Gary remembered that it was the first time the two of them had competed, and it had ended in a tie.
Although he didn't say it out loud, Gary had already considered that match as a true victory or defeat, and he had collected the other half of the Poké Ball.
He had also told himself that one day he would defeat Ash and get the other half back.
But now he had gotten his other half back—not in the way he wanted. Ash was already far ahead of him and no longer regarded him as a rival.
Watching Ash's departing figure, Gary unconsciously clenched the half Poké Ball in his hand. He was silent for a long time, thinking about Ash's words. After a moment, his eyes became firm again.
"Ash! I won't let you look down on me. The battle between you and me is not over yet!"
After separating from Gary, Ash went directly back to the Pokémon Center. He had grown up with Gary, so it was impossible to say that he had a falling out because of this matter.
Ash did this just to motivate Gary. In fact, Ash also knew in his heart that Gary would not be defeated so easily.
When they returned to the center, it was already very late. Ash returned to the dormitory. Brock and the others were already back. Ash didn't say much, changed his clothes, and went to bed to rest.
"Ash, did you go to find Gary?" The three of them looked at each other, and finally Misty couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah," Ash just responded softly as he lay on his side facing the wall with his eyes closed.
"So, how is Gary now? Is he okay?"
A few of them knew Gary well. Although Gary was usually a bit proud, he wasn't a bad person, and they were still quite concerned about him.
"What does it matter?" After hearing this, Ash only responded with annoyance in his voice.
The three of them looked at each other again after listening to Ash's words, then sighed helplessly and spread their hands.
In fact, they knew that Ash should be the one who cared about Gary the most. But that's just the way they were, despite Gary's tendency to mock Ash.
But if Ash had lost, Gary would probably be the one who cared about Ash the most right now. Even if they cared, neither of them would say it out loud.
The three of them stopped disturbing Ash, tidied up, and lay on the bed to rest.
The night passed quietly.
Early the next morning, Ash still got up early. Although there was no competition today, many Trainers still got up early, and many of them went to the archives to check player information.
Although their opponents had not yet been confirmed, many players were also identifying some noteworthy Trainers.
In the morning, Ash took Delia to walk around the facilities. There were many places to visit in the entire Indigo Plateau, and there were also many popular souvenir shops.
At noon, after returning to the Pokémon Center for lunch, the time was almost up, and the announcement came again.
After hearing the announcement, all the Trainers in the Pokémon Center gathered in the lobby, and the Trainers outside also rushed back to the Pokémon Center.
The matchmaking area had been completely changed. It was different from the previous matchmaking system.
This time, the entire area was filled with huge fish tanks filled with water, and you could see some Magikarp swimming in the water.
Behind each fish tank stood a Nurse Joy, and behind her was a display screen.
"What's going on?" It wasn't like this before. The others asked, a little confused.
"This is the matchmaking method for the tournament!" Ash said while looking at the scene in front of him.
"Matchmaking method?"
Because they had never participated in the tournament, Misty and the others didn't know much about it. Although Ash had never participated in the tournament either, he had learned about it in advance.
"Yeah! Each Magikarp in the water has a number written on it. After catching a Magikarp by fishing, the number on the Magikarp will determine the matchup!"
Ash pointed at the water tanks and explained the situation to Misty and the others. Yellow and Misty's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they came forward to take a look. This method was indeed very unique.
If you looked carefully, you could see that the Magikarp did have a number on it. In this case, it was indeed completely random, because there was no way to know which Magikarp would be caught.
"So that's it! It's true—Magikarp has a number on its body!" The two girls came to the side of the water tank and spoke.
"Hello, I'm Ash from Pallet Town!" Ash stepped forward and spoke to Nurse Joy.
"Okay, Ash from Pallet Town, please wait!"
After hearing him, Nurse Joy operated the computer, quickly called up Ash's information, and then took out a special small fishing rod.
"Okay, Ash, you can start!"
Ash nodded slightly as he listened, then cast the hook into the water tank. Because it was a special fishing rod with Magikarp's favorite bait on it, it was easy to attract Magikarp, so he didn't need to wait too long.
Soon, Ash's fishing rod was hooked. Seeing this, Ash pulled the fishing rod up, and a Magikarp emerged from the fish tank.
Magikarp bit the fishing rod and swung its body. Misty and the others couldn't wait to come forward to check.
"Let me take a look. Ash, you are in Group A3!" Nurse Joy took one look and then said.
There were four groups in the promotion round: A, B, C, and D. Number 3 represented the third match of Group A.
"I'll enter the information immediately!"
Nurse Joy said, inputting Ash's number. Then, anywhere else, as long as someone drew a Magikarp with the same number, they would naturally become Ash's opponent.
"Just wait a moment now!" Nurse Joy said after entering the information.
Soon, a sound came from the big screen. Ash's profile picture was displayed on one side, and another profile picture gradually appeared on the other side.
When they saw the figure on the screen clearly, Misty and the others suddenly showed surprised expressions.
"Ritchie?!"
Ash also noticed that someone was looking in their direction. When he turned around to look, in front of the fish tank on the other side, Ritchie was holding a fishing rod and looking at them.
PS: In the anime, there are five preliminary rounds, meaning 3v3 battles. Ash's last one was when he met Ritchie and was eliminated. In other words, Ash did not reach the 6v6 level for the first time. We have made slight modifications here to make the 6v6 plot more prominent.