To make the championship match of the Indigo League as spectacular as possible, the main battlefield was enormous. The distance between the two trainers' command platforms was so vast that, without the help of modern technology, even shouting at the top of one's lungs wouldn't be enough to be heard clearly.
At that range, Logan realized that even without using a Pokémon, he could simply leap down from the platform to avoid the attack coming his way.
But if he really did that… the humiliation would be unbearable. After such a stylish and overwhelming battle, to end things in such a clumsy, cowardly way would completely shatter the image he had built.
So—
"Articuno!"
Logan's voice thundered across the arena as he raised his arm toward the sky.
The legendary bird circling high above fixed its piercing gaze downward. Its crystalline wings crossed and then snapped apart in a magnificent sweep, and the air instantly plummeted to a freezing temperature.
Even the crowd of over 200,000, safely guarded behind protective Light Screens, shivered as the bone-deep chill pierced through them. All around the stadium, people hugged themselves against the sudden, merciless cold.
Inside the battlefield, it was far worse. The ground glittered with sheets of ice, flurries of giant snowflakes swirled through the air, and shards of frost spun wildly in the howling wind.
—Blizzard!
The roar of the storm was deafening. The pure white avalanche of snow and ice engulfed the entire stadium, swallowing the battlefield in a scene so dazzling it was almost surreal.
Blastoise fired its cannons—two massive jets of water erupted across the hundreds of meters of space, aiming straight at Logan. But before the stream could reach him, the water froze midair into an enormous pillar of solid ice. The Blizzard had transformed the entire attack into a frozen sculpture.
Even Blastoise itself was quickly encrusted in layers of glittering frost, its shell coated in thick shards of ice. It looked as if it might be frozen solid in the next moment.
Articuno flapped its wings again, and the colossal ice pillar cracked and shattered into countless razor-sharp icicles that rained down to the battlefield.
Zapdos screeched furiously from above, its pride clearly wounded. For a Pokémon of legend to nearly allow its trainer to be ambushed was an insult. With a crackling snarl, it surged upward into the storm clouds, fusing with the lightning above.
An ear-splitting crack tore through the stadium as a bolt of thunder as wide as a tree trunk lanced downward, connecting sky and earth.
Hot on its heels, Moltres gave a furious cry. A blazing fireball erupted from its beak, streaking through the air like a miniature sun.
Blastoise—already frozen in place—was struck first by Zapdos's devastating Thunder, and before it could even collapse, Moltres's fireball exploded directly against its chest.
The battlefield shook violently as the dual strike erupted into a fiery, electric explosion. Smoke and flames rose high into the sky, and Blastoise was sent flying, smashing brutally against the protective barrier at the arena's edge. Cracks spiderwebbed across its shell.
Logan sucked in a sharp breath.
"These three dumb birds… they really don't hold back, do they?!"
Yes, he had given the command to attack—but not to obliterate the poor Pokémon. Blastoise wasn't going to die, but the sheer brutality of the combined assault made it look as if Logan and Green harbored some deep, irreconcilable hatred.
Finally, the referee snapped out of his shock and shouted:
"—Green is in violation! Attacking an opposing trainer is absolutely forbidden in the Indigo League. The winner of this match is Logan!"
At the same time, the announcer's voice boomed through the arena. It sounded less like the triumphant call of victory and more like a desperate attempt to cut the match short. Anyone could see there was no point in continuing. Any further and someone could truly get killed.
Green had only sent out two Pokémon so far, but anyone with even the slightest knowledge of competitive battling could see it was over. Logan's three legendary birds had transformed the battlefield into their personal domain. There was no way forward for her.
Normally, in chaotic multi-Pokémon battles, it was common to send out a first Pokémon to test the waters—just like Green did with Jigglypuff.
Logan's choice to unleash three at once was unusual, but not unheard of. There were even cases in history where a trainer had sent out all six from the very beginning for an all-out brawl.
But in those cases, the opponent usually responded in kind, matching numbers to avoid being overwhelmed.
So why, then, had Green done nothing? Why had she frozen in place at the mere sight of the three legendary birds? Why had she… closed her eyes and started crying instead of fighting back?
Her inaction had doomed her. From the moment she lost her composure, the match was already over.
Logan gazed at her—still sobbing on the platform—and felt a pang of uncertainty. He raised his hand, signaling the legendary birds. One by one, they shrieked into the skies and took flight.
The storm clouds dispersed, the fires vanished, the ice melted away. The arena returned to its warm, welcoming light.
Only then did Green stagger to her feet. Without acknowledging anyone, she stumbled down from her platform, recalled her devastated Blastoise, and—still crying—covered her face with her hands and ran straight back to the trainer's lounge. She even forgot the customary handshake at the end of a match.
The referee looked completely at a loss. It was an awkward situation. But before he could formally declare Logan the winner, Logan himself leapt down from his platform and sprinted after Green without a second thought.
"..."
The referee was dumbfounded. Fortunately, the crowd saved him from embarrassment with a tidal wave of roaring cheers that shook the stadium, drowning out his confusion.
"…Wasn't that a bit much?"
From the stands, Red wiped cold sweat from his forehead and turned to Blue.
From the start of the battle, Logan had crushed Green relentlessly, overwhelming her with his aura like a demon king. And in front of hundreds of thousands of live spectators—millions more watching on TV—he had left her sobbing in humiliation.
Most people would have broken completely under that pressure. The fact that she even managed to run off instead of collapsing on the spot spoke to her incredible mental strength.
"Tch. Women are such troublesome creatures. Crying and whining—what a disgrace," Blue sneered, his eyes closed, voice dripping with arrogance. "Logan did the right thing. A real victory means exploiting every weakness of your opponent. That's true strength."
"Hey!" Daisy Oak, sitting beside him, grabbed his cheek with both hands and yanked hard.
"OW—ow ow ow ow! What are you doing, it hurts!"
"You look down on girls, don't you, Blue?! With that attitude, you'll never find a girlfriend! Look at Logan—he ran after her! He doesn't think like you at all!"
"…I don't need a girlfriend," Blue muttered through gritted teeth.
"Oh? Then what—you want a boyfriend instead?" Daisy shot back.
"Fine, fine! I was wrong! Let go, seriously—it hurts so much!!"
Blue finally surrendered under her merciless grip.
Through it all, Professor Oak said nothing. He simply smiled quietly as he watched Logan chase after Green.
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