Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

Circle Bear finally breathed a sigh of relief. Its hard-working life was over, and now it should be able to make a name for itself at the conference.

"Wow, it's so lively here!" As the group headed towards the athletes' village, Xiaoxia couldn't help but marvel at the bustling, market-like scene around them.

Compared to last year's Quartz Conference, the Silver Conference is significantly larger in scale, with not only more participants but also a much larger audience.

The town even has a dedicated commercial street, and it's hard to tell whether the people coming and going are athletes or spectators; the whole thing looks like a celebration.

After a long and difficult journey, the group finally managed to squeeze into the Pokémon Center in the players' village. After registering with Nurse Joy, Ash was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Why are you only arriving now? I thought you were too late to register." The voice undoubtedly belonged to Gary. Although he was delighted to see Ash, he couldn't help but show off a little.

"As long as we make it in time... Uh, who is this?" Ash replied casually, but then noticed a stranger next to Gary.

Of course, it's not unfamiliar to Ash.

A tall, slender young man carrying a backpack, who appears gentle yet capable.

"Are you Mr. Ash? My name is Ye Yue, and I come from Little White Town in Hoenn."

"Hello, let's just call each other by our names." Xiao Zhi shook hands with the other person and greeted him.

Ye Yue from Hoenn is Ash's formidable rival at the Silver Conference in the anime. He has a great personality and is quite strong.

His main Pokémon, Blaziken, defeated Ash's Charizard in the quarterfinals.

Aside from the fact that Blaziken couldn't beat Blaziken, which was a bit of a letdown, that match was really exciting. Ash was narrowly defeated, and Ye Yue was also eliminated in the semi-finals due to Blaziken's serious injury. Both sides were quite disappointed.

"Ye Yue is a very capable trainer." Gary rarely praised someone. "Not long ago, Ho-Oh Institute was occupied by a wild Sneasel, which prevented the Sacred Flame from being launched. It was Ye Yue who helped solve the problem."

"That was a huge help," Xiao Zhi said with a smile.

Ash missed that part of the anime storyline.

He actually wanted to go to Ho-Oh-in to join in the fun, but when Sui-kun approached him, he said there was no need for it at all.

"It's just a few embers left behind by humans on their own initiative. If you, Brave One, are truly interested in the sacred fire, you can simply ask Lord Ho-Oh for it."

Since Suicune has said so, Ash naturally doesn't need to care.

"My main goal back then was to catch Sneasel," Ye Yue said generously. "Ash, if possible, let's have a showdown at the tournament."

"Great! If we can meet, it'll definitely be a good battle," Ash replied with a smile.

Meeting Ye Yue was just a side story. Besides Xiao Mao, Xiao Zhi also quickly met up with other friends in the athletes' village.

On the training field, Bea was training with Machoke and Kommo-O, sweating profusely; while Silver was in another corner, staring blankly at the sky.

Ash also saw Marina and Kenta at the same time, and there was another person with them... who seemed to be called Junichi.

In short, now that we've arrived in Silver Town, other people's business is no longer important!

Contacting the Dragon Sanctuary, replacing the handheld device, and finally confirming the condition of his teammates a few days before the start of the competition were the things he should have done most!

And so, as time went by, Ash soon faced the day of the selection competition.

This is not a preliminary round. The Silver Tournament has attracted a large number of participants, exceeding 400, so a selection process must be conducted before the competition begins to limit the final number of participants to 48.

During the selection tournament, each trainer must go through five battles, and can only use one Pokémon in each battle.

The judges of the competition will comprehensively evaluate the results of the battles and the performance of the contestants in the dojo matches to determine whether they can enter the preliminary league.

Although losing some matches occasionally might allow you to retain your qualification, this rule is undoubtedly cruel.

The end of the selection process means that more than 80% of the trainers will not even be able to participate in the opening ceremony and will be eliminated!

They once embarked on a journey full of dreams, painstakingly collecting eight badges, only to have their dreams shattered when they encountered a formidable foe.

Now, the dream crusher is about to make its appearance.

...

"Ash from Pallet Town and Saburo from Luna City, please proceed to Field C immediately."

Soon, Ash faced his first match in the selection tournament. As the red player, he drew the second turn to attack.

"Even though I'm up against Mr. Ash, I will never give up easily!" Saburo, the opponent, struggled to maintain his fighting spirit. "Put on your armor and charge into battle, my favorite Ape-Takeshi!"

As a member of Ash's Pokédex, Ash's impression of Apex is that it's an incredibly useful mode of transportation.

Give it four HMs: Iaijutsu, Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash.

But if you use it for battle, then you can only say it's true love.

"Salamander, go into battle!" One-on-one duels have very little room for error, and now is not the time to train your Pokémon. We should definitely take the initiative!

"Roar!" The Bloodwing Dragon roared as it entered the fray. Even without its Intimidate ability, its menacing aura still frightened its opponents into a stiff expression.

"What kind of Pokémon is this... Ape-Treads, perk up, use Swift!"

"Fly there to repay the debt!"

The salamander wasn't approaching very fast, but it was incredibly imposing. Saburo barely managed to command the Big Tail to unleash a series of star-like energy attacks, but the salamander simply waved its arms like it was swatting flies, thus negating all of the attacks!

"This... quickly use Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Defogging".

Seeing that his opponent continued to threaten him, Saburo immediately ordered Ootengu to split into a series of clones. However, the salamander flapped its wings and blew all the clones away.

Naturally, the increased evasion of the Great Tail Stand was reduced to its original value due to the fog removal effect.

Meanwhile, the attacking salamander flew non-stop to the front of the big-tailed giant salamander and threw a powerful punch at it!

"No! Dig a hole right now!!"

Saburo shouted anxiously, and Oo Tail immediately dug a hole and burrowed into the ground... But the salamander's fist changed direction and slammed straight into the ground!

Boom!

After the violent tremors subsided, the salamander casually dug a hole in the ground and pulled out the unconscious Great Tail Salamander...

"The match is over! Ape is unable to battle, and Salamence wins, so the winner is Ash!"

"Oudao Tachi..."

"Try again next time... You're just having bad luck."

During the post-match handshake, Ash could only say this to the dazed Saburo…

Chapter 582 Preliminary League, VS Chunyi

The first competition of the selection committee ended with the irresistible offensive of the salamander.

In the next four battles, Ash still didn't hold back. He didn't even make any substitutions and just pushed his way through with Salamence!

The result was the same as the first game: the salamander flew over at the start... and then nothing happened.

Like Ash, the others also made it through without any surprises. Gary, Silver, and Bea all successfully qualified and secured a spot in the preliminary league.

In addition, there is Ye Yue, whom I met recently; he is also one of the top 48.

...

The Silver Conference officially began the afternoon after the selection meeting ended.

As the cannons continued to rise into the sky, the host's impassioned voice echoed throughout the venue.

"As you can see, the Baiyin Stadium is packed to capacity! I'm sure everyone here is eagerly anticipating the opening ceremony!"

"The Johto League Silver Conference is about to begin, bringing together many strong trainers. The clash of power and special skills is about to start!"

"After such fierce competition, who will ultimately claim the championship title? Let's wait and see!"

The on-site commentators kept hyping up the atmosphere, while Xiao Zhi and other contestants lined up inside the venue, preparing for their group appearance, as arranged by the staff.

Ash and his friends huddled together, quietly occupying a corner of the queue, and declined to interact with the other players.

For a supermodel like Ash, just his presence at the event would be considered unfair by many, so it's best to avoid showing off.

Xiao Lan and the others stayed in the stands; more family and friends have not yet arrived.

Hanako and her friends were persuaded by Ash that the upcoming preliminary league matches would be held at the branch venue for several days, and there was really no need for their friends and family to come early just to buy tickets to watch the broadcast on the big screen.

After the runners made their collective appearance, the torchbearer also took the stage. Ho-Oh's flame ignited the giant torch in the arena, and President Damaranchi then delivered a speech...

The conference began, and the speeches concluded.

For the athletes who are eager to compete, the first major event of the preliminary league is the group draw on the opening night!

The rules of the Silver Tournament Preliminary League are that forty-eight teams will advance to the next sixteen. The participants will compete in a round-robin tournament with three players per team. Points will be calculated based on a 3-win, 1-draw, 0-loss system. The player with the highest points in each team will advance to the next round.

Whether it was the preliminary league where a previous accidental failure didn't necessarily mean elimination, or the current points system similar to the World Cup group stage, the rules of the Silver Tournament can be described as humane.

Trainers' performance in battles can vary, and if it were all simple and brutal elimination matches, many would unfortunately lose due to poor performance on the day.

But to be fair, no matter what the rules are, anyone who gets Ash Ketchum should curse their bad luck.

"The group list has been released, and it seems you're all in different positions." On the Pokémon Center's big screen, as the group was checking the group results, Blue was the first to spot the good news.

If they're lucky, Ash's group should only have a chance to meet in the round of 16.

"My opponents... uh, are they them?" Ash quickly found his name; he was in Group H.

His teammate is Junichi, who is one of the three members of the Wakaba Town trio in the anime.

But the other one was a bit of a surprise.