"Is this the player village?!" Ash's eyes lit up slightly when he arrived at the player village next to the Indigo Stadium and looked at the village built in a beautiful environment.
The scenery here was not bad. The contestant village was built on a plain on the plateau. There was a large lake next to the village, and in the distance, across the lake, was a mountain forest.
"There are so many people..." Looking at the busy streets, Misty carefully protected Togepi in her arms to prevent Togepi from being bumped into and hurt.
"So many beautiful ladies..." Brock looked at the young women passing by with infatuation. There were so many young women who matched his preferences that he couldn't take his eyes off them.
"There is still an hour and a half before the opening ceremony. Let's go to the Pokémon Center to register first, and then come out to watch the torch relay," Ash said, heading towards the Pokémon Center.
Arriving at the Pokémon Center, Ash noticed it occupied a very large area, and the hall inside was also very spacious. There were countless Trainers, but at first glance, there were at least 400.
The Pokémon Center in the Player Village was exclusively for Indigo Plateau Conference participants. Even other Trainers couldn't stay at the Pokémon Center during the Indigo Plateau Conference. They needed to find their own hotel accommodations in the Player Village.
However, Misty and Brock were exceptions. As representatives of the Cerulean Gym and the Pewter Gym, respectively, they were eligible to stay in the dormitories provided by the Pokémon Center.
Ash and Brock didn't share a room this time. Each player had a separate dormitory. Misty and Brock also had their own dormitories because they were gym representatives. The conditions were similar to those of the players, but slightly better.
In the dormitory, Ash put down his luggage and, after tidying up a little, immediately left to find the registration office in the lobby. After signing up, he received a booklet that introduced the schedule and other details.
While waiting for Brock and Misty, Ash read the booklet. The rules were similar to those he remembered from the anime. There were four preliminary rounds in four venues: grass, water, ice, and rock.
Then came the main tournament.
The main tournament wasn't simple either. The duels would be based on the remaining number of participants. When only the top 32 remained, it would enter a six-on-six duel between all players.
While Ash was reading the booklet, Brock and Misty also arrived in the hall, and they studied the information in the booklet together.
"It seems that because of the increase in participants, the schedule is slightly different from the past," Brock observed. In recent years, the number of Trainers had increased, and the scale of the Alliance competition had grown larger.
"I remember the last Indigo Plateau Conference seemed to have only over 250 contestants, right?" Misty recalled.
"That's right," Ash nodded slightly. Naturally, he wouldn't forget that the number of contestants in the last Indigo Plateau Conference was 256. But this year, the number was unclear, though Ash thought it might have doubled.
"The Holy Fire is coming!" At this time, at the door, several Trainers seemed to have noticed the commotion outside, shouted to the hall, and then rushed out of the Pokémon Center.
After hearing the words of these Trainers, the others in the hall followed, wanting to catch a glimpse of the Holy Fire.
By this time, Kanto League personnel were already blocking the streets because the torch was about to pass through the contestant village. The blockade was necessary to avoid accidents.
To be honest, Ash felt that the quality of the Holy Fire in the Kanto Region League competition was quite low. It was a flame obtained from Moltres. Although Moltres was a Legendary Pokémon, it was considered one of the weaker ones.
In contrast, the Johto Region's Silver Conference had a sacred fire called the Sacred Flame, which was said to bring recovery to the world.
There were too many people on both sides of the street, especially on the Pokémon Center side. Most of them were Trainers, and because they came out late, it wasn't easy to squeeze to the front.
But even in this situation, no Trainer released their Pokémon. In the player village, unless there was a special unexpected situation, no one could release large Pokémon to avoid accidents.
This rule was outlined in the booklet, so Ash, Misty, and Brock didn't release larger Pokémon like Charizard, Pidgeot, or Onix, leaving only Pikachu and Togepi outside.
"There are too many people. Let's go back to the Pokémon Center," Misty said, feeling a little uncomfortable being squeezed. She had to protect Togepi in her arms
Ash and Brock thought for a while and decided it wasn't impossible to watch from the second-floor window of the Pokémon Center. So, the three of them left the crowd and returned to the Pokémon Center, where it was much cooler than outside.
But when they got to the second floor, they found many people had the same idea. Everyone was standing by the window, looking at the situation outside.
"It's much more comfortable here." They found an unoccupied window, and while enjoying the air conditioning, they could also clearly see the situation on the street. There was no need to be crowded together.
"It's coming! It's coming!" Suddenly, a Trainer in the corridor exclaimed, pointing to the side of the street leading to the entrance. Everyone immediately looked over and saw a young runner wearing sportswear and a Hitmonchan running towards them.
The young runner was holding a torch with orange and red flames burning on it, and Hitmonchan was running beside him. Behind the two, a car followed, with Officer Jenny and an old man standing behind it.
The old man was very old, with pale hair. But when everyone saw him, they knew he was the famous Chairman of the League Executive Committee, permanent person in charge of the Pokémon League Conference, protector of the sacred flame, Charles Goodshow.
"Is that Moltres' holy fire? It looks no different from ordinary flames..." Misty looked at the holy fire and felt it was no different from the flames used by ordinary Pokémon. Ash's Charizard's flame was much more dazzling.
Brock had the same thought, but he knew this holy fire wasn't the real fire but a flame taken from it. Maybe the real fire would be different.
Watching the torch slowly pass through the streets, the streets weren't reopened until the runners disappeared. Ash and his friends left the athlete's village and headed towards the Indigo Stadium for the opening ceremony.
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