"In this situation, it seems we need to make good use of our time."
"In six months, the National Inter-University Exchange Tournament will begin, and those who stand out during this period could represent Ironvale City Pokémon University."
"So, during this time, we all need to train harder! We've already won two battles; if we win two more, our chances will remain high."
At the resource distribution point of the Pokémon Center, Lucas Silver organized a small meeting to discuss strategy for the university team's upcoming battles.
"Professor Langford's rules this time are very unfavorable to us," commented Marcus Foster, visibly dissatisfied. "We already used our strongest Pokémon to win this battle... I'm beginning to think the professor did this on purpose."
"That's true, but they also used their main team, so in that sense we're even," replied Kyle Miller. "The problem is that all five on their side are veterans; they surely have at least six usable Pokémon, and with years of training, the ones we didn't see today probably aren't weak either. In such a short time, we won't be able to bring all our Pokémon up to that level."
Kyle Miller sighed. He only had seven Pokémon: Scyther, Heracross, Pinsir, Nincada, Masquerain, Shuckle, and Nidoran♂. Shuckle and Nidoran♂ had almost no battle power, so his effective combat team was really just five, which worried him greatly.
Jasper Reid's situation was similar: he had Onix, Golem, Nosepass, Lairon, Magcargo, Corsola, and Bulbasaur. Although he had more, in real combat only Onix and Golem could perform well. The others still needed a lot of training.
Ethan Black was in the same situation: Sandslash and Cacturne were very strong, but Shellder, Meltan, Trapinch, Shuckle, and Absol were not at that level, creating a huge gap in his team.
In contrast, Lucas Silver and Marcus Foster had a clear advantage: they carried only three Pokémon each, but these were personally trained by them, and they had several more kept at home.
Additionally, those Pokémon were cared for by professional breeders, so their strength was also high, and they could join the team at any time.
"Here I have information on Patrick and company's Pokémon. We can analyze it and decide which Pokémon we'll train as a priority," said Lucas Silver, showing his efficiency: he had barely finished the battle and already had the rivals' list.
According to the data, Ethan Black learned that Patrick Mills' family specialized in training Fire-type Pokémon, especially developing the Flash Fire ability.
Patrick Mills had three of that type: Arcanine, Typhlosion, and Houndoom, all with that ability. Additionally, he had Golduck, Pidgeot, and Rhydon.
Claire Dawson specialized in Flying-type: Charizard, Skarmory, Golbat, Swellow, Dodrio, and Walrein.
Jonathan Turner focused on Fighting-type: Poliwrath, Blaziken, Machamp, Heracross, Breloom, and Mightyena.
Brandon Cole had a varied team, probably due to coming from a farming family: Rapidash, Miltank, Ampharos, Quagsire, Tropius, and Piloswine.
Lastly, Olivia Reed, like Lucas Silver, specialized in Steel-type, though of lower quality: her ace was Aggron, accompanied by Magneton, Skarmory, Mawile, Vaporeon, and Ludicolo.
Although training a single type is simpler, having a mixed team gives more depth; that's why even specialists like Patrick Mills kept Pokémon of other types.
"Patrick is an expert in Fire-type... I think I should focus on training Shellder. If I can evolve it into Cloyster during this time, its strength will increase immensely," Ethan Black reflected.
"There's no other choice; we'll have to maximize the training of the other Pokémon," he concluded in his thoughts.
"But don't worry too much," added Lucas Silver. "The restriction only applies to those we used in the last battle. We have plenty of time to train the rest."
"Exactly, and if not, we can repeat the lineup and win another battle before switching," said Marcus Foster, then standing up and heading straight to the resource exchange point, preferring to spend time learning rather than talking.
The others shrugged and followed him.
After securing first place in the rankings and victory in the university team battle, Ethan Black accumulated more than 30,000 resource points, enough to redeem a Hidden Power Move Potion.
Without hesitation, he exchanged for it and, after saying goodbye to everyone, returned to his dormitory.
"Out, everyone!" he called, releasing his Pokémon. He explained the day's training objectives and then approached Shellder with the potion in hand.
"Shellder, this is the Hidden Power Move Potion. If you take it, you'll have the chance to learn the Hidden Power move. The type you get will depend on your potential... I can't guarantee it will be Psychic-type as we want," said Ethan Black, smiling as he placed the potion beside it.
Shellder looked at the potion seriously and nodded, showing that it was ready.
(End of chapter)