Two and a half months passed quickly.
The Johto Silver Conference came and went in its opening stages like water through a sieve. Ash cut through the qualifiers and the first sixteen rounds without dropping a single match, his opponents outclassed before they'd fully registered what they were dealing with. Trainers who'd traveled from Kanto specifically to watch him didn't leave disappointed.
In the weeks between leaving Alto Mare and arriving here, Ash had quietly finished what he'd started in Johto, sweeping the remaining wild Pokémon he'd been tracking across the region and bringing every one of them to championship level. Latios and Latias had joined his roster without fanfare, choosing him as cleanly as he'd hoped they would after the battle. The Sea Crown sat sealed in his storage ring, inert and waiting for the day he understood it well enough to know what to do with it.
The Rowan family's connection to Team Rocket had also come to his attention during that time, confirmed through a quiet late-night infiltration of their field station on the outskirts of the conference venue. Ash had slipped past their perimeter guards in a black cloak and flame-patterned mask, listened to the head of the family and his son debate Giovanni's reliability from a rooftop, and left without being seen. Nothing usable enough to act on immediately, but enough to confirm the alliance existed.
He'd deal with them when the timing was right.
Tonight the quarterfinals started.
...
"Ladies and gentlemen," the commentator's voice rolled across the packed Silver Conference stadium, electric with the energy of a crowd that had been waiting for this, "the quarterfinals of the Johto Silver Conference begin now! Introducing our first two competitors: undefeated since his debut, endorsed trainer of Kanto and technical prodigy... Ash Ketchum!"
The Kanto section of the stands erupted. It was less cheering and more a wall of sound.
Ash walked to his position without particular expression.
His opponent was already on the other side, and Blake was looking at her from the stands with undisguised envy.
"She's from Unova," he said. "That's practically the other side of the world. What's she doing at the Johto Conference?"
"Training circuit," Nathan said, pushing his glasses up. "She's comprehensive, well-rounded, clearly working under either a family with resources or a serious mentor. No weak links."
"She's also very good-looking," Blake added.
Nobody responded to that.
Across the field, Tokiko stared at Ash with an expression hovering somewhere between rivalry and something more personal.
"Finally," she said, quiet enough that only the referee beside her could have heard. "Everyone's going to see you're not good enough for Kami. Come on, Emboar."
The Poké Ball snapped open. White light flooded the arena, and what stepped out of it made the crowd surge again, an Emboar, one of Unova's Fire-type royal line, its thick neck wreathed in orange flame, knuckles black, tail bristling with heat.
Ash tilted his head slightly, reading it.
Near-champion level. Strong across the board. Good trainer.
"Interesting." He reached for his belt. "Ninetales, let's go."
The white light that followed was quieter, more elegant. Ninetales materialized with nine tails sweeping the arena floor in a slow wave, ruby eyes finding Emboar across the field with calm interest.
The commentator was already losing his composure. "Tokiko's Emboar against Ash's Ninetales! Both Fire-types, but Ninetales's Psychic capabilities create a critical type disadvantage for Emboar! This is already fascinating!"
...
"Emboar, Flamethrower!"
A jet of high-temperature flame crossed the arena in a straight line.
"Psychic."
Blue light wrapped Ninetales from tip to tail, and an invisible barrier materialized in front of her, the Flamethrower splitting apart and rolling around the shield to scorch the arena walls on either side.
"That's... that's Psychic blocking a Fire attack," the commentator said, audibly recalibrating. "I've never actually seen that combination before."
"Nine Tails learning Psychic-type moves makes her Emboar's worst nightmare," Sam said from the stands. "Psychic beats Fighting, and Emboar's half Fighting-type."
"She'd probably be top four in this conference without Ash," Nathan added. "Good trainer."
Sam looked at him. "Coming from you that's a lot."
Nathan shrugged. "Data's data."
...
"Don't stop!" Tokiko leaned forward, jaw set. "Emboar, Flame Wheel, now!"
Emboar tucked into a roll, flame wrapping his entire body, and accelerated across the arena floor like a burning wheel, closing the distance to Ninetales at a speed that drew a sharp breath from the crowd.
The temperature coming off the technique was visibly intense, the air shimmering above the flame's path.
"Will-O-Wisp."
Ninetales exhaled a stream of small, fast-moving fireballs at a rate that made the Flame Wheel's approach look almost leisurely by comparison.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The fireballs connected in rapid sequence, each one absorbed immediately into Emboar's existing flame, the fire wreathing him simply swallowing the incoming Will-O-Wisps without any visible effect.
The Flame Wheel kept coming.