"Ash!"
When they arrived at the other side of the lobby, it was already packed with people. Although many Trainers had already been eliminated from the tournament, not all of them had left immediately.
Many eliminated Trainers chose to stay and watch the remaining matches to gain experience and learn from observing the battles. Even people who hadn't participated in the competition had gathered here to pay attention to the match assignments being announced.
When Ash first arrived, Brock and the other three quickly caught up with him. They had apparently heard the broadcast as well. Ash nodded to them in acknowledgment, then turned his attention to the large screen.
At that moment, the big screen displayed multiple sections that were rapidly cycling through options. Many match assignments were gradually being finalized, with Ritchie and Green's assignments being confirmed one after another.
Those two had competed in the morning session, and now it was the afternoon group's turn. Soon, Ash's profile picture appeared on screen, and the roulette wheel for the battle field began spinning before stopping with a decisive click.
The pointer landed on a green grass-covered area. Ash was slightly surprised—it was a Grass Field again.
"The Grass Field again?" Yellow and the others looked equally surprised. They had just watched a match on a Grass Field, and now Ash would be battling on the same type of terrain.
Compared to the Water Field and Ice Field, both of which offered unique strategic advantages based on the terrain, the Grass Field was relatively straightforward and relied more heavily on raw skill and power.
"Now for the opponent!" The venue itself didn't mean much to Ash. Brock and the others were more concerned about who Ash's next opponent would be.
Soon, on the opposite side of Ash's portrait, another roulette wheel began cycling through various profile pictures. Most of them flashed by too quickly to make out. Since Green and Ritchie had already had their match assignments determined, they definitely wouldn't be matched against Ash. However, Gary hadn't received his assignment yet, so there was still a possibility they could face each other.
Ding!
The rotation of the profile pictures gradually slowed down until a familiar figure appeared opposite Ash's portrait. When he saw the picture, Ash was momentarily surprised.
At that same moment, standing in front of another screen surrounded by a small group of people, a certain Trainer was also waiting for their match assignment. When the result appeared on the big screen, she froze for a moment, and then her elegant face filled with determination.
Several people standing around her had ugly expressions on their faces and looked toward Ash's direction as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Ah! This... isn't that...?" Yellow said with surprise when she saw the profile picture on the big screen.
Just like in a previous match, the opponent was another beautiful young woman—even younger than Giselle from before, appearing to be about the same age as their group.
There had been a confrontation between them earlier, so Yellow remembered her clearly. At that time, the two sides had been quite hostile toward each other, but no one had expected they would face off in battle so soon.
"It's Giselle! Ash, you absolutely cannot go easy on her just because she's a girl!" Misty immediately perked up when she saw the match assignment, as if she'd been waiting for this moment.
She had complete confidence in Ash's strength, but since the opponent was an attractive young woman from a wealthy background, Misty felt compelled to give this special warning.
"Do I really seem like the type of person who would do that?" Ash couldn't help but roll his eyes at Misty's comment.
No matter how familiar or unfamiliar his opponent was, he would never hold back in a serious battle. That was both respect for himself and respect for his opponent.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps approached. Giselle walked over with her loyal followers trailing behind her.
Ash and his group naturally noticed them approaching. Ash glanced at the people beside Giselle and smiled faintly.
Seeing Ash's smile, the expressions on several of their faces grew even more sour. Just as Ash had predicted before, their teammates had been eliminated one after another, and most of them had felt too embarrassed to stick around and had left.
Only the most die-hard fans of Giselle remained, feeling that as long as she—their leader—could achieve good results, it wouldn't be too humiliating for them.
Of those who had made it to the fourth round, only two or three remained. These few had fought continuously through high-intensity matches, barely managing to win their first three games.
Both their Pokemon's condition and their own mental state were far from optimal. If they got lucky with their match assignment in this fourth game, they might have a chance to advance, but realistically, their prospects looked grim.
What made them feel even worse was that Giselle, who represented their best hope, had been matched against Ash of all people.
If Giselle was defeated by Ash, her journey would end at the qualifying stage. And if the remaining few from their group were also eliminated, then just as Ash had said, only a handful of people from the Pokemon Technical Institute would make it into the next round.
Looking at Ash's current condition—having won three consecutive battles using only a single Pokemon—made their situation feel even more hopeless.
"I didn't expect I'd have to face you so soon. Ash, I absolutely will not lose to you this time. I'm going to restore the honor of our Pokemon Technical Institute right here!"
The two of them had battled once before at the Pokemon Technical Institute, and she had been completely defeated by Ash.
Even though Ash had performed brilliantly throughout the competition, Giselle had no intention of conceding defeat before the match even began. She was still as confident as she had been back at the academy.
"Alright! I'm looking forward to it!" Ash responded calmly.
Seeing his composed reaction, Giselle didn't say anything further. She turned and left with her followers.
With that, the match assignments for the fourth round were complete. This was the final game of the preliminary rounds. Only those who could win this match and advance to the next stage could truly be considered elite Trainers.
After all the assignments had been finalized, everyone could clearly feel the atmosphere around them growing more serious and tense. You could almost smell the intensity in the air.
The competitors who had been matched against each other could practically see sparks flying when they made eye contact across the lobby.
Soon, everyone in the hall dispersed to prepare for tomorrow's battles.
Although tomorrow's matches weren't the finals, most competitors would start showing their true strength, because no one wanted to come this far only to be eliminated now.
So strictly speaking, the intensity of these matches would be no less fierce than the finals themselves.
Author's Note: In the anime, the fourth round is actually the Top 32. After Ash advances, his match against Ritchie is in the Top 16. However, for the sake of the plot and to give original characters more opportunities to appear, I've added a 6v6 promotion round starting from the Top 32. Subsequent League tournaments will continue to use this format.