Pokemon: I Raised Three Dumb Birds and..

"It's settled then."

"Whoever goes back on their word will bear the responsibility."

The fifty-odd Elite-level Pokémon trainers from the Indigo League had retreated two hundred meters. The wild Pokémon of Cinnabar Cave had also pulled back nearly two hundred meters.

Leaf had already negotiated terms with the new Elite Four of the Indigo League. Their Elite-level trainers would stand guard and watch, and the wild Pokémon on Leaf's side wouldn't make a move either. Victory or defeat would be decided solely between them.

If Leaf won, he would leave with the wild Pokémon. If Leaf lost, he could no longer interfere in this matter.

Leaf, along with Serena and Dawn, would face the new Elite Four. He had made the arrangements: Serena would battle Lorelei, Dawn would battle Greenspan, and Leaf would take on Will and Koga in a two-on-one battle.

Of course, this was Leaf's plan; the new Elite Four had no idea. They planned to attack directly, relying on their numerical advantage.

Though their tone was relaxed earlier, they knew Leaf was no easy opponent. This wasn't a personal duel; everything was about completing the league's mission. They didn't care about being mocked, only regretted they couldn't have a one-on-one battle with Leaf.

"Come on!" Koga was eager, standing at the front. Being defeated by Leaf in front of so many Elite-level trainers today was the greatest humiliation of his life. Even if it meant bullying the few with the many, Koga had to defeat Leaf to save face.

"Come out, Lapras."

"Come out, Gengar."

Leaf immediately summoned his two main Elite Four-level Pokémon.

"Come out, Prinplup!"

"Come out, Delphox!"

Dawn and Serena gritted their teeth and summoned their main Pokémon as well.

Facing the Elite Four — even if they were the new Elite Four — the pressure was immense. After all, Serena and Dawn were only Elite-level trainers! This was crossing two entire ranks.

While Leaf and the others summoned Pokémon, the Elite Four also sent out their Elite Four-level Pokémon.

Koga summoned Weezing.

Greenspan summoned Arcanine.

Lorelei summoned Honchkrow.

Will, possibly considering Gardevoir's feelings, summoned Bronzong.

The aura of the four Elite Four-level Pokémon immediately overwhelmed Leaf's side.

Leaf's Pokémon, of course, didn't feel intimidated. Serena's Delphox was her only Elite Four-level Pokémon and could hold its own — for now. Only Dawn's Prinplup was an Elite-level Pokémon and hadn't even evolved to its final form. Pressured by the aura, it trembled slightly.

Leaf frowned, worried Prinplup might lose before the battle even started.

After a moment's thought, Leaf exchanged an item from the system — a Water-type Z-Crystal worth 200,000 points! A rare item coveted even by Mythical Pokémon. If Leaf hadn't been saving points to exchange for a Mega Stone first, he would have given main-type Z-Crystals to all his Pokémon. As for Y-Crystals, he was powerless.

"Dawn, catch!" Leaf threw the Water-type Z-Crystal to her.

"Don't ask questions, feed it to Prinplup immediately."

Dawn hesitated but obeyed, feeding the Z-Crystal to Prinplup. Originally, she wanted to ask if it was some drug consuming life force to boost power. But since Leaf said so, she trusted he wouldn't harm Prinplup.

"Quack... quack quack quack..." Prinplup cried sharply after swallowing the Z-Crystal. Dawn tried to approach but was pushed back. Leaf caught her quickly.

"This... is it evolving?" Dawn began to question Leaf, but before she could speak, Prinplup emitted a burst of white light.

"How did it suddenly evolve?" The new Elite Four were dumbfounded. They understood evolution during battle, but they hadn't even started fighting yet.

"Could it be the item Leaf gave triggered evolution?"

"Is that even possible? I've never heard of such a thing."

"It might be an evolution stone, like a Water Stone or Fire Stone... but I know trainers who own Empoleon, and they don't need stones to evolve!"

"Forget it, even if it evolves, it's still just an Elite-level Pokémon."

"Let's go, don't waste any more time!"

The new Elite Four wouldn't wait while Dawn's Pokémon evolved. After a few seconds of astonishment, they attacked.

"Coordinate well!"

"Weezing, your opponent is Lapras, use Sludge Attack!"

"Arcanine, take on that Delphox!"

"Lorelei, your Honchkrow suppresses Gengar. My Bronzong will handle Lapras with Weezing first!"

They quickly and rationally divided the work. Leaf hadn't summoned his pseudo-legendary Shiny Metagross yet, suggesting he might still have reserves — maybe even other pseudo-legendary Pokémon.

They had to defeat the two Elite Four-level Pokémon Leaf summoned quickly, or things would become difficult.

"Gengar, Lapras, ignore the opponents I assign!" Leaf commanded.

"Gengar, deal with Weezing. Make it fall harder than before! Speed, one-shot it to support Lapras."

"Lapras, take on Arcanine and Honchkrow. Sorry for the trouble!"

Prinplup's evolution disrupted the original plan. Serena smartly ordered,

"Delphox, only Bronzong is left without an opponent — that's yours!"

"Flamethrower!"

Though Delphox was Elite Four-level, Serena knew there was still a gap between it and the Elite Four's Pokémon, so she started with a powerful move.

The Elite Four commanded their Pokémon; Leaf and Serena commanded theirs, completely ignoring the opponent assignments.

"Lapras, only use Ice Shard — keep their Pokémon from approaching!"

"If we can hold on a while, we'll win!"

Lapras's situation was difficult. Though strong, it was newly promoted Elite Four-level. Without the Millennium Ice from Groudon, Lapras would struggle against even one Elite Four Pokémon, let alone two.

Hearing Leaf order Lapras to spam Ice Shard to keep foes away, the new Elite Four sneered coldly, thinking Leaf unrealistic.

But soon they were shocked.

Even they had never seen a Pokémon fire Ice Shards so densely and rapidly. The small Ice Shard, fired so fast, was as powerful as a major move.

"Tch—"

Gengar, a veteran, didn't wait for Leaf's command. It appeared behind Weezing.

Weezing had been traumatized by Gengar today. Seeing Gengar again, it trembled all over. It reacted only after being hit — but it was too late.

Even in its best condition, Weezing had been defeated by Gengar in one move today, let alone now.

"Weezing!" Koga was shocked. He had warned his Pokémon about Gengar, but it was still one-shot.

"Koga, what are you doing?" Greenspan urged impatiently. "Summon your Pokémon quickly, or we'll lose our advantage..."

"You still think you have an advantage?" Leaf sneered.

At that moment, Gengar flashed behind Koga and landed a Shadow Punch on his back.

"You dare!" Koga shouted.

"You actually had Gengar attack me?"

"If anything happens to Koga, even if you run to the ends of the earth, our Indigo League will hunt you down!"

"Relax!" Leaf sneered.

"It's just to poison him a little and make him faint."

"You are Elite Four members, right? Isn't four against three too much against us nobodies?"

"Just for now."

"Come on, three against three..."

"Quack—"

Just as Leaf prepared to have Gengar attack again, Serena's Prinplup completed its evolution.

Seeing the Empoleon with a noble dress-like body and a crown on its head, Leaf felt certain that winning this duel was no longer a problem!

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