Day 28 back in the Orange Archipelago. Overcast.
It was the ninth day of the Orange League tournament. Four days of preliminaries, four days of group battles, and now, finally, the first day of the knockout rounds.
Tickets to Pummelo Stadium were impossible to get for ordinary tourists. Competitors' families had their own entry slots, though, and a lot of Trainers here came from families with enough status that one or two tickets meant nothing. The tournament did not hand out many, but the ones assigned to competitors were theirs to arrange.
As usual, Reiji and Cissy moved together. They ate breakfast in a hurry, packed food for the Pokémon Center, checked on Senta, who was still unconscious, and then headed to Pummelo Stadium for the draw.
There were still 256 competitors left. Two more rounds of three-on-three knockout matches would cut that down again. Anyone still dreaming of the championship after that would have to survive six full six-on-six battles.
That was when the tournament would truly start to bite.
By the time Reiji and Cissy arrived at the draw hall, a long line had already formed. Some Trainers had drawn early and gone straight into their matches.
This draw format still left room to play games. Since opponents were matched by draw timing, people could watch whether the stronger Trainers went early or late, then decide when to step forward.
Of course, tricks like that did not matter much once the strong Trainers were involved.
The system would not casually pair Gym Trainers against each other, and it would not throw famous contenders into early elimination matches if it could avoid it. That would only make the tournament less exciting. From the knockout rounds onward, most competitors were at least Advanced-tier Trainers anyway.
If two strong Trainers did run into each other, then that was just bad luck. At that point, the system probably had no suitable match left to give them. Knockouts were still about strength in the end. A little protection from the bracket could only do so much.
By the time Reiji's turn came, most of the competitors had already drawn. Almost everyone left was already in the prize pool, so whoever you pulled was whoever you got.
Reiji pressed the button.
A familiar face appeared on the screen.
His mouth twitched. "Tch. Sou made it this far too, huh? Not bad."
"Rai, I'm done too. My match is after yours."
Cissy looked up at Reiji's opponent and recognized him after a moment. The boy had a Pelipper and had spent a lot of time hanging around Reiji at the Gym recently, so she still had some impression of him.
"Then let's go," Reiji said. "Our match isn't until a little after one. We can wait at the Pokémon Center."
Since they had drawn late, there was no point staying around. They returned to the Pokémon Center.
The old man heard Reiji's match was still hours away and immediately called a few friends out for morning fishing. Reiji and Cissy stayed in the hospital room instead.
There was a television in the room now. Apparently, hearing battle commentary sometimes drew a reaction from unconscious Trainers and might even help them wake up.
Cissy's mother had brought the TV in for that reason. The volume was not loud, just enough for everyone in the room to hear.
When the broadcast cut to the next battlefield, Reiji saw Gulzar step out.
His opponent was Danny.
Reiji's hand froze. The orange slice he had almost put into his mouth went right back down.
Gengar had warned him before. Among the younger Trainers, Danny and Sabrina gave it the strongest sense of danger. Reiji had paid attention to both of them ever since.
Based on Gengar's instincts, Danny was one of the biggest favourites to win this entire tournament. His popularity was even higher than Reiji's. It helped that he was bright, good-looking, and single, which had earned him a whole army of fangirls.
Reiji had no such luck.
The last time a girl had tried to give him flowers, Cissy had stared her down with a face dark enough to scare off ghosts. The poor girl fled, and nobody had dared come up with flowers since.
The match began.
Gulzar and Danny threw their Poké Balls at the same time.
Gulzar opened with his strongest Pokémon, a quasi–Elite Four-tier Gyarados.
Danny opened with Machoke.
Gyarados went straight into Hurricane, but Machoke cut through the gale with Brick Break. Then it smashed the stone pillar in front of it with one kick, sending broken rock spraying toward Gyarados.
While Gyarados was busy dealing with the debris, Machoke stamped the ground. Stone pillars erupted around Gyarados and pinned it in place.
Then Machoke charged.
It broke the ground under its feet as it ran, closed the distance in a blur, and drove a punch into one of the pillars.
The pillar shattered.
Rock fragments blasted into Gyarados at close range, dealing a second wave of damage. Rock was x2 effective here, and the hit was not light.
Machoke did not stop.
Lightning gathered around its fist. It bent its knees, thighs swelling with power, and launched itself upward hard enough to crack the ground again.
Thunder Punch smashed into Gyarados's face.
That one punch stunned it outright.
A hard counter was still a hard counter. At the same level, if Gulzar could not react fast enough and keep up with the rhythm, all he could do was get beaten.
It was not that Gulzar had never tried to fight back. The opening rock spray, the second burst from the shattered pillars, and the Thunder Punch right in Gyarados's face had simply come too fast.
Gyarados was gone before it could properly turn the fight around.
The room filled with the roar of the crowd through the television.
The audience was cheering for how clean the fight had been.
Cissy clicked her tongue. "That was way too strong."
"Of course it was." Cissy's mother glanced at her, then lowered her voice. "Your father told me in private. Out of the younger generation from the four major Gyms, Danny is the strongest."
She looked toward Reiji without meaning to. Seeing that he was still watching the screen, she went on.
"Danny is older than you two by quite a bit. When you reach his age, you won't be far behind."
"Second match is starting," Reiji said.
Gulzar recalled Gyarados and sent out Pidgeot.
The battle began, and Machoke leapt again.
It raised one arm and chopped down at Pidgeot.
A heavy boom burst through the screen. Pidgeot crashed to the ground, throwing up dust.
Machoke landed and rushed straight into the smoke without hesitation. A moment later, Pidgeot flew out backward from a kick and slammed into the wall.
It fainted on impact.
"That burst is nasty," Reiji murmured. "A lot like Poliwrath. Weight training, gravity training—no way it gets that kind of power without both."
He had underestimated Danny.
He had thought Danny was only a little stronger than him.
A little?
This was not a little.
This was a monster.
Two Fighting-type attacks had erased Pidgeot. Sure, Pidgeot was not quasi–Elite Four tier yet, but that Machoke was still absurd. Gulzar was getting bullied so badly Reiji half expected him to cry.
At this rate, Danny really might sweep him with one Pokémon.
Gulzar's third Pokémon was Exeggutor.
He was still trying to use type advantage.
It did not help. Exeggutor was not quasi–Elite Four tier either, and against that Machoke's explosive power, it could only take hits.
Reiji judged the situation quietly.
If he wanted to take down that Machoke, he would probably need Rhydon at minimum.
His own Pokémon were also training their burst power, but the second team and the ones behind them had only just started. The ones who could truly explode with that kind of force were still the first team.
And that Machoke was clearly not even Danny's ace.
In other words, Reiji would have to trade one of his best pieces just to take down Danny's middle piece.
What was he supposed to do with that?
"Wow. A clean sweep." Cissy could not help praising it. Then she looked at Reiji. "Rai, can you beat him?"
Reiji gave her a look and let her figure it out herself.
On paper? No.
In an actual battle? Probably still no.
"Rai, don't get discouraged," Cissy's mother said with a laugh when she saw them bickering. "There's a tournament every year. If this year doesn't work, you can try again next year."
After Cissy's mother had told Cissy not to take things too seriously, the two had been getting along much better. The room stayed light, with the three of them chatting and laughing as the next match began.
Reiji did not go anywhere after that. He stayed in the hospital room and kept watching the broadcast.
Anyone who made the knockout rounds was worth studying. No one here was weak.
As for Gulzar getting swept, that did not mean Gulzar was bad.
Danny was just too strong.
Even Reiji would have to fight him with everything he had. Gulzar never stood a chance.
They watched for a while until Cissy's grandfather came back with lunch.
The old man loved fishing, but he still knew what mattered. He understood priorities well enough not to lose track of the important things.
During lunch, another familiar face appeared on the broadcast.
The camera cut to Blaine, then to Amber's mother, who was cheering in the stands.
"Hah. That old turtle."
Cissy's grandfather laughed when Blaine appeared on screen. He clearly knew him.
"Grandpa, you know Blaine?" Cissy asked.
Reiji had nudged her foot under the table, and she immediately understood what he wanted to ask.
"Of course I know him," the old man said. "When we were young, I fought that old fire turtle, that icy-faced old man who looked like everyone owed him money, Oak, Agatha, Bertha, and that old dragon geezer. Crossed paths with all of them."
"What? When was that? Professor Oak used to be a Trainer?"
Now Cissy was interested for real.
"That was a long time ago. Around forty years, give or take."
Cissy's grandfather stopped eating and sank into old memories. His voice slowed as he started talking about the past.
"The Orange Archipelago was still a small place then. Nowhere near as lively as it is today. We were a group of young fools who wanted to see the outside world, so we travelled together and ran into all kinds of interesting Trainers."
He talked slowly.
Reiji, Cissy, and Cissy's mother listened while still glancing at the match on television.
Then another memory seemed to surface.
"That little girl's psychic power is impressive," the old man said, looking at the screen. "Reminds me of a girl I met back then. Same kind of psychic ability. She could even use it to make Pokémon evolve and devolve. What was her name again?"
"That's Sabrina," Cissy said. Then curiosity got the better of her. "What happened to that girl?"
"Then the one I knew was probably her grandmother."
Cissy's grandfather smiled bitterly and shook his head. He clearly did not want to say more.
"And then?" Cissy asked, completely hooked now.
"Later, I heard she went home and got married. Stopped being a Trainer too. After that, we lost contact."
Reiji noticed the mood shift and gently shook his head at Cissy, telling her not to ask any further.
He had wondered before why Cissy's Slowking line was so strange.
This was supposed to be a Water-type Gym, yet its Slowking had a Psychic-type inheritance strong enough that every one of them could learn telepathy. Now he had his answer.
So the old man had been quite the handsome flirt back in the day.
He had actually caught the attention of Sabrina's grandmother and even gotten a psychic inheritance from her.
No need to hear the rest.
It was probably another old story where one person loved and could not have, while the other wanted and could not keep.
The television crowd suddenly erupted.
Reiji and the others looked back at the screen just in time to see Sabrina's back disappearing into the Trainers' tunnel. The commentator was shouting excitedly.
Sabrina had won.
Reiji was not surprised.
Amber was still growing. Her future achievements might not lose to Sabrina's, but she was too young right now. She was not even ten. Who knew how long it would take before she truly grew into her talent?
After lunch, it was already almost 12:30. Reiji and Cissy had to go.
Their names had appeared on the upcoming match list. Reiji was in the next match.
Cissy's mother walked them to the Pokémon Center entrance. From there, they spent a little over ten minutes reaching Pummelo Stadium.
They watched the previous match finish from the waiting room, and then the broadcast called Reiji onto the field.
"Let's go."
Reiji called Cissy with him and left the waiting room for the Trainers' tunnel.
The moment he stepped out, the roar of the crowd hit him so hard his ears nearly rang. He still kept a smile on his face and waved.
Fans were fans. If they were cheering for him, he might as well keep them happy.
When he reached his Trainer platform, he saw Sou across from him, grinning like an idiot.
Reiji said nothing.
They could not acknowledge each other here. For this match, they were strangers.
"Entering from the green side is Reiji, former Indigo Plateau Conference champion and one of the favourites to win this tournament! Reiji has enormous support from the crowd, and we're looking forward to another brilliant battle from him today!"
"And entering from the red side is Sou, a Trainer from Mikan Island! Sou is known for his honest, warm, and friendly personality, and he has left a deep impression on every opponent he's faced. Let's see what kind of unique battle style he'll show us today!"
"The battlefield for this knockout match will now be decided. Trainers, please stand by."
The cursor began spinning on the big screen.
Four fields appeared—the same four used during the group stage. Here, they became random options.
The cursor slowed.
Stopped.
Grass field.
Once the field was ready, the referee raised the flags. Reiji and Sou threw their Poké Balls together.
"Go, Pelipper!"
"Go, Pidgeot!"
"Pelipper and Pidgeot! Two Flying-type Pokémon!"
Sou, you idiot. You opened with your strongest one.
Reiji knew how Sou thought. Against Reiji, he would absolutely lead with his best Pokémon.
And Sou's best was Pelipper.
It was already close to breaking through to Elite Four tier.
Reiji's Pidgeot, on the other hand, was only level forty-nine.
[Pidgeot]
[Type: Normal + Flying]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 76.21%]
[Level: 49.81%]
[Ability: Keen Eye/45.43%]
The reason Reiji had sent out Pidgeot was simple.
If he did not use it now, it might not get another chance.
From here on, the battles would only get rougher. If Pidgeot ran into someone like Danny, it would end up just like Gulzar's Pidgeot—knocked out almost the moment it appeared.
Reiji had promised the younger Pokémon they would get to experience the tournament atmosphere. Win or lose, what mattered was letting them stand on the field.
This was him keeping that promise.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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