Chapter 266: The Secret of Curse
"My father is doing very well, thank you for your concern, Uncle Ashton."
Bella Bai gave President Ashton a sweet smile.
But as the captain of the Saffron University team and the daughter of a Master, Bella was no fool. The moment he opened his mouth, she knew what he was after.
But knowing was one thing; at this moment, the best choice was to pretend she didn't.
After all, she wasn't the one in a hurry.
"Now you're just being polite. Your father and I go way back, more than twenty years," President Ashton said, a look of nostalgia on his face. In the blink of an eye, Drake Bai's daughter had grown up into a beautiful young woman.
The only pity was that she hadn't enrolled at Saffron University, but had gone to Centralis instead. But that couldn't be helped. Drake Bai was the Provincial Gym Leader of Centralis; his position was set in stone. Even if his daughter didn't go to Centralis University, she couldn't possibly go to a rival school like Saffron.
"Yes, my father often speaks of you, Uncle Ashton," Bella replied perfunctorily, but the smile on her face grew wider.
Because on the battlefield, Basalt and his Bronzong had just defeated another Pokémon. This was Saffron U's third trainer. And from the looks of it, Bronzong had a very high chance of completing a clean sweep of its own.
Seeing this, President Ashton's face darkened another shade. He knew he couldn't drag this out any longer.
Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hands together and said awkwardly, "Bella, my dear niece, let's not beat around the bush. We at Saffron U concede this exchange match. Could you have a word with that Basalt and ask him to go a little easy? If the score is too lopsided, it'll be hard for me to explain to my superiors..."
"Uncle Ashton, you want me to ask Basalt to throw the match?"
Bella's eyes went wide, a look of "shock" on her face. "I'm the captain of the Centralis University team! How could you ask me to do such a thing? You're putting me in a terrible position! If our President Mogan found out about this, I wouldn't be able to atone for it even with a hundred deaths."
Bella shook her head like a rattle.
"Don't you worry. I'll personally go and speak with old Mogan. I absolutely will not let you take any responsibility for this," President Ashton said quickly. "Mogan and I are old friends, we're just on different sides now. But this is just a freshman exchange, not an official team match. He'll definitely do me this favor."
"This..."
Bella's face showed a look of "hesitation."
She believed what President Ashton said. This freshman exchange match had been her and Konrad's private idea in the first place. The administrations of both universities didn't actually care that much about it.
But who would have thought that Centralis University would have a monster like Basalt, who had started the match with a clean sweep and was now on a rampage, with a very high chance of pulling off a one-trainer sweep of the entire match?
The second round of the third match was still going, and Bronzong was still pressing its opponent, even though it was a Dark-type Umbreon.
Losing was one thing, but losing by a huge margin was unacceptable. It would be a huge loss of face, and with the media fanning the flames, the negative impact could be enormous.
So, if possible, President Ashton had to nip this in the bud.
"Uncle Ashton, I naturally believe in your friendship with President Mogan. It's just..." Bella's face showed a "troubled" expression. "You don't know, Uncle Ashton. This Basalt... he's skilled, but he's also a bit arrogant. Sometimes, even I can't control him. If you just ask him to go easy on them with nothing to offer, I'm not sure he'll agree."
"Achoo!"
On the battlefield, Basalt suddenly sneezed.
"Then what do you mean..."
"The last time I saw him, I heard Basalt muttering that he really wanted to learn the secret of the move 'Curse.' But as you know, our Centralis University's research on that move isn't very deep, not nearly as profound as Saffron U's. If you were to agree to let him study your 'Curse' secret technique, I believe he would be happy to agree."
Bella said with a cheerful smile, as if she were only thinking of Basalt's best interests. But Konrad, who was standing beside her, knew all too well that the "Curse" secret was something Bella wanted for herself. Otherwise, how would a freshman like Basalt even know about Saffron U's secret techniques?
"The secret of Curse?"
A look of hesitation appeared on President Ashton's face.
Curse was a move whose effect varied drastically depending on whether the user was a Ghost-type. At the same time, it was one of Saffron U's few top-tier secret techniques, and their version focused on the stat-boosting route.
The stat-boosting version of Curse sacrificed the user's speed to increase their attack and defense. For certain slow Pokémon, whose speed was already low, sacrificing it was no big deal. But to be able to boost both attack and defense at the same time was an incredibly good trade-off.
"Umbreon is unable to battle! Will the blue team's trainer please send out their third Pokémon!"
While President Ashton was hesitating, under Basalt's command, Bronzong had won again. The sight made his eye twitch.
"Fine, fine, I agree. Not just Basalt, you can study it too."
President Ashton was a shrewd old man. He had clearly seen through Bella's true intentions but didn't bother to expose her.
Although secret techniques were not to be shared lightly, at the end of the day, they were the property of the Alliance. It wasn't as if only Saffron U students were qualified to learn them. Universities often sent students to exchange knowledge, and they could exchange their top-tier secrets as well. It was just that this time, Saffron U was giving something away with nothing in return. A huge loss.
"Alright then. I'll go talk to Basalt right away."
Bella nodded with a smile and walked over to the edge of the field, calling Basalt over.
The referee was about to reprimand her for disrupting the match, but then he got an earful from President Ashton. The referee shrank back, feeling very wronged.
"Captain, what's going on? I was just getting into it," Basalt asked, a little aggrieved at being called over.
"You should probably lose this next one."
"Lose?"
Basalt scratched his head, then looked at the trembling third trainer from Saffron U. "Captain, this guy is a total scrub. I can definitely sweep him. Why should I lose?"
"Less nonsense. If I tell you to lose, you lose. I won't let you do it for nothing."
Bella patted Basalt's shoulder, then leaned in and whispered the whole story to him.
"Saffron U's top-tier secret, Curse?"
Basalt was shocked. Curse was a secret technique he had always wanted but had never been able to obtain. It was the perfect move for Lileep. After using Ingrain, Lileep was already immobile. Sacrificing its speed, which was already zero, to boost its attack and defense... it was the very definition of high return, zero investment. There was no better deal in the world.
"So... you know what you have to do now, right?"
Bella gave Basalt a "you know what I mean" look, then turned and walked away.
"Understood!"
Basalt's eyebrow shot up as he returned to the field.
Then, the match resumed.
But this time, due to Bronzong's "massive psychic energy consumption" from the previous three battles, it could no longer suppress its opponent. Even its Gravity move was greatly weakened.
So, after a "hard-fought battle," Bronzong was finally "defeated due to exhaustion," narrowly missing a clean sweep.
"Not bad acting," Bella thought, giving Basalt a secret thumbs-up as he walked off the field with a "disappointed" look. He had a real talent for throwing a match.
Seeing Basalt finally defeated, the dead atmosphere on the Saffron U side finally warmed up a little, but the overall mood was still low. They knew that a comeback was practically impossible.
After Basalt, Centralis University sent out Lana as their second trainer. It was clear that her skills were average. Although she was a Rookie King, her strength was a notch below Dante and Roman's.
Lana defeated Saffron U's third trainer but lost to their fourth.
After she was defeated, Roman went up. He defeated Saffron's fourth but lost to their fifth.
Then Dante went up and defeated Saffron's fifth.
In the end, Centralis University won the exchange match with a score of 4 to 5. Basalt was the undisputed star of the show.
Seeing the result, President Ashton finally relaxed. Although it had cost him something, the outcome was at least acceptable.
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