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The venue grew quiet, and a dim scene appeared on the giant screen. Ariana sat on a chair, with the Frosthollow Province High School Cup Champion trophy visible not far behind her.
"What kind of person do you think your opponent, Jacob, is?" The host Julio's voice resonated with a broadcast tone, deep and magnetic.
Ariana, sitting on the chair, thought for a moment before earnestly saying, "Jacob is undoubtedly an excellent Trainer. Whether in battles or research, he is outstanding, a leader among his peers."
It was evident that Ariana, as a female Trainer, was somewhat reserved, not engaging in trash talk like other provincial finalists, but instead giving Jacob high praise.
This slightly disappointed the host Julio, who continued with the next question: "The outside world says Jacob is the biggest dark horse of this High School Cup. What do you think? Or do you have anything you'd like to say to Trainer Jacob?"
"Well..." Ariana pondered for a moment, a smile appearing on her face: "He's certainly strong to have made it to the finals. But I want to say, now that he's met me, his dark horse journey ends here."
It was harmless trash talk.
"Last question, do you have anything you'd like to say to the audience?"
"Yes." Ariana nodded, her expression serious and her eyes firm as she said, "Since its inception, Frosthollow Province has never won a National Champion in the High School Cup."
"This time, I want to bring the High School Cup trophy back to Frosthollow Province."
The screen froze on Ariana's determined eyes. Never having won a National Champion was Frosthollow Province's greatest regret.
Compared to the first two questions, Ariana's final words undoubtedly ignited the atmosphere in the venue. The applause was thunderous, and the cheers deafening.
"Ariana!"
"Ariana!"
"Ariana!"
Boom!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and in an instant, dark clouds gathered. A light rain began to fall, threatening to become heavier.
The weather today was extremely bad, but even so, it couldn't dampen the audience's enthusiasm.
"Next to make his entrance is the talented young man, Jacob, who has overcome all challenges and made a comeback like a dark horse!"
"Jacob! I love you!"
"Jacob, you must win!"
"Jacob, you're awesome!"
Amidst the frenzied cheers of the live audience, Jacob made his appearance.
Wearing the Starlight City battle uniform, Jacob smiled and waved to the surrounding audience. The giant screen displayed Jacob's progression throughout the competition.
Charizard's Blast Burn defeating Wylder's Gengar.
Sceptile's powerful Leaf Blade defeating Lee's Swampert.
Sceptile's Rock Slide, Charizard's Heat Wave, and Noibat's Draco Meteor easily defeating Nikolas.
And finally, relying on Sceptile's Worry Seed and Swords Dance, defeating Chandler's Self-Destruct strategy.
The screen finally froze on Jacob's promotional photo, with Charizard and Sceptile standing on either side of Jacob, and Noibat perched on Jacob's head, its eyes narrowed into a thin slit.
"Trainer Jacob, have you studied your opponent, Ariana?" It was Catalina speaking, her voice possessing a unique feminine gentleness that made it very pleasant to listen to.
"Who is Ariana? I'm already researching my opponents for the National Finals," Jacob said with a smile on the screen. "My goal has always been to be the Champion of the National Finals."
Hearing Jacob's interview remarks, the audience erupted in gasps and laughter. They hadn't expected Jacob to utter such trash talk.
Standing on the battleground, Jacob also felt a little awkward. He felt like he had been tricked by the host, specifically this person named Catalina.
This interview was conducted on the night he made it to the finals. Catalina told him it was a pre-match trash talk segment, and he could say whatever he wanted. The more confident he was, the more attention he would attract, and the better the effect would be.
Jacob was in a hurry to get to the League at the time, so he didn't think too much about it and just blurted out all the classic trash talk he had heard in his previous life.
As a result, compared to Ariana's humility just now, Jacob felt a bit embarrassed.
"Trainer Jacob seems very confident. We all know that besides being a Trainer, you also have the identity of a Pokémon researcher. I'm actually very curious, how do you balance the relationship between the two, and achieve such high accomplishments in both aspects?"
"Isn't it just a matter of having hands?" Jacob said with a smile, "You just do this first, then that, then this, and finally that, and you're done."
Jacob's words once again made the entire audience burst into laughter. It was the first time they had discovered that Jacob also had such a humorous side.
Listening to the audience's laughter, for Jacob, it was practically a public execution. Jacob's face grew increasingly awkward, his gaze wandering, and he happened to see Nina in the audience.
She also had a smile on her face, her eyes curved, and their gazes met. Beside her sat his father, mother, and a host of relatives and friends, including Amelia and Kyle.
"Trainer Jacob, last question, do you have anything you want to say to the audience?"
"Well." Jacob's smile on the screen grew even wider, and without any hesitation, he immediately said, "Everyone, get ready to cheer for my championship! It is our generation's undeniable duty to defend the glory of Frosthollow Province."
Whether he won the championship or not was unknown, but applause erupted in the venue.
"Audience friends, the match is about to begin."
"This match will still be a 3V3 Singles battle, but one rule is different from the semifinals: from now on, items can be used in the High School Cup matches, but Z-Moves are prohibited."
"Counting down from ten, the match is about to begin!"
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Two!"
"One, let the match begin!"
"Go, Gyarados."
The rainy weather was more advantageous for Ariana, so she directly sent out Gyarados as her starter.
"Go, Sceptile."
Since Jacob had guessed that Ariana would send out Gyarados, he naturally chose Sceptile as his starter. Sceptile, having learned Thunder Punch, could pose a huge threat to Gyarados, which is four times weak to Electric-type moves.
"Both sides have sent out Sceptile and Gyarados as their starters. Due to the weather, Jacob is actually at a considerable disadvantage. If he had sent out Charizard as his starter, Gyarados's Water-type offensive moves in rainy weather would be quite terrifying. Both Waterfall and Aqua Tail could pose a great threat to Charizard."
"If he had sent out Noibat, Noibat, being four times weak to Ice-type moves, couldn't withstand Gyarados's Ice Fang. Therefore, Jacob's only choice was Sceptile."
"Sceptile versus Gyarados, the first match is crucial. Let's see how both sides will engage."