At two thirty in the afternoon, at the Ice Field in one of the auxiliary venues.
Wearing a white trench coat, Young Master Mao passed through the competitors' tunnel and stepped onto the trainer's command platform.
He looked around. The enormous venue was almost filled with spectators.
"It looks like Gary is quite the crowd favorite." In the VIP Lounge at the very top of the stands, Agatha chatted cheerfully with Lorelei.
"He's a favorite to win the championship, so this much popularity is only natural." Lorelei nodded. "Besides, quite a few of the spectators are probably competitors here to gather information."
The Indigo League preliminaries used a three-on-three format, so barring any surprises, a single match would yield information on at least two of an opponent's Pokémon.
Unless they swept all three opponents with one Pokémon, no one could guarantee that their information wouldn't be uncovered.
Gary's opponent was a little girl from the Orange Islands. She wore round glasses and had long, dyed-red hair.
Is she... cosplaying Lorelei? Gary thought, tilting his head.
"First preliminary match on the Ice Field, begin! Both sides, get ready!" The referee entered the field and crossed his arms, signaling for both sides to take out their Poké Balls.
"Nidoking, you're up!" Gary showed no mercy, bringing out the big guns right away!
After all that intensive training, Gary's Nidoking was no longer the pushover he had once been. Whoever came at him was going down!
"Go, Cloyster!" The moment his opponent sent out her Pokémon, Gary froze briefly. She really was imitating Lorelei...
"Let the battle begin!" The referee swung both arms down, signaling the official start of the match!
"Soft as water, hard as ice! Cloyster, use Ice Beam!" The little girl put one hand on her hip, copying Lorelei's expression