"Hello, everyone! Thank you all for waiting!"
"The first battle on the Rock Field is finally about to begin."
The commentator's voice rang out over the loudspeakers, carrying a hint of excitement as he introduced the two competitors in a booming voice.
"On the red side is Otoshi from Xiaoya Town. On the green side is Caster from Cerulean City."
Since this was the first match and was being held at one of the secondary fields, there was basically no organized cheering from the crowd.
Even when there was some, it came from friends and family supporting the competitors, and their voices were almost impossible to hear across such a huge venue.
"Each trainer may use only three Pokémon!"
The referee waved the small flags in his hands and shouted, "Trainers, take your positions!"
Hearing this, Caster and Otoshi each took out a Poké Ball and held it in their hands, ready for battle.
Then, at the referee's command, they simultaneously threw their Poké Balls.
The moment the Pokémon appeared, scattered cheers finally rose from the stands.
The spectators knew the real show was finally about to begin.
"Shellder~"
Caster's lead Pokémon was Shellder.
This was the countdown to its personal showcase!
Otoshi's Pokémon, meanwhile, was a horse-shaped Pokémon with a pale yellow body.
Fiery flames formed its mane from the top of its head all the way down its back to its tail, while a horn-like structure grew from its forehead. Its eyes were a blazing red.
"Oh~ and there they are! Caster has sent out the Water-type Shellder, while Otoshi has sent out the Fire-type Rapidash. In terms of type matchups, Otoshi is at a serious disadvantage."
The commentator's voice rang out again as he hurriedly tried to heat up the atmosphere.
"So how will Otoshi respond? Let's wait and see!"
"Damn it! What terrible luck. My lead Pokémon just happens to be at a type disadvantage."
On the platform opposite him, Otoshi, dressed in a kimono, sighed. But he quickly rallied himself.
"Still, Shellder hasn't evolved, so it shouldn't be all that strong. My Rapidash has already evolved once, so its energy intensity is much higher. As long as I deal with it properly, I should be able to win."
Caster, however, looked completely relaxed.
So this Otoshi hadn't investigated him at all. Just as I thought, he's the type who charges straight in without thinking.
Caster's team was a Rain team, and that was already public knowledge. Almost anyone willing to do a little research could find out.
But Otoshi was clearly like Ash. He had no habit of investigating his opponents, collecting information about them, and analyzing it beforehand.
As far as they were concerned, they probably thought, Just fight and get it over with!
"The battle officially begins!"
As the bell rang, Caster's first match at the Indigo League Conference finally began.
"Ice Shard!"
"Agility!"
The two trainers gave their commands almost simultaneously. Clearly, both wanted to seize the initiative.
Rapidash was a Pokémon exceptionally skilled at running. It already possessed both speed and agility, and if it increased its speed further with Agility, it would become extremely troublesome.
Unfortunately for it, its opponent this time was Shellder, and it knew Ice Shard.
Although Ice Shard was not particularly powerful, it was a priority move with an astonishingly fast activation and firing speed.
Whoosh!
Rapidash had barely begun moving its hooves, with the flames on its body not even fully wrapped around it yet, when it was struck by an Ice Shard as thick as a human arm. Terrifying cold spread in every direction.
Normally, Fire types resisted Ice-type attacks, but after absorbing the thousand-year-old Never-Melt Ice, the cold radiating from Shellder was simply far too intense.
Even Rapidash, with flames roaring across its body, felt as though it could no longer withstand it.
"Oh my! What am I seeing? The flames on Rapidash's body are shrinking, and ice crystals are actually beginning to form all over it!"
The commentator's shocked voice came through the speakers.
"The power of Shellder's Ice Shard is absolutely astonishing!"
Rapidash's Ability should have been Flame Body. Shellder's cold was astonishing, but it still was not enough to freeze Rapidash completely.
Even so, Rapidash was already shivering violently from the cold, its four legs trembling.
Naturally, its attempt to use Agility had failed as well!
"While it's vulnerable, Rock Blast!"
Caster issued another command.
"Shellder~"
Shellder's shell opened, and Rock-type energy began gathering rapidly. It then transformed into five enormous rock projectiles that blasted forward, crashing into the stiffened Rapidash.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After taking only three hits, Rapidash's eyes spun in circles as it collapsed to the ground.
Wow!
It had defeated its opponent with only two moves, and the entire battle had lasted less than ten seconds from beginning to end.
That overwhelming display of strength finally ignited the enthusiasm of the audience.
"Just as you'd expect from Caster. Even at the Indigo League Conference, he makes winning look effortless. You can't even see any pressure on him."
Misty hugged Togepi, her eyes sparkling.
Then she thought about Ash, who would be taking the field soon, and could not help feeling a little worried.
"Ash... Will he really be okay? I hope he doesn't get eliminated in the very first round and turn this into a one-day trip to the Indigo League Conference."
"Otoshi has lost his first Pokémon, leaving him with only two. So what Pokémon will he send out next to face his opponent?"
"Go, Vileplume!"
Taking a deep breath, Otoshi sent out his Grass-type Pokémon, which held the type advantage.
Vileplume was a bipedal, flower-shaped Pokémon with an indigo, bulb-like body and legs. A large flower bloomed on top of its head. It had tiny red eyes and a small mouth, while its hands and feet looked tiny beneath the enormous flower.
Soon, the second battle began.
Shellder followed the same old strategy, immediately using Ice Shard to attack.
If there was no way to counter this move, the opponent was basically finished.
The cold carried by Ice Shard was terrifying. Once an opponent was hit, their movements would inevitably be affected. If they were particularly unlucky, they could even be frozen solid and reduced to helpless prey.
"Vileplume, Protect!"
Otoshi's voice rang out, carrying a trace of excitement.
Buzz!
A translucent barrier appeared, blocking the Ice Shard.
But to Otoshi's shock, once the Protect barrier dissipated, the cold released when the Ice Shard shattered invaded once again.
A thick layer of frost immediately formed across Vileplume's body, leaving it stiff and barely able to move.
"Incredible! Caster's Shellder has reached an astonishing level of mastery with Ice-type attacks. Even without being hit directly, the cold it releases is terrifying. This is definitely not something to underestimate!"
The commentator's voice rose several octaves. Clearly, he had not expected to witness such a powerful attack in the preliminary rounds.
A Pokémon of this caliber would normally be kept as a trump card.
Then, when he looked at Caster's information on the desk, he could not help but click his tongue in disbelief.
This kid is eighteen?
He's a monster of a rookie!
Meanwhile, on the battlefield.
Taking advantage of the stiffness caused by the frost covering Vileplume's body, Shellder once again formed five Icicle Spears and fired them wildly, each one streaking through the air like a missile.
Thud! Thud!
Vileplume fared even worse than Rapidash this time. It took only two Icicle Spears before collapsing.
Gritting his teeth, Otoshi sent out his ace Pokémon, Marowak.
It was a bipedal Pokémon with a light brown belly and a dark brown body. Its head was covered by what looked like a huge bone mask, while it held an enormous bone club in its hands.
This Marowak was quite strong. In the anime, when it fought Ash, it once used a Focus Energy and Bone Club combination to knock out Bulbasaur in a single blow.
Unfortunately, that strength was of little use against Shellder.
Even after using Protect to block Ice Shard, and learning from the earlier exchange by quickly retreating to avoid being frozen by the cold, Marowak still had no way to deal with what came next.
Shellder unleashed Water Pulse, whose power was even greater than Surf.
Marowak had already used up Protect and had nowhere to escape. The torrent of water immediately swept it away.
By the time the water finally dissipated, Marowak was already lying motionless on the ground.
"Marowak is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of this match is Caster from Cerulean City!"
With the referee's declaration, Caster finally secured his first victory at the tournament.
At the same time, the entire venue erupted in thunderous cheers.
"A one-versus-three! He took down all three!"
"Yeah! I never expected them to drop a bomb like Caster right out of the gate. I thought the first match would be two weak players beating each other up!"
"Caster? So that's the real name of Old Fish."
"Caster, let's go!"
Although the battle had been completely one-sided, there was no denying that the spectators had absolutely loved watching it.
Among the crowd were many of Caster's fans, who immediately began promoting him to everyone around them.
Caster had not expected that winning a single battle would actually make his follower count rise again.
Back in the commentary booth, the young commentator also circled Caster's name on his notes.
He had a feeling that Caster would achieve a strong result in this tournament.
As a commentator, he needed to keep a close eye on him and start gathering information in advance.