Day 50 of the journey to Kanto. Light rain.
Reiji woke up to rain outside the window and frowned. They had only had two days of good weather. Why was it raining again already?
After breakfast at the Pokémon Center, he prepared to set out. As for the roster he would use at the Indigo Plateau Conference, he could handle that once he reached the competitors' village and have Mikan Gym send the Pokémon over then. There was no hurry.
The tournament was still a few days away. If he transferred them over too early, that meant more mouths to feed and more Pokémon to look after, which would only make cooking take longer. He could wait until he reached the village.
Besides choosing his tournament roster, he still had plenty to sort out with his current main team. The most urgent thing was giving his eight main Pokémon proper items.
Right now, only Poliwhirl and Kingler had items. The others still needed them, and even Poliwhirl's and Kingler's items would have to be swapped out.
That could also wait until he reached the competitors' village. A single item's boost would not decide a battle by itself, at least not to that degree. If he equipped them during the early group stage, the Pokémon would have enough time to get used to their items.
After breakfast, he put on a raincoat, released Tauros, climbed on, and slowly headed for the Indigo Plateau.
Only after the rain stopped did he lower his hood and take out the Indigo Plateau Conference Trainer handbook to read through the rules.
The setup was basically the same as the tournament he had joined in the Orange Archipelago. The exact number of entrants would only be confirmed at the Indigo Plateau Conference itself. In a 3-on-3 match, a Trainer could switch Pokémon three times. In a 6-on-6 match, the limit was six.
The rest of the rules were straightforward. A Pokémon that avoided battle too passively or showed no will to fight would be ruled defeated on the spot. If a Trainer exceeded the switch limit and tried to force another switch anyway, they would receive one warning. A second violation meant defeat.
Moves that switched Pokémon out did not count toward the switch limit. As long as each Pokémon knew a move that could force or allow a switch, the Trainer could switch as many times as they wanted without breaking the rules.
Both Trainers also had to release their Pokémon at the same time and begin the opening exchange together. Being a step too slow would earn a warning and cost them the initiative.
Sleeping on the battlefield was another problem. If a Pokémon fell asleep and could not wake up, it would be treated as refusing to fight. Berries were limited to one, but regular items had no such restriction.
That rule probably existed because Pokémon could not split their focus too far. Trying to use too many items at once was easy to overdo. Of course, Pokémon that could handle multiple items existed too. It all depended on how the Trainer arranged things.
There were also rules about the Trainer's age, number of Pokémon, and plenty of similar details.
The basic entry requirement was simple: eight Badges, or a qualification badge from the Pokémon League entrance exam. Either one counted as passing the preliminaries.
After that came the group stage. Matches would be split across four sub-venues: the Water Field, Grass Field, Ice Field, and Rock Field.
The order of the four fields would be decided by draw, and opponents would be drawn as well. The group stage would continue until only sixteen contestants remained, and those sixteen would move on to the knockout stage.
Every group-stage match would be 3-on-3. From the top sixteen onward, every match would be 6-on-6.
The tournament would continue through the semifinals, from four down to two, and then the final would decide the champion of the Indigo Plateau Conference.
There was also technically one more semifinal-style match. The two Trainers who lost in the top four would battle for third place, but that match would be added after the final.
If Reiji wanted to reach the knockout stage, he needed to rely on support Pokémon first and preserve his main team's strength. After all, once the top sixteen began, winning the championship meant fighting through four full rounds.
Each round was six battles. Four rounds meant twenty-four battles. Asking his eight main Pokémon to carry him through twenty-four knockout battles was no small burden.
His margin for error was only two main Pokémon. If three or more of them went down or suffered injuries, he would have to enter the final with only five main Pokémon left. Five against six would put him at a clear disadvantage.
He had no idea how the other contestants would arrange their teams, or how many main Pokémon they would still have by the final. His own plan was to protect his core. The group stage could be handled by support Pokémon.
Once he entered the knockout stage, his eight main Pokémon would take turns fighting. If anyone picked up even a light injury, they would be rotated out to preserve strength. That was the only way they could all stay with him until the final.
Newly caught Pokémon like Diglett, Magnemite, Tentacool, and Barboach were out of the question. He had not trained them after catching them, so they did not even count as support Pokémon. They were not ready for tournament battles.
He had already decided which support Pokémon he could use. In reality, the only ones fit for competition were Butterfree, Farfetch'd, Staryu, Slowpoke, and, barely, his riding mount Tauros. Five support Pokémon in total. Even Ash had more battle-ready Pokémon than him.
During the group stage, he planned to use either a one-carrying-two strategy or a two-carrying-one strategy, with support Pokémon taking the lead.
One-carrying-two meant sending two support Pokémon out first. If the first support Pokémon won, then even if the second match was lost, the second slot would still go to another support Pokémon. Only the third Pokémon would be one of his main team, sent in to secure the match.
Two-carrying-one worked the same way in reverse. If the first support Pokémon lost, then the second Pokémon would have to be one of his main team, and the third would also be a main Pokémon. Two main Pokémon would be used to pull the match back and win the group-stage round.
That way, he could preserve his main team for stronger opponents in the knockout stage.
There was no helping it. He did not have two full teams of main Pokémon, so this was the only way to arrange his strategy. Trainers with even fewer Pokémon than him could probably reach the knockout stage with six Pokémon at most, and that would already be their limit. Reiji was aiming for the championship.
As for the champion's prize…
The champion could choose between one Kanto first partner Pokémon or a three-stone Evolution Stone set.
The runner-up could choose between one Kanto first partner Pokémon or two Evolution Stones.
Third place did not get a first partner Pokémon. They could choose one Evolution Stone from the three-stone set.
The three stones in the prize set were a Water Stone, a Fire Stone, and a Thunder Stone. All of them were high-grade Evolution Stones.
The prizes were generous. If he chose the Evolution Stones and resold them, they would start at thirty million Pokédollars at minimum.
Unfortunately, the first partner Pokémon could not be sold. At least not openly. Privately, though, placing one in a Day Care for breeding and then claiming ignorance was still possible. There was plenty of room for a Trainer to work around the rules if they knew what they were doing.
If he failed to win the championship this time, taking runner-up would still be acceptable. He could receive a Squirtle. Hopefully, the League would provide high-quality first partner Pokémon. If they were just leftovers that new Trainers had already passed over, then the League's sincerity toward the contestants would be pretty disappointing.
Looking forward to the tournament—and to that little turtle—Reiji put down the Trainer handbook. When he raised his head, he could already see the snow covering the peak of the Indigo Plateau. The tournament would be held up there.
Next came another climb. With Tauros's pace alone, it would take him at least two days to reach Indigo Stadium. By car, it would only take half a day.
Along the way, he had already seen plenty of Trainers heading for the Indigo Plateau. Some were riding cars, some were walking, and some were flying in on Pokémon. It was getting lively.
He kept going until nightfall, but he still had not reached the Indigo Plateau. He had only just arrived at the foot of the mountain. He decided not to continue and set up camp there instead. He would climb the mountain tomorrow.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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