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Indigo Plateau Conference - First Day of Competition
Afternoon - Water Arena
The roar of the crowd filled the air!
As the lunch break came to an end, the entire venue was already packed to capacity. While the main stadium could accommodate over 100,000 spectators, the secondary arenas held significantly fewer people.
Despite not being as large as the main stadium, the auxiliary venues still drew massive crowds eager to watch the matches. Regardless of which arena it was, every seat was filled.
"Even though these are just the preliminary rounds, everyone's really enthusiastic!" Misty said as she and the others settled into their seats in the audience.
Although it was only the first day of competition, the crowd's energy was already incredibly high.
Many people were especially looking forward to this particular match. The battle featuring the trainer who had caught the legendary Pokémon Moltres during the opening ceremony was generating tremendous excitement.
Of course, it wasn't just the general audience who came to watch. Many participating trainers and other competitors had also come to observe the match.
Ritchie, who had finished his morning match, found a seat somewhere in the stands. Green, on the other hand, didn't bother sitting in the audience section. Instead, she stood directly at the guardrail near the entrance, leaning against it casually.
"Huh?" As she gazed out at the field, her eyes happened to drift toward the exit of the passage on the opposite side. There, she spotted a familiar figure standing in the shadows.
He also hadn't taken a seat in the stands. Instead, he stood behind the guardrail, watching the field intently.
"Is that him? I didn't think he was competing in the tournament," Green muttered, recognizing him instantly. The person on the other side was Silver, whom she had met back in Rainbow City.
She was a bit confused, since his name hadn't appeared anywhere on the tournament roster.
Silver wasn't participating in the competition. He had no interest in these kinds of events. After leaving Rainbow City, he never returned home and simply wandered around aimlessly.
Eventually, he heard that the Indigo Plateau Conference had begun. Remembering that Ash and the others were attending, he decided to come by since he had nothing better to do.
Before arriving, he had also heard the news about Team Rocket's disbandment, which had surprised him at first.
Later, when he learned that his father had chosen to disband Team Rocket after losing to Ash, Silver couldn't calm his thoughts for quite some time.
Although his own beliefs and actions differed from those of Team Rocket, he had never actually wanted his father to disband the organization. For Silver, achieving certain goals sometimes required questionable means.
He couldn't agree with some of the things certain Team Rocket members did, but not everything the organization stood for was completely unacceptable to him.
Despite all of this, he still couldn't bring himself to hate Ash when he thought about him. This contradiction filled his heart with confusion and doubt.
"What are you doing standing here all alone?"
While he was lost in thought, a voice suddenly spoke near his ear. Silver flinched and looked up. When he saw Green, he instinctively took a step backward.
Although this was only the second time they'd met, and they'd barely interacted at all, he didn't know why, but he felt somewhat intimidated by the girl standing before him.
"Am I really that scary?" Green asked, frowning slightly as she watched Silver retreat. Her voice took on a somewhat ominous tone.
"Who... who said I was scared of you? You just... you just startled me!" The normally aloof young man stammered when facing the girl in front of him.
It was like the natural hierarchical suppression between siblings in a family. It wasn't that he couldn't stand up to her—he just somehow didn't dare to! No matter how cool or detached someone tried to act, they would immediately crumble when confronting this particular person.
"So you're saying I look frightening?" Green's eyes narrowed dangerously after hearing his response.
"Uh..." Silver was left speechless, unsure of what to do for a moment. He seriously considered just running away.
"Alright! The Indigo Plateau Conference preliminaries, the third match at the water arena, is about to begin! Now let us welcome both competitors to the field!"
The crowd erupted into cheers!
Just as Silver was at a complete loss, the announcer's voice suddenly boomed through the stadium, followed by thunderous applause and enthusiastic cheering.
As the announcer's voice echoed across the arena, the ground at the center of the field began to shift and transform. Slowly, a new battlefield rose up from below—a water arena gradually ascending into position.
Only a few small circular platforms floated on the water's surface.
In this type of venue, non-water-type Pokémon could still battle, but with only about one-tenth of the arena consisting of solid footing and the rest being water, it clearly gave water-type Pokémon a significant advantage.
Once the arena finished rising into place, two figures emerged from the passages on opposite sides of the field.
There were elevated platforms about two meters high on each side of the battlefield—one colored red and the other green. These were the designated positions for the trainers.
"Both contestants have entered the arena!"
"On the right side, in the green corner, we have competitor Ash! Ash is a rookie trainer from Pallet Town who successfully earned his qualification to participate in the Conference on his very first journey."
"Furthermore, competitor Ash caught the legendary Pokémon Moltres during the opening ceremony. I'm sure everyone here is quite familiar with him!" The commentator's voice was filled with excitement.
Ash's situation was perfect for building hype and energizing the crowd.
The audience erupted in cheers!
After hearing Ash's introduction, many people in the stands began cheering and screaming enthusiastically.
"Is Ash really this popular already?"
Sitting in the audience, Misty and Yellow were startled by the excited crowd around them. They hadn't expected Ash to be so popular in his very first competitive match.
After all, there were many highly popular trainers who had built up their fan bases through years of consistent participation.
"After a performance like that at the opening ceremony, it's no surprise he'd gain this much popularity so quickly!"
Brock explained from beside them. The opening ceremony could no longer be described as simply high-profile. Although Ash hadn't intended for things to turn out that way, calling it spectacular would be an understatement.
"I guess that makes sense!" Misty and Yellow exchanged glances. When he put it that way, it did seem perfectly reasonable.
"On the left side, in the red corner, we have a regular participant at Alliance Conferences—competitor Mandi, who is well-known for his contest-style battling approach!"
The commentator continued with the introductions. Compared to Ash,Mandi had much more competition experience under his belt. Thanks to his contest-oriented battle style and attractive appearance, he had also accumulated quite a dedicated fan base.
Either way, Ash felt there was something off about him. Despite his voice and overall appearance, Mandi insisted on dressing in an overly flamboyant manner.
Both trainers walked toward their respective battle platforms. After stepping onto the platforms, each one automatically rose about half a meter higher. This ensured that the trainers wouldn't be affected by the Pokémon's attacks during the battle.
On the side of the venue, high above the stands, a massive black screen suddenly flickered to life. The faces of both competitors appeared on the display, with three squares representing the number of Pokémon each trainer could use lighting up beneath their respective portraits.