Backstage at the Indigo Conference—
[Elias, I’ve already arrived at the stadium. Hurry up!]
Just before the opening ceremony, Elias received a text from Gary.
Clearly worried Elias wouldn’t show, Gary even attached a few provocative stickers at the end of his message.
Seeing this, Elias chuckled lightly and replied:
[Relax, I’m already here. You’ll see me soon.]
After sending his reply, he put his phone away without checking Gary’s follow-up messages.
It was nearly time for him and Lance to appear, as the host had just finished the opening remarks.
“Good luck in your match, Elias!”
“Garde~!”
“Mew~!”
“Lati~!”
At this moment, Gardevoir, Zoroark, and the others crowded around him, smoothing out Elias’s clothes and making sure there were no wrinkles as they gently encouraged him.
Even Cynthia stood nearby, waving in encouragement. Though it wasn’t her own battle, she felt inexplicably more nervous than if she herself had been stepping onto the field.
Receiving this flood of warm blessings, Elias and Lucario naturally felt at ease and fully prepared.
In contrast, Lance, preparing alone on the opposite side, wore an increasingly dark expression upon witnessing this scene.
He suddenly thought it might’ve been better to call Lorelei over instead.
At least losing that match would be limited to just a battle.
As Lance brooded, he suddenly felt a soft, pudgy hand patting him gently on the shoulder.
Turning his head, he saw it was his Dragonite.
“Woo~ (Do your best, okay~)” Dragonite encouraged, imitating Elias’s Pokémon with cheerful reassurance.
After saying that, Dragonite was about to walk away.
Annoyed, Lance grabbed Dragonite’s neck, gritting his teeth. “You’re the one who needs to do your best! You’re going out there to battle!”
Ever since encountering Elias’s Gardevoir, Dragonite had developed a certain trauma about facing Elias’s Pokémon in battle.
—
Meanwhile, in the audience seats—
Gary, Professor Oak, Ash, and Delia had already found their places.
Compared to yesterday, there were two new faces beside Ash today: a girl with orange hair and a dark-skinned young man with perpetually squinted eyes.
One was Misty, one of the Cerulean Gym Leaders.
The other was Brock, Gym Leader of Pewter City.
“What’s he looking around for?” Misty asked suspiciously, cradling Togepi as she glanced sideways at Gary, who was anxiously scanning the area.
“He’s probably… looking for Elias?” Ash guessed uncertainly. “Pika~” Pikachu echoed.
“Elias?” Misty asked in confusion, hearing an unfamiliar name.
“Yeah. He’s a rookie trainer who started traveling around the same time we did. We met him yesterday when we were out with Professor Oak.”
Ash briefly introduced him to his companions.
In fact, Ash’s guess wasn’t wrong. After looking around fruitlessly, Gary clenched his fists tightly.
“He ran away… He must have chickened out!”
Gary sneered contemptuously at Elias’s supposed cowardice. Afraid even before battling, Elias didn’t deserve to be called a trainer. And he dared say he’d be here soon…
Just as Gary silently berated Elias in his mind, the host down below seemed to receive a signal and began to speak excitedly:
“Alright, everyone! It’s now time for the event you’ve all been waiting for—the opening exhibition match!”
“First up is our renowned Dragon Master, the Dragon-type Elite Four member—Lance!”
As his name echoed through the stadium, Lance stepped confidently out of the left tunnel, accompanied by his round, friendly-looking Dragonite.
Instantly, thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd.
Lance enjoyed the highest popularity among Kanto’s Elite Four, thanks to his dashing appearance and powerful, crowd-pleasing Dragon-type Pokémon.
The energetic atmosphere wasn’t surprising at all. In fact, many in the audience had come specifically for this exhibition match.
Battles of this caliber, even as mere exhibitions, were rare events.
Gary temporarily shelved his annoyance toward Elias, now focusing entirely on the battle below.
Lance’s appearance had already been announced beforehand, and as for his opponent, Gary confidently assumed it must be Cynthia, who had been traveling with Elias. This meant they were about to witness a Champion-level showdown.
Thinking of this, Gary could barely contain his excitement.
Elias is an idiot for missing a match of this level just to avoid battling me, Gary smugly thought.
Meanwhile, the host took this opportunity to enthusiastically announce:
“And now, introducing Lance’s opponent, a special guest trainer and friend invited personally by Lance—”
“Elias!”
As soon as his name was announced, Elias’s figure materialized onto the battlefield via teleportation, appearing in a dazzling flash of psychic energy.
Unlike Lance, Elias had chosen to appear directly with teleportation. As a rookie trainer, naturally he wasn’t as renowned as Lance. Yet his presence here, stepping in for one of Kanto’s other Elite Four, clearly demonstrated his exceptional ability.
Combined with his youthful appearance, even younger-looking than Lance, he quickly captured the audience’s attention, earning loud cheers of his own.
However…
Among the cheering spectators, Gary’s expression slowly shifted from excitement to blank disbelief.
He seriously wondered if he was still dreaming.
Not just Gary—even Professor Oak and Ash looked completely stupefied, as if they’d seen a ghost.
Yesterday, upon seeing Elias’s Gardevoir and Zoroark, Professor Oak had mentally prepared himself for surprises. Those Pokémon clearly weren’t weak, and with the Gengar Elias had previously shown, he shouldn’t have had trouble collecting badges.
So Oak had assumed Elias was secretly participating in the tournament, planning to surprise him.
But seeing Elias now—standing opposite Lance, a regional Champion—this went beyond surprise and into shock territory.
A rookie trainer, traveling only a few months, now stood alongside a regional Champion.
Even in their wildest dreams, ordinary trainers wouldn’t dare imagine such a thing.
Glancing sideways at Gary and Ash—both rookie trainers who had traveled roughly the same time as Elias—they were currently sitting dumbfounded, their brains completely frozen.
“Elias really is remarkable, isn’t he?” Delia commented gently, smiling warmly.
She didn’t fully grasp Pokémon training intricacies but could tell Elias must have achieved something exceptional.
“Yes… Whether he wins or loses, just standing there is praiseworthy enough,” Professor Oak nodded, swiftly regaining his composure. As a former Champion himself, he knew appearances could be deceiving.
Although startled, Oak was aware the other Elite Four members were occupied recently, and Elias filling in didn’t necessarily mean he was already surpassing them. Oak preferred believing Elias had simply reached a point where he could hold his own against Elite-level trainers.
Compared to the alternative, that seemed far more reasonable.
“I just hope that kid isn’t too nervous,” Oak murmured softly, silently cheering for Elias—the trainer who’d come from his own laboratory, after all.
—
Author’s note—
Professor Oak: I hope Elias isn’t nervous.
Lance: “……”
This is a fan translation of 养老婆见多了，第一次见养boss的 by 是阴哦. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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