Every person in the arena could hear the crackling of electricity and the agonized screams coming from the field.
The reflection of countless electric currents flickered across the faces of the spectators, who dared not even blink. After ten seconds, the electricity vanished, and the cluster of dark clouds in the sky dissipated. The weather cleared, and sunlight spilled down once more.
Looking down at the field, Electivire and Machamp remained in their original positions. Two seconds later, Electivire released Machamp's fist. As it withdrew its hand, the smirk on its face grew even wider. Conversely, once its fist was released, Machamp made no further attempt to attack.
Instead, it suddenly went limp, a dull expression fixed on its face as the scent of charred flesh wafted from its body. It was covered in scorched black marks. With nothing to support it, Machamp fell to its knees with a heavy thud before its entire body collapsed onto the ground.
Three seconds passed without a reaction from Machamp, prompting the referee to announce:
"Machamp is unable to battle! Electivire is the winner! Therefore, this round goes to Sato of Silver Academy!"
Mizuki stared gloomily at his defeated Machamp, then gave Sato and its Electivire a long, deep look. The events that had just unfolded had shaken him to his core; right now, he only wanted to be left alone.
He dejectedly recalled Machamp and left the field. Sato had actually intended to shake hands with Mizuki, but the latter gave him no such opportunity and walked away immediately.
As soon as Mizuki returned to his seat, a heavy silence fell over the surrounding area. No one had expected things to turn out this way. The current score was four to four. The massive advantage they held early on had been completely neutralized.
"How did things come to this point?" one of the boys muttered in disbelief. "We clearly had a huge advantage at the start. I really thought we would just keep winning like that."
As he finished speaking, the atmosphere grew even more somber. Hearing his words, Shino and Mizuki both stiffened. They wanted to say something in response, but the words wouldn't come. They could only let out deep sighs.
Not far away, the second-year students were looking at them with very complicated expressions. They also felt a bit guilty. If they hadn't been so careless and ended their rounds in draws, they wouldn't be in this situation. If the next round was lost, resulting in an overall defeat, they would bear a heavy share of the responsibility.
Meanwhile, the third-year students watched them with expressions that clearly asked, How could you be so weak? After all, the third-years had won their matches easily, giving them the impression that Silver Academy was weak as a whole.
Akemi, however, saw things differently. She knew perfectly well that the only reason the third-years won was that Silver Academy's third-year class was exceptionally weak.
The second and first years were a different story, especially the first years. Akemi was aware that while Silver Academy students had access to their data, they only understood it superficially. They didn't go out of their way to arrange specific Pokémon to counter their opponents. Indigo Academy, however, had done exactly that.
In the past, they had been similar to Silver Academy, but this time was different. The academy leadership had specifically instructed them to target their Silver Academy opponents during the matches. They were determined to secure a victory. Akemi herself felt a bit of disdain for this behavior; her own strength was so great that she didn't need to rely on such tactics.
Others, however, were different. This was why the third-year matches ended so quickly. If the second-years hadn't been so careless, they would have won long ago, and the first-years wouldn't even be a factor. Yet, even with Indigo Academy using such tactics, Silver Academy had fought them to a draw. It was clear just how powerful Silver Academy's first-year class truly was.
Sato recalled his Electivire. Even now, occasional sparks of electricity still flickered across the battlefield. Sato looked toward Akemi, who noticed his gaze and gave him an appreciative nod.
Sato flashed a triumphant smile, but after just a few seconds, he regained his composure and left the field. Akemi's praise was genuine; Sato's current strength was even greater than hers had been during her first year.
She had known since they were young that Sato possessed immense talent. In fact, Sato didn't realize that Akemi was incredibly competitive. She knew he was gifted and was afraid of being surpassed by him, which was why she had worked so hard since childhood. Sato probably didn't know that if they were the same age, Akemi might not actually be his match.
However, Akemi had two goals for coming here. The first was to see how much her brother had progressed, and the second was to see exactly what kind of person could suppress him.
Akemi's beautiful eyes watched as Sato walked down and sat next to someone. Beside him was a young boy with delicate features, dark hair, and a steady, calm aura.
He was Yoshino Eichi, the strongest first-year student at Silver Academy.
The first time Akemi learned of him was the day the entrance exam results were released. She had been slightly curious that someone had actually scored better than Sato. The second time was just a few days ago when she heard the news that Sato had been defeated by Eichi in the Freshmen Tournament. Furthermore, he had been defeated by a Beedrill, which had piqued her intense curiosity. She wanted to see just how powerful this person named Yoshino Eichi really was.
On the main stage, Director Yanagi and the other leaders all nodded in appreciation. Director Yanagi took a pleasant sip of his tea. Since his mood had improved, even the tea tasted better. He even started cracking jokes with the Director from Indigo Academy.
"Director Kimura, that student named Mizuki is quite talented," Director Yanagi said with a look of feigned amazement.
Director Kimura's face, already dark, turned even darker upon hearing this. He could easily tell that Director Yanagi was mocking him. However, he didn't say a word. After all, their earlier targeting of the Silver Academy students had indeed been a bit much; it was only natural for Director Yanagi to vent some frustration.
Director Kimura was in a foul mood. To be stuck at a four-to-four draw under these circumstances—just what kind of people were in this first-year class?
Fortunately, Asen was the next to take the stage. Director Kimura had absolute confidence in Asen and believed he would surely win. He looked at Asen with great expectation. Asen, who was standing up to head to the field, naturally saw the Director's gaze. He understood the silent command: he had to win and could not afford to lose.
Asen didn't take the pressure to heart. If he could win, that would be for the best, but if he lost, there would be nothing more to say.
After Sato came down and sat next to Eichi, everyone was in high spirits. The oppressive atmosphere had vanished, and the current situation was very favorable for them. They had absolute confidence in Eichi. After all, several of them had personally witnessed Eichi defeat a Gym Leader level Pokémon. They had every reason to believe that even if Eichi were sent to fight the final match for the second-years, he might still win.
Eichi stood up. Everyone around him, including the students behind, stood up as well. He turned back to look at them.
"Eichi, we believe you will definitely win. It's all up to you."
"Good luck, Eichi!"
Eichi nodded, then turned and walked toward the field where Asen was waiting.