"Don't worry, Brock. I'll keep winning! Right now, I'm fired up and full of confidence!" Ash tilted his nose proudly and grinned.
Brock could only shake his head with a helpless smile.
There was nothing he could do.
In the first round, Ash had pulled off a stunning one-against-three sweep with his Kingler. That victory had boosted his confidence to an overwhelming degree.
After all—
It was the very first time he had ever used Kingler in battle, and yet the result was such a resounding success.
If even Kingler could be that powerful… then with his main partners like Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, how could he possibly lose?!
Time passed day by day.
The first round of the grand tournament finally came to a close. From the original 1,200 participants, half were eliminated, leaving just over 600!
Every one of those thousand-plus trainers had at least eight Gym Badges. By any measure, they were all elites among elites.
Now that half had been cut—
Those remaining were the cream of the crop.
Silver-ranked trainers, even Gold-ranked trainers!
Sure enough, as the second round began, the quality of every battle rose to a whole new level.
Ash's second match was held on the Ice Field.
As expected, his strength was undeniable. Though he didn't manage another one-against-three sweep like in the first round, he still claimed victory with relative ease.
Meanwhile, Yozora's second match was to take place on the Grassy Terrain.
He had carefully chosen his lineup in advance. His opponent this round was a green-haired youth named Seifon.
"Now stepping onto the field: Yozora versus Seifon!"
"Yozora is the trainer with that massive Golden Magikarp—he's been drawing plenty of attention!"
"And Seifon is no less passionate. To honor the Grassy Terrain, he even dyed his hair green! Perhaps not an example we should all follow… but one we can still respect!" The announcer cracked a joke.
The crowd burst into laughter.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen! Let's look forward to an exciting clash between Yozora and Seifon!" the announcer shouted, glancing at the referee.
The referee nodded, then waved his red flag. "Battle, begin!"
"Go, Nidorino!"
"Come forth, warrior of the grasslands—Scyther!"
In an instant, Yozora and Seifon each released their Pokémon: Nidorino and Scyther.
An interesting choice.
This was the Grassy Terrain.
And yet, neither trainer had sent out a Grass-type. Instead, one chose Poison, the other Bug.
On Grassy Terrain, Grass-type Pokémon gained enhanced vitality and physical stats.
Moreover, Grass-type moves were boosted by 50%!
In other words, this field gave Grass-types a tremendous advantage.
Sometimes, with clever use of the field, a trainer could even leapfrog ranks to defeat stronger opponents.
But—
Poison and Bug Pokémon were not poor choices either, since both had a natural type advantage against Grass, inflicting double damage.
It was clear Yozora and Seifon had both predicted their opponent would use Grass-types, and thus chose Nidorino and Scyther.
Unfortunately, their predictions canceled each other out.
[Nidorino] (Poison): Commander-tier, mid-stage. Tier-3 Legendary potential.[Scyther] (Bug/Flying): Senior-tier peak, Lord-tier.
The moment the two Pokémon squared off, Seifon launched the first strike: "Scyther, use Slash!"
"Scy-ther!"
With a piercing cry, Scyther beat its wings and shot forward at high speed, its sharp scythes gleaming as it slashed at Nidorino.
Yozora wasn't about to hold back. "Nidorino, use Take Down!"
Lowering its head, the sharp poison horn gleaming, Nidorino charged with incredible speed—colliding head-on with Scyther.
BOOM!
The crash echoed across the arena.
Scyther let out a cry of pain as it was blasted backward like a cannonball, crashing to the ground in an unconscious heap.
"Scyther is unable to battle! Nidorino wins!"
The referee waved his flag, while the announcer's voice rose excitedly: "What a clean strike! Nidorino's power is overwhelming—it decided the match in just one move!"
"Despite not even being fully evolved, every one of Yozora's Pokémon—Magikarp, Nidorino—has proven astonishingly strong!"
The announcer's praise electrified the stadium. Cheers erupted from the audience as Yozora's supporters clapped and screamed in delight.
"So strong… even his first Pokémon is this powerful…"
Seifon recalled his fallen Scyther, his expression tense. The pressure was heavy, but he still managed a wry smile. "Good thing I still have something stronger than Scyther. Go, Charmeleon!"
As expected of a trainer who had made it into the second round of the Indigo League—Seifon possessed a Charmeleon.
Of course—
Scyther was just as rare. In terms of rarity, it was no less impressive than a Charmeleon.
But compared to Scyther, Seifon's Charmeleon had clearly been trained to greater heights, reaching Commander-tier at its initial stage.
Its eyes were sharp, its aura fierce.
It was obvious Seifon had raised this Charmeleon with great care.
"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"
"Roooar!"
With a roar, flames burst forth like a serpent of fire, surging straight at Nidorino.
Yet Nidorino stood firm. Its presence, its aura—stronger still than Charmeleon's. The fiery serpent approached, but Nidorino's gaze never wavered.
It had full confidence in its speed. Dodging such flames would be no problem.
"Sidestep, then counter with Take Down!" Yozora commanded.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Nidorino blurred as it dodged aside, the flames narrowly missing.
Charmeleon swept its flames wildly, filling the field with fire.
But Nidorino's agility was a level above. It evaded each stream, then lunged forward, its poison horn striking hard into Charmeleon's gut.
BAM!
Charmeleon was flung backward, eyes rolling white as it collapsed unconscious.
"Charmeleon is unable to battle! Nidorino wins again!" the referee declared.
"What an incredible Nidorino! In the blink of an eye, it's taken down two powerful opponents!"
The announcer's voice rose to a crescendo. "That leaves Seifon with only one Pokémon! Come on, Seifon, don't give up! After going through all that trouble to dye your hair, now's the time to show us your best!"
The stadium burst into laughter.
Even Seifon looked a bit embarrassed.
He had drawn the Grassy Terrain, so to match the stage—and to pump himself up—he'd dyed his hair the same color.
But after actually doing it, he realized… something was off.
The shade looked strange. He'd been attracting all kinds of unwanted stares, not to mention teasing comments from strangers.
(End of Chapter)