Emberfall City.
"Brandon, how are the preparations to capture that Pokémon going?"
Inside the Emberfall City Gym, Leader Brandon stood in front of a large screen.
On the screen, several men dressed in black were sitting around a round table.
"Everything is almost ready. However, that Legendary Pokémon possesses divine authority. I feel we still need to prepare a little more. We'll only have one chance!"
Brandon spoke to the screen in a grave voice. For this opportunity, they had already been preparing for several years.
"I hope to receive good news from you."
The man in black sitting in the main seat on the screen spoke, and then the screen went dark.
After Leader Brandon left the meeting room, a man dressed in red approached him head-on.
"Leader Brandon, news just arrived from the Pokémon Trainer Guild," the man in red said when he saw him.
"The list for the Regional Gym Leader Exchange Tournament."
Brandon took the communicator and looked at the information on the screen in a low voice.
After reviewing the list, his gaze paused for a moment on Ethan, and a smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
According to the information sent by the organization backing him, Ethan had already defeated Elite-level Trainers from the Federal League and the Tavaria League.
Evidently, the current Ethan had already crossed that threshold. Now he even felt some expectation for the upcoming battle against Ethan.
According to the information on Ethan's Gym, in this exchange tournament, Ethan would most likely choose a Fire-type Pokémon to battle.
And the strength of that Fire-type Pokémon would determine some of his later plans.
...
The days passed quickly.
The Phoenix Stadium of Imperial City once again welcomed a League tournament.
Those who would fight on the field this time would be some of the strongest Gym Leaders from each region.
However, this battle was held as an exchange tournament between Gym Leaders, so there was no audience in the venue.
In the guest area, the directors of the various branches of the Pokémon Trainer Guild had already taken their seats.
They were guests, but at the same time, they were also evaluators.
"Leader Ethan, our opponent in the first round is the Gym Leaders of the Wellspring region. Please review and decide the order of appearance."
Before the battle began, the Gym Leaders of each region gathered to formulate the battle plan.
Before the official competition began, they had to submit the order of appearance to the organizer.
Therefore, the real battle had already begun before the battles started.
"Alright, let me see."
Ethan nodded and took the opponents' information to review it.
"Our battle will be the opening match."
"Under these circumstances, the opponent will most likely send out their strongest Trainer first to seize the opportunity and raise morale."
"So I'll take care of the first round. As long as we win the first battle smoothly, the later battles should be secured."
After thinking for a bit, Ethan expressed his idea.
According to the data, the strongest Trainer of the Wellspring region specialized in Water-type Pokémon.
At the same time, that Gym Leader had a rather proud personality. Ethan was sure he would choose to go out first.
And the facts were exactly like that.
After the competition began, the referee took the lists from both teams and announced the names of the first battle of the team match.
"The Leader of Solaria Town Gym!"
"According to the information, he specializes in Fire-type Pokémon. What bad luck for him. He just happened to run into me, a Water-type Trainer."
Seeing the record in the information, the strongest Trainer of the Wellspring region was delighted, showing an expression of certain victory.
Very soon, under the referee's announcement, Ethan and his opponent stood on both sides of the field.
And then, there was nothing more.
With a single move, Charizard used the move Flamethrower through the effect of the sunny weather, directly suppressing the move Hydro Pump released by the opposing Gyarados and achieving a spectacular knockout.
The strongest Water-type Trainer of the Wellspring region, whose most powerful Pokémon could not even withstand a single attack from Charizard.
Seeing this scene, the eyes of the other Gym Leaders opened wide. This was no longer a difference on the same level!
"What a powerful Flamethrower!"
"That Charizard has probably already reached the peak of the Quasi-Elite level!"
"It seems that, besides that Melmetal and Lucario, he is about to have his third Elite-level Pokémon."
As a Trainer specializing in Fire-type Pokémon, Brandon saw the level of Charizard's attack at a glance, and he was also somewhat surprised.
At the same time, his eyes shone. The facts proved that he had not misjudged Ethan. With the strength of that Charizard, Ethan already met the conditions to participate in that plan.
"Magnificent work. As expected of Leader Ethan."
Seeing Ethan win so easily, the Gym Leaders of the Ironvale region praised him.
As long as Ethan was there, they could secure one victory, and their pressure was greatly reduced.
Moreover, this time Ethan's lineup arrangement had completely guessed the opposing team's thoughts.
Now, the strongest Trainer on the other side had already lost, and in such a miserable way. For the leaders of the Wellspring region, that also represented enormous pressure.
"What are we afraid of? This is a team battle!"
"We only need to win the three remaining rounds!"
One of the leaders of the Wellspring region gritted his teeth and walked toward the battlefield.
He was precisely the second leader to go out for the Wellspring region.
On the Ironvale region's side, they sent out a relatively weak Flying-type leader.
In that battle, without any doubt, the Wellspring region won.
"It looks like only that Ethan is strong in the Ironvale region!"
"A team battle is a competition of five people. One person being strong isn't of much use."
Seeing this, the other Gym Leaders sighed in relief.
What seemed strange to them was that the leaders of the Ironvale region maintained calm faces, showing no worry.
Instead, on the Wellspring region's side, although they had won one round, their expressions looked somewhat ugly.
"It seems their tactics were discovered. Poor Wellspring region."
Some also guessed the reason and could not help but shake their heads.
From that battle, it could be seen that the Ironvale region had not sent out a core member.
Instead, the Wellspring region had directly sent out their second strongest Trainer. Naturally, their victory was only logical.
In the following battles, that Trainer's guess was confirmed.
Ryan, who went out third, won easily after one battle. Rachel, who went out fourth, did the same.
The leaders of the Wellspring region had been too confident. From the start, they sent out their three strongest Trainers. After the first was crushed, the Ironvale region directly gave up the second battle, and then easily won the third and fourth, finally taking victory in this round.
(End of chapter)