"So that's what it was, after all?"
Seeing the opponent's swift attack tactic, Ethan's eyes narrowed.
Then, he saw the Sandslash on the field using a combination of Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball, generating a spinning force so powerful that it even deflected the falling rain in all directions.
Boom, boom, boom!
The three Pokémon were already in front of Sandslash, unleashing their powerful Water-type moves and striking him with tremendous force.
With three heavy thuds, Sandslash's body shook violently, like a ship swaying in the middle of a storm, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
Even so, having anticipated the ambush, Sandslash gritted his teeth and endured the lightning-fast assault from the three Pokémon.
"What?"
Seeing that their three Pokémon hadn't managed to take him down instantly, Derek Ashford and the others' expressions changed slightly.
Sandslash's quick reaction could only mean he had been prepared from the very start.
For an ambush to be effective, it must catch the enemy completely off guard, leaving no time to defend. But by prioritizing speed, attack power naturally decreases.
That's why this sudden strike wasn't as threatening as a normal full-power attack—allowing Sandslash to withstand it.
"Then let's do it again!"
Derek ordered quickly.
But just as his voice fell—
Whoosh!
A sand whirlpool suddenly erupted from the ground, completely enveloping the three Pokémon within it.
"What's he doing?"
The students watching showed puzzled faces. To their eyes, that was practically suicide.
Was he just buying time for his teammates?
BOOM!
Before they could finish speaking, a thunderous explosion roared across the field. A tremendous force shattered the sand vortex, raising a mushroom-shaped cloud that shot up into the sky, scattering even part of the rain clouds above.
"That was... Self-Destruct!"
Recognizing the scene, Derek and his group's expressions changed dramatically as they looked toward the battlefield.
When the smoke cleared, Sandslash, Onix, Ludicolo, Golduck, and Poliwrath all lay on the ground—completely knocked out.
"What... what just happened?"
"But the move Self-Destruct takes time to charge up!"
"How could he have executed it so fast? Wasn't he afraid of missing?"
"Or... had they already figured out our strategy from the beginning?"
Derek clenched his fists, his face dark as he stared at the fallen bodies of his three Pokémon.
When he looked up, he saw Ethan calmly withdrawing Sandslash with a serene expression, as if everything had unfolded exactly according to plan.
"So he really predicted it..."
"But if Ludicolo, Golduck, and Poliwrath all have Swift Swim, how could he have anticipated it so precisely?"
The thought chilled Derek to the bone. If Ethan could predict even that, then his tactical intelligence was terrifying.
"Ethan, that was awesome! You calculated every move perfectly!"
Marcus Foster exclaimed with a grin.
Using just Sandslash and Onix to take down three Swift Swim Pokémon was an enormous gain.
With Metagross, Salamence, and Scizor still standing, victory was practically guaranteed.
Meanwhile, the entire audience fell into stunned silence.
Earlier, when the rain had completely suppressed the sandstorm, everyone had been cheering for their university.
But now... what the hell had just happened?
In the blink of an eye, the situation had been completely reversed.
Some students, unable to process it, even thought: "Could Ludicolo, Golduck, and Poliwrath have been undercover agents for the other team?"
"They had guaranteed victory under the rain... why rush in like that to their own deaths?"
"Was it really that hard to just stay calm and play it safe?"
"They completely outplayed us..."
"Judging by Sandslash's and Onix's reactions, and how fast Self-Destruct was executed, they had already prepared for this the moment the sandstorm lost to the rain."
"But how were they so sure the rain team would attack immediately?"
"If the opponents had chosen to play cautiously, Onix's Self-Destruct would've been meaningless—a simple suicide."
"With Onix's low speed, he never would've caught any of the three Water-types."
The senior students understood exactly what had happened... and that was why their faces grew even more grim.
They had been crushed—completely—by pure strategy.
"Just as I thought."
"A rain team with Thunder and three Pokémon with Swift Swim... what else would they do but launch a quick offensive?"
Ethan smiled faintly. After the rain had overtaken the sandstorm, he already knew they had lost the advantage—so he decided to bet everything on one move.
"Ampharos is down!"
Finally, after a two-on-three struggle, Magneton and Ampharos fell as well. Victory was officially declared for Ironvale City Pokémon University.
The news spread like lightning, shaking the entire campus. The students of Duskwell City Pokémon University, who had been eagerly waiting to watch their rivals get crushed, were left with blank faces, as if they had just seen a ghost.
The sound of metaphorical slaps echoed in their heads. After all the mockery and bragging from before, they just wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Well, looks like we're the enemies of the entire university now. You'd better be careful if you go out tonight,"
Marcus joked, glancing at the dark expressions of the rival students.
...
That night, after finishing the exchange activities, Ethan and his team returned to the student dorms, exhausted.
Throughout the day, they had also participated in several more friendly battles. Against mid-level universities, they were so relaxed that they didn't even use their main roster.
Following the principle of "exchange first, competition second," they sent out their second team to gain experience and strengthen group coordination.
"Sha!"
Back in the room, Sandslash looked a bit down. It was clear he was still bothered that his sandstorm had been defeated by the rainy weather.
Ethan quickly noticed and comforted him. After all, the combined move Sand Spin Whirl wasn't the real Sandstorm move, nor did he have the Sand Stream ability; the fact that he could even summon a sandstorm using Sand Rush was already impressive.
Then, Ethan promised that once they returned, he would design special training for him to master the true Sandstorm move. Only then did Sandslash manage a faint smile.
(End of Chapter)