Sato's face was solemn; the current situation was very bad for Tetsu.
As the match began, Tetsu tentatively ordered Miltank to use Rollout.
Miltank curled into a ball and charged toward Gengar. His opponent, seeing the incoming attack, let out a disdainful smile.
Miltank's body passed directly through Gengar's form.
Tetsu bit his lip. As expected, it won't work. He was out of options now; the rules prohibited switching Pokémon mid-match.
He could only try to find a way to hit Gengar, but after five minutes, he still hadn't found a solution. Miltank took continuous hits from Gengar's attacks.
Finally unable to hold out any longer, it collapsed, losing its ability to battle.
Recalling Miltank, Tetsu looked at the Poké Ball in his hand and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Miltank. I was useless."
Next, Tetsu released his second Pokémon, Noctowl.
His opponent was not surprised to see Noctowl; it was as if everything was within his expectations.
Noctowl is a Normal/Flying-type Pokémon, meaning Ghost-type moves are ineffective against it. Consequently, over half of Gengar's moves were rendered useless.
Once the battle started, Tetsu ordered Noctowl to use Foresight. Gengar was directly hit by the effect. Following that, Noctowl began using various Psychic-type moves to attack Gengar.
Four minutes later, Gengar went down quite pathetically under Noctowl's relentless assault.
The score was now 1-1. His opponent, the grey-haired boy, recalled Gengar and released his second Pokémon, Cloyster.
Eichi was now certain that Indigo Academy had studied them thoroughly. They even had specific counter-tactics prepared for them. To have such an arrangement, one would need to know exactly who their opponents were.
However, one thing made Eichi curious: how did they know Silver Academy's lineup order?
At that moment, he suddenly thought of how Indigo Academy had been dissatisfied with the original rules and had negotiated new ones.
It wasn't hard to figure out Silver Academy's ranking. One only needed to look at the Freshmen Tournament rankings and performances during the selection trials to deduce it.
I see. So Tetsu's opponent likely has a team entirely composed of Pokémon that counter Tetsu's.
Sure enough, this Cloyster possessed the Ice-type, which countered Noctowl. However, Cloyster had a weakness: it couldn't move, or rather, its movement speed was extremely slow.
Tetsu relied on this single point to continuously wear Cloyster down from the air. However, Cloyster used Ice-type moves like Blizzard, which dealt massive damage to Noctowl. Furthermore, whenever Noctowl attacked, Cloyster would retreat into its shell to block the strike.
Tetsu was helpless. This Cloyster was too "cheating"—its defense was high, and its moves countered Noctowl. It was an impossible fight.
Six minutes later, Noctowl was simply worn to death by Cloyster.
Tetsu recalled Noctowl with a look of resignation. After hesitating for a moment, he released his final Pokémon, Ampharos.
The reason he chose Ampharos was that it was his ace; sending it out gave him a sense of security. Additionally, Ampharos had a double type-advantage against Cloyster.
Seeing Tetsu release Ampharos, his opponent flashed a smile as if a scheme had succeeded.
Eichi, watching from below, was worried for Tetsu. He had completely fallen into the opponent's trap. Eichi felt the opponent likely had a Pokémon ready specifically to deal with Ampharos.
In the ensuing battle, Tetsu used the elemental advantage to defeat Cloyster after much effort, but Ampharos's stamina was more than half depleted.
His opponent calmly recalled Cloyster and released his final Pokémon, Golem.
Eichi checked with his Eye of the Bug Emperor. Neither its talent nor its level was inferior to Ampharos. Tetsu was truly in danger.
As expected, once the battle began, none of Ampharos's Electric-type moves could cause significant damage to Golem. Consequently, it was suppressed by the Golem throughout the fight.
Coupled with the fact that Ampharos had consumed a vast amount of stamina while fighting Cloyster, it was now exhausted.
Tetsu felt helpless; he could already sense he was going to lose. Sure enough, three minutes later, Ampharos could no longer hold on.
Ampharos was struck by a massive boulder. With a cry of pain, it fell to the ground, losing its ability to battle.
Tetsu let out a long sigh. He felt this match had been extremely frustrating, as if he were being led around by the nose the entire time.
After leaving the field, Tetsu sat down dejectedly next to Eichi. "Eichi, I lost. I need some comfort."
Eichi spoke quietly, "Tetsu, did you feel like you were being led around by the nose?"
Tetsu nodded frantically. "Yes! That's exactly how it felt."
Eichi sneered, "That's because you fell into a trap from the very beginning."
"How do you know?" Tetsu asked in confusion.
Eichi explained, "If I'm not mistaken, all the Pokémon on his team were specifically chosen to counter yours. If the first match was a lucky guess, you were doomed. Even if it wasn't, it didn't matter; his chances of winning were still very high."
"Then how did they know I would be the opponent?" Tetsu asked.
Eichi replied, "Isn't that easy to guess? It can be deduced from the Freshmen Tournament rankings. Add the change in the competition rules, and it became what it is now."
Tetsu cried out, "That actually works? They're way too despicable!"
"There's no 'despicable' about it," Eichi said. "It's mainly that our academy didn't do as well as they did."
Sato, sitting nearby, naturally heard Eichi's words and frowned. However, he quickly returned to normal. Even if others targeted him, so what? He had no reason to be afraid; the one who should be afraid was his opponent.
On the rostrum, Director Yanagi and the others could still maintain their composure, but their moods were certainly not good. The atmosphere on Silver Academy's side began to feel oppressive and tense.
Conversely, the Director of Indigo Academy wore a mysterious smile, and the members of Indigo Academy grew increasingly confident.
In the fourth match, it was Shinta's turn to take the field. Shinta's expression shifted slightly; he had thought he would be the fifth to go.
He hadn't expected to be up fourth. Did the academy leaders think his strength was weaker than Kelly's?
Shinta felt he was being looked down upon. This won't do. I have to prove my strength to the leaders. I need to avenge my brother and defeat my opponent.
With determination in his heart, Shinta walked onto the field step by step.
Twenty minutes later, Shinta walked off the field in silence. He had lost. Eichi watched Shinta.
Shinta's strength was actually quite good, and his Ursaring was fairly impressive. However, he was countered; he was worn to death by a Pidgeot in the air.
The others were no longer mocking him. At this point, their academy's situation was extremely dangerous. They had lost four matches in a row.
The leaders on the rostrum were starting to feel unable to sit still. They, too, had realized something was wrong.