Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

"Good luck." *3

.......

April 3rd.

The air was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, the crackling of firecrackers, the fluttering of red flags, and the sea of ​​people. The sky was clear and cloudless.

In short, it's a great day for the draw and the matches.

In the service hall of the Quartz Contest.

Sixty-four trainers gathered together.

The service hall, which could accommodate thousands of people drawing lots at the same time, now only has this few people left.

Trainers stood in twos and threes with people they knew, sizing each other up as potential future rivals.

Among them, Tetsuya received the most attention, apart from the few champion seeds.

The low murmurs of discussion blended together, making the entire service hall somewhat noisy.

"Ahem, everyone, please note that the trainers who are next to report for duty and appear on the screen, please proceed to the lottery pool to draw lots."

Miss Joey's sweet voice came from a speaker on the roof.

"The first one is Hayato Nohara from Sinnoh Banteay City."

Without giving the contestants much time to react, Miss Joey directly announced the first person's name, and his image appeared on the huge display screen in the center of the service hall.

A burly, hairy man stepped out.

"drink."

He casually picked up a fishing rod and cast it into the pool in the center of the service hall.

That's right, this is what's called a lottery pool.

Originally, this was an open space surrounded by a dozen service counters, but now it has been completely transformed.

Calling it a renovation isn't quite accurate; it's simply a small mechanism that creates a sunken pool.

As for the fortune slip inside, don't overthink it; only it can shoulder this great responsibility.

In just a few seconds, Hayato Nohara lifted the fishing rod, with a red-scaled elf hanging from the hook, its tail still wagging wildly.

It was Magikarp.

It also has a combination of letters and numbers printed on it—B3.

The League staff nearby found the Magikarp's special Poké Ball and put it back.

On the huge display screen in the center of the service hall, next to Hayato Nohara's portrait, the lottery number he drew appeared and shrank to disappear into the upper left corner.

"Second place goes to Matsuoka Yumesae from Hoenn Saiyu City."

Miss Joey directed the lottery process in an orderly manner.

"Please don't let me run into someone too strong. If all else fails, it would be even better if I ran into Ye Zang." Yuan Haitang Luping prayed anxiously from the side.

Ye Zang, standing to the side, was completely bewildered. What did he mean by "it's perfect that you met me"? You're very brave.

"This lottery method does indeed eliminate the possibility of cheating to a certain extent." Yamashiro-kun nodded unconsciously as he looked at the new lottery method proposed by Chairman Damaranchi.

“If it were a superpowered person, they could still cheat, but those people wouldn’t stoop to doing something like that,” Ye Zang replied.

"These Magikarp are quite big; the League must have been breeding them for a while now."

Tetsuya offered his observations from a completely different perspective.

“Now that you mention it, it’s true, you’ve been taking calcium supplements?” As a researcher, Yamashiro-kun and Hara Kaidou-shika also observed carefully and confirmed that, as Tetsuya said, the Magikarp were indeed quite large.

"Aren't you all being ridiculous? What's the use of a Magikarp being so big?" Yozo said, speechless.

"Do you think there's any relationship between the size of Magikarp before it evolves and its size after it evolves into Gyarados?"

Zhe ignored the rough man and discussed academic issues with Jun and Luping.

"Yes, there might be some, but the reference data is too limited, so the proportions could be quite different," Yuan Haitang Luping said uncertainly.

The group chatted about this trivial topic.

"The eleventh place is Tamaki Tetsuya from Tokiwa in the Kanto region."

Miss Joey's voice came at that moment.

"We'll talk later, I'm going to draw a lot first," Tetsuya said as he walked to the lot-drawing pool.

With a skillful flick of his fishing rod, he caught a Magikarp, and his spot in the round of 64 was revealed: A1.

A series of hushed sighs came from the surrounding area.

Tetsuya put down his fishing rod and returned to the other three.

"this..."

Yamashiro-kun also smiled with a hint of schadenfreude.

Zhe rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Hahahaha." Lu Ping burst into laughter from the side.

"Good luck with the opening, tsk tsk tsk." Ye Zang patted Tetsuya's shoulder with feigned satisfaction, but he was clearly holding back a laugh.

The A1 draw in the match between the sixty-four teams means that the first match (1) of the first day (A) will be at 10:00 a.m. today, two hours later.

The pond contains sixty-four carp in pairs, with 32 different combinations of letters and numbers.

Including the ten that had been drawn before, Tetsuya accurately drew the number one lot with a probability of about 3.7%.

I must say, we were lucky.

"I really..." Tetsuya was also helpless, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

One after another, Ye Zang, Lu Ping, and Jun also finished drawing their own lots.

"You bastard, you planned this all along?"

Ye Zang said through gritted teeth to Yuan Haitang Luping.

Well, they were "lucky" to bump into each other, just as Yuan Haitang Luping just said, their draw number was C3, the third day, the third game.

"Don't talk nonsense, but it looks like you're going to be eliminated in the first round." Yuan Haitang Luping grinned at Ye Zang.

"Oh ho? I think you're the one who got eliminated in the first round." Ye Zang squinted, showing no sign of backing down.

"Never mind those two weaklings fighting, you have to keep going." Tetsuya patted Yamashiro Kimiya on the back with a slightly comforting tone.

At the same time, all four of them were in the same boat, and none of them had good luck in the lottery.

Tetsuya drew the first spot, and his two friends, Shikahei and Yozo, were matched up against each other.

The most unfortunate one was Yamashiro-kun, who encountered Shinagawa Seiji.

That's the number one contender for the championship.

Yamashiro Kimi's lips twitched slightly. He had a feeling that there was an eyebrow pencil among the four of them, and more than one.

"Phew~" Yamashiro-kun also let out a long breath, having no choice but to accept this fact.

"But your opponent is not bad. He's weaker than you and his Pokémon's type is average." He looked at Tetsuya standing next to him.

Tetsuya nodded in agreement.

Sugiyama Kage's main Pokémon consist of three near-Elite Four members and three elite peak Pokémon. In terms of pure strength, they are inferior to him, and their Pokémon's type is slightly countered by his partners.

"I'll go prepare now, I don't have much time." Tetsuya said goodbye to the three of them and headed towards the players' lounge not far away.

Therefore, being unlucky enough to draw the first match meant that the opponent's strategy seemed rushed.

"We'll head over to the stands now, good luck!" Yamashiro-kun offered his blessings to the two still bickering beside him.

Tetsuya raised his right hand to indicate that he understood.

The three potential Elite Four members are Donphan, Feraligatr, and Wobbuffet. In the players' lounge, Tetsuya is writing down his thoughts for the upcoming battle with a pen and paper.

Does this guy have a particular fondness for blue?

Seeing that his opponent Sugiyama Kage's Pokémon were almost all blue, Tetsuya fell into a strange state of mind. The basis for capturing Pokémon was really interesting.

Leaving aside what Tetsuya was thinking in the players' lounge, the atmosphere inside the Quartz Arena was incredibly heated.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Fireworks burst in the sky.

The cheers from the audience were deafening.

People watching on television were already at home, enjoying the annual regional convention with their families.

The Quartz Arena, which can hold 100,000 people, was packed to capacity, and cheers resounded throughout the Quartz Plateau.

Compared to the attention garnered during the knockout stages of the four different venues, the main arena saw at least four or five times more attention.

Many viewers who hadn't watched the elimination rounds before will also focus their attention on the battles between the top 64 players, because these 64 people can be considered to be at the limit of the strength that normal trainers can reach, or even exceed it.

Welcome to the Quartz Arena!

The narration's voice, amplified by ubiquitous technology, resonated throughout the venue.

He was dressed in a black suit, and "flew" over the arena.

Yes, it really did "fly over".

He was standing on a floating platform aircraft.

The main reason for doing this is that the main arena is too big. If the commentators were to sit on a high platform at the side of the field like they would in the attribute sub-areas, they would not be able to see the details clearly.

That's why the commentators at the Indigo League main arena are all incredibly talented.

In addition to being better than the average commentator, one must also be proficient in using hovering platform aircraft, and even have sufficient ability to deal with dangers affecting oneself during Pokémon battles—otherwise, even if one doesn't lose their life, they'll be bedridden for several months.

Attacks from elite-level and near-Elite Four level Pokémon are not easy to withstand. Even the aftershocks are close to the limits that a normal human body can endure, and the slightest carelessness can result in injury.

"Today is the day when sixty-four powerful trainers gather together."

Here, we will witness the deep bond between humans and Pokémon, and the sweat and wounds that trainers and Pokémon shed for victory...

Incidentally, the commentator also serves as the host.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly heated, he waved his hand and announced, "Then, the first match of the Quartz Tournament, from 64 to 32, officially begins!!"

Tetsuya, who had already left the players' lounge and was resting with his eyes closed in the players' tunnel, also heard the commentary and opened his eyes.

It's time to go on stage.

"The blue team's player is Tetsuya Tamaki from Tokiwa City!!"

The swift Pidgeot, the dashing Blaziken, the elegant Serperior, the composed Gigantamax, the nimble Togekiss, the pink Ampharos, the water-resistant Rhyperior, and the Grass-type Leafeon, the new Grass-type evolution of Eevee that he discovered himself, are his companions.

He displayed incredible strength in previous matches. In 14 matches, only one Pokémon, Ironhide Rhyperior, lost its battle ability once. Apart from that, Tetsuya won every battle with any of his Pokémon.

Most importantly, this handsome young trainer is only seventeen years old, and this Indigo League is the first tournament he has participated in since his debut.

It's not hard for us to imagine how brilliant his future will be.

But the competition isn't about the future, it's about the present. Whether Tetsuya can defeat his opponent is the key to his future success, and it will all depend on him!

Tetsuya's figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

At this moment, the cheers from the audience reached an even higher level.

Chapter 270 6v6 All-Out Battle

Meanwhile, in the passage opposite Tetsuya, the figure of his opponent, Sugiyama Kage, gradually appeared.

"Red team, player Sugiyama Kage from Johto Mankin.

Tranquil, free, fresh, and loyal, Sugiyama Kage, a player who is fond of blue Pokémon, has Donphan, whose status is determined by the size and length of his teeth;

The Mighty Crocodile likes to use its large, powerful jaws to bite its enemies;

Wobbuffet, which does not attack proactively but only reflects attacks back;