for the final match of the preliminaries.
After finishing this last preliminary battle, Eddie would advance to the top sixteen.
When Eddie walked out of the contestant lounge and stepped onto the competition stage again, the cheers throughout the entire venue reached their peak. Countless spectators from Kanto and other regions shouted Eddie's name, which made his opponent look quite displeased.
There was no helping it. Eddie was so powerful that the audience at the entire Quartz Conference paid the most attention to him, followed by Ash and the others. They barely paid attention to anyone else.
Even the other competitors were cheering for Eddie. After all, Eddie could be considered a representative of the competitor group. Competitors who felt Eddie represented their collective strength naturally cheered for him.
"Eddie, I admit you're very strong, but that doesn't mean I'll give up. Even if there's only the slightest possibility, I'll keep fighting!" Eddie's opponent declared.
Eddie's opponent was a trainer from Celadon City. Although he didn't look too confident at the moment, his mentality remained solid. At least he recognized the huge gap between them but refused to give up the fight because of it.
"You're not bad. At least you're much better than those short-sighted people who refuse to accept reality. The result won't change, but that doesn't stop me from showing you some respect," Eddie replied.
"How about this? I'll battle you seriously and have Greninja use its full strength to show my respect for you."
Eddie's opponent's expression darkened when he heard this. He thought to himself that Eddie might as well just let him save some face instead.
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind briefly before he showed a smile full of fighting spirit.
Eddie, who was so powerful and famous, had acknowledged him as an opponent. Eddie would fight him with full strength. After his defeat, he could boast to others that Eddie had given his all against him.
"The first district finals match begins! The terrain has been randomly selected as 'Grassland.' Let the battle start!"
At that moment, the referee announced the start of the match. As the terrain was randomly selected, the entire stadium transformed. The flat ground changed into a sprawling grassland.
"Come out, Greninja! Let's pay tribute to our opponent. Now, show the bond between us!" Eddie called out.
"Ninja!" Greninja cried.
Eddie didn't wait for his opponent to react. He didn't even care what Pokémon his opponent sent out. He immediately triggered Greninja's transformation.
"Wait, what?! Greninja is glowing with light! Could this be Greninja's Mega Evolution? Has competitor Eddie found a Mega Stone for Greninja?!" the announcer shouted wildly.
The announcer's voice rose with excitement as he witnessed the surprising scene, driving the emotions of the entire venue to new heights.
After the light faded, Greninja emerged from a swirling water vortex and stood on the battlefield.
Before everyone could fully process what happened, Greninja pulled out the shuriken from its back, channeled energy into it, and in moments transformed it into a giant Water Shuriken several times larger than its body.
Looking at the massive Water Shuriken radiating a terrifying aura, the audience at the venue and viewers watching on screens everywhere stood up excitedly. Even the Gym Leaders in the stands showed expressions of shock.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, thunderous cheers suddenly erupted. Countless camera flashes aimed at Eddie standing on the battlefield.
However, what made Eddie laugh helplessly was that his opponent was also trembling with excitement when he saw this scene.
Come on, we're in the middle of a battle. Can you please take this seriously?
Though, whether his opponent was serious or not, the result would be the same anyway.
Eddie guessed his opponent had the same thought, so the trainer gave up trying to focus and simply turned into an Eddie fan, cheering along with everyone else.