The next day.
The preliminary rounds of the Lily Youth Competition officially began.
However, since Natsuhiko and the others didn't need to participate in the preliminaries, most of the time they stayed in the villa, making final preparations, except for occasionally going to the venue to cheer.
In the meantime, Du Juan did a great job in gathering information, bringing back details and profiles of some outstanding contestants.
At the same time, she mentioned something quite impactful.
That was, this tournament, which originally belonged to the four major regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, also had participants from the Unova Region and Kalos Region.
It's said they obtained permission from the united league, under the guise of promoting friendly exchanges between the regions.
The only impact on Natsuhiko was that his chances of achieving better rankings became slimmer.
Obviously, Unova and Kalos wouldn't send anyone insignificant to compete.
This also made him feel the pressure once again.
The preliminary rounds lasted for three whole days.
During the exciting competition, the big shots representing each alliance as observers also arrived one after another.
Such as Elite Four Agatha from the Kanto Alliance, Elite Four Genji from the Hoenn Alliance, Elite Four Kikuno from the Sinnoh Alliance, Elite Four Adick from the United Alliance, and Elite Four Drasna from the Kalos Alliance.
By the way, the Dragon-type Elite Drasna from the Kalos Alliance is from Shenhe Town, where Hilona is from.
Drasna and Hilona even have a blood relation.
The arrival of the Elite Four from each region naturally caused quite a stir, even someone usually eerie like Agatha had quite a few supporters.
Not to mention someone like Adick with his friendly and gentle temperament.
At this time, Adick is not yet the Champion of the United Alliance.
It's heard that recently one of his Pokémon passed away, making Adick somewhat despondent and less enthusiastic about alliance affairs.
Moreover, as long as you enter the elimination rounds, some of the Elite Four will watch the battles, being in their horizon is certainly an encouraging affair.
For Natsuhiko, hearing about Agatha's arrival made him anxious.
Until that night.
Lance came to Natsuhiko's room, and upon seeing his meaningful smile, Natsuhiko rolled his eyes.
"Natsuhiko, Elite Four Agatha wants to see you," Lance said.
Natsuhiko took a deep breath.
"I know."
What's meant to come always comes, hiding is not an option.
Though he explained to Agatha during their second meeting, ultimately he used her name to "retrieve" a large amount of stuff; he was quite thrilled at that time, now thinking back on it... he regrets it.
Following Lance, Natsuhiko arrived at a rather secluded villa.
In the night, just looking from the outside, it emanated a gloomy aura.
"You go in, I won't," Lance said.
"Just me?"
The only reply was Lance's gradually departing back.
"So unkind..." he muttered softly.
But he nonetheless gathered his courage, pushed open the door, accompanied by the wooden door's timely creak, and stepped into the dark villa.
"You're here." The sinister, low husky voice suddenly emerged from the side, startling Natsuhiko.
Upon focusing, he saw under the dim moonlight shining through the window, an elderly figure seated on the sofa with a cane.
"Elite Four Agatha... long time no see," Natsuhiko managed to squeeze out what he considered a decent smile.
"Haha—"
What came was Agatha's light chuckle.
The hairs on Natsuhiko's body stood up in fright.
What's the laugh about?
"Click—"
A crisp sound.
The lights in the room all came on, revealing Agatha seated on the sofa to Natsuhiko.
"Gengar—" At the entrance, Gengar stood by the switch, nodding in satisfaction at the room's lights turning on.
A Gastly emerged from the wall and melded into Gengar's shadow.
"Fixed?" Agatha inquired.
"Kekeke!" Gengar returned to her side.
"Have a seat, we've met before, don't be nervous, it's just that this house hasn't been lived in for a long time, the wiring's a bit problematic," Agatha explained.
So friendly?
Natsuhiko nodded and sat on the sofa opposite Agatha.
Halfway.
This villa might belong to Agatha, but presumably, she hardly comes here over the years, it's normal for issues to arise.
Crunch crunch—
The two fell silent, only Agatha sat there leisurely enjoying some snacks, as for Natsuhiko, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Frankly speaking, facing other Elite Four, Natsuhiko might not be as restrained, but only Agatha genuinely made him dare not be too impudent.
Other Elites, bearing their status, won't trouble Natsuhiko, yet Agatha's unpredictable nature is uncertain.
Haven't seen in their youth the conflict between Professor Oak and Agatha; even now when Agatha encounters someone resembling Professor Oak, she'd teach them a lesson?
Reasons?
The reason just being resembling Professor Oak.
Besides, Ghost-type Pokémon are the hardest to deal with, elusive and unpredictable, if one seeks to tackle someone, there are numerous ways.
So towards Agatha, Natsuhiko felt genuinely apprehensive.
After a long while, as Agatha finished the last bit of her cookie, she turned her gaze to Natsuhiko.
"Magma Team, is it fun?"
Suddenly, these words nearly made Natsuhiko lose composure.
"Lance he..."
Before finishing, Agatha interrupted, "Lance didn't say, I guessed it myself."