The Ace Tournament was still underway, and Sato had already defeated his opponent in the first round of the finals, successfully advancing to the Top 16.
Watching others' battles didn't bring the same tension, but there was still a lot to pay attention to; after all, every winner could become his next opponent. The more information he could gather on them, the better prepared he would be.
After two more exciting battles, the referee called for Norman and another veteran Trainer to take the stage, there wasn't a single dull moment.
Everyone sent him encouraging looks, watching him enter the tunnel like a soldier heading into battle…
---
Half an hour later, all four of Norman's Pokémon had been defeated, and he was eliminated in the Top 32.
Norman's loss brought a silence over Sato and the others, and they finally realized just how ruthless the Tournament was for newly minted Ace Trainers.
Anyone with a bit of insight could tell that Norman wasn't weak, he simply lost out in terms of heritage and accumulated experience.
His strongest Pokémon, Slaking, was only at the High Ace level, while the veteran Trainer on the opposing side had no Pokémon below that level… and three of them were at Peak Ace.
Even so, Norman still managed to take down three of the opponent's Pokémon, only losing at the end when Slaking ran out of stamina.
It was a defeat worth honoring!
Before leaving the field, Norman was met with thunderous applause and cheers. Everyone could see it: he was still young, and his future held far more.
"…That's really a shame. I was looking forward to a proper fight with you," Norman said with a smile as he passed Sato.
"Don't worry. I'll win it back for you," Sato replied seriously, meeting his eyes.
"Hahaha! Bold words!" Norman laughed, but quickly turned serious. "Then I'll hold you to it!"
Sato smiled slightly and nodded.
"Hey, are you two acting like we're not even here? Whether Sato wins or not next round still depends on us!" Phoebe, with her strong competitive spirit, spoke up in protest.
"You better win your own match first," Norman scoffed, clearly not backing down.
"Tch! The first round of the finals was a walk in the park!"
"Hmph…"
What finally stopped the bickering was the start of the next match. Despite her confident talk, Phoebe didn't dare be careless, she wasn't sure she could beat Wallace, after all.
Soon, Ryoko, Phoebe, Flint, and Volkner all headed to the battlefield.
Perhaps due to the League's deliberate arrangement, none of the young Ace Trainers had been paired against each other in the first round.
Instead, Sato and the others all faced veteran Trainers whose experience far surpassed theirs.
But as the strongest members of the younger generation, Sato and his group weren't the type to be defeated by experience built up with time alone!
As dusk approached and the first round of the finals concluded, the so-called "strongest young generation" handed in a truly shocking report card!
Volkner, Caitlin, Marshal: each won with a score of 1:0!
Ryoko and Flint: 2:0 victories!
Sato, Phoebe, and Will: 3:0 victories!
Wallace didn't lose a single Pokémon during his match, claiming a flawless 4:0 win!
Aside from the unfortunate Norman, who was eliminated in the first round, all the newly promoted Ace Trainers had advanced to the Top 16!
At this point, the proportion of newly promoted Ace Trainers in the Top 16 had already exceeded half, completely breaking the long-standing dominance of veteran Trainers in the Ace Tournament.
Among everyone, Wallace was naturally the "brightest star", but the outstanding performances of the others also earned them plenty of support. Countless offers of invitations and recognition poured in like snowflakes.
---
By evening, after dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
Recalling everything that happened in today's battles, Sato felt so excited he couldn't fall asleep.
Ace Trainers, who were usually rarely seen in one place, had all gathered thanks to the tournament.
Sato could clearly feel how much he had grown over the past few days, and his partners had too.
Just moments ago, Zoroark and Ariados had both naturally reached High Ace, once again leading the team alongside Tyranitar in terms of level.
The rest of his Pokémon had also made progress to varying degrees. Even if they didn't lvlup during the tournament, Sato was confident he could push all of them to the next level within a month after it ended.
The reason was simple: progress beyond Ace relied more on "insight". Regular training could only maintain their strength, it had little effect on helping them advance.
That was exactly how Lance, Steven, and Wallace had managed to grow so quickly in recent years.
'As long as you gain enough insight, you'll be able to improve!'
With these thoughts in mind, Sato didn't calm down…
In fact, he grew even more excited, even wishing that tomorrow's match would arrive faster.
Since he couldn't sleep, Sato didn't force it. He grabbed his battle belt again and left the room.
The Indigo Plateau covered a vast area, and behind the hotel where Sato was staying was a dense forest. He had barely taken a few steps into it when he faintly heard movement in the distance.
"…Someone else excited like me, this late at night?" Sato muttered to himself, then nodded in agreement.
It wasn't out of the question.
Driven by curiosity, Sato walked toward the source of the noise without bothering to hide his footsteps, and the other party quickly noticed him.
"Sato…? How did you know I was here? If it's nothing important, don't try to comfort me… I-I just came out for some air!"
Looking at Norman, who appeared moved, and the Slaking still training behind him, Sato hesitated, then ultimately chose not to explain that it was just a coincidence.
"Your Slaking really is strong."
"Still lost to Mr. Alder though. Man, Sato, you really haven't changed at all… you don't know how to comfort people," Norman shrugged, diving right into banter.
He had thought it through. Since he lost his match earlier today, Sato would probably go easy on him out of sympathy.
"I wasn't finished," Sato replied with a calm look. "Slaking is strong… but your other Pokémon are pretty average."
Norman: …!!!!?
"Think about your match. Slaking practically went 1v3 just to keep it from looking like a total loss. The rest -Linoone, Snorlax, Kangaskhan-, they felt like filler."
"Linooo!"
"Snorrr!"
"Kan!"
Behind Norman, Linoone and the others stopped their training at once, all looking toward Sato with a mix of anger and hurt.
"Am I wrong? If you don't believe me, try again," Sato said, and immediately sent out Zoroark.
"Sato, what… what are you trying to do?"
Norman lowered his head, his voice hoarse. In the shadows where it couldn't be seen, his eyes had already turned red…