In the blink of an eye, crystalline growths—seemingly formed from rock salt—sprouted from the body of the Quaquaval in a Frenzied Dance.
These crystalline chunks were deeply embedded in its body, constantly corroding and draining its stamina as time passed. The relentless assault even caused flaws to appear in the Quaquaval's dance steps.
Spotting this opening, Paul naturally didn't just wait for the salt cure to sap the Quaquaval's energy. He seized the opportunity and issued his command the moment Quaquaval's steps faltered.
"Body Slam!"
The Garganacl's eyes lit up. Its body became shrouded in a reddish-brown light, signifying Fighting-type energy. Standing at three meters tall, its imposing figure loomed over the Quaquaval like a mountain.
In Quaquaval's rapidly shrinking pupils, Garganacl's silhouette was like a collapsing skyscraper, filling it with terror.
Boom—!
A dull collision sounded. The Quaquaval was sent flying by Garganacl's Body Slam, tumbling several times across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
At this point, it had lost all its previous elegance.
Even the composed expression of the middle-aged uncle commanding it gradually faded.
Before the Quaquaval could get up, Paul had Garganacl use Recover again, restoring it from near-collapse back to full health.
By this stage, both students and teachers watching below had fallen silent.
Wait, so after all that, Quaquaval not only wasted its efforts but also took a lot of damage?
What kind of nonsense is this?!
Seeing the uncle sweating profusely and panicking, the rest of the battle quickly fell into Paul's rhythm.
Soon after, with neither the ability to attack nor to remove the salt cure, the Quaquaval collapsed on the battlefield, face full of frustration.
When the battle ended, the surroundings were dead silent—no applause, no jeers, just silence.
No one knew how to react.
Paul recalled Garganacl, walked off the battlefield with a cold expression, and handed the Poké Ball to Nurse Joy, who was waiting nearby.
Even though Garganacl had nearly full health by the end, the energy cost of Recover was real, and it needed to rest.
The next match began swiftly. In the teachers' viewing area, Lucas stopped taking notes.
Studying the densely written pages in his notebook, he summarized several observable points.
After refining them, he drew two conclusions:
The soil he exchanged for a Tyranitar on Mt. Silver definitely had an effect. Based on his observations, Garganacl's resilience even exceeded his expectations.
Lucas suspected that the late evolution of his Garganacl was tied to the unique soil of Mt. Silver, which likely contained some mysterious substance that further boosted their already formidable defense.
As expected, while the classic moveset—Salt Cure, Iron Defense, Recover, and Body Slam—worked well together, it was not without flaws.
After two consecutive Recovers, Garganacl's energy reserves dropped sharply. This was a form of balance; if Recover didn't consume energy, Garganacl could solo Rayquaza.
He also noted the accuracy issues with Salt Cure and wondered if Garganacl could withstand a higher-leveled opponent long enough to pull off its cumbersome combo.
In short, while this strategy was effective, timing was crucial. It was like using Protect and Toxic—amazing if timed right, but not something you could rely on to beat every Champion and Elite Four.
Without the right conditions, it's better to follow Teacher Tyme's example and give Garganacl more offensive moves like Stone Edge, Fire Punch, Avalanche, or Thunder Punch.
At least then, it wouldn't just be a punching bag standing around taking hits.
"Kyuuu!"
As Lucas pondered, Mimikyu suddenly let out a cry.
He blinked, realizing it was a reminder. Looking up, he saw another of his students about to battle.
This time, it was Nurse Joy Shizuka, facing a young male student who looked about sixteen or seventeen.
Shizuka's Garganacl was the third one, with the "Purifying Salt" ability. Although not as sturdy as the second, her opponent wasn't as ruthless as the uncle who used a well-trained Quaquaval against beginners.
This was a heavyweight clash—her opponent's Pokémon was a Copperajah, nearly as tall as Garganacl and with both weight and type advantages.
Fortunately, Shizuka had worked hard, memorized type matchups thanks to encouragement from Chansey and help from Porygon, and picked up plenty of command skills, becoming quite competent.
Though mistakes still happened, her experience as a nurse helped her stay calm and on track even in the face of surprises.
Plus, the Salt Cure move was especially effective against the Steel-type Copperajah. In the end, Shizuka managed to win—barely but safely.
Perhaps, as Chairwoman Geeta often said, Joys could indeed find success as trainers.
Now, two of Lucas's students had reached the top 32.
Students began to discuss the almost identical tactics used by Shizuka and Paul.
Waiting in the wings, Aliquis confirmed that the strategy clearly bore Lucas's style.
Just as torturous for opponents, just as malicious, just as disgusting.
"How do I break this strategy with Meowscarada? Is the key to avoid getting hit by Salt Cure?"
After several more rounds, as more and more people discussed how to counter Garganacl's annoying tactics, teachers in the viewing area couldn't suppress their curiosity. Dendra and Miriam cautiously asked Lucas:
"Head Teacher, did you teach them that strategy?"
Lucas glanced at the two, paused his play with Mimikyu, and didn't bother hiding anything.
Just as he had told them that Garganacl came from his own farm, he nodded and said calmly, "Yes, I taught them."
"..."
Dendra and Miriam were left speechless by his forthrightness.
They just couldn't understand—
With such overwhelming strength, why bother inventing so many underhanded tactics that would get you whacked in a sack one day?
As a Fighting-type specialist, Dendra especially felt it. If she had to face Lucas and endure this strategy, she'd rather forfeit early.
She'd rather be flattened by Annihilape than stand there getting tortured.
Still, neither doubted Lucas's actions had made the tournament unfair.
After all, while his Garganacl were bigger and tougher than average, their overall strength was still within the range of what students could handle. Some would inevitably have even stronger Pokémon.
Besides, both Paul and Shizuka's command over Garganacl had a telltale awkwardness any experienced trainer could spot—it was like watching a rookie and a Pokémon fight together for the first time.
A bit later, Penny also sent out a Garganacl, thoroughly frustrating a student using Gumshoos, and made it into the top 32. Finally, some students couldn't hold back.
"Seriously, this strategy is so disgusting."
"This sucks! You can't beat it, but if you don't try, you just watch your effort go to waste, and if you make a mistake, you get sprayed with salt."
"I can't take it anymore!"
Even Director Clavell, watching from the stands, heard the students' complaints.
He stroked his beard, face calm, and chuckled quietly to himself, "Is this tournament just a way to test if the students have truly learned what they should?"
"Sure enough, that's something Teacher Lucas would do. Things are getting interesting."
Top 64, top 32, top 16.
With Penny, Paul, and Shizuka's Garganacl all racking up wins, the remaining top students began thinking hard about how to counter these three salt-rock giants.
These Pokémon, usually seen as farm animals producing edible salt, were suddenly revealed to have such power—and to be so disgusting. It was a shock.
You could see it in the black faces and muttering of the many students who lost in humiliation.
Eventually, they came to a conclusion:
Compared to Garganacl's wall-like physical defense, its special defense was less absurd—maybe that was the breakthrough point.
Surprisingly, the first to find success was Ortega, a former student of Lucas.
After months of growth, Ortega still had a touch of arrogance, but his skills as a trainer had improved greatly.
Instead of his ace Dachsbun, he used Hatenna, which he'd caught after Dachsbun. By using a combination of special moves and maintaining both Light Screen and Reflect to guard against Salt Cure, he managed to defeat Shizuka and her Garganacl.
Afterward—
Shizuka, holding Garganacl's Poké Ball after it had been treated, went to Lucas, head hanging low.
"Teacher, I'm sorry. I lost."
But Lucas didn't scold her. He waved his hand, "Don't worry, you've only just become a trainer. Making it to the quarterfinals with a new partner is already impressive. Go and cheer for Penny and Paul."
Brightening, Shizuka nodded and left.
The second quarterfinal match pitted Penny's "oldest" Garganacl against art club member and trainer Mela.
A fateful clash—
The "true boss" of Team Star, and the leader of the Segin Squad.
Before the match, Hassel, who had just arrived after class, sat down next to Lucas, cheerfully saying that he'd noticed Mela's talent and occasionally trained her in dragon types. He'd even entrusted her with a Turtonator line hatchling.
Sadly, Mela preferred Fire-types—so he tried encouraging her to catch dual-type Fire/Dragon Pokémon.
Lucas was shocked.
There just aren't that many Fire/Dragon Pokémon!
Besides Turtonator, the rest are either Mega Charizard X, which needs a Mega Stone, or the legendary Reshiram.
Maybe Magmortar, if you stretch the definition.
Even if she caught them all, that's still not a full team.
Turning his attention to the battlefield—
Mela didn't use Turtonator, but Armarouge, the Fire/Psychic evolution of Charcadet.
Looking at Armarouge, Lucas felt a strange sense of kinship. If it weren't for the Cursed Armor being right in front of him, his Ceruledge might have been an Armarouge instead.
The battle between Mela and Penny was fierce.
Although Fire-type moves were ineffective, Armarouge used Protect to block Salt Cure and leveraged Psychic Terrain and Expanding Force combos to deal heavy damage, giving Penny and Garganacl a hard time.
If Armarouge had been Ceruledge, it would have been much easier for Penny and her Purifying Salt Garganacl.
Lucas glanced at the smiling Hassel beside him and immediately realized who was giving Mela advice.
Fortunately, Penny was flexible and lucky.
After using Recover to restore Garganacl's stamina, she let it tank a boosted Expanding Force in Psychic Terrain, then landed a perfect Rock Slide on Armarouge. The hit triggered Armarouge's Weak Armor (lowering its defense, raising its speed), and also made it flinch.
A final Salt Cure dragged things out, and Armarouge was finally defeated.
"How could this happen!?"
Hassel dramatically clutched his head in disbelief.
Lucas, seeing through the trick, chuckled, "Looks like, when it comes to teaching students, I'm still one step ahead."
"Better luck next time, Dragon-type Elite Four of Paldea~"
…