"Sure enough, he is an Advanced-level trainer, and quite a strong one."
The students from Harvard Pokémon University who were gathering information about students from other universities once again made their assumptions.
"It seems we'll have to notify the Advanced-level trainers of the university."
One of them hesitated for a moment and took out his communicator.
Their job was not only to collect information about visiting students but also to monitor the battlefield.
During the exchange event, it was normal for students from other universities to come and battle.
If the battles were balanced, they would not intervene. But if someone clearly seemed to come to humiliate the university, they could not just stand by.
Now, after easily defeating two students from Harvard Pokémon University, Ethan still had no intention of stepping down from the stage.
That made the people in charge of the field change their expressions and directly label him as someone who had come to provoke them.
"It seems there are no very strong trainers on the field..."
Ethan looked at how Rhyperior had defeated two Pokémon in just two moves and could not help but feel somewhat disappointed.
His goal was to see more Pokémon from the Federal League to prepare for the upcoming World Championship. But the Pokémon of the trainers present were relatively weak.
The previous Emboar was barely at the Intermediate level, and the Gothitelle only barely reached the Advanced level.
For Ethan's current strength, battles of that level no longer had much value.
Just as he was thinking about this, another trainer stepped onto the stage and stood in front of him.
"You are very strong," he said with a strange accent in the League's common language.
"Ah... more or less," Ethan replied in the same language.
Before traveling abroad, he had studied that language intensively, so he could already express himself and understand simple conversations.
The trainer nodded and threw his Poké Ball.
This time one of the starter Pokémon appeared: Serperior, a Grass-type Pokémon.
Serperior had a long, snake-like body colored light green.
Unlike its pre-evolutions, it had lost its hind legs, and its front legs had shrunk into leaf-like shapes. Near its tail it had three dark green leaves.
Its body was decorated with yellow patterns that resembled royal ornaments.
The leaves around its neck looked like the collar and sleeves of a suit, and its red eyes gave it an elegant and dominant appearance.
"A Serperior, huh... I wonder if it has the Contrary ability."
Ethan observed it carefully.
Serperior truly had an incredibly elegant design.
Moreover, if it possessed the Contrary ability together with the move Leaf Storm, its combat power would be extremely high.
The Contrary ability reversed stat changes: when a stat was supposed to rise, it would fall, and when it was supposed to fall, it would rise.
The move Leaf Storm, meanwhile, unleashed a storm of sharp leaves that struck the opponent, but normally greatly reduced the user's Special Attack.
With the Contrary ability, that negative effect was reversed and greatly increased the Special Attack instead.
Thus, each use of the move Leaf Storm became stronger than the previous one, forming a very terrifying combination.
Ethan thought that if he ever encountered a Serperior with that combination, he would like to train it.
Just as he was thinking about that, the battle began.
And to Ethan's surprise, the opposing trainer directly opened with the move Leaf Storm.
"Could it really be such a coincidence? The first Serperior I encounter has exactly that combination?"
Ethan began to feel a headache coming on.
The first attack of the move Leaf Storm was blocked by a stone wall created by Rhyperior with the move Rock Tomb, but stopping the second and third would not be so easy.
In the stands, seeing Serperior use the move Leaf Storm, the students who knew that trainer began cheering.
The trainer was a member of the university's substitute team, and Leaf Storm was the signature move of his Serperior.
In the university's qualifying battles, almost no Pokémon could withstand the second attack of the move Leaf Storm.
And if any did, none could withstand the third.
Therefore, when Serperior began preparing the second attack of the move Leaf Storm, the students were already celebrating, convinced that victory was guaranteed.
"It seems we'll have to get a little serious," Ethan said.
"Rhyperior, use Rock Blast with all your strength!"
After hearing the order, Rhyperior adopted a serious expression.
It raised both arms and aimed the rocky cavities in its hands toward Serperior.
An enormous amount of Rock-type energy gathered inside.
With its muscles tensing violently, it fired the move Rock Blast twice at the same time.
At the same time, Serperior launched its second attack of the move Leaf Storm.
Thanks to the increase in Special Attack caused by the Contrary ability, this attack was even more terrifying, forming a violent storm of leaves.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The attacks collided in the air.
The rocks suddenly exploded, releasing enormous energy that blocked the leaf storm.
"T-this... it blocked it!"
"They're evenly matched!"
"That Pokémon is absurdly strong!"
The students who had already been celebrating froze in place.
"Relax, Serperior still has the third attack. That attack only matched the second one; it surely won't be able to stop the third," one student said confidently.
But in the next instant, his expression froze.
On the field, after dispersing the Leaf Storm move with two rocks from Rock Blast, Rhyperior fired two more rocks.
Serperior had no time to react.
The two attacks struck it directly, sending it violently crashing into the protective wall.
When it fell to the ground from the wall, it had already lost the ability to fight.
Another Pokémon defeated with a single move!
The students of Harvard Pokémon University were completely stunned.
That was the Serperior of a member of the university's substitute team, and yet it had still been instantly defeated.
The power of the Pokémon on the field was simply absurd.
"So four Super Rock Blasts are already the limit?"
Ethan did not even look at the defeated Serperior.
Instead, he observed Rhyperior's hands.
After firing four extremely powerful attacks, its arms began to tremble slightly.
The move Rock Blast normally fires hard rocks at the opponent between two and five times.
But Rhyperior's Rock Blast was not normal.
It had been improved by Professor Harris; in reality it was a weakened version of the move Rock Wrecker, so Ethan called it Super Rock Blast.
Now it seemed clear that:
With two shots, Rhyperior could endure without any problem.
But with four consecutive shots, side effects similar to those of the move Rock Wrecker began to appear.
Even so, the development of this move was very successful.
It gave Ethan hope that he could completely eliminate the side effects of the move Rock Wrecker in the future.
"That's no longer a normal student."
"He must be a member of another university's official team!"
The Harvard Pokémon University students responsible for gathering information were already showing anger.
Which university was that guy from?
It was obvious he had come to provoke them!
Three Pokémon defeated with a single blow!
That didn't look like a friendly exchange at all!
"Notify the university's official team!"
"That guy is too arrogant!"
"Harvard Pokémon University is the strongest Pokémon university in the world! How dare he come here to cause trouble?"
Amid angry shouts, news of the battle spread rapidly.
More and more Harvard Pokémon University students began gathering around the battlefield.
(End of chapter)