"Caw!" ("I told you already, you're too weak! If you want to beat the great Articuno, come back in a few dozen years!")
Articuno kept trying to throw out trash talk to disrupt Crobat.
But Crobat was still a ninja's Pokémon. That kind of taunting might have worked at first, but by now it did not bother Crobat in the slightest.
"Articuno, don't get careless."
Seeing Articuno acting so proud and full of itself, Grey still gave it a reminder.
Koga was a candidate for the next Elite Four. Grey did not dare underestimate him.
"Caw." ("Got it.")
Articuno nodded lightly. For all its arrogant behavior, when it came to things like this, it was steadier than almost anyone.
What it had been doing just now was simply an attempt to make Crobat lose its cool.
But—
Since Crobat was not taking the bait, Articuno dropped the act.
All at once, black mist rolled across the battlefield.
Crobat had used Haze, hiding itself in the darkness as it waited for a chance to strike.
Grey immediately had Articuno use Blizzard again.
Whoooosh—
The violent blizzard howled in every direction, and the temperature plunged below freezing.
Even the spectators outside the field had to rub their hands together for warmth so they would not catch cold from Articuno's Blizzard.
"Leader Grey's Articuno is seriously strong. It's completely suppressing Leader Koga's Crobat…"
"For now, Leader Grey's Articuno definitely has the advantage, but Leader Koga's Crobat is battle-hardened. It might still have some way to respond."
"If it had a response, it should have used it already, right? Crobat doesn't have Destiny Bond, so it shouldn't just be tanking all these attacks."
Conversations like that were happening all around the arena.
Nobody had much confidence in Crobat.
Even though it had opened with Tailwind and had answered in time with Heat Wave—
Crobat still had not found any way to deal with Articuno.
On the field, Koga frowned slightly.
Just as everyone outside was saying, he really did not have much of an answer for Articuno.
Because…
From the very beginning, what he had prepared for were Grey's various Fighting-type Pokémon.
Against something like Articuno, he simply did not have a Pokémon that could counter it effectively.
"It seems the winner has already been decided."
Koga let out a sigh.
Even if he did not want to admit it, there really was a large gap between him and Grey.
Crobat's movements were growing slower and slower.
Then, suddenly, with a sharp crack, a large chunk of ice dropped heavily onto the ground.
And Crobat was trapped inside it.
Clearly, because of Blizzard, it had been frozen solid.
The moment that happened—
The match was decided.
"Well, looks like I was overthinking it."
Grey let out a sigh of relief as well.
He had thought Crobat might be hiding some trick the way Weezing had.
But now it seemed it had just been hanging on by sheer force of will.
In the end, Articuno finished Crobat off with Blizzard.
And won the third battle.
"Crobat is unable to battle. Since all of Leader Koga's Pokémon are unable to battle, the winner is Leader Grey."
The referee announced the result of the third match.
Koga smiled bitterly as he recalled Crobat.
Then he cupped his hands toward Grey. "Leader Grey, I lost this battle."
"It was a great battle. If Articuno hadn't caught you off guard, and if Crobat hadn't accidentally ended up frozen, this would've been a very tough match."
Grey waved his hand.
He could only count the first two battles as narrow wins.
The third one was the only one he had fought more comfortably.
And it also gave him a very direct sense of what Elite Four-level strength felt like.
When neither side had a type advantage, it was about six-four.
With the type advantage, it was about seven-three.
And with a type disadvantage, there was a high chance it would swing to four-six.
This battle had also shown everyone Grey's current battle level.
…
…
Indigo Plateau, Kanto League.
After watching the entire battle, the League's upper management all fell silent in thought.
The impact Grey's livestream had on people was just too strong.
The ease with which he had dealt with all of Koga's tactics showed everyone one thing without question—
His strength had truly reached the Elite Four level.
He had gotten his Pokémon only three months ago and had already reached Elite Four level?
What the hell—
Only freaks on the level of Red and Blue should be able to do something like that, right?
All of the League higher-ups fell silent at the same time.
Even the factions that had previously wanted to squeeze Grey out no longer dared say a word.
A new-generation trainer with Elite Four-level strength—someone like that would be a rare treasure anywhere.
Practically a future Champion set in stone.
A monstrous trainer with the potential to stand shoulder to shoulder with Red and Blue!
Maybe even someone who could one day challenge the great legends of battle.
And now, that kind of trainer was one of their League's Gym Leaders.
As long as Grey continued to develop in the future, what kind of trouble could mere Team Rocket possibly still stir up?
Grey, Red, Blue, and then the Kanto Elite Four—if those seven trainers took a stroll through Team Rocket's base, would their boss even dare show his face?
At that moment, Damalanchi was beaming from ear to ear.
A freakishly talented trainer like that was something you could search for and never find.
And Kanto had gathered three of them at once.
He had even heard there was another trainer recognized by Ho-Oh. Although that one was still a rookie, being acknowledged by Ho-Oh meant he had a pure heart too.
And apparently he was Red's younger brother?
Oh—
Then that made four freakishly talented trainers!
That line of thought even made Damalanchi start wishing that Leon, the Champion from the faraway Galar region overseas, was also a trainer from Kanto.
His ace was Charizard too. Too bad he wasn't from Kanto.
What a shame.
Still, Kanto's long drought between generations was finally about to be broken!
"Ahem."
Lance's cough snapped Damalanchi out of his thoughts.
He looked around at everyone and said seriously, "Well then, you all saw Leader Grey's battle, right? He's a trainer with both talent and real strength."
"And a trainer like that is exactly what the Kanto region needs."
"So then, everyone, take note. Once the Gym challenge matches are over, make sure to arrange some kind of reward for Leader Grey. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to bring them up."
"How about giving Leader Grey some money in the name of prize money?"
One of the League executives raised a hand and made a suggestion.
"No!"
Lance slapped the table and said righteously, "How can we use filthy money to corrupt Leader Grey?!"
"?"
Hearing Lance say that, the executive looked like he wanted to say something more, but one glare from Lance immediately shut him up.
Everyone discussed it for a while.
And still failed to come up with anything.
Then the topic moved on.
"Recently, there have been sightings of Team Rocket in the Orange Islands. What does everyone think about that?"
"The Orange Islands? What could possibly be there that Team Rocket would care about?"
"There actually is something. My hometown is in the Orange Islands, and I think there's a stretch of sea there where Lugia lives."
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.