When Eichi went out in the morning, a group of girls rushed over halfway through and surrounded him.
The crowd of girls asked him for autographs and photos. Furthermore, it seemed that the impact from yesterday had thoroughly fermented.
Eichi used his Bug Force to sneak away back to the Competitor Village. There, he changed his clothes and put on a mask and sunglasses.
When he went out again, no one approached him anymore. He even ran into Buliangren and Ryuichi on the road.
Consequently, they failed to recognize Eichi either. It was only when Eichi took the initiative to speak to them that they realized who he was.
After parting ways with them, Eichi arrived backstage. At this time, Tsukisa was the only one backstage.
Eichi found a random seat and sat down, removing his mask and sunglasses to put them inside his backpack.
Tsukisa glanced at Eichi, knowing exactly what was going on.
Sitting in his seat, Eichi let out a sigh of relief, turning his thoughts back to the tournament.
His current mood was completely relaxed, without a single shred of pressure.
The tournament would conclude today, with the semifinals in the morning and the finals in the afternoon.
Eichi was scheduled for the first match. He checked the time and noticed it was about to start.
After waiting quietly for a few minutes, Eichi walked onto the athletic field under the commentator's summons.
The stadium was exceptionally lively. Everyone was highly excited, and a group of people below the stands were shouting his name.
Despite this, Eichi did not have any confidence in himself.
The match commenced, and Eichi still released Ninjask first.
Conversely, Katsuyoshi released Noctowl.
Although Noctowl's level was only at the peak of the Gym Leader rank, Eichi did not dare to be careless at all.
Sure enough, the subsequent battle lasted for less than three minutes before Ninjask lost its ability to battle.
Eichi switched to Shedinja, but the result remained exactly the same.
Eichi then switched to Heracross. This time, the battle persisted, and it took ten minutes for Heracross to lose its ability to battle.
Eichi could not help but lament that even within the same peak Gym Leader rank, the disparity could still be like the difference between heaven and earth.
Eichi was certain that if Katsuyoshi's Noctowl were to battle against Shida, it could easily defeat three of his Pokémon.
The gap was massive, making Eichi feel exceptionally strained.
Ultimately, he deployed Scizor. After a bitter struggle, it finally managed to defeat Noctowl.
Next, Katsuyoshi sent out Sudowoodo, who was one of his remaining two Pokémon. The outcome was quite surprising, as Scizor and Sudowoodo knocked each other out simultaneously.
Eichi now had only two Pokémon left, while Katsuyoshi still possessed four.
Following this, Katsuyoshi released Kingler, who was at the Elite rank.
Eichi released Golisopod. Golisopod's appearance looked very cool, but it was of no use, as it still could not defeat Kingler.
There was nothing he could do since the level gap was simply too wide to overcome.
Finally, Eichi was left with only his last Pokémon, Beedrill.
Fortunately, Beedrill's strength was formidable enough to defeat Katsuyoshi's Kingler.
Even so, Beedrill was heavily exhausted, and it regrettably fell before Katsuyoshi's Golem.
The moment Beedrill lost its ability to battle, Eichi relaxed completely.
He had lost!
Katsuyoshi was simply too powerful, but Eichi was already satisfied. His only regret was that he had not been able to cross hands with that Sandslash.
Walking back to the backstage, Tsukisa brushed past him. Eichi sat in his seat, calmly watching the match between the senior student and Tsukisa.
Both of them were incredibly strong. First, the senior student sent out Politoed, who was at the late Gym Leader rank, while Tsukisa deployed Espeon, who was at the peak Gym Leader rank.
After a fierce battle between the two Pokémon, Politoed ultimately claimed victory.
Then, Tsukisa released her second Pokémon, Staraptor. Possessing a flight advantage, Staraptor quickly defeated Politoed.
The senior student recalled Politoed and released his second Pokémon, Xatu.
Another intense competition ensued, and Xatu ultimately secured the win.
Despite this, it also sustained heavy injuries.
Watching the matchup between the two, it was truly brilliant and fierce.
During the subsequent battles, Eichi also learned that Tsukisa's six Pokémon were Espeon, Staraptor, Roselia, Infernape, Bronzong, and her trump card, Abomasnow.
On the other hand, the senior student's six Pokémon were Politoed, Xatu, Misdreavus, Weavile, Typhlosion, and Ursaring.
From the strength of both sides, it was actually discernible that Tsukisa was somewhat stronger than the senior student.
Since Infernape was sent out, it continuously defeated two of the senior student's Pokémon, leaving him with only his last two, Typhlosion and Ursaring.
Because Infernape was too exhausted from the previous fights, it was defeated by Typhlosion. However, Typhlosion quickly succumbed under Bronzong's attacks.
Tsukisa's final three Pokémon were clearly much stronger than her other three.
The last Ursaring exerted an immense amount of effort just to defeat Bronzong.
Ultimately, due to a lack of physical stamina, it was easily defeated by Abomasnow.
Eichi sighed. This time, Silver Academy was not doing very well, failing to secure even the runner-up position.
If he had not entered the final four himself, Silver Academy would have lost face completely this time.
Far away at Silver Academy, Director Yanagi slammed his hand heavily on the table upon seeing the senior student lose.
"Where did this Tsukisa come from to be so powerful?"
"If it weren't for Eichi this time, we would have truly lost face."
The finals were scheduled for the afternoon. When Eichi went out, he still wore a mask and sunglasses just like in the morning, sitting in the spectator stands with Ryuichi and the others to watch the match.
"We've finally reached the finals. It hasn't been easy!" Eichi lamented.
"The finals are about to begin, and the champion will be revealed very soon," Ryuichi said.
"Brother Eichi, who do you think will be the champion between Katsuyoshi and Tsukisa?" Mumu asked curiously.
Without even thinking, Eichi answered:
"Katsuyoshi."
"Why? I feel that Tsukisa is a bit more impressive," Mumu asked, thoroughly puzzled.
"Intuition," Eichi stated indifferently.
As he spoke, the finals officially commenced.
"Dear audience, we have finally arrived at the most thrilling finals!"
"Who will become the champion will be revealed in the upcoming match."
"Now, I declare the match started!"
Both sides began releasing their Pokémon. Tsukisa deployed Roselia.
Conversely, Katsuyoshi sent out Noctowl. Eichi opened his Eye of the Bug Emperor.
Roselia was at the early Elite rank, with a level of 61, while Noctowl was only at the peak Gym Leader rank. Consequently, after a fierce battle, Noctowl quickly lost its ability to battle.
Following this, Katsuyoshi sent out Sudowoodo. After another round of fighting, Sudowoodo managed to defeat Roselia with great difficulty.
Tsukisa calmly recalled Roselia and released her second Pokémon, Staraptor.
The levels of the two Pokémon were quite close, and the ultimate result was a mutual knockout.
Both sides released their third Pokémon, Kingler squaring off against Espeon.
This Kingler was at the Elite rank, whereas Espeon was not. Thus, it was easily defeated by Kingler.