As the match began, the senior immediately ordered Typhlosion to use Flamethrower. The girl on the opposite side reacted quickly, commanding Azumarill to use Water Pulse.
A pillar of fire and a jet of water collided. Just as Eichi expected, the flames were no match for the water.
Under the pressure of the water column, the fire quickly dissipated, and the attack slammed heavily into Typhlosion's body. Typhlosion let out a pained cry and collapsed to the ground; that single blow had nearly cost it half its life.
Typhlosion struggled to its feet to continue the fight. This time, the senior grew wiser and stopped using Fire-type moves, switching instead to physical attacks.
However, it was useless. It didn't hold out for long before being finished off by Azumarill.
It is worth noting that the tournament used a 3v3 format, where the winner is determined once all three of an opponent's Pokémon are unable to battle.
The senior released his second Pokémon, a Vileplume, whose level had also reached the Elite rank.
By leveraging its type advantage, Vileplume finally managed to defeat Azumarill. Next, the girl from Indigo Academy sent out her second Pokémon, a Venomoth.
This Venomoth had only recently broken through to the Elite rank and held no elemental advantage. After a hard-fought struggle, Vileplume eventually lost.
Now down to her last Pokémon, the girl sent out Raichu.
Vileplume's stamina was nearly depleted from the continuous battles, and it was soon defeated by Raichu.
With both sides down to their final Pokémon, the atmosphere on the field grew tense.
The senior's final Pokémon was Onix, an Elite-rank Onix.
This placed the female student at a severe disadvantage due to the typing, but she refused to give up.
Despite her efforts, she eventually lost. Once the referee declared the senior the winner, Eichi's side erupted in applause.
Aze and several other third-year students were shouting and whistling, their faces full of smugness and arrogance.
This behavior made the faces of the Indigo Academy students look even worse, and their teachers and officials were visibly displeased.
Eichi noticed Director Yanagi wearing a smile that looked incredibly strained.
The second match followed quickly. A clean-cut young man stepped up for the opposing team.
Silver Academy sent out a senior with somewhat sharp, mean-looking features.
The battle ignited instantly. This round mirrored the first; the opponent would win a match, and our side would release a Pokémon with a type advantage to defeat them.
Then, that Pokémon would be defeated, and another counter-pick would be sent out. After ten minutes, Silver Academy secured its second victory.
This caused Aze and his group to become even more insufferable, making all sorts of boisterous noise.
It seemed that after winning just two matches, they felt Indigo Academy was completely beneath them.
One teacher, unable to stand it any longer, went over to warn them. However, they seemed to completely ignore the teacher's advice. Even from a distance, Eichi could hear their words.
"Don't worry, Teacher, we're definitely going to win."
"Indigo Academy doesn't seem like much after all!"
The teacher felt helpless, wondering where these guys got the confidence to think they could crush the opposition.
Seeing that they wouldn't listen, he stopped talking and returned to his seat to continue watching.
Eichi felt a bit weary. He had heard from Director Yanagi that the third-year's strength was truly abysmal; these first two wins were merely a stroke of luck.
He could see that Director Yanagi's expression on the rostrum was becoming increasingly grim.
Next was the third match. Our side sent out a female student, as did the opposition. Our representative seemed very confident, judging by her expression.
Without further ado, the match began. The opponent released a Venusaur, while our side sent out a Quagsire. Eichi found it strange; this Quagsire hadn't even reached the Elite rank.
Generally speaking, the top-ranked third-year students at Silver Academy should have main Pokémon at the Elite rank.
It was highly unusual to see an Experienced-rank Pokémon here. Was she holding back? Or was something else going on?
A minute later, Quagsire was unable to battle. However, the senior did not lose her confidence.
She released her second Pokémon, a Fire-type Magcargo. This one was Elite-ranked and caused significant trouble for Venusaur, nearly winning the bout.
The senior began to lose her composure slightly. She then released her third Pokémon, another Fire-type: Rapidash.
Venusaur couldn't withstand the heat and was swapped for the opponent's second Pokémon, a Dewgong.
The moment Dewgong appeared, Eichi knew the senior was going to lose. She seemed to realize it too.
But it was too late. Dewgong's sequence of attacks was so fast that the senior couldn't react in time. A minute later, Rapidash was unable to battle, and Dewgong claimed victory.
The senior returned to her seat looking dejected. The score was now 2-1, with Silver Academy still in the lead.
The matches were proceeding quite quickly. Before long, it was time for the fourth round.
Silver Academy's fourth representative was an average-looking senior of medium build, while the opponent was a blue-haired youth.
The match began. Aze's previous failure hadn't restored their sanity; they believed it was just a fluke.
However, what followed shattered their illusions. The fourth senior only managed to defeat one of the opponent's Pokémon before losing.
Furthermore, his single win had relied entirely on a type advantage.
In truth, most people on the Silver Academy side knew exactly what the third-year level was, so they weren't surprised by the loss.
Aze and his group, however, looked on in disbelief. But soon, they were completely stunned into silence.
The fifth senior: Loss.
The sixth senior: Loss.
The seventh senior: Loss.
The eighth senior: Loss.
After five consecutive losses, their expressions finally changed.
Every time a contestant from Indigo Academy won, their side would cheer loudly.
In contrast, the atmosphere at Silver Academy grew silent and oppressive. Although Eichi and the others knew the third-years would lose, they hadn't expected it to be this disastrous.
Out of seven matches total, they had only won the first two. Everything after was a defeat.
Two of the seniors had even been swept three-to-zero. it was embarrassing.
On the rostrum, Director Yanagi and the other leaders looked increasingly dark-faced.
While Director Yanagi maintained a forced smile, the others looked miserable. In comparison, the leaders from Indigo Academy were beaming with bright smiles.
The two sides formed a sharp contrast. In reality, there was no need to continue.
This round was already lost. Even if they won the final two matches, the score would be 4-6. There was no coming back.