"Not fond of battles?"
Kona looked at Natsuhiko suspiciously, then glanced at Beedrill, and the battle remnants visible on the beach not far away.
Is this being not fond of battles?
Or is it not wanting to battle her?
One has to say, when Kona isn't light-headed, she's not easily fooled.
Natsuhiko noticed Kona's shift in gaze and said calmly, "Those are merely marks from our tactical training, not actual battling."
"Oh? Tactics?"
Kona adjusted her glasses, somewhat surprised.
As a top student at Silver Academy, tactical classes are a must, and Kona excelled in them.
Now Kona was genuinely interested in Natsuhiko.
Originally, Natsuhiko's Beedrill wasn't weak, and her Lapras felt a bit unwilling, so she proposed a battle request.
Just as a normal challenge, regardless of win or lose.
Of course, Kona figured she definitely wouldn't lose.
But when Natsuhiko mentioned tactics, that genuinely piqued Kona's interest.
Being not weak in real combat, possessing some Breeder skills, and also skilled in tactics, it made Kona feel as though Natsuhiko was an academically trained student from the Pokemon School like her.
And judging solely from Natsuhiko's age, he didn't seem much older than her.
The competitive spirit of a top student suddenly surged at this moment.
Though Kona appears mild on the surface, deep down she's very competitive and a bit rigid; otherwise future Champion Lance wouldn't repeatedly apply for the championship and frequently suffer setbacks from her.
Normally, people might show leniency and let it slide.
After all, they're colleagues, see each other all the time.
But Kona said: Not me!
Of course, there might be some other reasons too.
For instance, Kona represents the academically trained, not allowing her to do so.
Or, perhaps Lance offended her somewhere somehow.
In any case, Kona's tenacity is beyond doubt.
Or rather, how many who achieve greatness later aren't tenacious?
So...
"I've also done a bit of research on tactics, how about we give it a try?"
"Try?" Natsuhiko was taken aback.
Isn't tactics not about fighting, how do you try it?
"Don't you know?" This time, Kona was a bit surprised.
"Should I know?"
Kona frowned slightly; shouldn't all students from the academic style know?
But she went on to explain: "It's a tactical simulation method from Pokemon School called 'Tactical Games'."
Then she briefly introduced Natsuhiko to the method and rules of "Tactical Games."
The main content is that participants can choose one or several Pokémon, depending on the actual situation.
At the same time, each Pokémon has one hundred points, which can be used to improve the Pokémon's attributes, moves, items, move proficiency, etc.
Each point allocation will consume points, eventually constructing the Pokémon for simulated battles.
This is the "Tactical Games" concocted by the Pokemon School and has been favored by many students, as it allows those who rarely engage in real battles to enjoy the fun of battles.
This also results in the trainers from Pokemon School having good tactical abilities but lacking flexibility.
Compared with ordinary trainers, their lower limit is higher, but their upper limit is lower.
This has always made academic-style trainers remain controversial.
After listening to Kona's explanation, Natsuhiko understood.
Isn't this a self-made Pokémon simulator?
"Got it?" Kona asked.
Got it?
He understood all right.
But Natsuhiko originally wanted to find an excuse to brush it off since he had been playing the role of tactical analyst in Gerwin's presence, and it just slipped out.
But somehow, it made Kona seem even more interested?
Under Kona's gaze, Natsuhiko nodded silently.
Alright then.
Even if it's not a real battle, it can still be accepted.
Moreover, for Natsuhiko, when it comes to real battles, he may have insurmountable gaps with many strong opponents, but in terms of Pokémon games...
No offense to anyone, but in the entire Pokemon Realm, everybody is.... ahem.
"Alright, because there is no special equipment here, we'll record the information on our phones."
As she spoke, Kona took out a fiery red phone.
Then she added, "Since it's your first try, I'll tell you which Pokémon I choose."
Natsuhiko shrugged.
Whatever.
"Wait, if both Pokémon faint at the end, who wins?" Natsuhiko asked again.
"Whoever caused that outcome wins."
Kona frowned as she responded, already pondering which Pokémon to choose to probe Natsuhiko's depth.
"Alright then."
Saying this, the two of them lowered their heads, staring at their phone screens.
Meanwhile, the few Pokémon nearby were not as well-behaved.
Especially Togepi.
Little legs moving, a crisp jingling echoed as it ran to Kona's Lapras, waving its hand.
"Chocoby!"
To the big turtle.
Lapras initially wanted to ease the atmosphere seeing Togepi coming to greet it, but who knew Togepi's address brought a black mark across its face.
Turtle? Your whole family's turtles!
At this moment, only Shuckle could feel Lapras's inner turmoil.
Lapras turned its head, choosing to ignore it.
But Togepi wouldn't give up, staggering, trying to climb onto Lapras's back.
Natsuhiko, editing data, caught Togepi's behavior out of the corner of his eye, twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Are you the strongest social butterfly?
Winning first place in the naturally familiar category?
Take it easy, don't get frozen.
"I've decided, I choose Jynx," Kona suddenly said at this point.
"Okay." Natsuhiko replied casually.
It doesn't really matter what is chosen, because after she stated the rules for determining victory and defeat, the result of choosing any Pokémon would be about the same.
After a while.
Both had finished editing their Pokémon information, and all one hundred points were used up.
"Jynx," Kona flipped her phone, showing the data.
"Gengar."
Natsuhiko also displayed his phone interface.
In terms of attributes, Ice Type and Psychic Type Jynx had the advantage.
Next, it would be the simulation battle.
"My Jynx's trait is Slow, Special Attack plus 20, Speed plus 30, launching a fully boosted Strong Mental Will," Kona stated.
It's worth mentioning, all techniques are divided into five tiers, and each technique can be increased by up to five levels.
For instance, Strong Mental Will belongs to the fourth tier, maxing at five levels consumes a total of 9 points.
Then, a technique like Sword Dance in the fifth tier, maxing out consumes 10 points, and so on.
After Kona finished speaking, Natsuhiko shook his phone.
"Sorry, Gengar has a speed plus of 60, so Gengar should go first, Song of Destruction."
"Speed plus 60? Didn't you increase any other attributes?" Kona frowned; she felt Natsuhiko hadn't grasped some rules of "Battle Games."
"It's okay, just proceed," Natsuhiko replied, too lazy to explain.
When it comes to tactical one-on-one, who can outdo Gengar in trickiness?
Kona pressed her lips and stated, "Song of Destruction is released, but it requires time to take effect. No matter how fast Gengar is, releasing Song of Destruction simultaneously means getting hit by Jynx."
"Yes."
"Without a boosted Special Defense, Gengar cannot withstand a Single Strong Mental Will from Jynx, the game is over," Kona emphasized again.
She wondered if she was overthinking it? Natsuhiko might have just wanted an excuse to not battle her.
"But I spent 10 points to exchange for an item, Momentum Belt," Natsuhiko smiled and said.
Momentum Belt: When at full stamina, suffering a massive hit that would make the Pokémon lose the ability to battle, it can retain the last bit of stamina.
"Momentum Belt?" Kona raised an eyebrow, she certainly knew the effect of a Momentum Belt.
Looks like the game isn't over yet.
"Jynx uses Strong Mental Will again," Kona continued.
Song of Destruction forced her to accelerate the process to end the battle as soon as possible.
But then, Natsuhiko let her understand the true meaning of "Song of Destruction Tactics."
Utilizing the speed advantage, Gengar, which had not added any other attributes, combined with using techniques like Hypnosis, Defend, and Life Sharing, let Kona experience what despair felt like.
Even the final "Life Sharing" wasn't used.
Moreover, aside from Hypnosis being maxed, the other techniques were not enhanced, being Level 1 was fine.
The "Battle Game" that Kona spoke of had no limitations on the number of techniques, allowing Natsuhiko to mix and match more freely.
Letting her understand what "nauseating" and what "trickiness" meant.
The final result was, Kona stared at her phone screen and Natsuhiko's phone screen, especially witnessing Gengar's peculiar point allocation, Kona was "stunned".
Unable to help herself, she murmured, "What kind of trickery is this?"
Natsuhiko gave a knowing smile.
This is what you call... tactics.