Chapter 278: A Gathering of Elites, A Crowd of Strongmen
Celadon University.
Located on the outskirts of Celadon City in the Kanto region.
A place that didn't appear directly in the games or anime, but was mentioned many times.
Professor Elm from Johto and many Nurse Joys had studied here, and Professor Oak had taught here.
So Celadon University was the most famous school under the Indigo League.
And this time...
Celadon University would be the venue for the Elite Four Tournament.
The other types of tournaments were being held in other cities in Kanto or Johto.
Right now, Lorelei was carrying Will around the university's track and field ground, while Lucario followed beside them carrying a large bag.
The bag was prepared by Carmela ("Mom"). It was filled with stuff for Will, including that little Empoleon plushie.
"The competition starts in half a month. The battles will be held right here on this field."
Lorelei looked around and grinned.
The spectator stands at Celadon University could seat at least ten thousand people. She wondered how many people would show up.
But for now...
Thanks to the upcoming Elite Four Tournament, the students were on break. Since there were few participants in this event, the university was basically empty.
"Where do we stay during the competition?"
"The university provides single dorm rooms. Maybe a lot of people are already here."
Lorelei found her way around and headed toward a certain building.
After settling their luggage in the dorm, they went to the Pokémon Center inside the university.
They might meet other participants there.
It was necessary to gather intel on their opponents ahead of time. It would help Will analyze the intensity of this Elite Four Tournament.
Currently, Lorelei's team, after seven or eight months of high-intensity training and occasional guidance from Carmela, had indeed improved significantly.
Except for Will and Lapras, the other four members had all leveled up once. Lapras was close, too.
Will, however, was stuck at Lv. 71. His "Blue" potential was starting to show its limits at the Elite Four stage; leveling up was a struggle.
At this moment, with the current strength of Lorelei's team, there was basically zero chance of securing an Elite Four seat.
But that was judging by the standards of 15 or 20 years in the future, where Elite Four members were all Lv. 70+.
However, in this era...
Judging from the games, a stronger Gym Leader-level trainer might be enough for the position.
If that were the case, then aside from Slowbro and Dewgong struggling a bit, the other Pokémon should be up to standard.
Especially Will. In the Elite Four Tournament, he might be the ceiling. Lapras was also basically top-tier.
Whether Will's guess was correct...
Was verified a week later.
All 64 participants of the Elite Four Tournament arrived at Celadon University one week before the start.
Will and Lorelei met the other 63 participants one by one.
There were too many familiar faces.
The ones recognizable at a glance:
Lt. Surge, Vermilion Gym Leader.
Koga, Fuchsia Gym Leader (and future Elite Four).
Blaine, Cinnabar Gym Leader.
Chuck, Cianwood Gym Leader (Johto).
Pryce, Mahogany Gym Leader (Johto).
Future Elite Four Bruno, Agatha, Lance (future Champion), Karen...
There were also some current Gym Leaders Will didn't recognize because they weren't the ones from the future games or anime.
Besides these, there were some he couldn't recognize instantly but were definitely characters from the anime.
For example... Flint, the current Pewter Gym Leader and Brock's father.
As for the remaining participants, although Will didn't know them, Lorelei said they were all quite powerful or famous trainers, mostly holding positions within the Indigo League.
Seeing these people appear, even Will got excited.
This Elite Four Tournament was an absolute all-star lineup.
Among this crowd, Lorelei was considered one of the youngest. The few around her age were Karen, Lance, and a few random participants.
"How do you feel?" Lucario looked at Lorelei and Will.
"Challenging."
"It's okay."
Both Will and Lorelei seemed relatively relaxed.
It was difficult, yes. But not as difficult as they had imagined.
For example, in Will's view, among the 64 participants, the only one whose strength was absolutely off the charts was Agatha.
Actually, Pryce and Blaine were in the same generation as Agatha. But these were the anime versions, not the monsters from the manga (Pokémon Adventures). Their strength was high but limited; at least Will didn't see them as major trouble.
Agatha was the exception.
In the regional conference a few years ago, Agatha's entire team was already solidly Elite Four level. Now, it went without saying. Agatha herself was definitely a senior Elite Four trainer, maybe even Quasi-Champion level, on par with Carmela.
Others... Bruno, Lance, Koga... these three were strong, on the same level as Lorelei.
As for the rest, some might be tricky for Lorelei, but it would be hard for them to make it into the Top 4.
Of the four Elite Four seats... Agatha already had one in the bag.
The remaining 63 people had to compete for the other 3 seats.
Another week passed.
The schedule for the Elite Four Tournament was announced.
It was similar to the regional conference, but without the qualifiers.
First, a Group Stage: four groups of 16 people. Everyone fights 15 matches (round-robin). The top 4 from each group advance based on points.
That was a lot of matches. But this was for the selection of "Elite Four," the high-ranking officials of the League; it couldn't be rushed.
The final 16 participants would be ranked by points.
1 vs 16, 2 vs 15... and so on for the elimination bracket.
Agatha would undoubtedly get a perfect score of 15 points, ranking No. 1. That woman wouldn't show any mercy. And no one here was her match.
If Lorelei wanted to avoid meeting Agatha before the semi-finals, she had to avoid getting the 2nd, 15th, or 16th rank.
This was easy to do by manipulating points (throwing matches).
But Will knew that with Lorelei's personality, she would disdain becoming an Elite Four member through such tricks. She would go all out against every opponent. She'd rather lose than play games with the bracket.
The day of the competition arrived.
Luckily... Lorelei was placed in the same group as Agatha and Bruno—the three strongest participants in Will's eyes. This was definitely the Group of Death.
Lance and Koga were in two other different groups.
With Lorelei, Agatha, and Bruno in one group, the other 13 people could only compete for the last qualifying spot. The remaining 12 would just be along for the run.
Will thought this was lucky because he didn't need to manipulate points.
With Agatha here, the most Lorelei could get was 14 points. If Bruno or anyone else beat her once, she'd only get 13. With that score, there was absolutely no hope of being No. 2 overall.
Lance and Koga in the other groups had a high probability of getting 15 points as well. Bruno also had a high probability of getting 14 or 13.
Lorelei's first opponent in the group stage...
Was the future Fighting-type Elite Four, Bruno.
Bruno was currently a young man in his twenties, though his expression was just as serious as in the future.
"Bruno... I wonder what kind of Pokémon he'll send out."
Lorelei frowned, gripping Dewgong's Poké Ball.
Facing the Fighting-type specialist Bruno, her Ice-type Pokémon would have a hard time. Fighting moves dealt 2x damage to Ice, and Water didn't resist Fighting.
Moreover, the biggest gap between Bruno and Lorelei wasn't typing, but the depth of their Pokémon pool. He had once pulled out over twenty different Fighting-type Pokémon in a single tournament. If he had focused that energy on training just six, he would have definitely become an Elite Four-level trainer already.
The only thing to be thankful for was... Lorelei's Froslass would be a killer weapon in this battle. Fighting-type moves were completely ineffective against Ghost-types!
"Just go for it. Are you afraid you won't qualify?"
Will yawned. He had confidence in Lorelei. He felt that even if he didn't fight personally and just followed her commands, they had a high probability of beating Bruno.
However...
Bruno's performance exceeded Will's expectations.
Bruno sent out 3 pure Fighting-type Pokémon. And then... Scrafty, Poliwrath, and Lucario.
Among them, Poliwrath's Water type and Lucario's Steel type disgusted Lorelei.
Water resists Water and Ice. Steel resists Normal, Flying, Psychic, Ice... basically resisting almost all of Lorelei's moves.
And that Lucario was high level, Lv. 72. One level higher than Will. It was the only Pokémon on Bruno's team that had reached the Elite Four level.
The remaining Scrafty had a Dark typing, which took down the Froslass Will had high hopes for.
By the time five of Lorelei's Pokémon had fallen, Bruno still had his full-health Poliwrath and Lucario.
After hesitating, Will decided to let Lorelei command him.
Because if he fought on his own... to put it bluntly, Poliwrath and Lucario might not even see a chance to touch him. And Will had too many items and cheats. Sacred Fire alone would give Lucario a hard time.
But the final outcome surprised Will.
He had thought Lorelei might win by a small margin thanks to his stats.
But the result wasn't a small margin.
It was a crush.
Although Lorelei rarely commanded Will, their ten years of tacit understanding was there; the commands didn't feel awkward. And after watching Will battle for so many years, Lorelei had more or less figured out his battle style.
Even if she wasn't used to it, Lorelei tried hard to battle in Will's way. For example, using "dodge" frequently.
When facing Bruno's attacks and not knowing what to do, Lorelei would just shout, "Dodge it!" and let Will figure it out himself.
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