"The champion of the eighth edition of the Rookie League Tournant!"
Leoric Vance, standing on the stage, stared at Ethan in utter shock.
That Ethan Black—the so-called "slacker" of the school—had actually beco the strongest Rookie King in the entire League?
What kind of joke was that? It sounded absurd!
"Co on, send out your next Pokémon." Ethan's voice was calm. His lips curved slightly into a faint smile as he looked at Leoric, whose expression flickered between rage and frustration. Inside, Ethan was savoring every second of it.
"Damn it! Even if you're the rookie champion, that doesn't an I'll lose to you!"
Leoric clenched his teeth hard. After glaring at Ethan for a few seconds, he threw another Pokéball. A Pokémon covered in brown feathers with a long, sharp beak appeared—it was Fearow, the predator of the skies.
"A Fearow, huh?"
Ethan smiled faintly. "Looks like you plan to use a moving target to dodge Kingdra's attacks."
Ethan's Kingdra lifted its head toward the sky, aiming with its long snout.
Whoosh!
A roar tore through the air.
A water projectile shot out like a bullet, heading straight for the airborne Fearow.
The bird barely had ti to react. It tried to dodge, but the speed of that compressed attack was beyond human comprehension. With no other option, Fearow used Peck to try to counter it.
BOOM!
The clash between the water blast and the bird's attack thundered through the sky. Fearow was knocked back violently, wobbling before regaining balance with great effort.
"Impossible! How can it have that much power?"
"Fearow, use Sky Attack!"
Leoric, desperate, called out his final move. Fearow spiraled upward into the sky, wrapped in a glow that ford the silhouette of a luminous bird, before diving straight down.
"Kingdra, Hydro Pump—rapid fire!"
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Kingdra unleashed Hydro Pump repeatedly.
The compressed jets of water slamd one after another into the spiritual aura surrounding Fearow.
CRACK!
The glowing bird-shaped aura shattered into pieces, followed by a violent explosion.
Fearow plumted from the sky like a cot, crashing into the ground.
"Holy crap, that's insane!"
"He even destroyed Sky Attack mid-flight! That's monstrous!"
The students watched with their jaws dropped. The power of that Kingdra surpassed anything they'd ever seen.
"Monstrous?" a senior student scoffed. "You guys clearly didn't watch the Rookie Tournant."
"Ethan only used four Pokémon in the entire tournant—Sandslash, Cacturne, ltan, and Slowking. This Kingdra wasn't even one of his main team!"
"What?" Everyone held their breath.
If that Kingdra wasn't part of his core lineup... then just how strong were his real Pokémon?
Within minutes, the few who still doubted him surrendered. Ethan's forr critics turned into his most devoted admirers.
"Fearow is unable to battle! Kingdra wins!"
The referee raised the flag while looking at the unconscious bird.
"Damn it..."
Leoric lowered his head, speechless.
Suddenly, all the past monts flashed through his mind: their first encounter, his arrogant words, the talk in the principal's office, his speech at the ceremony... Just rembering them made his face burn.
All this ti, he had been the fool. The one who should've shown restraint wasn't Ethan—it was him! The "favor" the principal ntioned wasn't for Leoric... it was for Ethan!
Ethan must have been laughing inside from the very beginning.
"You still have one Pokémon left."
Ethan's serene voice rang in his ears like unbearable mockery.
Biting his lip, Leoric pulled out his final card—Jolteon. He relied on its speed to turn the battle around.
But to his horror, Kingdra also knew Agility. Its speed skyrocketed until it matched—or even surpassed—Jolteon's. And with one perfectly aid Hydro Pump, the Electric-type went down without resistance.
One versus three.
A total victory.
"Is that all?" Ethan asked with a calm smile. "And to think I was being considerate by choosing Kingdra. I didn't expect you to be this weak."
His tone was even, but the mockery was clear. The pleasure of seeing the "model student" crushed by the forr "failure" was indescribable.
"You...!"
Leoric trembled with rage, unable to form words.
Never in his life had he been humiliated like this.
"Amazing!"
"This is real strength!"
"The strongest Rookie King has no rivals!"
"Incredible! An average student surpassing a genius! Ethan, you're my idol!"
"Yeah! You taught us sothing important! Even if you're diocre, if you work hard, you can conquer the world!"
"I'm so pumped I want to start training right now!"
The entire stadium erupted in cheers. The excitent and adrenaline were electric.
Ethan smiled.
"And that..." he said firmly, "was the lecture I ca to give you."
With those words, the past was left behind. He had completely closed the chapter of his forr life.
...
Originally, the battle between Ethan and Leoric was supposed to be simple—a small exhibition match, nothing too significant.
But the appearance of Kingdra, a completely unknown Pokémon until then, changed everything.
So, right after finishing his graduation speech, Ethan found himself surrounded by a swarm of reporters at the school gates, all desperate to ask about the mysterious Pokémon.
Ethan didn't hide any of Kingdra's basic data, though he was careful not to reveal its evolution thod. That information was his bargaining chip, and he had no intention of giving it away until soone offered a price worthy of it.
He knew that, sooner or later, Dragon Valley would learn of Kingdra's existence. And when that happened... all he had to do was sit back and wait for the big fish to bite the hook.
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