To ensure the best possible viewing experience, the Gym Leader Tournament used a sequential battle format. Every match would be held one after another, rather than several being run at the same time.
After all, the Gym Leaders participating in this tournament covered fifteen different type systems, nearly the full spread of Pokémon types. Aside from Water, Dark, and Fairy, which were temporarily absent, every other type had a representative Gym Leader taking the field.
This arrangement not only allowed the audience to focus completely on every battle, it also made it easier for them to observe and study the tactical essence of different types in depth. If the matches were held simultaneously, people would easily be forced to choose between them and miss one.
That was why the League decided to spend a little more time on the event, sparing the audience from having to make that kind of choice. The Indigo Conference was still some time away anyway, so they had plenty of time.
The first battle would be between Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader, and Pryce, the Mahogany Gym Leader.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first Kanto-Johto Gym Leader Tournament! I'm your commentator, Guli TV, and I'm honored to bring you commentary for the first match!"
Guli TV was the commentator for the opening battle. Since the very first match was a clash between two veteran powerhouses, even Guli was a little nervous. Fortunately, years of commentary experience kept him from getting too tense, and he quickly adjusted his state.
"The two competitors in our first match are both extremely formidable. They are veteran powerhouses. Many Trainers may not know them, but for older-generation Trainers, their strength goes far beyond that of ordinary Gym Leaders."
Guli TV had done his homework. At the very least, both men below possessed Elite Four-level combat power.
They looked like two kindly old men, but once they made a move, neither of them would pull any punches.
Blaine and Pryce entered the battlefield.
The battle had not yet begun, and the pre-match trash talk was, naturally, a necessary part of the show.
"Old man Blaine, I heard even the Cinnabar Gym has spent years with its doors closed to visitors."
Pryce lightly tapped the armrest of his wheelchair with his fingertip, his voice as sharp as an icicle. "After all these years, I suppose your strength has already burned itself out."
Blaine's white lab coat stirred without wind, and a scorching aura faintly surged around him. "Better than a certain old popsicle hiding deep beneath the frozen lakes of Mahogany Town. The time you've spent guarding that Gym is almost enough for a Beartic to go through dozens of hibernation cycles. Want me to have my Magmortar thaw out those old bones of yours?"
"Heh. Still as glib as ever."
A cold smile brushed across Pryce's lips. He did not answer. Only the frost quietly forming on the armrest of his wheelchair betrayed a trace of emotion.
At the VIP seats outside the field, Grey raised an eyebrow slightly.
He could clearly sense the difference in aura between the two sides.
Blaine's flames were fierce and surging, like a volcano.
But Pryce's aura was like a frozen lake thousands of feet deep. The surface was calm and still, yet the depths contained enough cold to freeze everything for miles.
"Grey, who do you think will win?" Lillie gently tugged on Grey's sleeve, curiosity in her voice.
Grey's gaze remained fixed on the two old men in the field as he answered without hesitation, "Pryce."
As he spoke, the broadcast camera suddenly cut to a close-up of Pryce, and the expressions of Green and Silver changed abruptly.
Green subconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, her knuckles turning slightly pale. Silver suddenly looked away, pressed a hand against his chest, then quickly lowered it again.
Grey was silent.
Tch. Looks like this is the Pokémon Adventures version of Pryce.
Seeing how completely off the two of them looked, Grey understood. This had to be the Pokémon Adventures version of Pryce.
Sigh. Looks like this is going to be a brutal fight.
"Do you two want to go rest for a while?"
Grey looked at his two trembling apprentices.
"I'm fine. I want to watch this battle."
Green shook her head. She also wanted to know just how strong Pryce truly was.
If possible, she hoped Grey could defeat him.
"I want to watch too."
Silver's tone was a little downcast. He hated how weak he was. Just seeing Pryce was enough to make him afraid to breathe.
If he had strength, he would not have to fear Pryce anymore.
"All right. Then pay close attention to the details. It'll help you in your future battles."
"Mm-hmm!"
The battle began.
Blaine sent out a majestic Arcanine that looked extremely difficult to deal with.
Pryce sent out a pig-like Pokémon with enormous tusks, its entire body covered in brownish hide.
[Pokémon: Arcanine]
[Type: Fire]
[Level: 65]
[Ability: Intimidate]
[Moves: Extreme Speed, Flare Blitz, others omitted.]
[Pokémon: Mamoswine]
[Type: Ice, Ground]
[Level: 65]
[Ability: Thick Fat]
[Moves: Earthquake, Fissure, others omitted.]
Both Pokémon were level 65, which meant they were at the level of Elite Four mainstays.
But Grey knew that Pryce was holding back a lot here.
If he sent out Swinub or Delibird, there probably would not be much left to say afterward.
"Awooo!"
The moment Arcanine entered the field, it roared furiously at Mamoswine.
Its Intimidate Ability activated, and Mamoswine was clearly startled.
Its physical attack dropped slightly.
"Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"
The instant Blaine gave the command, cyan light erupted around Arcanine.
Its four legs suddenly kicked off with explosive force. Wrapped in white light and carrying a sonic-boom-like impact, it slammed straight into Mamoswine!
In the audience's eyes, Arcanine dragged out afterimages. The naked eye could not capture its figure at all.
Mamoswine stood unmoving, allowing Arcanine to crash hard into its thick-furred body.
Boom!
Amid the rumbling impact, Mamoswine's massive body only swayed slightly. It did not even take a step back.
The instant Arcanine was knocked back by the recoil, fine snow suddenly began drifting down over the battlefield.
The Ice-type move Snowscape!
Pryce's wheelchair silently rolled forward half a turn. Ice crystals gathered into a spiral around his aged fingertips.
The prelude to Blizzard had already quietly covered the entire arena.
Blaine frowned inwardly. Over the years, he and Pryce had not battled many times.
But the way this Mamoswine fought made him sense that something was off.
"Flamethrower!"
Arcanine retreated half a step. Flames surged in its mouth, and a scorching pillar of fire blasted out!
"Block it, then use Earthquake directly."
Mamoswine still stood firmly in place.
The Flamethrower came rushing in and struck Mamoswine with precision.
Under the burning flames, white vapor steamed up from Mamoswine's body and filled the air.
Once the firelight faded slightly, it suddenly reared up on its hind legs. Its front hooves, wrapped in brownish energy, stomped down heavily.
Boom!
The entire battlefield trembled violently. The earthquake wave tore through the ground like an awakened beast, and raging energy surged along the surface toward Arcanine!
At such close range, even though Mamoswine's power had been weakened by Intimidate, that point-blank shockwave still slammed solidly into Arcanine's body.
"Whine...!"
Arcanine was shaken so badly that it staggered backward.
By the time it barely steadied itself, its forelegs were already trembling slightly. It had clearly taken considerable damage.
Blaine's heart tightened, but he could only give another order. "Flamethrower!"
Arcanine opened its huge mouth, and a blazing pillar of fire roared toward Mamoswine again.
Sizzle!
The flames were powerful and fierce, but when they touched Mamoswine, most of them scattered away like flowing water.
The Thick Fat Ability greatly weakened Fire-type damage that was super effective against Ice-types. The scorching energy only left a few char marks on the surface and failed to inflict any substantial damage.
"Sigh."
Pryce's sigh condensed into white mist and scattered in the cold wind. "Old friend, you've grown rusty."
As soon as he finished speaking, Pryce's wheelchair rolled over the thin ice, producing a faint, brittle crackle.
"Laboratory instruments have dulled your claws and fangs."
"While you spent all these years busy tinkering with your so-called experiments, the Fire-type Pokémon you raised had already burned themselves out."
"Mamo!"
Sensing its Trainer's disappointment, Mamoswine raised its head and let out an earth-shaking roar.
The ice crystals carried by Snowscape fell like pale confetti, making Blaine's already pale face look even dimmer.
"Mamoswine, Earthquake."
There was no emotion left in Pryce's words, as if he were talking about the most ordinary thing in the world.
Clearly, after these two exchanges, he was somewhat disappointed in Blaine.
"Mamo."
Mamoswine reared up again, its twin hooves wrapped in mountain-shattering power as it stomped hard onto the icy ground.
An even more violent earthquake wave surged out like a mad dragon tearing open the sky, roaring toward Arcanine.
"Awooo!"
Arcanine did not dodge or retreat. Instead, it charged straight into the earthquake wave.
After taking the heavy blow head-on, all the fur on its body bristled, and its limbs trembled violently. It was clearly near its limit.
"Now, Reversal!"
A sharp gleam burst in Blaine's eyes.
Where was the shame he had supposedly felt because of his old friend's disappointment?
He had been acting the whole time.
A true veteran performer.
Dazzling golden light bloomed from inside Arcanine's body to the outside.
Fighting-type energy surged out from within like an erupting volcano.
With the momentum of a last stand, Arcanine smashed fiercely into Mamoswine.
The instant the golden light exploded, Mamoswine's heavy body was actually blasted backward, staggering. Even the ground beneath it cracked from the impact.
"Mamo..."
Mamoswine let out a deep, pained roar.
Although Thick Fat could effectively resist Fire- and Ice-type attacks, it provided no buffer against Fighting-type energy.
It could be said that Arcanine's Reversal just now was like a siege hammer that directly pierced through its defenses. Fighting-type energy rampaged through its body, shaking its organs violently.
"Arcanine, don't hold back! Go!"
Fighting spirit burned in Arcanine's eyes, and it charged forward again.
The muscles in its four limbs bulged, and Fighting-type energy wrapped around its entire body like flames, transforming into countless heavy punches and kicking shadows that crashed toward Mamoswine.
The Fighting-type move Close Combat!
"Mamoswine, High Horsepower."
"Mamo!"
Mamoswine roared. Ground-type energy surged upward from beneath its feet, making it look as if it had been covered in armor forged from the earth itself.
It charged straight into the storm of fists and kicks. The tremendous momentum brought by High Horsepower shook the entire battlefield.
The crimson of Fighting-type energy and the brownish yellow of Ground-type energy collided with a roar.
The center of the energy explosion burst with blinding light, and the shockwave swept ice shards and dust into a raging vortex.
The two figures remained locked in a stalemate amid the flying fragments of energy. The guardrails around the stands buzzed under the impact of the scattered aftershocks.
Boom!
With a sudden explosion, Arcanine and Mamoswine fell backward at the same time.
Whoosh...
Ice dust drifted down and gradually covered Arcanine's faintly rising and falling chest, as well as Mamoswine's slightly twitching body.
"Arcanine and Mamoswine are unable to battle. Both competitors, please send out your next Pokémon!"
"I never expected the first round to end in a draw. It looks like the battles to come will be even harder to predict! Who will claim victory in this first match? Let's wait and see!"
Guli TV was secretly shocked. He had thought one side would seize the opening win, but instead, the first round ended directly in a tie.
This kind of situation could not exactly be called unheard of, but it was rare in ordinary battles.
"Whew. You worked hard, old friend."
Blaine recalled Arcanine.
Then he immediately sent out Rapidash.
It was another Kanto Fire-type Pokémon.
It was different from the Rapidash Grey had seen before.
This Rapidash's strength was the same as Arcanine's. Both were level 65.
Everything else was basically the same as the previous Rapidash.
Its Ability was Run Away, emphasizing one thing above all else, speed.
When Pryce saw the Rapidash Blaine had sent out, an almost imperceptible curve crossed his lips.
He lifted one thin fingertip, and the Swinub that had been crouching on his shoulder the entire time nimbly leapt down.
The fluffy little thing landed as lightly as a snowflake, yet the instant it touched the ice, the temperature of the entire battlefield dropped by several degrees.
It shook the frost from its fur, and its slit-like eyes stared straight at the neighing Rapidash.
"Huh? He sent out Swinub?"
"Wasn't it Mamoswine just now? Why did he suddenly switch to Swinub, the first stage?"
Confused whispers rose from the audience stands.
People leaned forward, studying the round little Swinub in the field.
It was not even as tall as its opponent's fetlock. It looked more like a mascot than a main battle Pokémon.
If a rookie Trainer used Swinub in battle, everyone would actually be able to understand.
But the one who had sent out Swinub was Pryce.
And at the start, he had sent out Mamoswine, Swinub's final evolution.
Under these circumstances, it was hard not to make connections.
"So, can this thing actually fight?"
"Is Gym Leader Pryce holding back?"
"I can't see any way Pryce wins with this."
Doubtful murmurs circulated through the stands.
"Achoo!"
Then Swinub suddenly sneezed, and fine ice crystals froze the nearby guardrail, spreading spiderweb cracks across it. All the voices of doubt stopped at once.
"Okay, that's insane. This Swinub is definitely not normal."
"I know this one. It's one of those Pokémon that forcibly suppresses its strength and refuses to evolve, then later it can one-shot ten Lances."
The audience's reaction took a complete one-eighty.
A single sneeze had shown that level of strength.
One look was enough to tell it was absurdly powerful.
"This Swinub?!"
Blaine's pupils contracted.
In front of him, the flames in Rapidash's mane suddenly flickered unsteadily, as if it had encountered a natural predator, and it instinctively took half a step back.
The audience outside the field would only laugh at Swinub's size, but only Blaine knew that the outcome of this duel had been decided from the start.
"Old man Blaine, being timid and hesitant isn't your style. Or have all those years of experiments truly burned you out?"
Pryce shook his head, his eyes filled with helplessness.
Blaine had already lost the passion he once had.
Now he was only coasting on old glory. One day, he truly would burn out completely.
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