Pokemon: The Gameboy Effect

In the early morning, dawn was just breaking over Draconia's capital, but the city remained shrouded in thick haze. The smog seemed dense enough to be physically parted by a powerful Tyranitar's Sandstorm.

The weather was poor, but this couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of Pokemon battle enthusiasts.

The entrance to the National Pokemon Arena was packed beyond capacity. Despite the venue opening at 8:30 AM with battles starting at 9:30 AM, giving a full hour for entry, and despite each ticket corresponding to a specific seat with no need to compete for seating, a massive queue had formed more than an hour before opening time. Security guards had to step in to maintain order at the scene.

As Draconia's premier stadium, only the highest-level battles were held here. Contests at the National Pokemon Arena typically involved Elite Four members and Champions. For many trainers, simply fighting a battle here, win or lose, was a lifelong dream.

Today, John and Damon Drake's "Elite Challenge" would take place on this hallowed ground.

John arrived at the National Pokemon Arena at 8:30 AM. He watched the surging crowds pour into the venue wave after wave until they disappeared inside. Only then did he calmly pass through security and enter through the VIP entrance to his private lounge.

Accompanying John were Emeraomd and Senior Harisson.

Professor Scarlett, Saul Badman, and Damian would also watch John's match, but they'd be attending as special guests of the Trainer Association.

This was likely another way for the Trainer Association to justify high ticket prices and attract publicity. The battle between John and Damon Drake had become incredibly popular online, topping trending searches for an entire week.

Beyond the live audience, the streaming rights alone had sold for over one billion pokedollars. Both John and Damon Drake were entitled to shares of this revenue, though John's portion would only be determined after the match concluded.

After all, there was a significant gap between Elite Four appearance fees and Gym Leader rates.

John stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows in his lounge, gazing out at the entire stadium center. Having little culture to draw from, he had only one way to describe it:

"Holy shit, it's huge!"

A stadium with 100,000 seats! There probably weren't many like this even in his previous life.

At a glance, the crowds were staggering. People had always used "sea of humanity" as a figure of speech, but now it was literally a sea of people!

Fighting in this kind of venue...

Damn cool!

John loosened his muscles, feeling excitement building for the upcoming match. The anticipation came from both the venue and his opponent.

His opponent was one of Draconia's Elite Four!

Damon Drake ranked in the top 50 worldwide in Pokemon competitions, with his best performance breaking into the top six. By global standards, he was among the strongest of the strong.

Fighting against such a powerful opponent...

It would be a lie to say he wasn't excited.

"I didn't expect you to choose Damon Drake as your challenge opponent. I challenged him last year too, but... he beat me down hard," Harisson said suddenly. He didn't shy away from discussing his defeat, but remembering that experience made his expression darken.

"Damon comes from a dragon-specialist family in the capital. Supposedly, his ancestors have connections to the Dragon's Den here. He's always been arrogant. When I lost to him last year, it made me sick to my stomach."

"I was planning to challenge him again this year for revenge, but I didn't expect to lose to you instead. It's fine though, you can get revenge for me. That makes me feel better."

"Even now, if I challenged Damon again, my odds of winning wouldn't be very high..."

After Harisson's rambling, he asked, "So? How confident are you against Damon?"

"Confident..." John rolled those words around in his mouth.

Over the past few days, he hadn't just trained his Pokemon, he'd also watched every available battle video of Damon Drake at least ten times. He'd simulated fighting him dozens of times in his mind.

His understanding of Damon was quite thorough.

If he had to put a number on his confidence in defeating Damon Drake...

"Ninety-nine percent," John replied, leaving the last point for "miracles."

Harisson first looked at his junior in surprise, then broke into a delighted grin.

He understood John's character. John had always been modest, when he was certain of something, he'd only claim 50% confidence.

Right now, he was claiming ninety-nine percent...

So the question wasn't simply how John would defeat Damon, but rather... how thoroughly Damon would be demolished by John!

This was getting exciting.

"Heh heh..."

Meanwhile, in the lounge across from John's, Damon Drake was also surveying the competition venue. Unlike John's excitement, he seemed merely nostalgic.

"It's been a while since I've fought in this venue with so many spectators. So noisy."

"I remember last time... I think it was my fight with Harisson here."

"I just hope this opponent can keep me from getting too bored, unlike him."

Behind Damon, a young man in a black uniform with black-rimmed glasses sat on the sofa, fingers clicking rapidly across a laptop keyboard.

"Damon, have you reviewed the information about your challenger?" the young man asked.

"Of course!" Damon looked back with a slight smirk. "While I may be arrogant, I never underestimate my opponents!"

"A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit, I understand this principle."

The young man tilted his head to look at Damon, doubt evident on his face. He pushed up his glasses and questioned, "Really?"

"Then why have there been several study materials on your computer for the past two days?"

Damon's face reddened, and he hurried over to close the young man's laptop.

"Ahem, cough, cough..."

"Isn't it because I'm facing such a formidable opponent? I'm under too much pressure, so I found some... thrilling action movies to relax!"

The young man didn't buy Damon's nonsense and simply reminded him, "When you compare your opponent to a rabbit and yourself to a lion, you're already underestimating him."

"This opponent defeated Harisson and earned the right to challenge the Elite Four."

"Last year, Harisson's strength was already impressive, and he's definitely improved this year. Yet he still fell to this rising star named John."

"This shows that John's strength shouldn't be underestimated!"