While Axel and the others were playing on the cruise ship, Zekrom wasn't idle either.
Borrowing Vibrava's ability, he quickly flew toward Dragonspiral Tower.
A streak of light cut across Unova's skies, trailing afterimages behind.
But Zekrom still thought Vibrava wasn't flying fast enough, urging constantly, ["Faster! Right now you're flying slower than my grandma."]
Vibrava: "..."
'Your mom or your dad are literally Unova's legendary dragon gods. Isn't it normal if your grandma flies faster than me?'
But he didn't dare say that to Zekrom, only put on a bitter face and explained, ["I really can't fly any faster, my lord… I didn't even eat before going down into the mines today…"]
["Not eating doesn't mean you can't fly!"], Zekrom roared, ["Once you take me to Axel, I'll make sure you evolve into Flygon as fast as possible."]
Hearing this, Vibrava's eyes lit up instantly.
Flygon was great.
If he evolved into Flygon, he and his trainer would never have to dig mines again.
Even just working as a bodyguard anywhere would earn way more than mining.
After eating that "pie," Vibrava suddenly felt his whole body filled with strength, forcing his speed up another notch.
'I, Vibrava, can still fly!'
———
Dozens of minutes later, Vibrava carried Zekrom's orb to Dragonspiral Tower.
Zekrom grew increasingly excited.
This was it, time for Zekrom's rise.
As long as he reached Dragonspiral Tower, found Gardevoir's trainer, and became their Pokémon, he could kick White Dragon, punch Ice Dragon, and become Unova's strongest divine beast.
But just then, he noticed Dragonspiral Tower in the distance looked different from when he left earlier today.
The outer walls of the tower, while never exactly smooth, could at least be called intact.
After all, it was the dwelling of him and the White Dragon. Ordinary Pokémon wouldn't dare cause damage here.
But now, Zekrom saw a huge claw mark on the wall.
His heart dropped. Something was wrong. He quickly had Vibrava fly closer.
The next moment, Zekrom felt the sky collapse.
In just half a day's absence, not only was Axel gone, even Reshiram was gone too.
The entire Dragonspiral Tower had nothing left but one of Reshiram's middle fingers.
After a few minutes of deathly silence, a massive roar shook the tower, ["WHITE DRAGON! YOU BASTARD, YOU SNATCHED HIM FROM!"]
["THIS TIME I'M DEFINITELY GONNA KILL YOU!"]
———
The next morning, the sound of waves crashing came.
A ray of sunlight passed through the glass, faintly falling across Axel's body.
He opened his eyes, feeling a little doubtful about life.
What he thought would be a simple battle yesterday had turned into a wheel war he never expected.
While Iono was cooking, Elesa pulled out a gold card and challenged Axel.
How could Axel accept that?
Of course he put Elesa down flat on the spot.
But after dinner, just after finishing a match with Iono, Elesa came again.
At dawn, Axel was half-asleep when he suddenly felt Shark-Fangs' biting again.
How could Axel tolerate this?
The result was that even with his super rookie constitution, he was barely holding up. He felt more exhausted than if he hadn't rested at all.
Sure enough, the saying "don't ask about shipboard affairs when you disembark" was gaining new weight.
He couldn't even walk straight anymore.
After washing his face, Axel cooked for Iono and Elesa, who were still asleep, left them a note promising to meet later, then rode Gyarados toward Blueberry Academy.
Yesterday, Flint had already led his Nihilego, Eternatus, and Gholdengo to break into the school's top ten ranking battles.
According to Blueberry Academy's rules, today Axel could challenge the Elite Four and Champion there.
As long as he reached the top, he could obtain Composite Metal and let General evolve.
Axel glanced at his Poké Balls, Glastrier, Mewtwo, Gardevoir, and the rest.
His pale lips curved with a playful grin, "This is gonna be a tough fight."
———
[Blueberry Academy, Inner Plaza]
The seats around were almost completely packed.
Two giant hot-air balloons floated above, with the names Raihan and Flint written on them.
Today was the day the two of them were having an exhibition match.
But most of the audience's attention wasn't on them. It was locked on the Elite Four and Champion Drayton standing below the arena.
Almost everyone had already seen Raihan's battles before. Even if it was the first time watching live, there wasn't that much novelty.
What they cared about more was the battle between the legendary exchange student and the Elite Four.
After entering Blueberry Academy, without a single appearance, he had swept through the entire school's ranking battles.
Even more outrageous, Flint, an Elite Four, was willingly acting as that mysterious exchange student's babysitter.
That was insane.
In front of the arena, the Elite Four whispered among themselves.
"Lacey, you're the only one among us who's met Axel. Is he really as vicious as the rumors say?"
"Not really," Before Lacey could answer, Flint's fanboy, Crispin, immediately spoke up in Axel's defense, "Axel's tactics might be difficult to crack, but he's very generous."
"Almost every time after a battle, he has Gholdengo hand out some coins to comfort the losers."
Hearing that, Lacey also nodded lightly, "Axel is a very good person."
Hearing their words, Champion Drayton and another Elite Four, Nerina, clearly felt relieved.
Even if his battle style seemed nasty, as long as he was a good person, they'd be happy to lose to him and let him take the Composite Metal.
After all… it was also a rare chance to get to know a strong trainer.
"Koda, why are you so quiet?"
Seeing the mood was good, Champion Drayton smiled at the silent man.
"You may have just become Elite Four last night, but we've known each other for three years. No need to be so stiff."
"Stiff?", Koda grinned, looking up at Raihan on the arena with excitement in his eyes.
"I'm not stiff. I'm just thrilled at the thought of making a name for myself today in front of Raihan!"
Like Crispin, Koda was also a hardcore Raihan fan.
His rank had always hovered around the middle, about tenth place.
When he heard Raihan would be fighting an exhibition match at Blueberry Academy, Koda was overjoyed.
These past days, he'd trained with his Pokémon day and night, just for a chance to show his face before Raihan.
But compared to Crispin and the others, his aptitude was weaker. No matter how hard he tried, he could never beat any of the Elite Four.
But yesterday, an opportunity came.
While battling in the wild, he encountered an incredibly strong Vibrava.
That Vibrava easily toppled his level 39 Haxorus, shattering his pride.
But then, a vast voice suddenly rang out, ["Young man, I've sensed your ideals!"]
["I will help you realize them. Afterward, use human technology to help me find my chosen one."]
["Do you accept?"]
Koda nodded blankly, agreeing to the voice's request.
The next instant, he discovered all his Dragon-types had been massively empowered, and that voice's chosen one fell back into slumber.
Even his Ampharos wasn't spared.
But Ampharos was clearly an Electric type.
'It is insane!'
But Koda didn't think too much, chalking it up to the power of that voice's chosen one.
After returning, he easily defeated an Elite Four member, earning today's chance to battle in front of Raihan.
Koda swore to himself he'd play his very best.
He had to beat that exchange student and make Raihan look at him with new eyes.
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