Chapter 178: The Splendid Grand Tournament opens

Daytime,

The last day before the Splendid Grand Tournament is held,

Ash was practicing Close Combat with his Serperior,

While Luo Zi was also learning the specific rules of this Master Tournament,

Upon discovering that there was a promotion system, he couldn't help but frown,

He specially went to find Da Wu,

Using the excuse of optimizing the schedule, he changed the promotion match into a pre-opening exhibition match.

Thus, there was no need to necessarily decide a winner.

Moreover, he could take this opportunity to insert each round of the Master Tournament into the opening of each day's Splendid Grand Tournament.

Guaranteeing that each day's Splendid Grand Tournament would have highlights and enough fans buying tickets.

Da Wu thought it over carefully and agreed that this made sense.

But although he wanted to agree, remembering the profit-sharing promise he made to Ash for the Master Tournament, he found himself in a dilemma.

He ultimately chose to reject Luo Zi's proposal.

The puzzled Luo Zi inquired about Da Wu's difficulty.

Da Wu briefly explained the situation, of course without mentioning the specific profit split.

Luo Zi said, "Anything that can be solved with money is not a problem."

Since the Master Tournament was canceled, it was inserted into the opening of each day's Splendid Grand Tournament.

So why not just hand over the Splendid Grand Tournament's profit split to Ash?

Facing Da Wu's expression that looked like he wanted to hit someone, Luo Zi snapped his fingers!

The Marokomon Group is willing to sponsor this Splendid Grand Tournament, investing 500 million, and it is not an exclusive sponsor.

Luo Zi's action only represents the Marokomon Group, and he is not using his identity as the president of the Galar League.

It will not cause the trouble of forcing other leagues to show deference to the Abundant Origin League.

They've taken care of the losses,

and they've also thought ahead and cleared any problems for you,

What else could Da Wu say? Naturally, he gave a thumbs-up, indicating awesome!

Thus, Ash and all the spectators simultaneously received a notice that somewhat surprised him.

Because the Splendid Grand Tournament had too many participants, the schedule was extended, and since Kanazawa City had just experienced a disaster, it was unsuitable to engage in overly serious combat; therefore, they specially merged the Master Tournament with the Splendid Grand Tournament, holding one exhibition match each day.

The ticket prices for the Splendid Grand Tournament also increased several-fold, but the good news is that tickets already sold will not be recalled.

Furthermore, since the Master Tournament was scheduled after the Splendid Grand Tournament, ticket sales had never been opened, so there is no dispute.

The result is that only a small portion of those who intended to watch the Master Tournament offline are complaining,

Originally, coming late would still allow them to catch the Master Tournament, but now they have to rush to buy tickets to come over.

Fortunately, aside from the first day's exhibition match, which features Da Wu, a Champion-level powerhouse, and the host's intervention,

on the second day, it will be replaced by a match of the Heavenly King-level Ai Lan,

The heavyweight matches come later, and they haven't really caused a big stir; at most, people envy the lucky ones who already bought tickets.

Of course, that's a story for later,

……

Ash's progress here hasn't been very smooth, after all, he's learning other-attribute moves that he shouldn't have learned,

Even though the Ability 'Contrary 3' gave him a learning talent, after all, these are other-attribute moves, and his learning speed is far slower than grasping Grass-type moves.

After a day, Serperior had only learned the Fighting-type physical move Close Combat to boost its defenses.

Combined with the already-mastered Grass-type move Flying Leaf Storm, this boosts its special attack.

Now, Serperior's priority in learning has become speed.

Because it has already mastered Close Combat,

Ash gave up on having Serperior learn the same Fighting-type physical move, Arm Hammer, with a power of 100.

Instead, he plans to have her learn Ice Hammer, an Ice-type physical move with the same power of 100 that reduces speed.

This will increase Serperior's speed while expanding its striking range, countering Flying, Ground, Grass, and Dragon types.

Unfortunately, Grass-types learning Ice-type techniques,

is less efficient than learning Close Combat, and even until midnight, Serperior still hasn't mastered it.

Moreover, the two girls who got a taste of the benefits still stayed up the latest.

……

The sun rose high,

Struggling to rise from the soft, smooth comfort zone, Ash reluctantly left the friendly cafeteria.

Today, the Splendid Grand Tournament is about to begin,

Ash, as a judge of the Splendid Grand Tournament, even couldn't continue accompanying Serperior to practice new skills.

Fortunately, Serperior is very smart, and with the aid of Vine Whip, it can easily enter the spatial backpack to retrieve the corresponding attribute energy blocks to assist skill learning.

Even if Ash is not by its side, it still won't affect the progress of skill practice.

……

Inside the stadium, the crowd was noisy, with over 100,000 seats filled to capacity,

On the edges above the stadium, there were many enthusiastic spectators who couldn't buy tickets, choosing to risk being caught by Junsha and thrown into jail, each showing their abilities, releasing various Flying-type Pokémon to fly high and watch the match.

However, not long after, these spectators were all taken away by Officer Junsha, who is responsible for maintaining public order.

Inside the stadium, as the broadcast camera turned to the players' backstage,

Contestant after contestant trembled nervously, as if fallen into a dream, their tense expressions,

This made Xiao Ju'er on the judges' bench seem to see herself from a few years ago.

Back then, she too had always yearned for such a grand stage, longing to stand on the field, beneath tens of thousands of spectators, directing spirits in high-level battles!

Unfortunately, she had only fame and no strength.

The saddest thing in the world is nothing more than something that can be seen but not reached.

Now she has the corresponding strength, and all this change comes entirely from Ash beside her.

For a moment, Xiao Ju'er's gaze toward Ash became dazed.

She resolved to give 200% of her strength that night to properly repay Ash.

At the same time,

As the host's opening remarks ended,

Everyone also knew the opening match of the Grand Festival would be Daiwu versus Mikuri.

Although this match features only Johto locals,

But after all, Daiwu is the Johto Champion and host, so he will definitely compete.

And the Grand Festival is also called the Mikuri Cup; without Mikuri, it wouldn't work.

Even before the match began, many people had guessed that such a bout would occur.

Therefore, the people showed no resistance.

Inside the venue,

The crowd's clamor surged like a tide, light gradually focused, and a spotlight shone on the entrance.

There, a male with white short hair slowly entered everyone's view.

His hair shone like silver threads, each step exuding an extraordinary aura, as if a cold, pure atmosphere surrounded him, making people unconsciously hold their breath.

The comer was none other than the current Johto Champion Daiwu, also a young master of the Zifuqi conglomerate, a golden son-in-law in the eyes of countless female fans.

Upon entering the field, Daiwu's gaze was calm as water, yet beneath lay the sharpness and resolve of a battlefield.

His elegant steps accompanied by the screams of female fans in the arena, he seemed accustomed, giving a faint smile—that was the confidence and composure of a champion.

The name Daiwu also echoed among the hundred thousand spectators, and even more so throughout heaven and earth!

When he walked to the center of the arena, the entire venue fell silent in an instant, all eyes gathering on this white-haired champion.

He lightly raised his hand, greeting the audience,

At that moment, no one doubted that this man would once again write his own legend.

On the judges' bench,

Ash, Xiluona, and Xiao Ju'er all felt their inner heat surging.

This is the charm of the battlefield!

Who wouldn't want to write their own legendary chapter under the gaze of ten thousand?

And in the audience seats, Dandi, Ash's opponent in this Master's Tournament, clenched his fists excitedly.

Looking toward the judges' bench, Ash's eyes were full of an aura that looked down on the world and unyielding fortitude.

Thinking of the upcoming Super Extreme Gigantification to be unveiled before the myriad eyes,

Dandi believes that on the day he battles Ash, the audience's cheers will definitely be more enthusiastic, and the match will surely be even more spectacular than today!!

He really… can't wait to fast-forward to that day.

………………

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