After the exhibition match ended, Flint immediately left Blueberry Academy and headed for the Sinnoh region.
Raihan said a quick "good luck" to Axel, then returned to his seat.
As the one who had known Axel the longest, Raihan didn't want to miss a single one of his battles.
It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized something.
This Axel, who was joking and chatting with both Raihan and Flint just now, was currently still just an exchange student here to challenge the Elite Four.
Everyone's faces showed a sense of unreality.
Especially Crispin, who found it simply unbelievable.
From the way they had just talked, the Flint he admired so much had actually taught Infernape someone else's tactics?
And even used that tactic to fight Raihan to a draw.
Although Crispin had always felt that Flint was no weaker than Raihan, the battle just now still gave him a huge shock.
If he could battle Axel himself, that would make him more than just Flint's fanboy.
Thinking this, Crispin's body trembled uncontrollably.
Just the thought that he would soon battle his idol's friend made him far too excited.
"Axel, may I be the first to challenge you?"
Axel gave a light nod. His goal today was to grind all the Elite Four and Champion Drayton into the ground one by one.
The order didn't matter much.
"You can."
Teacher Briar walked forward a few steps, elegantly raised both hands toward them, and signaled them to step onto the stage.
"Since this is an Elite Four challenge, this match will simulate an official League battle."
"Both sides must reveal six Pokémon, and register them."
"Based on the general composition of the opponent's team and your own battle strategies, you will then select three from the six to fight."
"Do either of you have any questions?"
"No!", Crispin answered first, taking out six Poké Balls and walking toward Axel.
As one of Blueberry's Elite Four, he had long been through countless battles of this kind.
Axel also took out six Poké Balls.
This match was the standard "pick three" format, commonly used in official ranked battles.
Not only did it test the Pokémon's levels, but it also heavily tested the trainer's skill.
A single tactical mistake could easily cost the whole match.
After registration, both sides revealed their six Pokémon:
Axel chose Nihilego, Eternatus, Gholdengo, Duraludon, Dragonair, and Gyarados.
All were his "baby team," but even the lowest-leveled Eternatus and Gholdengo already had strength at level thirty-nine, only a step away from Gym Leader level.
Crispin's six Pokémon were quickly shown as well:
Talonflame, Heat Rotom, Camerupt, Exeggutor, Magmortar, and Blaziken.
Looking over Crispin's lineup, Axel instantly made his judgment.
Since his own team had so many Dragon-, Water-, and Rock-types, the opponent definitely wouldn't use pure Fire-types.
He also wouldn't send out the Fire/Flying Talonflame, or the Fire/Ground Camerupt.
That being the case, the likely picks would be Heat Rotom, Exeggutor, and Blaziken.
Briar gave Axel and Crispin some time to think, then spoke again, "Both trainers, please select your Pokémon, then tell me your choices in secret."
"Okay!"
Axel nodded, choosing Gholdengo, Dragonair, and Eternatus as his team.
Though not the optimal lineup, it was definitely enough.
More importantly, he could use this chance to level up Gholdengo and Eternatus a little.
Even if the opponent wanted a comeback, could he really survive one Dynamax Eternatus blast?
On the other side of the stage, Crispin was also smiling at Axel.
'As expected, the same three again.'
Although Axel had shown three other Pokémon, those had to just be decoys, right?
'Too bad, I already know how to counter you.'
Over this period, Crispin had been watching Axel's battles almost daily just to see Flint.
And he had finally figured something out.
The opponent's tactics were actually very easy to break.
He only needed to use Brick Break to shatter Reflect and Light Screen, then use Earthquake to instantly wipe out the four-times Ground-weak Nihilego. That alone would erase all of Axel's advantage.
And those three moves, his Blaziken happened to know all of them.
As long as he caught that Nihilego, he could easily gain a huge lead.
Once both had submitted their chosen Pokémon, Briar gently brushed her hair back, took a step back, and gazed at them with her big eyes, "Do either of you have anything left to say?"
"Yes!", Crispin took a deep breath, his tone trembling with excitement "My idol is Flint of the Elite Four. Though you are Flint's friend, I won't hold back. On the contrary, I'll try every means to defeat you."
"Even if I've already seen through your lineup, and winning would not be honorable, I still want to win!"
Axel blinked, completely baffled.
'Did this guy misunderstand something?'
'When did he ever know my lineup?'
'Wait, could it be this guy thinks I'm still using my old battle style?'
'Are Blueberry Academy students really all this straightforward?'
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