After the initial shock, Viktor was still a little hopeful, but once he saw Magnezone use Gravity, slowing down his Jolteon and then hit it with a Tri Attack, all his hopes were crushed.
Jolteon managed to survive until the hold of Gravity weakened, but barely, and when the five-minute mark crossed, the boy recalled his Pokémon, deeming it better than losing it.
"Go, Excadrill!"
Seeing which Pokémon her opponent had chosen, Leaf immediately recalled her Magnezone.
She did not want to reveal too many of her Pokémon, and so she put her trust in the one she had already used in the Preliminaries.
"Round 2: Excadrill vs Pinsir! Begin!"
The Ground Pokémon spent a lot of time hiding in the ground, trying to catch the Bug Pokémon by surprise with his Dig, and it seemed to be working until Pinsir got his hands on him.
Leaf ruthlessly ordered Close Combat after Pinsir gave a brutal Vital Throw to Excadrill.
Their battle continued for two more minutes after that but Excadrill never gained an advantage. He did not survive against the Bug Pokémon's power.
Viktor took a minute to compose himself, and after taking a deep breath, sent out a powerhouse that he hoped would help him make a comeback.
And Leaf immediately recalled Pinsir.
Even though she did not want to reveal more of her Pokémon, she did not hesitate to go all out after sensing how powerful the Emboar was.
The moment Viktor saw which Pokémon she had called out, he inwardly winced, realising that he was in a lot of trouble.
"Round 3: Emboar vs Wyrdeer. Begin!"
Aizen, who was in the stands, surprisedly looked at the Psychic Pokémon.
"Where did she find Wyrdeer?" He curiously asked his sister, who grinned at him.
"Professor Oak took them all to Camomile Island after they attended the Cinnabar Festival. He had to visit the Reserve. Gary and Leaf caught their Stantler there."
Gary smiled at her words and nodded his head.
"Ritchie caught his Girafarig there as well."
"And I found my Lapras there." Ash brightly said.
"Nice."
On the Battlefield, Emboar was hit with a Future Sight that came into effect and was hit again by a powerful Zen Headbutt.
The Fire Pokémon was not willing to give up though. It was enraged and realised that all of its Trainer's hopes were on its shoulders.
However, it was just not meant to be for it.
Their battle lasted for a good ten minutes before the Fire Pokémon finally fell.
Viktor did not even send out his Jolteon again.
After recalling his Emboar, he turned around and left the Battlefield, giving Leaf a win by Forfeit.
Misty was the most excited after the result was announced, and she tightly hugged Leaf when they met the girl outside the Arena.
Since Gary's Match was in the same Battlefield at 3 pm, they stayed to watch the 2 pm match, which was of the Trainer called Jon Dickson.
He resembled the boy whom Aizen had defeated in his Match earlier today, and they soon learned that both of them were brothers.
Jon gave a brilliant and flawless performance and showed a great analytical approach in the match.
He used Rhydon, Rapidash, and Espeon in the battle. Three of the seven Pokémon that he had revealed in the Preliminaries.
Aizen paid attention to the boy's battle style as he was his likely opponent in the Quarter-Finals, and everyone enjoyed the battle a lot.
And then they all loudly cheered when Gary's match started.
He was up against a novice Trainer, who had barely managed to make it to the Top 128, and their match only lasted for ten minutes as Gary's Wyrdeer and Umbreon made quick work of his opponent's Charmeleon, Alakazam, and Pinsir.
Since the Match had finished early, the group rushed to the Pokémon Center to have their lunch and watched the ongoing matches from there.
At 4:15 pm, both Ash and Ritchie rushed to their respective Arenas for their matches.
The group watched the battles happening in the four Areans, one of whom was of Anthony Marken, and Leaf paid great attention to it.
She watched the young man use his Swampert, Braviary, and Scizor to eliminate Empoleon, Gogoat, and Gardevoir.
And he was up against a Novice Trainer but someone who was one of the favourites to make it to the Top 32 after the Preliminaries.
Misty heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Ash had reached the Arena on time.
For some reason, she always felt like he would fall into some trouble and end up missing the match. Now that she had a bet on him reaching the Top 32, she was rooting for him to make it that far, at least.
Ritchie relatively had an easier battle, where he did not have to reveal any new Pokémon in the Conference. His Magmortar, Farigiraf, and Sylveon won him the match without losing a single round.
Ash, on the other hand, was at a disadvantage from the start when his Pikachu ended up facing a Dusk Form Lycanroc. However, in a show of ingenuity from both him and his Pokémon, the Yellow Mouse prevailed against a Dusk Form Lycanroc, managing to take it out with an Iron Tail.
However, it was extremely tired for the second round, so Ash recalled it.
In the second round, in response to his opponent's Houndoom, he sent out his Lapras and managed to win again, but barely.
And then he nearly had a heart attack when he saw his opponent call out Aggron.
Seeing the massive Pokémon, he clenched his fists and decided to continue with Lapras even though it was very tired after the last battle.
Thankfully, his Pokémon managed to land a Hydro Pump before falling to an Iron Tail.
Ash then sent out his Pikachu again, and to the joy of the crowd, the Yellow Mouse succeeded in landing an Iron Tail but also received the same move in return, which knocked it out cold.
The boy from Pallet Town did not waste any time and quickly sent out his Primeape, and Brock was immensely relieved that he had not sent out his Charizard.
Primeape managed to keep dodging Stone Edge and used Close Combat to crush the Rock Slide.
When the Monkey Pokémon finally got close to Aggron, the latter could not shake it off again.
In a desperate attempt, the Trainer ordered Aggron to use Head Smash, and when the clever Monkey dodged it and used Close Combat, it was over.
Everyone cheered for Ash on his win, and the boy, after he rushed to the Pokémon Center to get his Pokémon treated, happily hugged his Mom and enthusiastically shared his experience of the battle with everyone.
The group decided to watch a movie together at night and then had a sumptuous dinner at the Center.
The next day, they all watched the matches of Alain, Egnar, Davy, Harrison, Jimmy, and AJ, who was their acquaintance and the son of Aero Town Gym Leader, Glenn Jackson. They also watched the battles of Jack, who was Viktor's friend and a Vetress Conference Semi-Finalist, and Paul, who was Ash's rival after the two had fallen into a heated argument over the treatment of Pokémon.
Paul was the same Trainer Ash had drawn his last Preliminary Match against.
Jack was going to face Egnar in the next round, and Paul was going to face Aizen in the next round.
Ash was very vocal about his opinion of the boy and made the Orayen promise that he would not lose to that arrogant and apathetic brat.
And after an early supper, they all retired to their rooms to work on their strategies for tomorrow's Round of 64.
Leaf was not too concerned about her Match, and Gary was confident as well.
Ash was not up against a seasoned Trainer either, but he was still quite nervous about tomorrow's match.
Aizen was up against Paul, who had performed brilliantly in the match today, but no one in the group doubted his chances of winning.
Ritchie happened to be up against an adult trainer, who had performed well yesterday, and he was trying his best to gather information on the lady, who had reached the Round of 16 of last year's Silver Conference.
Leaf had her match at 10 am, and all of them came to the Second Ice Battlefield to support her.
In the first round against her opponent, Risa, who had also started her journey this year and was from the western-most City of Johto, Rula City, the girl from Pallet Town sent out her Pikachu, who happened to be up against a Pikachu.
Both the girls brightly smiled at each other and nodded their heads as they decided to have some fun.
Leaf helped Risa's Pikachu fight to its limit before it eventually fell short, and then recalled her Pokémon as well.
In the second round, the girl from Rula City revealed her Alolan Ninetales, whose beauty enthralled the spectators and even Leaf.
Seeing that it was a Fairy Pokémon, the Green sent out her own Fairy, and the battle between Alolan Ninetales and Florges became one of the highlights of the Conference because it was a beautiful spectacle.
In the end, after battling for twenty minutes, Risa's Pokémon fell unconscious, and Florges still had some fight left in her.
The third Pokémon of her opponent was an Eevee, and Leaf happily recalled Florges and sent out her own Eevee, which started another fun battle between them.
Thankfully, they managed to finish their match before the time limit of 55 minutes was crossed, and Leaf won all three rounds.
The crowd cheered for the two girls when they walked down the side of the battlefield and shook hands with each other, showing good sportsmanship.
Leaf had quickly found a new friend after a memorable battle.