Alex exchanged a few words with Ian after the battle before returning to the participants' waiting room.
His day was not over yet. He still had another match to fight before advancing to the next stage of the tournament.
If Alex understood the tournament's matchmaking system correctly, his next opponent would be one of the participants ranked between 17 and 32 place.
After entering the waiting room, he immediately sat down next to Steven and Flannery, who had both already finished their own matches.
As he sat down, Steven glanced at him and asked casually, "How did it go?"
Alex looked at him with a fake deadpan expression. "I barely survived."
Steven nodded very seriously. "I understand. My condolences."
Flannery rolled her eyes. She finds the jokes from both of them very unfunny and even lame.
As Alex waited, he watched the next matche on the large televisions installed throughout the room. To nobody's surprise, most of the battles ended almost as quickly as his own.
The tournament organizers had matched the top 32 participants against the bottom 32. As a result, the majority of battles were extremely one-sided and finished within only a few minutes.
The difference in strength between the higher-ranked and lower-ranked participants was simply too large.
Still, there was one notable surprise.
Participant 35 managed to defeat Participant 22.
The upset was only possible because of the tournament's current one-versus-one format.
Although Participant 22 possessed the stronger overall team, Participant 35 happened to own a Pokémon whose level matched that of their opponent's strongest Pokémon.
In a full team battle, Participant 22 would almost certainly have won. In a one-on-one battle, however, that level advantage disappeared.
Even so, Alex doubted the underdog's tournament run would continue much longer. Sooner or later, they would face one of the truly elite participants. When that happened, they would almost certainly be eliminated.
3 hours passed.
One battle after another concluded until the first round finally came to an end.
Not long afterward, the tournament bracket updated.
Alex checked his TRH device and quickly found the information regarding his next opponent.
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Participant 18: Walter
Pokémon: Aggron Lv. 46, Kabutops Lv. 48, Armaldo Lv. 49, Claydol Lv. 49, Aggron Lv. 52, Aerodactyl Lv. 54
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Alex studied the info for a few moments and realized that he had been rather unlucky with the bracket.
Because of his ranking, he could only be matched against participants ranked from 17 to "32".
As a result, drawing Participant 18 in the second round was about as unlucky as he could get.
Not only that, but his opponent also possessed an Aerodactyl that was already Level 54. For a participant outside the Top 16, that was an exceptionally high level Pokémon.
Alex looked at Steven and asked, "What level is your next opponent's strongest Pokémon?"
Steven took out his Pokédex, checked the information for a moment, and replied, "Level 53. Why?"
Alex ignored the question entirely and turned toward Flannery. "What about yours?"
Flannery checked her own information before smiling casually. "Level 51. And not only that, the Level 51 Pokémon is weak against Fire-types."
Alex suddenly felt as though someone involved in organizing the tournament had a personal grudge against him.
Why was he the one getting difficult opponents twice in a row?
Even though he was still heavily favored to win against Walter's Level 54 Aerodactyl, he would have preferred a comfortable match like the ones Steven and Flannery seemed to have received.
Steven looked at Alex and asked him the same question Alex had asked earlier. He smiled slightly upon hearing the answer.
Alex immediately pointed at him and said, "For someone who just got luckier than me, you're looking awfully arrogant. It's only a one-level difference."
Steven opened his mouth, but Flannery answered first. "Alex, have you forgotten? Every level represents a huge leap. But you're right—if your luck keeps going like this, maybe you'll get a different nickname after the tournament."
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly. "What nickname?"
Flannery smiled innocently. "I don't know. Something more fitting."
Steven didn't even wait for Alex to respond before joining in. "How does 'Master of Bad Luck' sound?"
Flannery immediately shook her head. "No, no. That's too simple."
Steven pretended to think deeply. "You're right. How about 'Master of Misfortune'?"
Flannery nodded seriously. "Much better. You could even give that name an acronym: MoM."
Alex gave both of them a flat look. "Very funny, guys."
Flannery immediately looked away with a big smile.
Steven coughed lightly and tried not to smile.
Alex suddenly felt that his own sense of humor was vastly superior to that of his "friends".
In fact, after listening to their attempts at comedy, he became more convinced than ever that he was carrying this friendship group's entire supply of good jokes by himself.
After a few moments, Alex shook his head and he turned his attention toward Scizor and began discussing the upcoming battle through their psychic connection.
Although Alex was fairly certain that he would win even without a detailed strategy, he still preferred to prepare properly.
Complacency was one of the easiest ways for a trainer to lose.
A 4-level gap at the late-Elite level was enormous. But it was not completely insurmountable.
With the right tactics, favorable circumstances, and a bit of luck, even a weaker Pokémon could occasionally overcome such a disadvantage.
Alex had built much of his reputation on proving exactly that.
Which was why he had no intention of giving Walter even the slightest opportunity to become the next upset of the tournament.
*******
if the story total of 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.
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