"Hehe..."
At the dinner table.
Everything in Flint's villa is extremely luxurious, even the dining table and the food on it perfectly match the setting.
The only thing that seems a bit out of place is Lance sitting across from Natsuhiko, "silly smiling" at the exquisite food on his plate.
This isn't the first time he's like this.
Ever since tomorrow's battle list came out, Lance has been a bit unable to contain himself.
His true nature is undeniably exposed.
Natsuhiko rubbed his forehead, and after clearing the food in front of him, he extended his "evil claw" towards Lance.
As expected, Lance didn't even notice that his dinner along with the plate was taken by Natsuhiko, even though he'd been staring at the plate the whole time.
Xiaochun also rubbed his forehead.
He glanced at the steak he had just taken a bite of, blushed, and silently pushed the plate in front of Lance.
Perfect fit, no trace of "faking."
"I say, get a grip, your character is completely ruined." Natsuhiko couldn't stand it anymore; he didn't want the strong and grand "Master of Flying Type" image of the Dodo to be completely replaced by a "simple fool."
There was no choice.
Lance was indeed a bit excited, unable to contain his inner joy.
"Ahem..."
Lance coughed twice, regained his composure, and stared intensely at Natsuhiko, "Tomorrow, Natsuhiko, you must give it your all!"
He's been waiting for this battle for a long time.
Natsuhiko finished the steak he "borrowed" from Lance and was just about to speak.
Rumble—
Beside him.
Hilona moved her plate over again.
You can see that the broccoli and cherry tomatoes are all eaten, except for the steaming steak, which remains untouched.
"Hmm?"
Natsuhiko was taken aback.
"I'm dieting." Hilona gently wiped the corner of her mouth, her expression unchanged.
"So skinny and still dieting?" Natsuhiko muttered.
But he didn't refuse.
The steak at Flint's house is very expensive, they say it's airlifted especially from a famous pasture in the Johto Region, very fresh.
Hearing Natsuhiko's muttering, a slight blush rose on Hilona's face.
"Senior Natsuhiko, I'll give you mine too."
On the other side, Kona also slid her plate over.
"You're dieting too?" Natsuhiko scanned up and down, "Not fat at all."
"Wait." Suddenly, Natsuhiko's hand paused, "You guys don't think I'm starving, do you? My appetite isn't that big, I just don't want to waste food."
Kona nodded, "Yes, don't waste food."
Looking at the two extra steaks in front of him, Natsuhiko felt he might have been considered a professional food "recycling bin."
In other words, a "chowhound."
However, today there was indeed a big consumption, especially after waking Jade Liya up.
"Don't worry, I specifically asked to bring more back, and I'll have them make another serving now." Flint laughed and said.
"I say, Natsuhiko, aren't you going to respond to me?"
Opposite, Lance looked at Natsuhiko with slight "resentment."
"Ahem." Natsuhiko cleared his throat, put down his knife and fork, and seriously looked at him, "Lance, you know the semi-final's format, right?"
"Of course, it's a six-to-three single battle, isn't it? It's not much different from the knockout stage, it's just that there's no..."
While he was speaking, Lance's voice suddenly stopped, looking at Natsuhiko with disbelief.
"You won't..."
Natsuhiko shrugged, "Yeah, I only have five main Pokémon, and Chimchar was just recently captured."
Lance: "..."
The mentioned six-to-three single format was decided by the organizers long before the "Lily Youth Competition" began. Along with the preliminaries, group stage's singles, and knockout's 3V3 singles, it's one of the three single battle formats.
Trainers must showcase all six of their Pokémon, then choose three to participate based on the opponent's Pokémon and their own situation.
This is to prevent scenarios like in the knockout stage, where both sides could guess the opponent's next Pokémon, reducing the match's viewing experience and prematurely revealing the winner.
Meanwhile, it enhances the feasibility of tactics and increases the difficulty of battles.
This undoubtedly aims to better assess the overall abilities of the semi-finalists.
But.
Natsuhiko doesn't have six Pokémon to show!
The organizers probably didn't expect that a trainer entering the semi-finals wouldn't have six main Pokémon.
Look at Lance, Flint, Hilona; their Pokémon well exceed six, with some fostered in their respective nurseries.
But this couldn't be helped.
Compared to them, Natsuhiko's foundation is weak, resource acquisition is limited; nurturing a few well is good enough.
Scarce resources meant he had to meticulously plan each Pokémon's capture, and every choice was to be taken with utmost caution.
Initially, Natsuhiko didn't pay much attention to the format.
On one hand, he never thought he'd reach the semi-finals, so he didn't care about the minor changes in format compared to the knockout stage.
On the other, when Hilona talked about the format, she didn't realize Natsuhiko wouldn't have six Pokémon, so she only mentioned 3v3, not detailing the semi-final's format change.
Thus resulting in now.
Lance was dumbfounded.
In fact, Natsuhiko isn't entirely unfit to play; among his "tool" Pokémon, there are a few that are more obedient.
Like Cherrim, or the Snorlax.
But Cherrim is an Elite Level Pokémon and a pure support type, with almost no combat capability, are they going to endure hits?
As for Snorlax, it is just too powerful.
Snorlax's appearance would certainly draw Hoshino Ryuzi's attention straight to Natsuhiko.
Hoshino Ryuzi being present at the tournament was known to Natsuhiko. He is aware of why Hoshino Ryuzi is here, and choosing Snorlax would reveal his identity.
Agatha would protect Natsuhiko for a while, but she couldn't always be by his side.
And if Natsuhiko chooses to stay in Sinnoh, then as Sinnoh Celestial King, Hoshino Ryuzi could step on him at any given time, right?
As for the rest, they're all left in the Pokémon Ranch in Suiyi Town.
Without Pokémon Transporter being developed yet, even if Natsuhiko wanted to use them, it couldn't be done in a short time.
Even with the transporter, nobody was going to send Pokémon to Natsuhiko.
The main point being, it's obvious whether they're self-cultivated Pokémon once on the stage.
"So... you're not going to fight?" Lance asked nervously.
Natsuhiko took a bite of the steak Hilona handed over.
It doesn't taste as good when it's cold.
"Never said I wouldn't fight." Natsuhiko replied.
Hearing this, Lance sighed in relief.
As long as he fights.
He's been waiting for a battle with Natsuhiko for a very long time.
Natsuhiko smiled mysteriously, not delving further into the topic.
Gathering six Pokémon isn't too hard, but their combat power... might be questionable.