Episode 53: A tale of two trainers

"Morning, class! We have a new student here today. Would you like to introduce yourself?" A middle-aged, balding man asked the small brown-haired boy after addressing his class.

"My name is Niko, and I'm from Vermilion City," Niko said rather shyly.

"Hi Niko!" The rest of the class said in unison. The teacher pointed to an empty seat in the middle of the classroom, next to a short black-haired boy who looked like he was about to fall asleep. Niko shuffled over and sat at his new desk, afraid to look at anyone out of fear that everyone was staring back at him.

Turns out they weren't, and continued with their lesson that day. As the children were getting up to head home, the black-haired boy turned to Niko.

"Hi, my name's Fay!" He said happily, holding out his hand. Niko hesitated for a moment, but took it.

"Hi Fay. I'm Niko."

"We all know that! The teacher introduced you!"

"Oh…yeah…haha…" Niko said nervously. "Anyways, see you tomorrow!"

"See you!" Fay shouted as Niko left the classroom.

Several years later…

"This will be a full pokémon battle between Niko and Fay of Pallet Town. The match will end when one trainer has no pokémon left to use. Substitutions are allowed. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Niko and Fay said together.

"Very well. You may begin," The judge declared.

"Delibird, you're up!"

"Primeape, I choose you!"


The evening before, Niko and Fay discovered that they would be facing off against one another in a full 6-on-6 match in the Silver Conference. After seeing this, both went their separate ways for an hour or so to figure out a strategy. After travelling through two regions, attaining 16 badges together, and competing in two leagues, they understood each other's moves, pokémon, and strategies better than anyone else. For the two of them, it may have been the highest stakes match of their careers as pokémon trainers.

Fay sat down on the balcony overlooking the front lawn of the main stadium. Charizard—his first ever pokémon—was sitting with him. He knew he would use the fire type, without a doubt.

"We're battling Niko tomorrow, charizard," Fay said without looking at the flame pokémon. "You ready for that?"

Charizard nodded, also looking out onto the lawn.

"I'm not sure what to think, I guess. I mean, this is a big deal. I know it is for Niko, since I was the one that beat him last time, and it threw him for a loop. But at the same time, I'm not too concerned about this. I want to do my best—and I want you to do yours—but I'm not afraid of losing. Back when I faced James, I was afraid of losing. It was the Top 8—remember?—and we were so close to going all the way, and we fell short. Now, I'm not scared. I want to beat Niko again, in a full, official battle. But if it doesn't go that way, I guess I'm fine with that. Are you?"

Charizard, who more than any of Fay's pokémon embodied his feelings and emotions, also nodded. The two looked at each other for a moment before heading back into the room.

Meanwhile, Niko was out on the front lawn with venusaur and some of his other pokémon, but the seed pokémon was sitting closest to its trainer.

"Tomorrow we're battling Fay," Niko finally said. Venusaur turned to Niko, as if knowing where its trainer was going with this. "And I want to win. I hope you do, too."

Venusaur nodded. Magneton, who was floating a few feet away, buzzed softly in agreement.

"But I don't want to beat him for the sake of winning, or for revenge for him defeating me last year. That seems petty, and I don't want to be that kind of person," Niko said, looking at the ground. "I want to win to prove to myself, and to all of you, that I'm a better trainer.

"With that said, if I'm going to lose to anyone, I want it to be Fay. He's a far more talented trainer than I am, you've all seen it. He's won every gym match, and only lost one official battle, at the Indigo League. He won't be easy to beat, so if you guys want this too, then you're going to have to give it your all. I know that I will."

Once again venusaur nodded. It knew how high the stakes were for its trainer. And the seed pokémon, much like charizard, understood its trainer better than any of Niko's other pokémon, except possibly magneton.


Brittany and JJ were sitting with their friends Maizie, Cody and Jacob in the lounge in the main stadium. They wanted to give Niko and Fay some time to think about their match tomorrow.

"This is a big deal, isn't it?" Jacob finally asked. "Those two battling…it's big, right?"

"Yeah," JJ replied.

"Think about it, though," Brittany added, "They've been friends for ages, have travelled two regions together, both competing in the same gyms, same leagues, same everything! When they battled last year, it was big, but this year is different. Not only is it a full battle, but there's something else that, well, makes this all a 'big deal.'"

"They've changed a lot, too," JJ observed. "After that battle with Clair…you could see it."

Brittany nodded. "Niko is more confident now. Last year he was nervous about his battle with Fay. And when he lost…he was distraught. Downright depressed. Fay, on the other hand, seems more sure of himself, if that's possible. He seems more focused, too."

"I see," Jacob said, nodding slowly while staring at the ground. "From what I've seen, they're kind of like two sides of the same coin."

"They're like…rivals, I guess," JJ added, unsure of himself. "It's weird to call them rivals, because they hardly seem like it. But I guess you're right. Fay has been a great trainer almost from the start. Niko has had to work his way up, and has had several obstacles in his way. That's not to say Fay hasn't tried. He's trained harder than any trainer I've ever seen. But he has some sort of natural ability to train and discipline his pokémon while still being their best friend."

"Niko is slowly becoming more like that, too," Brittany said, turning to JJ. "It's going to be an interesting match, for sure."

They all nodded as Niko entered the lounge alone, pokéballs in hand.


"Delibird, use present!" Niko commanded, sounding off the first move of the match. The delivery pokémon excitedly ran at its opponent, lobbing exploding gifts everywhere. He purposely wanted delibird to have the league experience, despite being his least trained pokémon.

"Primeape, dodge the presents and use mega punch!" Fay shouted. The pig monkey pokémon also ran forward, skillfully dodging each of the small explosions and landing a glowing white punch on the ice type, launching it across the field.

"Hey, delibird," Niko said, crouching down to see his pokémon. "Are you alright?"

Delibird straightened back up and nodded determinedly. Niko nodded in response and let it get back to business. Previously, the delivery pokémon had been training with Niko on how to protect itself. Since delibird learned only one move naturally, this proved to be far more difficult than Niko anticipated. Nevertheless, the delivery pokémon was eagerly about learning and battling, and so the brown-haired trainer could find a balance when it came to training his newest pokémon.

"Primeape, use cross chop!" Fay shouted. The fighting type ran towards delibird again, who was tempted to use present, but awaited Niko's command.

"Delibird, use protect!" Niko ordered. The delivery pokémon held its hands out in front of it, dropping the sack of presents and creating a forcefield around it. Primeape bounced off it and landed back on its two feet, ready to use another move.

"Primeape, mega punch!"

"Delibird, present!"

The ice type tossed out another series of gifts at primeape, who punched them away and landed yet another successful mega punch, this time finishing off delibird.

"Delibird is unable to battle, primeape wins! Niko will send out his second pokémon!"

"Kadabra, you're up!" Niko shouted.

"Primeape, let's stay at it," Fay said, knowing full well that it might not end the way he wanted it to. "Use mega punch!"

"Kadabra, teleport!" The psi pokémon disappeared as primeape was about to land its punch, only to reappear behind the pig monkey. "Now use psybeam!"

"Primeape, mega punch the psybeam!" Fay commanded. It turned around and slammed its fist into the psychic energy beam. The two sat at a stalemate for several moments before kadabra teleported once more, this time only a few feet behind where it was previously, and used confusion this time.

Kadabra lifted primeape into the air and tossed it around a few times. It then teleported once more next to primeape and landed a psybeam that knocked the pig monkey off its feet and onto the ground.

The two stared at each other a moment. It was clear that kadabra had the upper hand here: primeape couldn't use any moves, as they were all physical, while all of kadabra's were not. The psi pokémon could attack from a distance; primeape could not.

"Kadabra, finish it off with psybeam!" Niko finally commanded. The psi pokémon generated a focused beam of psychic energy at primeape, quickly defeating it.

"Primeape is unable to battle, kadabra wins! Fay will send out his second pokémon!" The judge declared.

"Ursaring, you're up!" Fay said, summoning the hibernation pokémon. "Use faint attack!"

"Kadabra, you won't be able to dodge this. Just endure the attack as best you can, and use confusion right after, okay?" Niko cautioned. Kadabra turned to its trainer and nodded as it took the faint attack. Reeling a little, kadabra then picked up ursaring with its mind and tossed it around. "Now use psybeam!" Niko commanded.

"Ursaring, faint attack!" Fay shouted.

"Kadabra, teleport repeatedly!" Niko responded. The two pokémon kept appearing and disappearing all around the battlefield. Both were surprisingly fast pokémon that could keep up with one another. Niko was hoping that by teleporting constantly, it could wear ursaring out, since it would continue to shift around the map until it landed the attack.

Eventually ursaring landed its attack, slashing at kadabra with its mighty claw. The psi pokémon rolled back through the battlefield, but got back up nonetheless.

"Ursaring, finish it off with faint attack!"

"Kadabra, confusion!" Niko shouted. Before the normal type could use its attack, kadabra struck, picking up and tossing ursaring to the side of the battlefield before using one final psybeam. Then the bear pokémon struck, easily defeating kadabra.

"Kadabra is unable to battle, ursaring wins! Niko will send out his third pokémon!" The judge declared.

"Feraligatr, you're up!" Niko commanded.

"Ursaring, use faint attack!" Fay shouted. As ursaring reappeared, ready to strike feraligatr, it got hit in the face with a nasty ice punch, sending it slamming into the ground.

"Feraligatr, use whirlpool!" Niko ordered. The big jaw pokémon constructed a pool of water under ursaring and began to spin it around, wrapping the hibernation pokémon in it. Ursaring spun around at a frightening speed, eventually finding itself launched into the side of the battlefield once more. "Now, finish it off with ice punch!"

The water type roared out as it slammed its fist into ursaring's stomach. Before it fainted, however, ursaring slashed at feraligatr's face.

"Ursaring is unable to battle, feraligatr wins! Fay will send out his third pokémon!"

"Electabuzz, you're up!" Fay shouted, summoning his electric pokémon.

"Feraligatr, return. We need you for later," Niko said, exchanging pokéballs. "Venusaur, let's go!"

"Interesting choice, Niko!" Fay commented. "I'm enjoying this battle so far. Electabuzz, use thunder!"

"Venusaur, razor leaf!" Niko commanded. The two pokémon exchanged attacks as they got hit at the same time. Niko, aware of venusaur's relative immobility since its evolution, realized that using stun spore would be a difficult move. "Alright venusaur, let's see what Fay does next.

"Electabuzz, use thunderpunch!"

As the electric pokémon ran forward, its fist sparking with electricity, Niko commanded venusaur to use solarbeam. Perhaps Fay was expecting it to take longer than it did, but the powerful grass type attack surrounded electabuzz, knocking it on its back.

"Now use razor leaf!" Niko shouted out. The seed pokémon released dozens of sharp leaves at its opponent, who deflected them with a thunder attack that it conjured quickly. Electabuzz got up, its fist still sparking, and ran at venusaur, who took the opportunity to use yet another razor leaf to bring the electric type down.

"Electabuzz, you're not the type to give up, are you?" Fay shouted out. "Let's use that move you learned! Use skull bash!"

The electric pokémon lowered its head while venusaur was preparing to retaliate with solarbeam. The attack launched as electabuzz struck venusaur in the head. Electabuzz also took the solarbeam, and so while both pokémon were severely damaged from the attack, only electabuzz collapsed from the damage dealt.

"Electabuzz is unable to battle, venusaur wins! Fay will now send out his next pokémon!"

"Charizard, let's go!" Fay commanded, summoning his starter pokémon as well.


"Hey Fay, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Niko asked as the two were sitting in his room playing video games.

"I don't know Niko," Fay said, clearly thinking about it. "I think maybe a pokémon trainer. What about you?"

"I want to travel all over the world!" Niko exclaimed, throwing both of his hands into the air. "And I want to meet every pokémon that's ever lived!"

"Wow! Can I come?" Fay asked eagerly.

"Sure! We can go on a bunch of adventures together!" Niko replied happily.

"Great! We'll be pokémon masters!" Fay said, making a fist and thrusting it in the air. Him and Niko then laughed as they continued playing their game.

Years later…

"Niko!" Fay said as he approached his longtime friend. "Did you do the essay on pokémon evolution yet?"

Niko shook his head. "I completely forgot about it. When's it due?"

"Friday. You've got some time. I was just wondering what you planned on writing about."

Niko shrugged. "Haven't thought much about it yet. I was actually looking up things we'll need for when we set out on our journey together."

"Oh? Like what?" Fay asked.

"Just stuff we'll need to purchase, like potions and antidotes for the pokémon that we catch. Nothing too complicated."

"Oh, I see. Great, glad that you're getting a head on that! I haven't thought much about it actually. Been thinking too much about this essay."

"I hear ya. Our teacher is a strict grader, that's for sure. Anyways, let's meet up tomorrow and discuss some of the things we'll need to get, alright?"

"Sure! Have we set a date yet for when we want to leave?"

Niko scratched his chin. "No. I mean, I think maybe a couple of weeks after school gets out. It'll be late-august by then, and so we could just leave around then. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me!" Fay said. "Anyways, I've gotta head home and get started on this essay. See ya!"

"See ya Fay!"


"Venusaur, return," Niko said. "Noctowl, you're up!"

"Good choice, Niko!" Fay shouted out. "Your venusaur is tough, but it is at a major disadvantage."

"Not like that's ever stopped you before, Fay," Niko smirked. "Noctowl, use hypnosis!"

"Charizard, close your eyes and use flamethrower!" Fay commanded, knowing better than this. The stream of fire barely missed noctowl, as the owl pokémon shifted slightly to the right. Niko then ordered it to use take down. The attack landed, but charizard hardly seemed fazed by the move, instead grabbing noctowl and flying into the air to use seismic toss.

Noctowl crashed into the ground moments later, struggling to get back up. Niko bit his finger, as was his new habit when he got a little nervous.

"Noctowl, use steel wing!" Niko commanded, having a new strategy in mind. The owl pokémon got close enough for Niko to suddenly cancel the move and switch to hypnosis. Being a fast flyer, noctowl was able to perform this, quickly putting charizard to sleep. "Now, use dream eater!"

Noctowl closed its eyes and stood on the ground, invading the flame pokémon's mind. Charizard began to squirm as its dream was eaten. It suddenly woke up out of anger and belted out a flamethrower in noctowl's direction. The owl pokémon managed to quickly evade, and rushed in for a steel wing.

"Charizard, wing attack!" Fay commanded. The fire type also got into the air and sped at its opponent. Soon enough the two collided, and exchanged places on the field. Turning around, noctowl and charizard faced each other before the former collapsed onto the ground.

"Noctowl is unable to battle, charizard wins!" The judge declared.

"Return, noctowl. Great job," Niko said, pulling out his next pokémon. "Magneton, let's go!"

"Charizard, return as well. Dragonair, you're up!" Fay commanded. "Use dragonbreath!"

"Magneton, sonicboom!" Niko shouted. The two attacks met in the middle of the field and quickly exploded. "Now use thunderbolt!"

"Dragonair, dragonbreath again!" Fay ordered. The electric met the dragon fire and, with another explosion created, both pokémon rushed forward to engage in close combat, realizing this wasn't getting anywhere.

"Magneton, thunderwave!"

"Dragonair, wrap!" Fay commanded. The stunned dragon pokémon managed to tighten its grip on the magnet pokémon before falling to the ground. Magneton struggled to get out of the tight hold dragonair had on it, but as long as it couldn't move, neither could magneton.

"Alright then, magneton, use thunderbolt then!" Niko suggested. The magnet pokémon released electricity from its body, electrifying the dragon pokémon who cried out in pain. Once it was released, dragonair spun around and slammed magneton into the ground with its tail, finally releasing its opponent.

"Dragonair, use dragonbreath up close!" Fay commanded. The yellow-orange fire smacked magneton in the face, causing it to reel back a little before retaliating with a sonicboom. "Now use dragon rage!"

"Magneton, use thunderbolt!" Niko commanded. For what seemed like several minutes, the two pokémon exchanged attacks back and forth, not willing to give any ground to their opponent. Magneton in particular knew the stakes of this match, and was going to do whatever it could to win.

"Dragonair…use dragonbreath again!"

"Magneton," Niko said, closing his eyes. "Zap cannon."

An exhausted magneton stood still for a moment, taking the dragonbreath head on while trying to focus its attack. Dragonair in particular was difficult, since it could slither around relatively smoothly. Regardless, magneton managed to target it and unleashed the zap cannon. It fired off with the sound and force of a rocket, propelling its user backwards and into Niko, knocking them both down. Dragonair, not anticipating the speed of the attack, was also hit, rolling backwards on the field, landing at Fay's feet.

The judge looked curiously at both pokémon, and then made a judgement. "Magneton and dragonair are both unable to battle!"

"So…they're both down to two pokémon left, right?" JJ wondered.

"Looks like it…" Jacob replied. "Both of Niko's have seen battle, and only one of Fay's has, so I guess Fay has the advantage here."

"Go Niko! Go Niko!" Jake began to cheer loudly, throwing his fists into the air.

"Venusaur, you're up!" Niko commanded.

"Kingdra, let's go!" Fay shouted. "Use twister!"

"Venusaur, synthesis!" Niko ordered. The seed pokémon took in energy from the sun as it got caught up in a storm surrounding it, making it difficult to successfully heal. Niko bit his finger again as he tried to figure out how to win this. And it came to him, even though it seemed so simple.

Just go for broke.

"Venusaur, solarbeam!" Niko shouted, pointing at kingdra for emphasis. The large seed pokémon calmed down for a moment to take in more of the sun's energy as kingdra kept pelting it with twisters and dragonbreaths.

"Kingdra, whirlpool!" Fay commanded. The dragon pokémon conjured a spinning wall of water around its opponent. It was effective, but made it slightly more difficult to see the solarbeam coming. "Be careful, kingdra," Fay cautioned, "That solarbeam is strong."

Kingdra nodded, narrowing its eyes to focus specifically on venusaur's flower. The solarbeam finally released, and caught kingdra in it. The dragon pokémon was shot backwards from the force of the concentrated solar energy, but it quickly bounced back and rushed at venusaur, dodging dozens of razor leaves, to land a dragonbreath up close to the seed pokémon.

"Venusaur, stun spore!"

"Kingdra, dragonbreath!"

The two attacks collided, resulting in kingdra paralyzed and venusaur defeated from the onslaught of dragon fire.

"Venusaur is unable to battle, kingdra wins! Niko will send out his final pokémon!" The judge declared, turning to Niko.

"You're all I've got left. Let's finish this. Feraligatr, I choose you!"

"Heh. Looks like a rematch, then?" Fay asked, smirking.

Niko nodded. "Looks like it. And it'll have the same result. Feraligatr, use ice punch!"

"Kingdra, slow it down with dragonbreath!"

The big jaw pokémon rushed forward, its fist frozen as it dodged the streams of yellow-orange fire directed at it. It managed to land the ice punch at the expense of getting caught in a twister, which flung it back across the field. Feraligatr quickly got back up, hardly showing any sign of exhaustion. Kingdra, on the other hand, looked tired. The battle with venusaur deal a number on it.

"Kingdra, let's keep this up. Niko's down to his last pokémon. We can do this! Use whirlpool!"

"Feraligatr, respond with whirlpool, too!" Niko commanded. The two water types conjured whirlpools under each other, reminding both trainers of the time they taught this move to their pokémon when they were in their basic forms—horsea and totodile. Now was the chance to prove which one was more powerful.

Both pokémon were quickly engulfed in the whirlpools, resisting them the best they could. Feraligatr even tried to escape the whirlpool, but was instead launched out of it, landing against the same wall ursaring had collided into earlier. Kingdra waited out the move before rushing at feraligatr and tackling it.

This proved to be a mistake, as the big jaw pokémon grabbed onto the sea horse and pelted it with a powerful ice punch, knocking the dragon pokémon to the ground. Feraligatr panted a little, energy building up inside it.

"Kingdra is unable to battle, feraligatr wins! Fay will now send out his final pokémon!"

"So it's come down to his now," Fay said, pulling out his last pokémon. "Niko, this has been an incredible battle. Do you remember our first ever gym battle, against Brock?" Niko nodded. "Well, I had the disadvantage then, just like I do now. And I won that match, just like I will now. Charizard, I choose you!"

"Feraligatr, even though it's a fire type, don't underestimate it, alright?" Niko cautioned. Feraligatr reassured its trainer, turning and nodding at Niko. "Let's finish this then. Use whirlpool!"

"Charizard, respond with dragon rage!"

Charizard leapt out of the way as the whirlpool formed below it, retaliating with a stream of purple fire at feraligatr. Feraligatr then rushed forward, its fist frozen. Charizard did the same, ready to use seismic toss.

The pokémon collided, hand in fist as they grabbed one another and pressed against their opponent with as much force as possible, neither giving any ground. Feraligatr then let go of charizard's right claw and landed an ice punch, while charizard used the opportunity to escape feraligatr's grip and wrap its claws around the big jaw pokémon, lifting it into the air with surprising strength. The two came back down moments later, with feraligatr crashing into the ground.

Feraligatr got back up, now looking exhausted. Charizard, having also fought noctowl, looked tired too, but tried not to show it as it released another dragon rage, which was countered by feraligatr's ice punch, now acting as a shield against the purple fire.

The big jaw pokémon then rushed again at charizard, its fist frozen. It landed another ice punch and managed to bite onto charizard's shoulder as the flame pokémon used seismic toss once more.

Niko was no longer biting his finger. This was it. He was ready to finish this, win or lose. Fay felt the same as he focused solely on the two pokémon duking it out on the field.

Both charizard and feraligatr managed to lock claws once more, refusing to give any more ground. It was clear that in terms of raw strength, they were equals, although charizard had far more battling experience than its opponent.

"Feraligatr, hydro pump!"

"Charizard, flamethrower!"

Niko and Fay delivered their commands simultaneously, causing both pokémon to launch backwards from the force of the resulting explosion of fire and water. A steam cloud erupted in the middle of field and expanded, obstructing the view for everyone, even Niko and Fay.

"Feraligatr?" Niko called out. "Feraligatr? Can you hear me?"

The big jaw pokémon gave a low roar as it slowly got back up. The steam cloud dissipated, revealing two very exhausting pokémon. Suddenly, feraligatr began to glow a bright blue color; charizard a bright red color.

"What's that…?" Niko wondered. It appeared Fay had the same question. However, neither got their answer during the battle, as it was answered in the stands.

"Looks like torrent and blaze to me," Niko's Dad commented.

"What're those?" JJ asked.

"Torrent and blaze are feraligatr's and charizard's unique abilities. Each pokémon has a hidden ability on top of their movesets. These ones are unique only to these pokémon and very few others. When the pokémon in question is close to fainting, torrent, blaze, and its grass type counterpart, overgrow, power the type-specific moves of those pokémon. In other words, charizard's fire moves and feraligatr's water moves are more powerful."

"Wow…" Brittany replied. "It's about to finish now, isn't it?"

"Looks like it," Niko's Dad responded.

Niko and Fay stood there for a moment, observing their two pokémon in awe. Flashbacks of his travels flooded Niko's mind as he commanded a final move. As it happened, Fay ordered a move at the same time, once more.

"Hydro pump!"

"Flamethrower!"

The bursts of fire and water erupted out of the two powered-up pokémon, colliding in the field.

"Feraligatr, don't give up!" Niko shouted. "You've never been that pokémon, ever!" The big jaw pokémon seemed to hear these words, as the hydro pump got significantly stronger, slowly overpowering the flamethrower.

Both pokémon took slow steps forward towards one another. However, it was brief, as the flamethrower suddenly subsided and charizard was doused with the hydro pump. Feraligatr ended its move as well as charizard collapsed onto the ground.

"Charizard is unable to battle, feraligatr wins! The victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!"

Niko stood in place speechless. The crowd around him—specifically his friends and family—were cheering loudly. Fay and Charizard were walking over to him. Only feraligatr understood what Niko was thinking about. It approached its trainer and patted him on the shoulder, just as he has observed Fay and JJ doing before.

"We…we did it…" Niko finally said, finally looking up from the ground and around him. Fay and charizard stood before him.

"Niko," Fay said, thrusting out his hand. "Good game, man."

Niko returned the gesture. "Thanks…Fay. Same to you."


Back in the stadium lounge, Niko and Fay were sitting with their friends, discussing their match as well as Elliot's, who wasn't able to watch due to his match being in a separate stadium at the same time. As it turned out, he also proceeded to the Top 8, which increased the likelihood that Niko might have to face him. Niko didn't think much of it, though. His mind was occupied, still in shock from having defeated his longtime friend for the very first time. His greatest rival.

His greatest rival…

Niko's head shot up, as if he had heard something alarming. Remembering what the seer said, he turned to Fay with a mixture of bemusement and shock. You will discover the calling in your lifewhat does that mean? Is Fay not going to be a trainer? Is he? Niko pondered this more as they group returned to the stadium, where Goodshow was to announce the next set of matches for the final 8.

"Welcome one and all to the quarterfinals of the Silver Conference!" Goodshow shouted through the microphone. "All matches from here on out will be in this stadium, and all will be full pokémon battles. Today we will conduct the Top 8 matches, and then tomorrow we will do the semifinal and final matches! So, without further ado…here are the next four matches in the quarterfinals!"

The eight faces—including Niko's and Elliot's—spun around on the screen before settling into four pairings. Once again, one pairing contained two familiar faces.

Niko and Elliot.