Ishida felt a bit stifled. Given his strength, he actually could have obtained a Gold Badge.
However, his luck was quite poor. He finally encountered Gym Leader rank Pokémon, but unfortunately, it was a pair of them.
The couple Pokémon, Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
Most importantly, their levels were not low. Nidoqueen was at the mid Gym Leader rank, while Nidoking was a Pokémon at the peak of the Gym Leader rank.
This left Ishida with no way to fight; it was simply impossible.
Next was his best friend, Matsumoto. He fared better and managed to obtain one Gold Badge.
"Konan: 198 Bronze Badges, 40 Silver Badges, 4 Gold Badges. Total: 898 Bronze Badges."
The group was shocked once again; the second strongest person on the field had appeared.
At this point, the expressions of those from Indigo Academy changed wildly. They were in serious danger now.
Comparing the third-place finishers, Konan had nearly three hundred more badges than Shino. The gap was growing far too wide.
Director Yanagi did not pause, continuing the announcement:
"Sato: 210 Bronze Badges, 40 Silver Badges, 5 Gold Badges. Total: 1,110 Bronze Badges."
The crowd erupted again. Sato's badge count was already very close to Asen's.
By now, Indigo Academy knew they were going to lose. The badge counts of the second and third place participants from Silver Academy were higher than the counts of Indigo's first and second place students.
Furthermore, there was still the even stronger Eichi. This was unplayable; how could the gap be this enormous?
Director Kimura still found the results hard to believe. They had lost. Although he didn't know the specific total yet, it was already obvious.
During the earlier battles, he hadn't noticed that the disparity between the two sides would be this vast.
If he had known, he would have let the second-year students participate no matter what, but it was too late for that now.
In contrast to the gloom on the Indigo Academy side, Silver Academy was jubilant. It was basically confirmed that they had won.
Next, everyone was curious whether Eichi's collected badge count would exceed Asen's.
Director Yanagi naturally knew what everyone was thinking and deliberately read out Eichi's results slowly.
"Eichi: 360 Bronze Badges, 70 Silver Badges, 8 Gold Badges. Total: 1,950 Bronze Badges."
Director Yanagi was also a bit surprised. This was beyond impressive; it was simply exaggerated.
One of the students from Silver Academy cried out in surprise, "This is too much! I remember the first place from Indigo Academy only had 1,320 Bronze Badges, right?"
"Eichi has 630 more badges than him!"
"In fact, it seems their first and second place combined don't have as many badges as Eichi alone."
The person shouting was Tetsu. Once he said it, the others realized it seemed to be true.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Eichi. They had a premonition that Eichi's badge count would be the highest, but they hadn't expected it to be by this much.
Sato wasn't sure what to think. He was surprised, but mostly curious—how did Eichi collect so many badges?
He had exhausted himself just to collect his amount, yet Eichi had seven or eight hundred more. The gap was staggering.
Asen felt similarly. He didn't care much about the academy's victory or defeat; what he cared about was the contest between himself and Eichi. The result was unexpected.
He had lost, and he had been crushed. Even after cheating by using five Pokémon, he still couldn't compare to Eichi.
He clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay calm. After three deep breaths, his emotions settled.
He had a mission at Indigo Academy; there was no need for this. A loss was a loss.
Indigo Academy was now completely dejected. They had truly lost this round, and most importantly, it felt just like that match with the third-year students—a total landslide.
Director Kimura was now in a daze, his mind a complete blank.
After announcing Eichi's results, Director Yanagi spoke again, "I will now announce the total badge counts for both sides."
"Indigo Academy's total for this tournament is 4,782 Bronze Badges."
"Silver Academy's total for this tournament is 5,013 Bronze Badges."
"Therefore, in this tournament, Silver Academy emerges victorious!"
Director Yanagi's voice was full of high spirits as he said this.
When he had first seen the numbers, his heart had skipped a beat, but he had strictly restrained himself.
Now, he finally didn't have to hide it; his joyful mood was fully exposed.
"Oh yeah! We won!"
"We won!"
Tetsu and the other students were very excited. Their Silver Academy had won.
Tetsu excitedly shook Eichi's shoulders and shouted, "Eichi, do you hear that? We won!"
"I know," Eichi smiled. "We won."
Clap clap clap.
Director Yanagi took the lead in applauding, and the others followed suit.
The teachers from Silver Academy were especially enthusiastic with their clapping.
The people from Indigo Academy were also clapping, but one look at their expressions told you they weren't happy at all.
As the sunset appeared and the evening glow draped over them, Eichi and his peers were exceptionally happy. They had won.
Director Kimura was sad for a while, but he suppressed his feelings and walked up to Director Yanagi with a smile. "Congratulations, Director Yanagi. Your Silver Academy has secured the victory."
Director Yanagi laughed heartily. "Mutual congratulations! Your school's students are truly impressive in strength; we only won by a stroke of luck."
"If there were another round, perhaps we wouldn't be your match at all."
On the surface, he spoke polite pleasantries, but his inner thoughts were completely different.
You were so arrogant before, and now you've been face-slapped. As expected, our Silver Academy is a bit better.
Director He, I wonder what your face will look like when you hear the news of your academy's defeat.
Even though Director Kimura knew Director Yanagi was just being polite, hearing it still made him feel a bit better.
Director Yanagi then added, "Tonight, everyone should have dinner together. Director Kimura, you must come."
Director Kimura said with a smile, "Don't worry, Director Yanagi. I will definitely be there."
It was getting late, and everyone began to leave the breeding center.
Sitting in the patrol cart, Eichi watched the sky outside gradually darken.
An indescribable emotion formed in his mind. The competition was finally over.
Ultimately, their academy had claimed the victory.
At the same time, he was looking forward to the rewards for this exchange tournament between the two academies.
After all, the previous round had team and individual awards, and they had won this round as well.
He wondered how the academy would reward them this time; after all, their contribution was immense.
The academy would have to bleed a little this time!
The patrol cart drove out of the breeding center, and everything came to an end.
The fiery red sunset reflected in the sky. He didn't know what was waiting for them ahead.