Led by the staff, David and his group quickly made their way to the competition venue: the battle arena of Heavenly Dragon Academy.
It had to be said that even though private schools didn't always excel at everything, their wealth was impossible to deny. The arena in front of them was said to be their newest addition, and it certainly looked the part. Not only was it magnificent to behold, it was also enormous. Setting aside the many smaller battlefields scattered around its perimeter, David guessed that the main arena alone could easily seat tens of thousands of spectators.
Plenty of smaller cities didn't have arenas this large. The stadium before them stood shoulder to shoulder with the one back at their own high school, and in some ways it even surpassed it, if only because it had been built more recently.
The competition itself would take place in the central grand arena. With the High School League underway, the entire student body had turned out to watch. On a day like this, nobody wanted to be the one dragging everyone back to class, so anyone who cared to watch was free to come.
Looking out at the packed rows of spectators, David found himself marveling once again at just how deeply Pokémon battles had rooted themselves into this world. Before the timeline had shifted, even official school events had rarely managed to draw a crowd this complete.
Students in the stands waved small flags they'd brought from home and hung banners to cheer on their team. Even Randolf, who had spent the whole morning angling for a way to sit this one out, seemed to lose his nerve to slack off once he saw the size of the crowd gathering in the opposing team's waiting area.
Swept up in the excitement around them, David and his teammates made their way to their own waiting area. After a short delay while both sides settled in, the qualifying round of the High School League's Imperial Division was ready to begin.
The rules for the qualifier were simple enough. One of three formats would be chosen by drawing lots: a Ring Match, a Doubles match, or a Team Battle.
Ring Match: Each side fields six trainers, with no more than three Pokémon of the same type allowed per team. Whichever side still has a trainer standing on the ring at the end wins. Because a single trainer can keep challenging one opponent after another, this format is considered the best test of individual strength.
Doubles: Each side sends out two trainers, each permitted to use up to three Pokémon. The match is decided in a single round.
Team Battle: Each side sends five trainers, each trainer restricted to one Pokémon. Whichever side wins three matches out of five takes the round; a tie is broken with an additional match.
Given how strong David was, the Ring Match would have suited him best. With his skill, he could have swept through three opposing trainers without much trouble. The Team Battle, on the other hand, was the format that limited him the most — no matter how powerful he was, he could only ever win one match in it, and there was even a chance he'd be paired against one of the opponent's weaker Pokémon through a clever mismatch strategy, taking him out of the running entirely. As for Doubles, it barely needed thinking about; in a single decisive round, David could win even if his partner was far weaker than he was.
Before the match could begin, the two team captains had to draw lots to decide the format. They flipped a coin to see who would draw.
The opposing captain's luck held, and their side won the one-in-three chance to choose. A moment later, the display lit up with the result for everyone to see: it would be a Team Battle — the exact format that hemmed David in the most.
A one-in-three shot, and they'd landed on it. What a coincidence.
If it weren't for the fact that Alliance officials were sent to observe and supervise every match of the High School League, someone might have suspected foul play. Sure enough, one such official was standing nearby even now. Not that it mattered much — against strength like David's, even a rigged draw barely changed the outcome.
Once the format was confirmed, David walked back to his team's waiting area without so much as a backward glance.
"Well, David, guess your luck wasn't quite as impressive as you thought, huh?"
Miles couldn't resist needling him the moment he returned.
Miles had a point. Of the three formats, the Team Battle was the one that boxed them in the most, and under these rules, David's greatest strengths would be hard to bring to bear.
Still, it didn't trouble him much. David simply stepped forward and read out his decision. He'd entered his own name into consideration, but it was clear he had no intention of stepping onto the ring just yet — not this early. At this stage of the tournament, few of his peers were interesting enough to hold his attention. If anything, it was the trainer on the other side with the Hakamo-o who came closest to catching his eye.
That opponent's overall strength was neither especially strong nor especially weak — about right for giving the school team some solid experience. Without hesitating, David pointed to one of his own trainers.
"Aspen, you're up."
"Got it."
David never wasted words. At his call, Aspen stepped out from the group and took her place across the ring. Aspen was fairly close with Luke, one of David's oldest friends, and was widely regarded as one of the promising young trainers sponsored by Luke's family's business.
The trainer who stepped up to face her was none other than the heavyset Randolf, who only moments ago had been quietly hoping to dodge this very moment.
Neither side wanted to drag out the wait any longer. As Rotom, serving as referee, sounded the electronic signal to begin from its post at the edge of the grand arena, both trainers' Pokémon surged forward, and the match began.