Grand Bout

* Anime
* Manga

The **Grand Bout**, also known as the **Village Games**, are an important tradition of Ishigami Village, held once per generation to elect the new Village Chief.

## Description

The games are set up as a martial arts tournament, where participants duel each other in a 1v1 fighting format. The winner of each bout will move up the ladder to face another opponent, until there is only one remaining winner left, who succeeds as village chief. The village games are hosted on a stadium on the peninsula next to the Ishigami Village buildings. Jasper was the referee for the last two bouts that were held, with Chrome as the future referee should they be held again.

## History

Roughly two decades prior to Senku's arrival to Ishigami village, the Grand Bout of that generation was held. In this event, Kokuyo resulted victorious, after defeating Jasper in the final match. He took the chief seat after marrying the priestess, a woman who was never named, and who passed away sometime while her daughters Ruri and Kohaku were teens.

This Grand Bout, with Ruri's hand in marriage as the prize, had Magma for the strongest contender, that is, if Kohaku hadn't participated. Kohaku joined solely to defeat him and protect her sister, since he had no intention to take care of her and even considered killing her. As per the rules, Jasper was the referee in this event.

Given the whole event didn't come to a satisfactory conclusion, it was held again by the time Senku was on the final stages of synthesizing antibiotics for Ruri.

## Rules

There are seven rules that must be upheld during the Grand Bout.

1. Anyone over the age of 14 and unmarried can participate.
2. The winner marries the current priestess and becomes the village chief.
3. Matches are decided by either surrendering, leaving the ring, or when the combatant is incapacitated.
4. Bladed weapons and projectiles are forbidden.
5. Attacks from spectators are forbidden.
6. Punishment for infractions will fit the crime.
7. The runner-up from the last tournament will serve as referee and enforce the rules.

## Summary

The Grand Bout was Senku's first entry into Ishigami Village. With the help of Chrome, Kohaku, Ginro and Kinro, Senku aimed to rig and win the games so that he could recruit more villagers to the Kingdom of Science and be able to cure Ruri.

The plan was to train Ginro and Kinro's spearwork to a level at which they could defeat Magma, while also enlisting as many people into the bout as possible to give them as many opportunities as possible to either wear down their opponents or win. Ideally, they wanted Chrome to win, however Chrome is not a skilled fighter so they decided to better those who were already good at combat to improve their chances. Despite this, Chrome still trained by himself so he could at least tire Magma out slightly if he fought him.

Kohaku's participation wasn't denied since it was never stated in the rules that women couldn't take part, and these rules were considered sacred and immutable. Senku additionally concocted basic performance enhancers to give the fighters a boost during their fights, as well as participated himself, given the rules also didn't state that foreigners couldn't join.

In the end, the Bout was won by Senku unintentionally after Chrome had passed out from exertion and relief at the Kingdom of Science team's win. Thus, Senku succeeded the previous chief, Kokuyo. Initially, there was some dissent from the villagers as Senku was an outsider, however as "the gods themselves saw [Senku] win the tournament" the villagers ceded.

## Results

### Quarterfinals

* Magma gets one big hit in, slamming Kinro into the floor.
* Suika throws her helmet/glasses to Kinro, who puts it on, improving his eyesight slightly.
* Kinro dodges several hits from Magma, retaliating with a barrage of blows that has Magma on his knees.
* Kinro feels obligated to ask Jasper if the helmet is a violation of the rules, to which Jasper responds it's not.
 Mantle vs Chrome
* Magma, upon noticing Kohaku returning, tells Mantle to throw the fight.
 Senku vs Kohaku
 Ginro vs Argo
* Argo and Ginro take turns rapidly hitting the other, resulting in Argo taking a heavy hit to the stomach  and Ginro taking severe cosmetic damage.
* Ginro wins after poking Argo off the edge of the arena.

### Semifinals

* Magma whales on Chrome mercilessly.
* Chrome crouches over a piece of Suika's helmet, pooling his sweat onto the lens while Magma continues beating him.
* Magma and Chrome have an extended standoff while Gen casts his "spell" to force Magma to stand still and Chrome steadies the lens.
* The surface of Magma's clothing ignites, causing him to back off towards the edge of the cliff.
 Senku vs Ginro
* Chrome rolls what's left of Suika's helmet to Senku, who uses it as a fulcrum for his spear.
* Senku steps on his end of the spear, multiplying its speed and hitting directly between Ginro's legs, downing him.

## Trivia

* The Grand Bout is a tradition of Ishigami village with unknown origin. The fact that the current day population of Treasure Island does not have this tradition, nor even priestesses and chiefs, may indicate it was developed by the Ishigami ancestors after they made landfall in the Japanese mainland; on the other hand there is also the possibility that the islanders did at some point have a societal structure like Ishigami village, but it made a change to a solely patriarchal society later on.
* The future of the Grand Bout is uncertain though if it were to be held, the rules state that Chrome would be the referee. Senku taking the chief seat, while deserved from the outcome of the Grand Bout, was also a decision taken by Kokuyo and Ruri, and unlike tradition, she remained unmarried. This partially defeated the purpose of the competition, and given it is highly likely that Senku doesn't approve of the practice at all, chances are it may never be held again, though only time can tell.

## References

1. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 52, Page 11
2. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 27, Pages 7-9
3. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 27, Page 9
4. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 27
5. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 34
6. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 33, Page 12
7. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 34, Page 10
8. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 33, Pages 13-14
9. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 40
10. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 36
11. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 105
12. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 41
13. ↑ Dr. Stone Anime: Episode 15