"Na, Natsuhiko, Natsuhiko contestant, are you sure you want to fill it like this?"
The staff responsible for registering Pokémon was sweating profusely, trembling as they asked.
Natsuhiko, however, looked calm, "It's the rules you set, there's nothing I can do. Otherwise, should I forfeit?"
"No, no, no, I'll fill it in right away."
Natsuhiko forfeit?
It's the semifinals now.
Outside, who knows how many spectators are eagerly waiting for Natsuhiko to appear. If he's stuck at this point and has to forfeit, he definitely can't afford that responsibility.
As for any issues that may arise later, it should be left to the colleagues who set the rules for this semifinal.
The staff thought silently to themselves.
"Alright."
"Good."
Natsuhiko nodded and walked toward the players' tunnel.
After he left, the staff immediately took out their phone and called the higher-ups of the Sinnoh Alliance hosting this event, reporting everything that had just happened with Natsuhiko.
Upon hearing the news, the competition's higher-ups were a bit baffled.
But they quickly realized the seriousness of the matter, the first thing they did was to "eliminate" the staff member who designed this competition's rules, and then immediately promoted the planner who suggested having Natsuhiko commentate the match, ordering them to make some amends before the match ends.
So it went.
Natsuhiko himself didn't know how much impact his decision just had on the entire competition side.
Anyway, he couldn't care less.
At this moment, he was enjoying the nearly frenzied cheers of the audience.
After all, this is Sinnoh, Natsuhiko's home ground.
On the other side, Lance, coming from the opposite players' tunnel, received almost similar treatment.
These two guys, who met long ago and grew through adventures together, were finally going to have their first clash in this highly anticipated competition.
Under the host's direction, the two of them stood in their respective positions, making final preparations.
And on the big screen, beside their respective avatars, the six Pokémon they might send out were highlighted.
Lance's chosen Pokémon were: Dragonite, Charizard, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Seadra, and Fraxure.
Can't say it's luxurious, it could only be described as "lacking dragon nature."
A lineup of "Dragon" type Pokémon, simply releasing these Pokémon gives a sense of grandeur.
A true Dragon-type Trainer!
What about the Pokémon Natsuhiko displayed?
The first few were familiar to the audience: Beedrill, Alakazam, Togekiss, Doublade.
But when they saw the last two Pokémon, not just the audience, everyone was stunned.
Chimchar and...
A Pokemon Egg?!
This is nuts.
The audience initially thought it was some unrecognized Pokémon, but upon closer inspection, wasn't it just a Pokémon Egg?
They could at least accept Chimchar, after all, it's a Pokémon, but what's with the Pokémon Egg?
Is this broken egg cuteness?
At the sudden silence in the venue, the host's earpiece received a shout from the competition's higher-ups.
After a slight pause, he immediately gave an explanation to the audience.
"Audience! Breaking news, because our 'Tactical Master' Natsuhiko contestant is so immersed in tactical research, his energy is truly limited, so now his main Pokémon roster hasn't reached six, so... so...."
Before the host could continue, the audience already understood and reacted.
Just saying, how could someone with such strong tactical capabilities also train so many outstanding Pokémon?
This explanation made them feel very reasonable.
Very reasonable.
Some spectators who initially felt Natsuhiko was becoming a bit mysterious, somewhat superhuman, at this moment also felt Natsuhiko seemed more like an ordinary person.
Bridging the gap with the audience's empathy.
Turns out, "Tactical Master" Natsuhiko was really just an ordinary person who put in more effort than everyone else.
However, with this, the excitement pent up in the audience had no outlet.
Then.
The competition organizers!
It's all their fault!
Why change the competition rules for the semifinals?
Forcing someone to reveal their vulnerable side, truly inhumane!
However, the audience's disturbance didn't have much effect on the relationship between Natsuhiko and Lance.
Lance had long known that Natsuhiko would display his Pokémon like this.
He simply wanted a fair battle and didn't wish to gain much advantage over Natsuhiko in terms of Pokémon numbers.
So.
Without any prior discussion with Natsuhiko, Lance took out three Pokeballs and held them in front of him.
Smiling confidently, he said, "Natsuhiko, my three Pokémon will be Gyarados, Charizard, and Dragonite!"
Since his friend's Pokémon count didn't allow for more options, Lance straightforwardly gave up on choosing and directly announced the three Pokémon he would choose.
And as soon as he said this, the whole audience was in an uproar.
But across from Lance, Natsuhiko also smiled faintly, raising three Pokeballs, "The Pokémon I will choose are Beedrill, Alakazam, Togekiss!"
They laid their cards on the table!
The two of them, in their way, completely sidestepped the competition's rules.
This move made the noisy arena become extraordinarily silent.
At this moment, they felt goosebumps rise all over their bodies, their heart rates sped up, blood was rushing through their veins, and something called "passion" surged wildly within them.