Alex sat quietly in his seat without explaining any tactics to his Pokémon as he usually did before important matches.
There was simply no need. Against an opponent who had virtually no chance of defeating him, spending time discussing battle plans would accomplish very little.
A level advantage of roughly 5 levels at the Elite rank was already enormous.
Unless something completely unexpected happened, Alex would win this battle without much difficulty.
As Alex relaxed in his chair and watched the matches playing on the large televisions, a staff member suddenly began walking toward him.
Behind the staff member was Ian.
"Participant Number 3, correct?" the staff member asked. "Your match is about to begin. Please follow me."
Alex stood up immediately, and Ian did the same.
The two trainers followed the staff member out of the waiting room and into one of the corridors leading toward the battlefield.
After a short walk, the staff member stopped and said, "Participant Number Three will enter first. Participant Number 36, please wait here for a moment."
Alex nodded and walked forward alone.
As soon as he stepped into the arena, a wave of applause and cheers erupted from the audience.
Many spectators immediately recognized him.
After all, he was one of the tournament favorites and one of the most discussed participants in the entire competition.
Alex calmly waved toward the crowd as he walked to his position.
A few moments later, Ian entered the arena as well.
He also received applause and encouragement from the audience, though the reaction was noticeably smaller than the one Alex had received.
Ian walked onto the battlefield with a calm expression and stopped opposite Alex.
Ian looked to be in his late twenties and possessed a tall, athletic build. His skin was heavily tanned, likely from spending countless hours near the ocean, and his dark-blue hair was tied back into a short ponytail.
He wore practical traveling clothes rather than anything flashy, though the wave pattern embroidered onto his jacket made his preferred Pokémon type rather obvious.
Most noticeable of all was the small Gyarados-shaped pendant hanging around his neck.
Alex's gaze lingered on the pendant for a second before he asked, "Let me guess. You really like Gyarados?"
Ian blinked before laughing well-intentioned."Was it that obvious?"
Alex nodded. "Yes...I mean look at your team. Your team consists of five Gyarados."
"Six, actually."
Alex looked confused. He thought for a moment that his opponent still had one more Gyarados, but that level of this Pokemon was too low, so he didn't add it to his team.
Ian pointed at himself. "Spiritually."
Alex stared at him for a few seconds. "...I don't think that's how that works."
Ian shrugged. "Maybe."
For some reason, Alex found the answer surprisingly unsurprising. It was quite normal for powerful trainers to have distinctive personalities.
After all, only truly "special" people became Pokémon Trainers in the first place. Especially powerful trainers.
According to Alex's experience, most of them had a screw loose somewhere.
And Alex himself had long since accepted that most people probably considered him a little strange as well.
Compared to most, a trainer who really liked Gyarados wasn't particularly unusual.
The referee then raised his hand and addressed both participants. "Both trainers, prepare your Pokémon. Release, only after the signal."
Alex and Ian nodded.
A few moments later, the referee swung his arm downward. "Release your Pokémon!"
Both trainers threw their Poké Balls almost simultaneously.
Two flashes of light appeared on opposite sides of the battlefield.
------------------------
Pokémon: Gardevoir
LV: 58
Type: Psychic / Fairy
Abilities: Telepathy (hidden ability)
Gender: Female
Potential: Diamond (7%)
Moves:
- Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport [E], Disarming Voice, Lucky Chant, Magical Leaf, Heal Pulse [E], Draining Kiss [E], Psychic [M], Imprison, Future Sight, Captivate, Hypnosis [M], Dazzling Gleam [M], Dream Eater
- (Perfect Talent) Disable [M], (Perfect Talent) Calm Mind [M],
- (TM) Protect [E], (TM) Shadow Ball, (TM) Will-O-Wisp, (TM) Thunderbolt, (TM) Thunder Wave, (TM) Helping Hand, (TM) Focus Blast [E] , (TM) Reflect [E], (TM) Light Screen, (TM) Safeguard, (TM) Charm, (TM) Icy Wind, (TM) Hyper Beam [E], (TM) Guard Swap, (TM) Mystical Fire, (TM) Psych Up, (TM) Substitute
----------
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Pokémon: Gyarados
LV: 53
Type: Water/Flying
Abilities: Intimidate
Gender: Male
Potential: Gold (13%)
Move:
- Tackle [E], Bite, Leer, Twister, Ice Fang [E], Aqua Tail, Scary Face, Dragon Rage, Crunch [M], Dragon Dance [E], Hurricane, Rain Dance [E],
- (Innate Talent) Hyper Beam [M], (Innate Talent) Hydro Pump [E], (Innate Talent) Waterfall [M]
- (TM) Protect [E], (TM) Facade [E], (TM) Surf, (TM) IceBeam [E], (TM) Thunderbolt [E], (TM) Blizzard, (TM) Earthquake [E], (TM) Double Team, (TM) Brutal Swing, (TM) Giga Impact,
-------
Alex briefly glanced at his opponent's information, and when he saw that there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it, he stopped paying attention to it.
Gardevoir shouldn't have any trouble defeating a Pokémon of this level without assistance.
The referee raised his hand and shouted, "3, 2, 1, Go!"
Alex remained silent.
The moment the battle began, Gardevoir used Teleport and instantly vanished from her position.
A split second later, she reappeared near the edge of the battlefield and immediately activated Calm Mind.
At the same time, Gyarados used Dragon Dance, taking advantage of the brief opening to increase its strength and speed.
Alex continued watching without saying anything.
Gardevoir quickly judged that allowing Gyarados to accumulate too many boosts would be dangerous. Before Gyarados could start prepare Dragon Dance a second time, she teleported back into range of Psychic and most Ranged moves.
Gyarados and Gardevoir then both used powerful Master Rank moves. Neither Pokémon used a super-effective attack, yet the difference in strength quickly became apparent.
After the exchange, Alex briefly evaluated the condition of both Pokémon.
Gyarados had already lost more than 60% of its HP.
Gardevoir, meanwhile, had suffered only minor injuries and had lost at most 1/4 of her HP.
Considering that Pokémon specializing in Teleport often possessed lower physical durability than most Pokémon at the same level, Gardevoir's performance was only possible due to the massive level difference.
This only reinforced Alex's belief that the battle was practically unwinnable for Ian. The fight did not last much longer.
Both Pokémon activated Protect to block the next attacks before immediately launching another round of Master Rank moves.
Gyarados was sent crashing to the ground, unable to continue fighting.
Alex was slightly disappointed by Ian's strategy.
It wasn't a bad strategy by any means.
In fact, Dragon Dance followed by direct offensive pressure was a perfectly reasonable approach under normal circumstances.
The problem was that it simply wasn't the correct tactic in this particular battle.
Against a Pokémon like Gardevoir, who possessed a significant level advantage , attempting to win through a straightforward exchange of attacks was never going to succeed.
As far as Alex could tell, Ian had entered the battle with the intention of fighting "honestly"
***
Yo, I have bad news. I'm going to take a break for a week.
Sorry, but I'll see you on the 23rd.
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