The tournament officially began after a passionate speech from the mayor of Redwood.
There were too many participants, so multiple battles took place at the same time. The format was a 1v1 as that was more efficient.
It will change to 3v3 starting from day 3, when only 64 trainers remain.
Each trainer got a number tag. They had to go to their designated battlefield when their number was called. Eric's tag was 471.
The tournament was also being broadcast all over Redwood, but since there were too many trainers, the broadcast only showed the battles of seeded trainers.
Since there was time till Eric's battle, he went to the spectator stand and took a seat, observing multiple battlefields at once.
The majority of trainers didn't catch his eyes, but a few did. One of them being Alister.
Alister stood on the battlefield with his arms crossed and a smug look. His white cape fluttered behind him magnificently, even though it wasn't windy today.
More than Alister though, what interested Eric most was his Pokemon.
Pokémon: Wartortle
Gender: Male
Level: 28
Type: Water
Ability: Rain Dish
Held Item: Mystic Water
Potential: Deep Green
Moves: Tackle, Tail whip, Withdraw, water gun, bubble, bite, rapid spin, protect, rain dance, gyro ball, waterfall, surf, aqua jet, fake out, refresh, hydro pump
It was Eric's first time seeing one of the Kanto starters. And this Wartortle was impressive.
His opponent's pokemon was a level 14 Rattata. Talk about overkill. Eric felt a little bad for the guy. This Alister guy felt like a show off to him.
Aside from Alister, Eric also saw the Blue haired girl with Murkrow. Her opponent was also quite weak. This was by design, as they didn't want to pitch seeded trainers against each other so soon.
After some time, Eric's number was finally called. Eric left the stands and went to his battlefield.
His opponent was around his age, and sent out a lvl 18 Pidgeotto with yellow potential.
"You're up, Spearow."
"Spear!"
Pokémon: Spearow
Gender: Female
Level: 17
Type: Normal/Flying
Ability: Keen Eye
Held Item: None
Potential: Deep Yellow
Moves: Leer(B), Aerial Ace(B+++), Pursuit(B+), Growl(B), Peck(B+++), Fury attack(B+), Feint attack(B+), Protect(B++)
Steel wing(B++)
Spearow had grown quite a lot in the past week, be it her level or her move mastery. Eric had also taught her Steel wing!
"Spearow, Aerial Ace"
"Pidgeotto, dodge and use wing attack!"
Spearow surrounded himself with flying type energy. Large White streams formed around her body as she flew at a blurring speed.
Dodge her Aerial Ace? You gotta be dreaming.
Pidgeotto tries to get out of the way but Spearow curves her flight path and hits it directly.
"Dammit! pidgeotto, use whirlwind and gain some distance!"
Pidgeotto kicks up a whirlwind, blowing Spearow away to gather himself.
"Now! Use quick attack!"
"Use Steel wing to counter it, then use peck!"
Spearow and Pidgeotto clashed in mid air, but only Pidgeotto came out hurt!
Steel wing makes a Pokemon's wings hard as steel. While Spearow's mastery wasn't at that level, it was good enough to counter Pidgeotto's quick attack.
As Pidgeotto was pushed back, Spearow followed up with peck.
Pidgeotto could now barely hang on.
"Finish it with fury attack!"
Unable to dodge the attack, Pidgeotto was hit and passed out.
"Pidgeotto can no longer battle! The winner is Eric."
Spearow had dominated the fight from start to end. Even though their level and potential were close, she completely outclassed Pidgeotto.
"Good job Spearow! This is the result of your hard work."
Eric praised Spearow and headed back. It was an easy win for him.
As he was walking towards the exit, a kid with a yellow jacket blitzed past him
"Nobody can stop the Great Belle!"
"Is that a Pichu?"
Eric thought as he saw a yellow Pokemon popping its head out from inside the Pikachu shaped hoodie.
Pokémon: Pichu
Gender: Female
Level: 11
Type: Electric
Ability: Lightning Rod
Held item: Soothe Bell
Potential: Deep Blue
Deep Blue potential! This was the first time he'd seen a Pokemon that matched his Gastly in potential.
'I really can't get complacent with myself.'
Eric thought as he made his way back.
---
Eric battled a few more times today. The tournament followed a point system to determine the top 64. Everyone fought multiple times throughout the day, a defeat not necessarily leading to an elimination.
All of Eric's opponents were rookies, the strongest of them using a lvl 21 Raticate. Eric won all his fights using only Spearow.
---
By the time the round of battles ended, Eric was starving.
He headed towards the food court, which was packed. There were dozens of stalls lined up in the area, and the air was filled with smell of freshly cooked food. There were people everywhere, eating and having a good time.
As Eric entered, he heard a voice from behind him.
"Yo Eric!"
*Sigh*
It was Alan, the guy who never shuts up.
"How'd it go for you today?"
Alan came up to him and asked him. He was holding a plate full of snacks as he did so.
"Pretty good"
"Pretty good huh..."
Alan scratched his head
"It was going well for me too but man. I got matched with a monster! I was completely destroyed, hahaha. I said I was gonna win this, but I don't think its possible anymore."
As Alan said that, his bright energy dimmed somewhat, only to recover in a few seconds.
"Ah whatever. Might as well Enjoy the experience. By the way, have you tried the takoyaki stall yet?"
"No?"
Alan then dragged Eric to the takoyaki stall, saying it was the best takoyaki he's ever had.
Once there, Alan noticed someone and stopped running.
"Ah! It's you!"
He then turned to Eric, "Eric, she's the one I lost to!"
Eric looked up to see that it was the same blue haired girl from before.
Alan then walked up to talk to her. The girl seemed just as reserved as Eric, but that wasn't a hurdle for Alan.
Eric was more interested in the takoyaki though. He stopped paying attention to Alan and got in the line until he heard Alan say his name.
"This is Eric! He's won all his battles just like you"
Alan came up to Eric with the girl, who looked lost. She was completely caught up in Alan's tempo!
'A fellow victim'
Eric thought as he met her eyes briefly and nodded towards her.
"Eric"
"Iris"
Short and direct. Both of them were people of few words.
"Eric! You won't believe this! She's from the Belmont family!"
"...I see." Eric looked confused at Alan, he had never heard this name before.
"What! Don't tell me you haven't heard of them? Have you been living under a rock?"
Were they a big deal?
He had never heard of the name Belmont in the games or the anime. Then again, its not like they covered everything about the Pokemon world.
"You could say that."
Eric replied. It was his turn now, so he ordered some Takoyaki, and then excused himself, saying he had somewhere to be.
"So soon? Well ok then, See you later!"
He then turned to Iris but she too excused herself, copying Eric.
Alan was suddenly left alone.
"Oh jeez. Why do all of them lack basic social skills?!"
Alan complained to no one, then he started talking with a different group of people.