Chapter 279: No. 3, 1v6
The group stage ended.
As Will had expected, Agatha won all her matches, scoring 15 points and ranking No. 1.
Koga, in another group, also scored 15 points, sharing the No. 1 spot.
They would face the No. 16 and No. 15 seeds, respectively, in the first round of the elimination tournament.
Koga basically had no hope of becoming an Elite Four. But he probably wasn't aiming for the position anyway. With his wisdom and caution, how could he not know how to manipulate points? His thinking was likely the same as Lorelei's—he didn't want to intentionally lose.
Lance and Lorelei both scored 14 points, ranking No. 3.
Whichever of them won would advance to the Top 4 and become an Elite Four member.
Lance not getting a perfect score in his group surprised Will. He asked Lucario and found out why.
Lance had lost to Pryce, the Ice-type Gym Leader of Mahogany Town.
With Lance's personality, he wouldn't hold back in any battle. Even against a rookie who just left home, he'd pull out his Dragonite.
So this wasn't Lance manipulating points. He genuinely couldn't beat Pryce. His current strength was just at that level.
Bruno only scored 13 points and was placed in the other half of the bracket.
The elimination tournament began.
Lorelei's first opponent was the No. 14 seed, Karen. A young trainer of the same generation. The future Dark-type Elite Four.
Type-wise, there was no mutual advantage or disadvantage between them.
Looking at her, Karen seemed a year or two younger than Lorelei. But her strength couldn't be underestimated; she was a solid Gym Leader-level trainer. Her team didn't have an Elite Four-level anchor, but all her Dark-type Pokémon were Gym Leader-level.
And like Lorelei, Karen's team was fixed. They hadn't spent time raising a second team or other Pokémon.
During the group stage, the Elite Four Tournament was closed to the public, only broadcast on TV.
But the elimination tournament was different.
The stands were packed with fans of various contestants.
Although both Lorelei and Karen were young women, their fan bases were vastly different.
Lorelei's side was dominated by gentle ladies and gentlemen, looking like Water-type trainers.
Karen's side was full of bikers and delinquents who shouted at the drop of a hat, dressed in unique styles.
"I'll take this one."
Will raised a flipper, intending to go out personally.
"Huh? Piplup, you want to go first?"
Lorelei looked surprised. They had been partners for so long, but this was the first time she'd seen Will go out first.
"Save time."
Will trotted onto the battlefield.
Saving time meant that after the battle, he could immediately run over to check on Lance's situation.
Ideally, Lorelei's team shouldn't have much trouble beating Lance. But he still wanted to see... what level was Lance at right now, that he couldn't even beat Pryce?
"Eh~ Piplup is going first?!"
"I thought we'd have to wait until the end to see him again."
"Damn, why did they send out such a strong one right away?"
"What is Karen going to do?"
A person's name is like the shadow of a tree. As soon as Will stepped onto the field, not only did both fan bases focus on him, but fans of other contestants also turned their heads to watch.
Karen seemed to foresee the outcome and sighed. But for her fans, she decided to continue the battle.
Her first Pokémon was a Spiritomb.
Spiritomb's Ghost/Dark typing was excellent. Immune to Normal, Fighting, and Psychic, and resistant to Poison. Among the eighteen types, only Fairy was super effective.
Among Karen's six Pokémon, this was the only one Will couldn't hit for super-effective damage because he didn't know any Fairy-type moves.
Battle Start!
"Shadow Sneak!"
As soon as Karen's voice rang out, Spiritomb vanished.
Normally, it would appear behind Will. But the situation on the field was... Will appeared behind the reappearing Spiritomb.
"Behi—"
BOOM!
before Karen could finish her sentence, Will opened his beak and blasted a Hydro Pump into Spiritomb's back.
CRASH!
In an instant, Spiritomb was slammed against the wall at the edge of the arena by the high-pressure water jet.
"When did he get behind Spiritomb? Did Spiritomb fly to the wrong spot?"
"Does anyone else think that Piplup's Hydro Pump power is a bit exaggerated?"
"What level is that Piplup? It feels like he and Spiritomb aren't even in the same league."
The audience was stunned. No human present had caught Will's movement. They could barely even track Spiritomb's body as it was blasted away.
"Spiritomb?!"
Karen's eyelids twitched as she looked at her Pokémon. Spiritomb floated up shakily from the ground; that hit had nearly knocked it out.
"Okay, Hypnosis!"
Spiritomb emitted a pink glow. Even some audience members started feeling drowsy.
However, this move had no effect on Will. Even Will wasn't sure if it was because of his soul strength or his Aura Power.
As the target of Hypnosis, he just felt a little sleepy. But aside from yawning, nothing happened.
"Seems mental suggestion moves don't work on me. Maybe Grass-type Sleep Powder would be more effective."
Will muttered internally, discovering a strength he hadn't noticed before. This was great news. Usually, after putting an opponent to sleep, Ghost and Psychic types would follow up with Dream Eater, a 100-power special Psychic move. He didn't know how to dodge an invisible, silent move like that.
Then, Will raised a flipper.
A thin mist began to rise on the field. Mist.
"Damn it, Mist..."
Karen clenched her fist. Her move had been predicted! She had planned to have Spiritomb use Memento before fainting to drastically lower Will's Attack and Special Attack. But with Mist up, Memento would fail.
Just as Karen's train of thought was interrupted...
WHAM!
Will burst out of the mist, kicking Spiritomb in the face with Ice Spinner.
Spiritomb went flying again. And this time, it didn't get up.
"Spiritomb is unable to battle! Contestant Karen, please send out your next Pokémon. Contestant Lorelei, do you wish to switch?" the referee announced immediately, looking at Lorelei.
Lorelei looked at Will.
Will shook his head.
"No switch."
Karen's next Pokémon came out.
Absol.
Although its stats weren't high, it was very popular among Dark-type Pokémon. The main reason was its Mega Evolution—it was cool.
"Absol, use Perish Song!"
Karen was ruthless. No polite greeting shots; she went straight for the ultimate move.
This kind of AoE status move was a headache for Will.
Perish Song would cause all Pokémon who heard it to faint after three turns. In the games, it was an unreasonable bug move. In reality, "three turns" became a certain period of time. The duration depended on the level difference between the user and the target. Generally, if the difference was over 30 levels, Perish Song had no effect.
But Will and Absol clearly didn't have that big a gap; at most, 7 or 8 levels.
However, there were ways to counter Perish Song. For example... Will just had to take Absol out before the song took effect.
In the blink of an eye, Will vanished from his spot, rushing toward Absol.
"Double Team!"
Twenty Absols appeared on the field, dazzling the eye.
"Piplup, she's stalling!" Lorelei warned quickly.
Will could see that.
He tilted his head back and spat out a massive water tornado. He grabbed it with both hands and slammed it down. Whirlpool instantly turned into waves rolling in all directions across the field.
"Jump!" Karen shouted.
Will closed his eyes, sensing carefully. Then he stomped, rubbing his flippers together as he rode a wave toward an Absol that had just jumped.
"Watch out!"
Swish~
As Karen's voice fell, Absol jumped to dodge the water wave below. But Will arrived above its head at that moment.
His ice-blue flipper chopped down vertically.
CRACK!
Critical Hit. Super Effective. Vital Throw. Black Belt boost.
Absol was taken out instantly by Will's Brick Break.
"Absol is unable to battle..."
The referee's voice fell again.
The stadium was silent.
Karen's breathing quickened. She stared blankly at the little penguin on the field, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
This pressure...
It reminded her of when she challenged Professor Oak a while ago. The same helplessness.
Next...
Her ace, Umbreon, was sent off by a combo of Extreme Speed, Ice Spinner, Brick Break, and Aura Sphere.
Her Ice-type Weavile was one-shot by Sacred Fire.
Her Fire-type Houndoom was washed away by Rain Dance plus Liquidation.
Her Flying-type Honchkrow was taken down by Blizzard plus Ice Beam.
Will, single-handedly, swept Karen's entire team.
He became the first and only Pokémon in the Elite Four Tournament to 6-0 another contestant.
Remember, no one on this stage was weak. But this Piplup, using all kinds of bizarrely powerful moves, had defeated Pokémon only a few levels weaker than him, one by one.
Forget Karen and the audience. Even Lorelei was dumbfounded.
This was the first time in two years she had seen Will go all out.
Only now did she realize.
"No wonder Lapras always calls Piplup 'Big Brother.' He's this strong..."
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