Chapter 124: First Meeting and the Beginning of the Game

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"Excuse me, are you guys going to sign up for the doubles match later?"

Just as Gary, Rosa, and Hilda were chatting about the upcoming doubles match in Kuji Town in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, a strange voice appeared behind them.

After hearing this unfamiliar voice, Gary and the others turned around and saw a brown-haired man in a dark green jacket speaking to them.

"I heard you mention the doubles match, so I came over to say hello."

"We have signed up for the match."

Although he didn't know who the visitor was or what he wanted, Gary still gave him a positive answer.

"But who are you?"

After answering, Gary asked about the visitor's identity.

"I'm sorry, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tyson, I'm from Mauville City in the Hoenn region, and I'm currently on a journey to challenge the Hoenn League."

After hearing Gary's question, Tyson touched his head and introduced himself embarrassedly.

After hearing the person introduce himself as Tyson, a figure also emerged in Gary's mind.

If Gary guessed correctly, the trainer named Tyson in front of him was the one who had a Meowth in boots and defeated Ash in the Hoenn League Ever Grande Conference.

"Hello, Tyson, my name is Gary, I'm from Pallet Town in the Kanto region, and I'm currently challenging the Hoenn League."

Since Tyson had already introduced himself, Gary also briefly introduced himself.

"I'm Rosa, and this is Hilda, we're from the Unova region. Nice to meet you!"

After Rosa and Hilda saw Gary, the backbone of the team, introduce himself, they followed suit and introduced themselves.

"Hello, nice to meet you!"

After listening to Gary and the others' self-introductions, Tyson smiled and greeted them.

"Tyson, what do you want to talk to us about?"

After a brief chat, Gary and the others got to know Tyson, so Rosa asked why Tyson approached them.

"I heard you mention participating in the doubles match, so I came to ask, maybe we'll become opponents in the future."

When Rosa asked this, Tyson explained with a smile.

"So, Tyson, you also signed up for this competition?"

After hearing Tyson's words, Gary turned his eyes to Tyson.

"Yes," Tyson nodded, and then continued, "When I passed by Kuji Town, I happened to hear that the town was going to hold a competition, and it was a doubles competition. I was quite interested in it, so I signed up."

"Tyson's situation is the same as ours!"

After listening to what Tyson said, Hilda also exclaimed in surprise.

"Under such circumstances, I think this competition should be very famous in the neighborhood!"

Needless to say, Gary also knew that it was because the doubles battle competition was quite famous that it spread widely.

"That's right, just the fact that we need at least two gym badges to enter this competition has raised its profile and appeal."

After listening to Gary's explanation, Hilda immediately understood.

In the following time, Gary and the others gradually got closer to the enthusiastic and steady Tyson. In addition to talking about this battle, both sides also shared interesting stories from their journeys.

In this situation, Gary and his friends chatted with Tyson for a long time, which lasted for one or two hours before they reluctantly parted.

After a simple rest in Kuji Town, it was time for the doubles match.

On this morning, Gary, who had finished breakfast early, took his friends Rosa and Hilda to the venue of the match, which was a small stadium in the center of the town, according to the signs in the town.

After Gary and his friends arrived, in addition to the many trainers who came to participate, the majority of the audience were residents of Kuji Town and other nearby towns, as well as some passing trainers.

"You finally made it!"

After Gary and his friends walked into the venue, they met Tyson, who was standing among the contestants, and Tyson smiled and waved to them.

"You were almost late."

Tyson looked at the time and said to Gary and his friends who had just arrived.

"Well, we were delayed by something this morning."

Speaking of this, Rosa felt embarrassed. After all, she was the one who stayed in bed this morning. If it weren't for Gary and Hilda, she might still be trapped in bed.

"Is that so!"

The perceptive Tyson, looking at Rosa's performance, roughly guessed the situation but kept it to himself.

"Okay, time's up, the game is about to start!"

Just when Rosa was about to say something, the game officially started, so she was reminded quietly.

"Okay!"

After hearing Gary's reminder, Rosa immediately closed her mouth and focused on the upcoming game.

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In the next period, the mayor of Kuji Town came out, stood on the high platform of the game, and gave an opening speech for the doubles match.

After a somewhat tedious pre-match speech, the doubles match held in Kuji Town officially began.

Because the scale of this competition is not very large, Gary calculated that there were a total of 64 players participating in the competition.

All the participants were divided into four groups, with 16 players in each group. The final winner of each group would enter the semi-finals, and then compete again. The trainer who won the final victory would be the champion of this competition.

Gary, Rosa, Hilda, and Tyson, who had just met not long ago, were not placed in the same group, but were divided into four different groups. This meant that they would not meet until the semi-finals.

After the grouping was completed, the competition officially began. Gary and the other players also played their matches one by one under the arrangement of the competition.

"Pupitar, use Stone Edge!"

In the last round of the group stage, Gary commanded his Pupitar and defeated the opponent's Pokémon, winning his group.

Similarly, in addition to Gary, Rosa, Hilda, and Tyson all won their group stages and entered the semi-finals.

The semi-finalists of the doubles match were Gary, Rosa, Hilda, and Tyson.

After the group stage, the semi-finals were about to begin.

What needed to be done in advance was the grouping of the game. After some system operations, the grouping of Gary and the other three appeared on the big screen in the center of the venue.

"This is..."

After seeing the grouping of the game, whether it was Gary, Rosa, Hilda, or Tyson, they all widened their eyes and showed an incredible expression.

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