Chapter 1416

"The outcome is decided!! The first round, fourth match of the Masters Eight Tournament is over! All Baimu has secured the precious qualification to advance to the semifinals!!"

The host's voice resounded throughout the entire arena, and the mountain-shaking shouts pierced the clouds; the fanatical atmosphere permeated the Wyndon Stadium, and the audience from all over the world had their faces flushed red.

In front of screens all over the world, different people let out the same cheers, sincerely happy for All Baimu's advancement.

Although it was only breaking through the first round, every opponent in the Masters Eight is a Champion-level figure, not to mention that the one on the opposite side was the Hoenn region's Champion, Steven!

The strength All Baimu has shown now is undoubtedly worthy of the momentum of aiming for the highest peak.

No matter which supporter it is, it is inevitable to be excited by it.

He can win!

Shan Ren clenched his fists, as if he could see the moment All Baimu ascended to the throne of World Monarch.

But soon, a heavy, abyss-like, high-spirited aura attracted his attention—

It was coming from Leon, who was also in the backstage area.

The eyes of this current World Monarch were shining, and his burning fighting spirit seemed to want to burn All Baimu to ashes through the screen.

Why?

Just because after confirming that All Baimu had advanced to the semifinals, the battle table presented on the big screen in the arena soon gave the matching results for the next round.

Semifinal Match 1—Ash vs. Cynthia, Match 2—Leon vs. All Baimu.

The two strongest seeds for the championship were destined to meet in the semifinals!

Louder cheers echoed in the arena, but Shan Ren couldn't help but have his breath hitch.

Although they would meet sooner or later, if possible, he hoped more that All Baimu could meet Leon again in the finals.

Rather than the semifinals.

After all, this is the battle between the strongest and the strongest!

"Hahaha! It's really something to look forward to!"

Leon laughed and turned to leave, drawing respectful gazes from other staff members.

Having served as the Galar League Chairman for half a year, he had already proven that he, like the former Chairman Rose, had convincing abilities.

It can only be said that when Rose was cultivating Leon, he didn't just treat him as a star Trainer, but truly treated him as a successor, which is why the latter could manage the Galar League so easily and quickly.

Competition site.

Porygon2, having returned to its original state, returned without being called; shrinking into the phone, it said: "According to the competition order, shouldn't it be Cynthia and you?"

"It's pretty good now."

All Baimu's gaze withdrew from the big screen; the Masters Eight he participated in no longer restricted the system, so what's strange about the second round still randomly deciding opponents?

Anyway, he had to battle Ash and Leon sooner or later; it was nothing more than one before the other, and he had already accepted it.

Compared to the previous Champions who almost blew up the arena, the arena after Steven and All Baimu's battle was relatively well-preserved.

Only the traces left by the last three Max Lightnings were the most obvious.

Steven stood in front of the deep pit full of charred smell and recalled his Skarmory into its ball.

"Steven."

All Baimu's voice came from the front.

He looked up, his gaze still carrying a faint smile, without much discouragement from defeat: "I really regret not going to Orre to find you sooner."

If it had been earlier, this big boy now should have been representing Hoenn, right?

"Please don't say that."

All Baimu felt ashamed.

But as Steven said, if it weren't for Shan Ren's active invitation, he wouldn't have stayed in Orre at all.

To a large extent, his original determination was triggered by the other party.

"Just kidding." Steven smiled slightly and continued: "It looks like the next match will be a fierce battle; you have to do your best!"

"Yeah!"

All Baimu nodded.

The two didn't communicate too much; it wasn't that their relationship became distant after the match, but that everything they wanted to express had been poured out to each other during the battle.

Steven let All Baimu see why he dared to call himself "I'm the best, strong and amazing"; All Baimu also let Steven understand who the final winner of this Masters Eight Tournament would be.

Losing the match is undoubtedly regrettable, but there was more gratification for the growth of the junior.

Recalling the scenes of their past meetings, this young man, who was not even ten years older than All Baimu, inexplicably developed a feeling that only his father would have.

The two left the arena together.

In the preparation room, An Xin'er saw this scene and immediately grabbed Diantha to go meet them; the latter felt quite speechless.

The jealousy she showed before was more of a female star's acting, just to attract An Xin'er's attention, but now she was really a bit sour.

How could these two be so intimate?

Could it really be his biological father?

Diantha was startled by the thought that flashed through her mind; after all, An Xin'er was born to her parallel-world self.

"Uncle!"

An Xin'er let out a silver-bell-like call, rushing into All Baimu's arms like a singing Swablu: "Congratulations on breaking through to the semifinals!"

All Baimu, who was hit full-on by the little kid, looked at her, then at the expressionless Diantha; intuition told this man who mastered the power of the plates that the world-famous actress in front of him was very unhappy.

Hey! What a mess!

All Baimu chuckled and touched An Xin'er's head: "Thank you."

Then, the sound of running came from the end of the corridor, and a cheerful Ash and Iris appeared: "All Baimu—ah! Everyone is here!"

Ash saw his next opponent, Cynthia, at a glance; their gazes collided, and he immediately nodded in greeting: "Please take care of me tomorrow!"

"Mm~ me too, please take care of me."

Cynthia smiled and nodded.

Although Cynthia had already been defeated by All Baimu, in Ash's eyes, the former was still a peak he had to overcome.

He urgently hoped that he could win the final victory and then stand on the stage of the finals to have a decisive battle with All Baimu or Leon.

"You have to do your best too! All Baimu!"

"Don't worry."

All Baimu patted his shoulder lightly.

That night.

Diantha, Iris, and Steven left one after another.

Like Lance, they each had their own things to be busy with, especially after losing the match, they still had to participate in the press conferences of their respective regions.

However, they also promised to return to the scene to support the finals.

Diantha successfully abducted An Xin'er; the latter knew very well how strong Leon was, and also understood from the atmosphere at the scene how much pressure All Baimu was about to bear.

Not wanting to cause him a burden, she chose to leave temporarily so that he would have plenty of time to prepare, rather than wasting unnecessary energy on her.

An Xin'er often did this; in the parallel world, when she faced Diantha having a match, she was that sensible.

And All Baimu certainly didn't care about this, but it was An Xin'er's kind intention after all.

Besides, he felt it was time to hand An Xin'er over to Diantha; she loved her goddaughter so much, how could he always hog her?

Even if he didn't have that kind of thought himself.

Half of the defeated Champions left, and the dinner that night became inexplicably much quieter.

Leon didn't even show up; it seemed he went to handle other things.

The League Chairman is just that busy; even though the match tomorrow afternoon is approaching, he still has to divide a portion of his energy.

Fortunately, Oleana and Shan Ren soon gave him assistance.

The former didn't want her Chairman's masterpiece to waste time on unimportant things, while the latter hoped Leon could bring out 100% of his strength so that the semifinals would have more gold content.

Two people who should have met in the finals suddenly meeting in the semifinals had already made Shan Ren very regretful.

He didn't even know how to promote it.

All Baimu felt he was discriminating against Ash: "Just promote it however you should? Did the Alola Champion eat your family's rice?"

"I don't know if he ate it, I only know Leon has high traffic." Shan Ren said gloomily.

Ash took the path of a traditional Champion; his reputation relied entirely on time to ferment, to the point that after becoming a regional Champion for a year, the people who knew him were still generally limited to Alola itself.

Leon is different; Rose's promotion made his fame spread all over the world, and the title of World Monarch is also recognized by many people.

—The first season perhaps because only Lance participated, it seemed the gold content wasn't that high. But in the current second season, the far-leading hidden points have already proven everything.

These hidden points didn't come for free.

To put it bluntly, before the end of the second season, there were only two people in the Masters Eight that Leon hadn't battled.

One was All Baimu, the other was Ash.

The reason for not battling both was very simple—first, the organizers didn't want to arrange it; second, Ash only made it to the Masters Eight at the end of the season, which could be called a last-minute operation.

Leon, who was ranked first, couldn't be matched with anyone below the Masters Eight at all, so naturally, there was no talk of battling Ash.

He also hoped very much to battle Ash; after all, he thought very highly of this boy.

It's a pity that it seems there is a roadblock in front.

After dinner, many people contacted All Baimu to congratulate him and wish him a smooth advancement in the next round.

The night before the semifinals.

Everything ended in a lively atmosphere.

…

The next day.

The sky had just become bright.

All Baimu was strolling in the park near the hotel and naturally met Ash, who was making pre-match adjustments.

"All Baimu! You're up so early too!"

Ash laughed and waved at him.

All Baimu looked at Ash's Pokémon and asked: "Are you nervous?"

"A little, I feel a bit restless inside." Ash smiled without hiding it.

Restless?

He noticed the other party's slightly trembling right hand, but understood that this wasn't pressure: "It looks like you can't wait anymore."

Without a doubt, the emotion lingering in Ash's heart at this moment was not nervousness, but full-hearted impatience.

This boy, who ran through All Baimu's entire childhood in his previous life, finally looks a bit like a Champion now.

A black shadow flashed further away.

The two were attracted by it; after getting closer, they found it was Cynthia and Garchomp in casual clothes.

They were exactly the same as Ash, also doing pre-match adjustments.

It's just that Cynthia was more about confirming whether the Pokémon's body was relaxed enough, for which she personally relieved the stiffness in Garchomp's muscles to strengthen its overall balance, so as to improve its movement speed and attack speed.

Several people met unexpectedly in this small park.

"Miss Cynthia!" Ash greeted cheerfully.

Cynthia was quite astonished: "Ash? All Baimu? You guys are?"

"Taking a walk."

All Baimu waved with a smile.

Ash was followed by a large group of Pokémon; Cynthia immediately understood: "Are you also adjusting the state of your Pokémon?"

"That's right!"

Ash nodded quickly: "Is Miss Cynthia too?"

Both of them were the first battle today, so they came out while the sky was still dim.

"Mm~"

Cynthia smiled and patted Garchomp; the latter immediately flew into the air, circled once, and landed heavily.

"Garchomp!"

"Mm… it seems it's still a bit off here."

She stepped forward and used her fingers to loosen Garchomp's muscles; Ash looked confused.

Having walked to today purely by wild methods, how had he ever seen such a regular army; his Pokémon hadn't even enjoyed much massage.

Seeing he didn't understand, Cynthia explained the reason for her doing this carefully.

Then she let Garchomp demonstrate it again.

Sure enough, it flew faster the second time, and the force when landing became greater.

Like some kind of torpedo.

"Feels good." Cynthia smiled and comforted Garchomp.

Ash's eyes lit up: "So amazing! It really became faster and stronger!"

All Baimu asked: "Do you want to let your Pokémon experience it too? I have quite a bit of experience in massage?"

"Okay!"

He agreed without hesitation: "Please!"

Cynthia was stunned; the important match was about to start, and he was handing his Pokémon to someone else?

She laughed: "As expected of you two."

All Baimu and Ash looked innocent.

The small park was quiet and empty; All Baimu started right on the spot, letting Gengar take out various props.

The first match of the second round starts at nine in the morning; it's only a little past six now, plenty of time.

Ash's Pokémon really hadn't been massaged for a long time; as soon as he started, he could feel the stiff parts of Pikachu and the others' muscles, and Pikachu couldn't help but discharge electricity when he pressed too hard.

"Pika…"

"Although massage isn't a necessary item, for the sake of your Pokémon, take them often."

All Baimu skillfully helped Sirfetch'd and Dragonite with muscle relaxation; when it was Lucario's turn, he only felt that even its fur was rough.

Exactly the same as Ash.

"I see…"

Ash realized something; the fragments flashing in his mind were Brock, Cilan, and Clemont.

Most of those who helped him take care of his Pokémon in the past were these partners he traveled with.

Even in the Alola region, there was Professor Kukui to help.

But during the journey, he was almost no different from fighting alone, to the point that he ignored this important matter.

Fortunately, Ash often went home or to find Professor Oak, plus his Pokémon were indeed talented, and the luck of the era also descended on him, so his strength advanced by leaps and bounds.

Not long after, All Baimu had already massaged all of Ash's Pokémon.

Pikachu and the others also collapsed on the ground, feeling so comfortable they couldn't get up for a long time.

Pre-match massage seems like a temporary fix, but to some extent, it also adds a bit of combat power to the Pokémon.

The three chatted, and for some reason, they talked about their respective starter Pokémon.

Unlike All Baimu and Ash, Cynthia's Garchomp was hatched by herself when she was very young, so her feelings were more like family.

Cynthia treated Garchomp like a family head too; this point was extremely similar to All Baimu.

Time passed minute by minute.

Around 7:30, the three didn't linger and returned to the hotel to pack their bags and prepare to enter the arena.

The first match of the second round of the Masters Eight Tournament was coming.

Cynthia and Ash would perform first!