With Haxorus losing its fighting ability, Hassel was pushed to the brink.
Because the battle rules were 3v3 rotation format, and he had already lost two Pokémon.
But Johan's Snivy and Ceruledge were both in decent condition.
Although Snivy wasn't as strong as Ceruledge in raw power, it couldn't be ignored.
And while Ceruledge had been beaten to critical HP by Haxorus earlier, Bitter Blade plus Blaze had restored Ceruledge to a battleable state.
This situation... was very unfavorable for Hassel.
However, Hassel wasn't nervous—he even seemed somewhat joyful and excited.
He hadn't intended to definitely win this battle against Teacher Johan. As he'd said from the beginning, he only wanted to discuss the "way of teaching" with Teacher Johan.
From what he could see now, he'd gained much.
Of course, regardless, he would still give his all in this battle!
So after recalling Haxorus, Hassel unhesitatingly took out his final Poké Ball and threw it without hesitation.
"Go, Baxcalibur!"
Red light flashed as the Ultra Ball opened.
A bone-chilling aura immediately spread. In the frigid airflow, a Pokémon resembling a spiny dragon appeared on the field—covered in blue-gray scales, with snow-white ice crystal armor on its head, abdomen, knees, and elbows, and prominent massive ice crystal spines on its back.
Baxcalibur, an Ice/Dragon-type ice dragon Pokémon. It was said that the frigid breath from its mouth could instantly freeze even scorching lava into ice blocks. It was an extremely rare Pokémon living in extremely cold regions.
Baxcalibur was also the Paldea region's pseudo-legendary Pokémon!
Except for Ice Dragon Kyurem, it was the only Pokémon with the Ice/Dragon type combination—truly a "civil war phantom god"!
"Roar!!!"
The moment Baxcalibur appeared, it roared, and a terrifying chill centered on it spread rapidly in all directions.
The ground, walls, and even the air gradually showed hexagonal ice crystals as the entire stadium's temperature plummeted.
Logically, Ice-type Pokémon facing Fire-type Ceruledge should be at an absolute type disadvantage.
But Baxcalibur was different. Dragon-type had 2× resistance to Fire-type moves, and combined with Ice-type, it no longer feared Fire-type attacks.
That wasn't all.
What truly frustrated Fire-type Pokémon about Baxcalibur was its ability "Thermal Exchange"!
[Thermal Exchange: When a Pokémon with this ability is hit by a Fire-type move, its Attack increases by 1 stage and it cannot be burned!]
This was purely an ability targeting Fire-type Pokémon.
The more you hit it, the stronger it became!
And it didn't fear burn status, so its physical attack wouldn't be lowered.
Clearly built like a "civil war phantom god," it even beat up Fire-type Pokémon too.
So Baxcalibur didn't fear Ceruledge.
Additionally, its Ice typing allowed it to easily handle Snivy.
One move directly "sealed" Johan's two remaining Pokémon with decent fighting power.
"Come back, Ceruledge."
Johan was also decisive, directly taking out a Luxury Ball and recalling the still-decent Ceruledge.
Although Baxcalibur as a Dragon-type didn't fear Ice-type moves, its Fairy-type weakness still existed, and its Ice typing also made it vulnerable to Steel-type moves.
This way, Steel/Fairy-type Tinkaton would be Johan's excellent third Pokémon choice.
But just as he reached for the Poké Ball at his waist, one Luxury Ball shook excitedly.
Johan's movement paused, his expression showing some helplessness.
No, the opponent is Ice/Dragon-type...
Obviously, the shaking Luxury Ball contained Dragonite!
The "always striving" Dragonite became especially excited and battle-ready whenever it encountered Dragon-type Pokémon.
Especially when it sensed the momentum and strength of that Baxcalibur on the field.
But the problem was...
Baxcalibur wasn't called a "civil war phantom god" for nothing, especially since Dragonite was 4× weak to Ice...
If the opponent had 4× resistance, you could still fight, but being 4× weak to the opponent's type... one careless moment could result in being one-shotted.
Are you serious?
This was the ace Pokémon of the first Elite Four!
Comparing horizontally to Elite Four Drake's Salamence—after Mega Evolution, it reached Champion peak level.
With such type suppression, even legendary-tier might not win...
Rustle rustle—
The Luxury Ball shook twice more.
Feeling Dragonite's emotions, Johan helplessly held his forehead.
Gengar in the stands grinned—it knew the "predicament" Johan was in.
Gengar: You just spoil it!
Fine.
Johan sighed lightly and took out Dragonite's Luxury Ball.
"Whatever, worst case I'll forfeit these points!"
Muttering quietly, he threw the Luxury Ball.
"As you wish, Dragonite!"
"Draaa—"
In the red light, a large, round-bellied Dragonite flew out impatiently, its small wings flapping as it held its chubby fists, excitedly calling out.
"Dragonite?!"
Seeing Johan's final Pokémon was actually Dragonite, both the audience in the stands and those watching the livestream exclaimed in shock.
Who would dare summon Dragonite when facing Baxcalibur?
Although both were pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragonite was also Flying-type, making it 4× weak to Ice!
4× weak to Ice plus 2× weak to Dragon—this was even more pressure than Snivy facing Baxcalibur, right?
"Did Teacher Johan grab the wrong Poké Ball?"
"Or is Teacher Johan showing consideration and going easy?"
"Going easy? Summoning Dragonite against Baxcalibur—this is like letting the ocean out!"
"Is there a possibility that Teacher Johan... doesn't know about this Baxcalibur species? After all, this is Teacher Johan's first time in the Paldea region..."
Anyway, the audience couldn't understand.
Actually, not just the audience—even Flint, Cynthia, and Johan's opponent Hassel were puzzled.
Hassel frowned even more.
He could understand the earlier Snivy and Ceruledge, but this Dragonite...
Could Teacher Johan have some other meaning?
Johan: Heh, don't ask—I can't figure it out either.
But since it was already sent out, what else could he do?
Fight!
"Dragonite, Dragon Dance!"
Johan waved his hand broadly, taking the initiative for the first time in this battle.
No choice—the disadvantage was really huge this time. Johan, who usually preferred being passive, had to be proactive for once.
"Draaa!!"
Dragonite showed no fear facing Baxcalibur. After a long cry, airflow spiraled around its body as its momentum rapidly climbed.
Hassel temporarily stopped thinking about Teacher Johan's "intention" and decided to fight first and think later.
"Baxcalibur, Icicle Crash!"
"Roar!!"
Baxcalibur's body again spewed frigid air. Its claws lifted upward, and the cold air quickly condensed into a massive pale ice spike that appeared above Dragonite's head.
Whoosh—
The ice spike, wrapped in cold air, rapidly fell.
"Dodge, Dragonite! Use Extreme Speed!"
Hum—
Dragonite glowed white, its small wings flapping as its speed suddenly skyrocketed. Despite its seemingly chubby body, it displayed speed completely inconsistent with its appearance.
Bang!!
Baxcalibur's Icicle Crash missed.
Dragonite, spiraling in the air, charged straight at Baxcalibur.
"Dragon Rush!" Johan went with the flow.
Rich blue-purple energy surged out, forming a dragon cloak over Dragonite as it roared and bit toward Baxcalibur.
"Baxcalibur, we'll use Dragon Rush too!"
Whooom!!
Baxcalibur's body also surged with rich Dragon-type energy, quickly wrapped in a dragon cloak, directly facing the falling dragon with a roaring cry.
Boom—!!
In an instant, the two dragons—one above, one below—collided head-on, producing an enormous roar that shook the entire stadium.
"Draaa—"
Dragonite flapped its wings and flew backward rapidly, its expression excited.
While Baxcalibur's feet carved two deep furrows in the ground, sliding some distance before barely stabilizing.
Dragonite actually had the advantage?
With Dragon Dance's boost and Extreme Speed's speed enhancement, naturally Dragonite, attacking from above with the initiative, had the advantage.
Baxcalibur, defending passively and hastily, inevitably fell into slight disadvantage.
This plot development somewhat exceeded everyone's expectations.
In their view, with Baxcalibur's huge type advantage... shouldn't it be dominating?
But Hassel's furrowed brow soon relaxed, looking at Johan with some realization.
He'd fallen into Teacher Johan's rhythm...
From starting with Dragon Dance, forcing him to want to interrupt Dragonite, to the later Dragon Rush collision—this was completely falling into Teacher Johan's offensive rhythm!
Not enough type advantage, so rhythm compensation?
The higher the level of battle, the more important rhythm became.
But realizing this, Hassel immediately decided to change tactics and rhythm.
"Baxcalibur, Snow!"
Snow was a weather move, similar to Ninetales' Snowfall, changing the weather to snowy.
Under snowy conditions, Ice-type Pokémon's physical defense greatly increased, and the plummeting temperature could also affect Dragonite more severely.
"Roar!!"
The stabilized Baxcalibur roared again, cold air immediately surging from its body.
Johan half-closed his eyes.
Although his Dragonite often battled under Ninetales' snowy weather and had resistance to snow weather and extremely low temperatures no weaker than Cynthia's Garchomp...
But letting Baxcalibur initiate snow weather would make Dragonite's already very unfavorable situation even more severe.
So...
"Dragonite, Extreme Speed!"
"Draaa—"
Dragonite again became a white streak, rapidly approaching Baxcalibur. This time without Dragon Rush, so its speed reached maximum.
"Now! Baxcalibur, Glaive Rush!" Hassel shouted loudly.
Baxcalibur immediately stopped its Snow move and turned its back toward the charging Dragonite!
This is what I was waiting for—you trying to interrupt the move!
Baxcalibur exhaled frosty breath, its sharp massive back spines immediately covered in Dragon-type energy, like a giant sword's edge, advancing instead of retreating toward Dragonite.
Glaive Rush, Baxcalibur's signature Dragon-type move with a massive 120 base power—an extremely strong Dragon-type attack.
But in the Pokédex, Glaive Rush was described as a reckless, self-sacrificing attack.
Because while Glaive Rush had high power, it completely exposed the back to the opponent. The result was that after the attack ended, the opponent's next move had greatly increased accuracy and doubled power!
In other words, this was a move that, if it didn't KO the opponent, would definitely result in being relentlessly attacked—a typical double-edged sword.
And Johan really wanted to say at this moment...
I was waiting for exactly this move!
"Dragonite, block it!"
"Draaa!!"
Dragonite's form suddenly stopped, spreading its arms to directly receive the terrifying impact from Baxcalibur's back spines.
Boom!!
The massive impact and terrifying Dragon-type energy, the sharp and hard back spines and the scales on Dragonite's palms produced extremely harsh friction sounds.
Although the scales on Dragonite's palms kept cracking, Dragonite actually withstood Baxcalibur's Glaive Rush!
Because of Multiscale!
In the earlier Dragon Rush collision, Dragonite had the absolute advantage, so it hadn't suffered much stamina loss, preserving Multiscale's damage-halving effect.
This was why Johan said he was waiting for Baxcalibur's Glaive Rush.
"It blocked it?!"
"It's Multiscale!"
"Teacher Johan is still so devious—seemingly trying to interrupt Snow but actually frantically baiting, waiting for exactly this Glaive Rush from Baxcalibur!"
"Who said Teacher Johan didn't know about Baxcalibur? Stand up!"
"Elite Four Hassel is in danger!"
Danger?
"Dragonite, grab Baxcalibur—Dragon Rush!"
Feeling the impact from the back spines weaken, Dragonite's expression changed as it firmly grasped the spines, blue-purple energy surging over its body again.
Glaive Rush's side effect doubled the opponent's move power, plus Dragon-type's super effectiveness—this move would KO Baxcalibur, right?
"Draaa—"
Dragonite embraced Baxcalibur and rapidly climbed, its dragon cloak growing larger and larger.
Upon reaching sufficient height, it flapped its wings and plummeted like a meteor toward the ground.
Witnessing this, Hassel immediately took out a black orb and threw it forcefully.
Boom!!!
The meteor-like impact raised massive clouds of dust.
Crack crack—
The ground and something crisp continuously cracked and spread.
The entire venue fell silent.
Was it a KO?
Just as all the audience were still guessing whether Baxcalibur had been KO'd...
Hassel waved and shouted: "Baxcalibur, Icicle Crash!"
What?
Baxcalibur hadn't lost its fighting ability?
Boom!!
The surging cold air blew away the surrounding dust. Seeing the scene, the audience's pupils contracted.
They saw Hassel's Baxcalibur now completely covered in transparent ice crystals, its body seeming entirely made of transparent crystal, with a bright Ice-type symbol on its head.
Terastallization!
At the crucial moment, Elite Four Hassel had Baxcalibur Terastallize, and its Tera type was Ice!
Tera Ice meant that while Dragonite's Dragon Rush still had doubled power, it lost the 2× type effectiveness against Dragon-types!
So Baxcalibur withstood this Dragon Rush attack.
And Baxcalibur in turn firmly grasped the extremely fast Dragonite, frost continuously spreading from its body to Dragonite while a massive ice spike rapidly formed above their heads!
"Holy crap! So Elite Four Hassel was waiting for this move!"
"4× weak to Ice Dragonite, having lost Multiscale, plus Terastallization's boost—if this hits... it'll be a KO, right?"
"The situation instantly reversed? This is Terastallization?"
After Pokémon Terastallize, if it's an originally possessed type, moves get STAB boost increased from the original 1.5× to 2×!
Plus 4× weakness to Ice... this Icicle Crash would definitely be too much for Dragonite!
"Heh." Johan smiled.
Worthy of the Paldea region, worthy of Terastallization.
Sometimes it was just this unreasonably "game-changing."
But Terastallization... who doesn't have it?
Johan flicked his wrist, and a black orb filled with energy appeared in his hand.
Good thing he recharged his Tera Orb as soon as he arrived in the Paldea region.
"Dragonite!" Johan shouted loudly, throwing the Tera Orb to land on Dragonite's head as it was held by Baxcalibur.
Crack! Crack crack—
Crystal built up, then quickly crumbled like dust. Dragonite's body was immediately covered in transparent crystal like Baxcalibur, with a Dragon-type crystal symbol appearing on its head.
Tera Dragon!
"When I get the chance, I definitely need to change Dragonite's Tera type to Normal," he thought.
Boom!!
Icicle Crash struck down.
Countless ice crystals and fragments scattered.
"Teacher Johan has Terastallization too?!"
"Tera Dragon? Isn't it still weak to Ice-type?"
"Weak is weak, but it's not 4× weak anymore!"
"Holy crap, these two are hiding deeper than each other, predicting and calculating one after another—is this what Pokémon world teachers are like? Too complex, too complex!"
"I predict your prediction, I predict your prediction of my prediction—too deep, too deep!"
Reversal, reversal, constant reversals.
Every time the audience thought it was ending, Teacher Johan and Elite Four Hassel would pull out something new.
The two kept exchanging trump cards, seeing who calculated further, who hid deeper.
From the current results... forget it.
The audience no longer dared make casual conclusions.
Who knew what would happen next?
But this kind of battle was truly exciting.
Mutual gaming, mutual scheming.
One undeniable point was that Terastallization's appearance had indeed made tactical gaming in battles more varied and exciting.
This time both had Terastallized into their Pokémon's original types.
If they Terastallized into other types, it would undoubtedly be even more complex and variable.
Icicle Crash hit Dragonite, dealing heavy damage, but as some audience members said, with pure Dragon-type, at least it wasn't 4× weak to Ice—2× damage was still within Dragonite's tolerance!
Bang!!
Ice fragments scattered.
"Draaa!!"
Terastallized Dragonite suddenly raised its head, looking at Baxcalibur firmly grasping it, and grinned.
"Outrage!" came Johan's voice from behind.
Boom!!
In Baxcalibur's eyes, Dragonite's originally gentle smile immediately became fierce, and Baxcalibur felt immense pressure.
Dragonite's aura skyrocketed in a violent manner, again grasping Baxcalibur in return.
Oh no!
"Baxcalibur, Ice Fang!" Hassel immediately shouted.
However, it was too late.
After entering "Outrage state," Dragonite directly punched upward from below, hitting Baxcalibur hard under the chin.
Then it clenched its fist and gathered power.
A faint blue light flashed in Johan's eyes.
"Focus Punch!"
Outrage + Focus Punch!
This punch carried thirty years of power!
The fist wrapped in rich dark red airflow, the chubby arm actually showed muscle definition under its thick scales.
Bang!!
Baxcalibur's form shot backward like a cannonball, fine cracks appearing in its ice crystal armor under the crystal covering, crumbling into ice fragments.
Whoosh—
The pained Baxcalibur hadn't lost its fighting ability, but as it opened its eyes mid-flight, it showed a shocked expression.
The Dragonite that had punched it was now wrapped in green and red intertwining airflow, appearing beside it mid-flight!
What speed was this?!
Johan breathed out slowly, his tone calm:
"The final one—Dragon Ascent!"
Whoosh—
A streak of green and red light flashed past Baxcalibur's side.
Bang!!
The already flying Baxcalibur crashed hard into the stadium wall like a cannonball.
The entire venue fell silent.
That Teacher Johan's Dragonite could use moves while in "Outrage state" wasn't a secret.
In fact, not only Teacher Johan's Dragonite could do this—after the "Pokémon World Championships" began, various talented individuals always appeared.
But this time, the 4× Ice-weak Dragonite had actually defeated Ice Dragon Baxcalibur!
This battle was truly spectacular!
Both sides gamed against each other, their mutual tactical exchanges were quite educational.
Especially Terastallization.
Both used Terastallization excellently, playing situation-reversing roles.
Elite Four Hassel's Baxcalibur's Tera Ice neutralized Dragonite's doubled-power Dragon Rush.
Teacher Johan's Dragonite's Tera Dragon weakened Baxcalibur's fatal Icicle Crash.
Overall... Teacher Johan was still superior.
But Elite Four Hassel also performed excellently. Although he lost despite 4× type advantage, anyone could see it was just one move short, truly worthy of the first Elite Four title.
After all, his opponent was a Champion!
Clap clap clap—
The audience who came to their senses gave enthusiastic applause.
Rotom Pokédex also excitedly announced Johan's victory at the end.
Johan was actually curious—if he had lost, how would little Rotom announce the result?
Would it say something shocking?
Too bad he couldn't see it this time.
It would probably be difficult in the future too.
Hassel recalled the defeated Baxcalibur and walked to the center of the battle field to shake hands with Johan.
His face showed no disappointment, instead his eyes held some enlightenment as he smiled and extended his hand to Johan.
"I understand now, Teacher Johan. The final Dragonite—what you actually wanted to express was the 'joy of teaching,' right?"
Huh?
Hearing Hassel's words, Johan silently added a question mark above his head.
But his face showed a smile as he said: "Showing off before an expert—you flatter me, Teacher Hassel."
Hassel shook his head.
"On the surface, a 4× Ice-weak Dragonite at the same strength level couldn't possibly defeat Ice Dragon Baxcalibur, but Teacher Johan, through your commanding and Dragonite's performance, you reversed what many would consider a predetermined result..."
After pausing, his eyes lit up: "This ability to help students achieve the impossible through a teacher's skill, turning failure into success, letting every student exceed their potential... this is the 'joy of teaching,' right?"
Believing in your students, then working together to make the impossible possible—this was success for both teacher and student, and also the teacher's most worthwhile joy and happiness.
This was the "way of teaching" Hassel learned from that final battle.
Huh?
Johan was confused inside.
Is this what I was trying to say?
Wasn't it about having a troublesome kid at home, wanting to teach it a "lesson," but accidentally succeeding?
"Cough." Johan cleared his throat.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Whatever you think it is, that's what it is...
"Thank you for your 'guidance,' Teacher Johan." Hassel bowed seriously, expressing his gratitude.
"I'm no longer confused—I know what I should do!"
Between his family and his teaching position at Orange Academy, he indeed felt the teaching profession and life were more precious!
"Good, good." Johan nodded.
He wondered if Hassel's Dragon Tamer family would come looking for trouble...
After a few more words, Hassel apologized and left, his steps steady and eyes determined.
His visit to Medali Town to find Rica and Alex was also to "escape."
Alex was like him—an artist, and Rica was like him—a teacher. He wanted to see if he could find answers from them.
That's why he'd gone out with Alex to seek inspiration.
He hadn't expected to find the answer from Teacher Johan.
Principal, Mr. Shaga, and Lance—they hadn't deceived him!
Johan held his forehead.
People with complex thoughts were truly "terrifying"...
"Wait."
How many points did he get from Elite Four Hassel this time?
"Repairing the stadium is another troublesome matter..."
Larry in the audience scratched his head in distress.
But recalling Johan and Hassel's battle, after reviewing it once, he nodded and muttered:
"Well... such a spectacular match was worth it, I guess."
He rustled as he packed his bread wrapper back into his briefcase, patted the dust off his pants, straightened his wrinkled suit, and got up to go eat at "Treasure Eatery."
Finally, he could eat!
Larry's actions still didn't attract surrounding attention.
As a fellow Elite Four member, Larry seemed to have a natural "invisibility" attribute.
But just as Larry turned around...
He saw a pancake-like black face, crimson eyes, and a mischievous smile.
Larry: !!
"Ka-kaah!"
Mister, you dropped something.
Gengar held out a small badge—Larry's work ID, which must have fallen when he was packing his bread wrapper.
"Oh, oh, thank you, thank you." Larry scratched his head and took the ID badge gratefully.
"Ka-kaah~" Gengar waved dismissively.
Larry turned and left.
Gengar watched his departing figure, scratched its head, and suddenly realized something.
Eh?
That mister seemed somewhat familiar just now?
It seemed like...
"What's wrong, Gengar?"
Cynthia noticed Gengar floating back with a thoughtful expression.
"Ka-kaah~"
Gengar pointed toward where Larry had left.
There was a mister named Larry just now...
Halfway through, Gengar suddenly remembered.
"Ka-kaah!" It punched its palm.
I remember! It's a wild Elite Four member!
"A wild Elite Four member?" Cynthia looked puzzled.
"A wild Elite Four member?! Where? Where?" Flint jumped up from his seat.
One Medali Town was actually hiding another Elite Four member?
Having just watched Teacher Johan battle Elite Four Hassel, Flint felt he also needed an exhilarating battle!
"Ka-kaah~"
Gengar pointed with its hand.
Flint immediately gave chase.
Wild Elite Four member, don't run!
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