Konan watched the match intently from the side. She, too, desperately wanted to know whether Eichi or Sato would win.
On the field, Sato's expression was becoming tense. His fists were clenched, and his body was slightly leaning forward. It had been a long time since Sato had felt this nervous. Conversely, Eichi was expressionless. From the outside, no tension was discernible. As for the specifics of Eichi's inner state, only he knew.
Then, at the exact same moment, Eichi and Sato simultaneously issued their attack commands.
"Charizard, use Flare Blitz!"
"Beedrill, use Fell Stinger!"
Charizard roared, heavily stamping its right foot on the ground, causing the earth to shake. Flames then surged from its body.
The temperature across the entire field instantly soared by several degrees. Charizard pushed off with both feet and began to run. As it ran, its wings flapped, and the temperature and density of the fierce flames surrounding its body grew increasingly intense.
At the same time, Beedrill began its assault.
The air surrounding it was filled with sharpness, and strong winds swirled all around. A cyan energy overflowed from Beedrill's body, condensing around it. Beedrill then began to spin, holding its twin stingers above its head, its body tilted 90 degrees upward.
With extreme speed, it charged toward Charizard. Both Pokémon used their strongest moves. The air was thick with the pressure brought by the furious energy.
Finally, the two Pokémon collided in the center of the field, a clash of red and cyan energy.
The referee quickly moved away from the collision point, sending out its Mr. Mime to use Light Screen to protect them. The clash between the two Pokémon raised bursts of smoke and a strong gust of wind. The spectators all eagerly wanted to know the result, craning their necks to see clearly.
Sato and Eichi couldn't hear any sounds from within the smoke. A breeze blew past, carrying the smoke away from the field.
The two Pokémon were revealed inside. Charizard was facing Eichi, and Beedrill was facing Sato. The two Pokémon stood back to back, not turning around. Both of their moves had hit the opponent, and, confident in themselves, neither looked back. They were waiting for the other to fall. The field was incredibly quiet.
Three seconds passed like this. Charizard's previously confident face suddenly showed an expression of pain.
Sato's heart tightened, and he had a bad feeling. Then, right in front of Eichi, Charizard's body collapsed. Two seconds later, it didn't get up again.
The referee quickly ran over. After confirming that Charizard had lost the ability to battle, he announced, "Charizard has lost the ability to battle! Beedrill is the victor! Sato's two Pokémon have both lost the ability to battle, so Class One's Eichi is the winner!"
Sato was snapped back to reality by the referee's voice. He had lost. Since childhood, he had never lost, but today he had. Sato felt both a sense of disappointment and a sense of relief. He took out a Poké Ball, recalled Charizard, and genuinely said, "Charizard, you did very well."
He then said to Eichi, "Eichi, congratulations on winning the championship."
Beedrill returned to Eichi's side. Eichi stroked its head and said, "Thank you."
"Your Beedrill is truly remarkable," Sato complimented before leaving the field.
Although Eichi knew he could win the championship, he was still very happy when he actually won. Thunderous applause erupted throughout the venue. It was a spectacular battle. Eichi, the recipient of the applause, felt an indescribable, incomparable sensation. It was an extremely exhilarating feeling. No wonder so many people love participating in all sorts of competitions. So this is what victory feels like. However, Eichi thought this feeling was fine once or twice, but not so good if it happened too often.
Meanwhile, in the spectator stands sat several students who did not look like first-years. One male student commented, "These two guys are really strong. To be this powerful in the first year, the quality of students this year is very high! Especially that Beedrill. I've only felt that level of intimidation from Elite-rank Pokémon. This Eichi is formidable."
Not far from him sat a female student. If Eichi were here, he would recognize her as the upperclassman who handled the new student reception at the start of the school year. The upperclassman also spoke, "We were just wandering around out of boredom and happened to see the Freshmen Tournament being held here. We only came to pass the time, but we unexpectedly watched an amazing match."
Elsewhere, two other people were watching the match. They looked around 18 years old. Students of this age should have already graduated from the Silver Academy. One of them was very handsome; what was most striking was the crucifix earring he wore. He said, "These two younger students have great strength, especially Eichi. His Beedrill is a little too powerful, actually. However, the stronger they are, the more relieved I am for the Inter-Academy Exchange Match in six months."
The other person said, "That's right! Genkaku, let's go see old man Yanagi later. It's been a while since I've seen him."
"Mhm," the young man replied.
This young man was naturally Genkaku, who won the runner-up title at the Indigo League, and the person next to him was his friend, who had also participated in the Indigo League with him. Since the Indigo League, they had traveled in the Kanto Region for a period and had only just returned today. They happened to hear the Freshmen Tournament was being held, so they came to take a look and witnessed the match between Eichi and Sato.
Not far from them, Teacher Takemoto burst into laughter when he saw Eichi win. Laughing, he said, "Hahaha! I knew it! I knew Eichi would win! What if it's a Bug-type Pokémon? What if it's a Beedrill? As long as it's raised well, there's no Pokémon it can't beat!"
The Vice-Principal snorted when he heard this. He had previously stated that Eichi's Beedrill couldn't defeat Sato's Charizard, but he had been immediately proven wrong. Eichi's Beedrill had actually won. He had no face left to stay there, so he got up and walked out.
Seeing the Vice-Principal leave, Director Yanagi said helplessly, "Old Takemoto, please lower your voice. You've even chased the Vice-Principal away."
Teacher Takemoto replied indifferently, "Let him go. The only reason I didn't speak earlier was to wait for Eichi to slap him in the face. That'll teach him to look down on our Bug-type Pokémon!"
Director Yanagi: ...
Director Yanagi was speechless, but it was his turn to take the stage. He still had to present the Freshmen Tournament trophies to the top three winners.
Meanwhile, the Silver Academy's old rival, the Indigo Academy, was experiencing the same sight.