Because all matches had to be completed within a single day, each Trainer could only use one Pokémon. So, none of the Trainers had any reason to hide their Pokémon.
Nosepass, Lairon, Graveler: very common.
A few Rhydon and Sudowoodo appeared as well, and even those were considered rare picks.
Haruki's Marowak was also relatively uncommon, so it drew quite a bit of attention.
But before long, a few other Pokémon entered and immediately stole the spotlight from everyone else…
A Dragon/Ground-type, Flygon…
Aggron, the final evolution of Aron…
Pressure off the charts, Steel/Ground-type Steelix…
Haruki's eyes were filled with awe. Deep down, he couldn't help but imagine how majestic his Beldum would look after it evolved.
"A pseudo-legendary, t-that's a pseudo-legendary!"
Suddenly, someone in the crowd cried out, and everyone's attention turned again.
Haruki was no exception. He was already trying to guess what it could be.
'Tyranitar, Garchomp, or Metagross?'
"Oh~ just a Metang, not fully evolved."
The chatter resumed, and the other contestants all breathed a sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness… just a Metang.'
They all thought it, even if they didn't show it on their faces.
Haruki, on the other hand, didn't care. He ignored the stares and walked directly toward the Metang.
He just genuinely wanted to see what a normal Metang looked like.
But Haruki's eyes were soon drawn… not to the Metang, but to the Trainer beside it.
Steven Stone!
'…What was he doing here?'
Haruki's pupils contracted. He even had the urge to turn and walk away.
---
At that crucial moment, a beam of violet light lit up inside Haruki's mental world, quickly calming him down.
---
Maybe it was because Haruki's gaze had been more direct than anyone else's, Steven noticed it and turned his head.
By then, Haruki had already regained his composure. He smiled calmly and nodded.
Steven stared at Haruki for two seconds, then looked at Marowak. He nodded slightly in return and turned away.
Thus, the "legendary" first meeting between the two passed as if it were nothing at all.
To keep things normal, Haruki didn't move again. He just stood there quietly and waited.
Seeing that nothing had happened between them, the others could only turn away in disappointment.
Still, many kept sneaking glances at Metang.
No pseudo-legendary, but just getting an eyeful was nice. If only they'd had the nerve to stand there too…
Finally, the preliminaries began.
The loudspeaker started calling out numbers. The order was totally scrambled, and the pace was fast.
Before long, Steven was called up first.
Haruki memorized his contestant number.
88. (Bye, Bye)
'What a fitting number for someone like him.'
Three minutes later, Haruki's number was called.
233. (LOL, jajaj)
…Suddenly, he didn't feel like competing anymore.
When the broadcast repeated the call, Haruki hurried toward the contestant tunnel.
As luck would have it, he ran into Steven, just returning from a win, in the hallway.
Haruki nodded reflexively, maintaining the polite nodding relationship they had.
To his surprise, Steven stopped right in front of him.
"Hmm?"
"Metang says it senses a kindred presence."
"Huh!"
Haruki was stunned. Even the violet glow within his mental world couldn't bring him back to his senses.
"We should exchange training notes sometime."
Thankfully, Steven continued speaking. His tone held a subtle friendliness.
Haruki exhaled slightly but didn't dare say much.
"Alright, I'll head to my match first."
With that, he quickly walked toward the battlefield.
By the time he stood on the platform, he had completely regained his calm.
No matter what he'd need to deal with regarding Steven later, right now, the match was the only thing that mattered.
He couldn't let down the Marowak who had trained so hard.
----
On the battlefield, sand swirled wildly.
Marowak walked in calmly, bone club slung over its shoulder.
Across the field, a furious Rhyhorn was pawing at the ground, as if it wanted to charge straight in.
"BEGIN!" the no-nonsense referee shouted loudly.
The very next second, Rhyhorn charged forward. Even the swirling sandstorm couldn't slow its momentum.
Haruki crossed his arms and said nothing. Marowak just stood in place, waiting quietly.
…Until Rhyhorn crossed halfway across the field.
"Bulldoze."
"Maro!"
Ground-type ripples surged forward. Rhyhorn was stopped dead in its tracks, unable to touch Marowak at all.
In the next instant, the glimmering white bone club came whistling through the sandstorm, its path obscured by the dust.
Bonk~ Bonk~
Bonemerang struck twice in a row, knocking Rhyhorn flat on the ground.
Maybe the sandstorm was too loud, Haruki could barely hear what the opposing Trainer was shouting.
'Didn't matter anyway.'
As the Bonemerang was still in flight, Marowak had already stepped forward, closing the gap with Rhyhorn.
It gathered strength, leapt, and caught the bone club mid-air.
In the next instant, Marowak gripped the club in both hands, infusing it with dense Ground-type energy, and slammed it down hard.
BANG!
Dust exploded upward, then was instantly swept away by the sandstorm.
Rhyhorn lay there, eyes rolled back, with a shattered "crater" on its head.
Marowak slung the bone club over its shoulder and walked off the field without even glancing at its opponent.
"Rhyhorn is unable to battle. Marowak wins. Contestant 233… ADVANCES!"
"…"
'So… why didn't they announce the names?'
Three clean, brutal strikes.
Marowak decisively won the opening match.
Unfortunately, there were no spectators for the preliminaries, only the referee, who gave Marowak a surprised second look.
Haruki strolled off the field with Marowak, still deep in thought about how to deal with Steven.
'That guy didn't lack money, and his attitude was friendly. His approach probably really was what he said, just to exchange insights.'
But a Shiny Beldum isn't something money can buy…
Haruki would've been tempted too.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have made trip after trip to the mountain back then.
Could Steven really be a man of honor? Even if he was, Haruki didn't dare bet on it.
'Gotta find an excuse. Make up a reason!'
Ten minutes later, when Haruki exited the tunnel and returned to the waiting area, he inevitably locked eyes with Steven.
They nodded at each other again, neither making any move to speak.
Haruki exhaled. The longer he could stall this, the better.
---
The preliminaries were moving fast. Contestants came and went, and soon, half of them were gone.
By just 8:30 AM, the prelims were finished. By then, it was nearly impossible to find a single unevolved Pokémon in the waiting room.
It looked like that so-called "random 1v1" was very much a carefully curated setup by the organizers.
Half an hour later.
The stadium began to grow lively.
Even from inside the room, contestants could hear the rising noise. Everyone was gearing up for battle.
Outside, the MC was enthusiastically kicking off the opening ceremony.
Haruki could vaguely make out words like Nurse Joy, Gym Leader Byron, and Librarian Andrew.
Clearly, a lot of important figures had shown up.
Finally, the announcement came through the Waiting Room's speakers.
Contestant 88 -Steven- was called first.
Everyone turned to look, some admiring, some jealous, but all silently impressed by the organizers' cunning.
'Starting with a pseudo-legendary? Who wouldn't be thrilled?'
Thankfully, the waiting room had a live feed of the match so contestants could watch it unfold.
Soon enough, under thunderous applause, the first battle of the Sandstorm Showdown…
Officially began!