Chapter 151
On the 15th Day on the 12th Moon, the 320 Participants of the Indigo Conference gathered inside the Indigo Stadium.
A former Winner of the Indigo Plateau Conference, Lance Blackthorn, the current Kanto Champion, accepted the Torch from the Charles Goodshow's hands after every Participant had held it once, and then climbed up the stairs of the Stadium to light up the Central Torch, which announced the start of the 198th Edition of the Indigo Conference.
The 80,000 spectators in the stadium loudly cheered, and their cries rose to the sky, making the hearts of the Participants thump hard against their chests.
On the giant screens, the countdown started...
30
29
28
27
...
...
...
1!
The names and images of all the Participants appeared on the Screens, and then a live Draw inside the Aquarium of the Pokémon Center was shown.
An hour later, all 40 groups had been formed with eight participants in each group.
And then each Participant was paired up against four different opponents from their group on four different battlefields.
Aizen, whose number was 8, was in a group with 36, 52, 98, 123, 155, 202, and 311.
His first match was at 5 pm against 36 in the Rock Battlefield. His second match was tomorrow at 10 am against 52 in the Grass Battlefield. His third match was also tomorrow at 5 pm against 98 in the Ice Battlefield. And his last Preliminary Match was the day after tomorrow at 10 am against 311 at the Water Battlefield.
In each Preliminary Match, Trainers could only use two Pokémon. There was a Time Limit of 55 Minutes, but the Referees and the Judges had the right to make a decision in case of foul play where participants were wasting time unnecessarily.
With a total of 16 Matches in every group, there were 640 Preliminary Matches over the next 9 Days.
The Prince glanced at Leaf, who was grinning as she was not facing any of her friends or the Trainers she deemed dangerous in the Preliminary Rounds.
Ritchie was excited as well, and it was the same for Gary and Ash, who were in the same group but did not have a match against each other. However, both of them were nervous as well.
Gary's Match was at noon at the Second Rock Battlefield, and Ash's Match was at 1 pm at the First Rock Battlefield.
Leaf and Ritchie did not have their Matches today. They had their first match tomorrow.
Back at the Pokémon Center, the group had their breakfast together, and then they met with Delia Ketchum, Professor Oak, Hilda Oak, Daisy Oak, Elaine Green, and Ritchie's parents, Richard and Regina, who were both Pokémon Rangers.
Meeting their families did help them calm down their nerves a lot, however, Professor Oak soon led them away so that Ash and Gary could focus on their upcoming match.
The two boys from Pallet Town were trying their best to find information on their opponents, and seeing them fret, Ritchie too started to get nervous.
"I suggest you focus on your own game plans," Brock spoke to the two, who frowned and nodded their heads.
"May!" Anira suddenly cried in excitement when she received a call from her friend. "Stay right there. I am coming to get you!"
The Orayen Princess then jumped off the couch and grabbed Leaf and Misty's hands as she took them out.
Rinko jumped off Aizen's shoulder and followed them, and though the Prince was expecting them to return soon, they did not come back.
A while later, he received a message that they were with his Grandmother, May's Mother, April, and the Williams Family at the Champions Hall.
Professor Birch was extremely busy, so he had not come with his wife and daughter. He did ask May to give him an apology, and the Prince assured the girl and her Mother that he did not mind it.
Anira, Leaf, Misty, and May promised them that they would come to the Rock Battlefields to watch Gary and Ash's Matches.
Half an hour before noon, Aizen, Brock, and Ritchie arrived inside the Second Rock Stadium, and since they had already purchased the seats at the Grandstand online, they did not have to stand in the queues.
As promised, Anira, Leaf, and Misty were already there, and the fourth girl, who was the same age as the Princess, jumped up and hugged Aizen with all her limbs.
"Brother!"
"Hey! He's my brother!" Anira narrowed her eyes at May, but the latter stuck a tongue at her and giggled when the Prince planted a kiss on her head.
"How are you?"
"I am fine." She sweetly told him and pouted when he put her down on her feet.
May then greeted Brock and Ritchie, and then grabbed the Orayen Prince as she made him sit between her and Anira.
"Can I see Lux? Pretty please?" She begged, and he chuckled at her behaviour before he called out the Shiny Shinx, who had her gushing all over him.
May was ecstatic when the Shinx sat in her lap, and she hugged him with a lot of care and rubbed her cheeks on its soft fur.
"Careful, May. It's an Electric Pokémon." Misty warned her, but the girl from Littleroot Town did not care.
"It's okay. I would not mind getting electrocuted by someone so adorable..."
Aizen and Anira laughed when the Shiny Shinx puffed up his chest in pride. Then again, Rinko had taken him in as his Apprentice, so he was bound to get influenced by his idol.
Soon, however, their attention was on the Battlefield where the Referee arrived after the Commentator announced his name.
"Please welcome our Participants of the first Preliminary Match of this Year's Indigo Plateau Conference...."
"To take up the Eastern Grid, we have a boy from Pallet Town, Kanto, who is representing the Oak Laboratory. His name is... Gary Oak!!!"
"To take up the Western Grid, we have a boy from Cerulean City, Kanto, who is representing the Bluebond Academy. His name is... Denis Bluebond!"
Both the Trainers stepped out of the tunnels at the same time and walked over to take their spots on their respective grids.
"These two Trainers started their journey this year, and they are Participating in a Pokémon League Conference for the first time. Please give them a round of applause that they will forever remember!"
Deafening cheers rose from the stands, and Gary smiled and showed no signs of nervousness.
His opponent, however, was a little intimidated by the atmosphere.
The Referee, who was in his grid, did not explain any rules.
Every Participant was required to memorise the rules of the match before stepping into the Battlefield, and at the back of every seat, the Rules of the Match were displayed on the screens for the spectators.
"Trainers, please take your Pokéball in your hand." He requested, and both Gary and Denis made their picks.
The countdown on the screens started, and when it hit zero, the Referee blew the whistle, and both the Trainers activated their Pokéballs and threw them in the air at the same time.
"Venusaur!"
"Wyrdeer!"
Anira laughed out loud at Gary's intelligent choice, and it was clear that the opponent was expecting him to send out a Ground or Rock Type Pokémon.
The Oak played safe and it paid off, and his opponent was using his Pokédex to check which Pokémon it was.
"Let's begin!"
As soon as the Referee raised his Flags and the Green Light lit up on the screens, Gary gave his first command.
"Use Extrasensory!"
Perhaps it was the nervousness that got to him, Denis failed to call out a countermove in time.
The Psychic attack hit the Pokémon, rattling it, and the Wyrdeer, without Gary's command, followed up with a Megahorn.
Venusaur was still standing after those two attacks, and Denis finally asked it to use Leaf Strom. However, the Light Screen was active, and the deer Pokémon used another Extrasensory to block the attack and give an invisible slap to the Grass Powerhouse, who had evolved ahead of time.
"Venusaur is unable to battle. Gary Oak and Wyrdeer win the first round!"
Ritchie, Brock, and the girls loudly cheered for their friend, but a group of spectators also encouraged Denis to make a comeback.
"Go, Rhydon!"
Gary, as soon as he saw which Pokémon the opponent had chosen, recalled Wyrdeer and sent out his Blastoise.
"Round 2: Rhydon vs Blastoise. Let's begin!"
And what followed was a sound and convincing victory by Gary, which earned him a total of 4 points since he had not lost either of his Pokémon.
The group did not stay in the Second Rock Stadium but moved to the First Rock Stadium to watch the ongoing battle there.
Gary joined them in the Grandstand and received a suffocating hug from Ritche.
They watched the second match of the hour which concluded only 12 minutes before 1 pm, and the League Workers immediately stepped into the Arena and summoned their Rock and Ground Pokémon to prepare the Battlefield for the next match.
It only took two minutes to fix the devastation that the last battle had caused there. At 12:55 pm, the Referee stepped into the Arena again.
"Up next are two aspiring Trainers, one of whom has started his journey this year. Please welcome our Trainer on the Eastern Grid, a boy from Pallet Town, Kanto, representing the Oak Laboratory, Ash Ketchum!!!"
"On the Western Grid, we have a boy from Cherrygrove City, Johto, representing the Cherrygrove Brewery, Alex Davis!!!"
"This is Ash's first League Conference participation. Alex Davis reached the Top 64 in last year's Silver Conference."
Under a ruckus applause, the two Trainers smiled and plucked a Pokeball from their belts.
As soon as the countdown ended, both activated their Pokéballs and threw them in the air.
"Round 1: Ursaring vs Tauros. Begin!"
Ash kept everyone on their toes as his Tauros struggled a lot against a decently trained Ursaring.
However, against the odds, it managed to land the Giga Impact where it took out its opponent with him.
Both the Trainers were nervous because they would have to go in blind in the next round as well.
"Round Two: Golem vs Lapras!"
And the day could not have been any more lucky for Ash.
Even though his Lapras was weak to Rock Type moves, Golem was at a double disadvantage against Water Type moves.
After a hard-fought round, Lapras prevailed against its opponent, and Ash Ketchum entered the Table with 3 points in his first match.