As the crowd grew louder and angrier, the announcer had no choice but to speak again.
"Ahem, everyone, please calm down. Stadium staff have already notified Officer Jenny. Once the match is over, Kameda will be spoken to about this. Please do not interfere with the match. The battle will continue."
"Damn it." Kameda clenched his fists. Losing the match was one thing, but hearing the crowd curse him from the stands was pure humiliation. This would follow him as a Trainer.
From now on, whenever people saw him, they would know he was the kind of Trainer who abandoned Pokémon. Among Trainers, people like that sat at the bottom. Even villains rarely did something like that unless they were truly rotten.
"Go, Vaporeon! Beat it for me!" Kameda threw Vaporeon's Poké Ball through gritted teeth.
After Starmie's defeat, its icon on the big screen had gone gray. Kameda only had two Pokémon left.
"Vap!" The moment Vaporeon appeared, it recognized Eevee. The two enemies locked eyes, and Eevee went on the attack at once.
"Vaporeon, Rain Dance!"
"Eevee, Quick Attack."
Reiji did not give Kameda the chance to call rain. Vaporeon was still poisoned, and so were Kameda's other two Pokémon. If Vaporeon managed to bring down rain and clear its poison, the fight would become much harder.
"Vee!" Eevee shot forward again. With its anger driving it, and with that Water Gun from the rainy night in Stone Town still fresh in its mind, it ran even faster than before.
Before Vaporeon could summon the clouds, Eevee slammed into it and sent it flying.
Vaporeon hit the wall with a heavy thud. A purple glow flashed over its body as the poison took effect.
Before Vaporeon could recover from the poison, Eevee opened its mouth and fired a stream of glowing stars. Vaporeon was already barely hanging on, and Swift finished it off.
After winning two matches in a row, Eevee lifted its tail high. Most of the credit belonged to Forretress, but that did not stop Eevee from looking down on the Trainer who had thrown it away.
A partner's strength was its strength. A Trainer's strength was its strength too.
It had never been useless. Its Trainer and teammates had been the problem. There were no useless Pokémon, only useless Trainers. That saying was right.
The stands erupted in applause. After Eevee took its second win, the crowd was fully on its side, cheering and clapping for it.
"There it is! Reiji's Eevee has defeated two of Kameda's Pokémon in a row! Can this Eevee defeat the third and complete the sweep? Let's find out!"
"Damn it. Am I really going to get swept by one Eevee?" Kameda gripped Flareon's Poké Ball tightly, threw it out, and shouted, "Flareon, Flamethrower!"
"Eevee, dodge with Quick Attack."
Reiji could see that Flareon looked weak too. It was clearly deep into the poison. If Eevee simply dragged things out, it could win.
But Eevee obviously had no intention of waiting around. It wanted to attack, and Reiji was not going to ruin its moment.
"Eevee, Swift!"
"Vee!" Eevee avoided the flames, then opened its mouth and fired another burst of shining stars. Every hit landed on Flareon just after it finished breathing fire.
Thanks to Kameda's strict training, Eevee's accuracy was very good. It almost never missed.
Just one Swift left Flareon panting hard. Eevee fired a second one, and the stars struck Flareon as the poison wore it down. That was enough to finish it.
"Flareon is unable to battle! The winner is Reiji!"
The referee raised the green flag, and the fifth group-stage match officially ended with Eevee's victory.
"A full sweep! A full sweep! Eevee did it! It proved to the Trainer who abandoned it that it was never useless!"
With the announcer shouting over the stadium speakers, the match came to an end. Reiji advanced to the second round of the group stage.
Eevee jumped onto Reiji's face and rubbed against his cheek. Reiji had taken it in and helped it get revenge. Eevee was grateful, and its closeness with him was rising fast.
After praising Eevee a few times, Reiji walked down from the platform with it under the crowd's cheers and entered the competitors' tunnel.
"The fifth group-stage match on the Grass Field is over! What a satisfying revenge match. Reiji, a Trainer few people knew before today, never even had to reveal his third Pokémon. Hopefully, his future matches will show us what that third Pokémon is!"
"Officer Jenny is already waiting in the competitors' tunnel and has taken Kameda away. We hope Kameda will treat every Pokémon kindly from now on."
This announcer really knew how to stir up a crowd. It was only a group-stage match, but he had kept the excitement rising the whole time and even left the audience curious about Reiji's next match, which would boost the Grass Field's viewership.
The announcer was clearly giving it his all for a chance to host matches in the main stadium four days later. Ticket sales and ratings counted toward the evaluation. Whoever had the highest popularity would get to keep hosting the main events.
After the match, Reiji left the field, but the audience was still talking about it. They talked about his fireproof Forretress, and about the spike strategy it had used. That tactic was filthy.
Any experienced Trainer could see the weakness right away, though. Forretress had a x4 weakness to Fire. Unless they also had a Forretress that did not fear fire, trying to lay spikes in front of a Fire-type would only end in defeat.
But Reiji's Forretress had been trained in a special way. It was huge, light for its size, and not afraid of fire. That made it a perfectly legal Forretress that could sit through Flamethrower and set up spikes anyway.
Gary, Gulzar, Travis, Reggie, and Paul had all watched the entire match from the stands. Every one of them thought Reiji's tactic was dirty. He had forced his opponent into breaking the rules.
They all saw Reiji as a possible rival, so they had come specifically to watch his match. Afterward, they were already thinking about what they would do if they ran into that same setup.
The biggest problem was that fireproof Forretress. Its black shell was clearly very tough. How were they supposed to beat it?
Shun watched the match on television and sighed at how far behind Reiji he still was. They both had Forretress, but Shun had not trained his to do anything like that. Taking Flamethrower head-on while laying spikes? He had no idea how Reiji had raised it.
Ash and Brock also watched Reiji's match on TV and were happy to see him win. Ash had swept his own opponent with a single Krabby too.
Only Misty felt sick watching it. Spikes were spread all over the battlefield. That kind of fighting was just...
A.J. saw Reiji's spike strategy as well, but he was not surprised. He had a Forretress too, and his strategy was similar. His Forretress was just ordinary and not shiny.
At the same time, Tania, who was at the Ice Field, also saw Reiji's dirty tactic on the screen. But if they were talking about dirty tactics, her Perish Song strategy was worse. Her Gengar was not affected by its own Perish Song, and last time it had nearly made Reiji lose.
Far away on Cinnabar Island, Blaine was also watching the Indigo Plateau Conference live. He had asked around for Reiji's match schedule and watched his first-round battle.
Amber and Amber's mother were watching with him. They had found Amber's mother, and her reaction to getting Amber back was more emotional than either Blaine or Reiji had expected.
Elisia had not doubted Amber at all. When they reunited, she had held Amber tightly for hours. She held her through meals, held her when she slept, and refused to let go.
Every night, she stayed by Amber's bed, watching her fall asleep and guarding her until morning.
"Rai-nii is amazing. He beat that bad guy," Amber said.
She had heard the announcer say Kameda had abandoned Eevee. Since she had a cute little Eevee in her arms too, she cheered for Reiji and wanted him to beat the bad guy.
"Amber, is that the boy who saved you?" Elisia asked, holding Amber tenderly. She looked at Reiji on the television with nothing but gratitude. She was grateful to him, and also grateful to her ex-husband, Dr. Fuji.
Blaine had already told her everything about Amber's revival. If Fuji had not preserved Amber's memories, Amber could never have come back. They also could not have brought in a Legendary Pokémon to revive her.
She was deeply grateful to this boy. He had dared to enter a Team Rocket base alone, found the Legendary Pokémon, faced it directly, and convinced it to bring Amber back.
She had only ever seen stories like that in myths and legends. She never thought something so miraculous would happen to her own daughter. How could she not be grateful?
For Amber's sake, she had even ended things with the man who had been pursuing her. He was a good person, but she wanted Amber back more than anything. She had wanted it day and night, so she turned him down.
"Mom, Rai-nii brought me back from Dad," Amber said.
When Amber had first entered the nightmare world, it had been a very different place. There had been many cute friends to play with, and she had been happy there.
"Amber, do you want to go watch Rai's match in person?" Elisia asked.
Blaine had said before that they should go watch the match at the stadium. If Elisia had not stopped them, they would have gone already.
Ever since getting Amber back, Elisia had become very sensitive about anything involving her. She wanted to avoid every possible danger. She would not even let Amber near the Magby Blaine had given her, afraid it might burn her.
Blaine did not know whether that kind of care was right or wrong, but Elisia was too tense right now. He could not push her too hard. He could only give her time to adjust and slowly accept that Amber would become a Trainer, strong enough to protect herself.
Amber had already started learning how to train Pokémon and was preparing to become a Trainer, but Elisia's arrival had put those plans on hold.
Amber originally had three Pokémon: Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur.
Then there were the Eevee and Magby from Blaine, the Gastly and Dratini from Agatha, and the Pikachu and Clefairy from Reiji. Nine Pokémon in total.
For a child, nine Pokémon was too many to handle. Elisia had kept the more dangerous ones away from her, including Pikachu, Gastly, and Charmander.
Because of that, Amber did not actually keep many Pokémon close to her. The ones she could hold and play with were Clefairy, Dratini, Squirtle, and Eevee.
This would take time. Blaine would also keep talking to Elisia. Only by becoming a Trainer could Amber truly learn to protect herself. He hoped time would convince Elisia of that.
"Amber, do you want to go watch the match in person?" Elisia asked her daughter. This time, she did not reject Blaine's suggestion. Reiji was Amber's savior.
"I want to watch Rai-nii's match, but Mom…" Amber had felt her mother's tension and care during this time. It was starting to suffocate her.
She was not too young to understand. Ten years old was only her physical age. In the mental world with Mewtwo, time had never worked normally.
"All right. We'll go tomorrow and watch his match," Elisia said.
Seeing Amber look nervous made Elisia think back on every day and night since their reunion. She had been tense the whole time, afraid this was only a dream. She had never truly relaxed.
Blaine had reminded her several times, but she had not listened. Now, seeing Amber hesitate, she finally realized she might have become too emotional. She was so afraid of losing Amber again that she had begun holding on too tightly.
"Yay! When are we leaving?" Amber jumped up happily when she heard her mother agree. Then she remembered her mother did not like her running around and quickly sat back down.
"You agreed?" Blaine left Amber in the room watching television and stepped out of the living room with Elisia. He did not understand the sudden change.
"Blaine, I was too sensitive before. Amber isn't as lively as she used to be." Elisia wiped the corner of her eye. She was torn. She feared danger, but she also feared taking away Amber's cheerful nature. She wanted to let go, but she was afraid of losing her again.
"Don't worry. Let Amber become a Trainer. Her Pokémon will protect her," Blaine said, patting Elisia gently. With him and Agatha both watching over Amber, who would dare bully her?
Amber's guards were two Elite Four-tier Pokémon. With that kind of protection, as long as she did not go anywhere dangerous, her safety would be covered.
Unfortunately, Agatha was not there. Blaine had heard that ancient ruins had been discovered at Mount Hideaway near Pallet Town, and Agatha had gone there right away to oversee the site. They had found many important artifacts. He did not know whether Agatha would have time to go to the Indigo Plateau Conference. Her granddaughter was competing there too.
"You're right. I'll support this properly," Elisia said at last, accepting that Amber would become a Trainer.
She knew how valuable a pseudo-legendary was, and she knew how much weight Agatha carried in the League. With Agatha as Amber's teacher, Amber would be safe, and her future growth would be secure.
"Rest well tonight. We'll leave tomorrow," Blaine said. He left Elisia to stay with Amber and turned to go.
He found Itsuki in the Gym's back yard, training his Pokémon. Itsuki was Captain Kenichi's son, and both mother and son were staying at the Gym.
"Itsuki, I'm going out for a while. If any challengers come during this period, you'll act as Gym Leader and accept their challenges."
"Understood, Gym Leader Blaine," Itsuki replied, then lowered his head and went back to training.
Before coming to Mikan Gym, his father had told him to listen more, work more, and talk less.
Kenichi had also told him to perform well in front of Blaine, try to get a stable position inside the League, and take good care of his mother. Since Kenichi often passed by Cinnabar Island while sailing, he would come see them whenever he could.
After leaving Itsuki as acting Gym Leader, Blaine could leave without worry. The boy had Advanced-tier strength, which was enough to handle ordinary challengers.
Blaine had the maids pack their things. They would leave tomorrow, take a boat straight to Viridian City, then ride the bus to the Indigo Plateau. They should be able to make it in time for Reiji's finals.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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