The next day, after finishing breakfast as usual, Grandma Ishi cleaned up the dishes, and Grandpa Ishi went out for a walk.
Eichi, Akira, Beedrill, and Scyther sat together in front of the television, watching the matches.
Yesterday's rounds had been the 256-to-128 and 128-to-64 elimination matches.
Today's schedule included the 64-to-32 and 32-to-16 matches.
Tomorrow would be the last day, covering the Top 16 up to the Championship. The entire tournament would end in three days.
Most of yesterday's contestants hadn't been that strong. After eliminating the weaker ones, today's matches were sure to be much more intense and exciting.
Eichi took out his notebook again, ready to jot down anything that could be useful to him.
After a while, the camera cut to the audience. On the main platform, two familiar figures appeared. Eichi focused and saw that they were two of the Elite Four: Agatha and Bruno.
Akira suddenly shouted, "Eichi! Look, it's Agatha and Bruno from the Elite Four! Bruno is my idol! See?"
"I see them too," Eichi replied calmly.
Then Akira turned his head and asked, "Eichi, do you have an idol?"
"Of course I do, actually three of them."
"Who are they?"
"The first is Steven, the Champion of the Hoenn Region. The second is Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh Region. The third is Aaron."
Akira blinked. "Eichi, I don't know any of them. You said the first two are Champions, but who's Aaron? Is he a Champion too?"
"You'll find out later."
"Oh, I see."
Akira turned back to the screen as the host's voice came through:
"Next up, we have Bas from Saffron City and Moto from Fuchsia City!"
Bas was the Trainer who had impressed Eichi yesterday with his Arbok. Around eighteen years old, tall, with a square face and a mature, steady look.
Yesterday, Bas had pulled off a spectacular one-against-three victory using only his Arbok.
Eichi was eager to see how Bas would perform today as the match began.
Bas sent out a Nidoking, while Moto used a Poliwrath. By type advantage, Poliwrath should have completely overpowered Nidoking. Yet the result was shocking, Poliwrath's Water-type moves had no effect at all.
There was only one explanation: the level gap was too large.
Moto then tried Magcargo and Blastoise.
Neither worked. The difference in strength was just too great, and Bas once again achieved a one-against-three sweep.
This Nidoking was even stronger than yesterday's Arbok.
Eichi suspected that this Nidoking wasn't even Bas's ace.
Its level had to be at least Elite, possibly even Gym Leader level.
Eichi made a mental note. This man definitely had the power to win the championship.
***
Meanwhile, in Viridian City, Amelie watched the match and said, "Bas? With that level of strength, he's still entering the Indigo League? Isn't that overkill?"
Archie replied, "Apparently, it was Indigo Academy's idea. The last Champion was from Silver Academy, and Director He wasn't happy about it. They're afraid Silver might take the title again this year, so they sent Bas."
Bas's strength was already at Gym Leader level. All six of his Pokémon were that strong.
Especially his Rhydon, it was almost at the Elite Four level.
Amelie said, "Then the championship is as good as his, isn't it?"
Archie shook his head. "Not necessarily. I heard Silver Academy sent two trainers whose strength matches Bas's. Clearly, they want to humiliate Indigo Academy."
Amelie grinned, "Well, this Indigo League just got a lot more interesting."
***
Meanwhile, in an office far away in the Johto Region, Teacher Arno and the Director were also watching the Indigo League.
Arno asked, "Why aren't you watching the Johto League instead? Why this one?"
The Director chuckled. "What's the fun in watching it? Our Silver Academy wins every year. Indigo's the interesting one. Remember last time? Our student entered their League and beat all the Indigo Academy's students, taking the title. You should've seen old He's face, it went completely dark.
"Think about it, their own Academy League, and they lost the Championship to someone from their rival school! Sure, it's not technically their exclusive event, but still, their pride took a hit.
"And the one who beat them was from Silver Academy. You tell me, wouldn't that sting?"
Arno laughed. "That must've hurt."
"That's what makes it fun! This year, I sent two more students to the Indigo League. But it's not going to be easy this time. Old He sent a strong one too, plus a few to the Johto League. But I already arranged for our Academy's top student to go there, so there's no way they'll win."
Arno: "…"
***
As the matches went on, Eichi saw several more strong competitors.
He couldn't help but feel amazed. The quality of this year's Indigo League is incredible!
In his past life, watching the anime, he'd never realized how tough the competition actually was. Now I really wonder how Ash ever made it to the Top 16.
That night, after the matches ended, Eichi looked forward to the Top 16 battles the next day.
But first, he had work to do. After dinner, he took Scyther and Beedrill out to train again, and this time, Akira followed.
At first, the elderly couple had disagreed, but Eichi promised them Akira would be safe, and they finally relented.
They returned to the same training spot as yesterday and started with warm-up runs. Akira ran seriously behind Eichi, who intentionally slowed down so Akira could keep up.
After the run, they rested. Scyther and Beedrill finished warming up too. Once Eichi set their training routines, he let them train on their own. Then he sat down with Akira to chat.
As soon as they sat, Akira asked, "Eichi, what's Beedrill wearing? Is that a vest?"
"That's not simply a vest," Eichi explained. "It's a Weighted Vest. Once a Pokémon's physical training reaches a certain level, normal training stops being effective. That's when you add external tools like this to push further."
"Then why doesn't Scyther have one?"
"Scyther's still young and growing. It's not suitable for it yet. If you use such weights too early, it can stunt growth. Wait until its body stabilizes, then you can use it."
Eichi added seriously, "Akira, when you equip your Pokémon with assistive gear like this, always make sure they're fully grown first. Otherwise, it'll do more harm than good."
"I got it, Eichi!" Akira said firmly.