"Leader Grey, let me properly introduce myself first!"
Only now did Lacey realize she had never actually told Grey about herself in person. Back at the Nimbasa amusement park, she had been far too excited after suddenly meeting her idol, and all they had really done was hurriedly exchange contact information.
The only introduction she'd given had been her name online.
So in her mind, the polite thing to do was absolutely to say it properly face-to-face.
Still... it felt a little embarrassing.
When Lacey was at Blueberry Academy, she was always open and confident around her classmates.
But this was Grey—her idol.
That made her a little shy.
"Hoo..."
After taking a deep breath and calming herself down, Lacey finally introduced herself to Grey and Caitlin.
"I'm Lacey, a second-year student at Blueberry Academy, and one of the BB League Elite Four."
The moment she brought up her standing at Blueberry Academy, her confidence clearly rose a little.
"The Blueberry Elite Four...? So you're an Elite Four-level Trainer too?"
Caitlin looked impressed without fully understanding the situation.
Blueberry Academy had only opened in recent years, so its name hadn't really spread to Caitlin's family yet. She had genuinely thought Lacey was an actual regional Elite Four-level Trainer.
In truth, Lacey definitely wasn't that strong.
Still, she was at least around the level of a powerful Gym Leader.
At the moment, her Pokémon were actually about on par with her father Clay's.
Hearing Caitlin say that, Lacey's face reddened, and she hurriedly waved her hands.
"No, no, not at all. I'm just a Gym-level Trainer. The Blueberry Elite Four ranking is based on our strength within the school..."
"So please, Leader Grey, I'd love for you to give me some guidance!"
Lacey clenched the hem of her clothes in both hands, her head lowered slightly as she waited for Grey's response.
"No problem. It's just that... well, most of the Pokémon I currently have with me are my main team, so this battle will probably have to be one-on-one."
Grey was a little helpless about it too.
If this had been before, he could have done a three-on-three match.
At worst, he could just make a call and swap out some Pokémon.
But right now there was a serious problem.
For some reason, his dojo Pokémon had all slipped away, so the only ones he still had were the ones currently on him.
That meant the only Pokémon he had on hand around the same level as Lacey's was the Keldeo he had just caught.
But using Keldeo against Lacey...
How should he put it? It felt a little like bullying a kid.
Sure, Keldeo had gotten beaten badly by Metagross and Kyurem, but it definitely still had real strength.
At the very least, going up against an adorable Trainer like Lacey, it probably wasn't going to get reverse-swept...
Right?
Thinking back to Keldeo's earlier performance, even Grey wasn't entirely sure.
Forget it. He'd just see how Keldeo handled the fight.
This would also be a good chance for both sides to sharpen themselves.
He sighed.
Lacey tilted her head and clasped both hands behind her back, a little surprised by Grey's sudden sigh.
"Leader Grey, is something wrong?"
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something going on at the dojo."
"Oh... I don't know what happened, but if it's you, Leader Grey, I think everything will work itself out just fine!"
Lacey had a strange amount of trust in him. After all, whenever she watched his streams, no matter what kind of Trainer he ran into, Grey always managed to deal with the situation easily and come out on top.
He was practically the embodiment of victory.
"Then I'll take that good omen. Let's battle. I think my partner here wants to fight too. Oh, right—mind if I stream it?"
Grey never forgot his roots. Even all the way out in Unova, he was still thinking about streaming for his viewers at all times.
"No problem at all!"
Lacey instantly stood up straight. Just thinking about being on a stream with Grey made her happy.
Maybe some of her friends from Blueberry Academy were watching right now.
It'd be nice if somebody recorded it for her...
As she thought about that, Lacey took out her phone. After Grey finished setting up his stream, she started a screen recording too.
Title: [Ran into Unova's Elite Four—time for a viewer battle]
Tags: [Elite Four] [Viewer Match] [Hotel] [Indoor]
[What Elite Four? Where?]
[Isn't the opponent just some girl? Wait, is the girl the Elite Four?]
[What kind of Elite Four are you talking about?]
[Holy crap, that's my classmate. Lacey from Blueberry Academy's Elite Four.]
[I'm losing it.]
The moment everyone saw that Grey meant an academy Elite Four in the title, they nearly lost it.
They had thought he meant an actual regional Elite Four.
Instead it was one from a school.
How strong could a school-type Elite Four really be?
Most viewers still associated "academy" Trainers with top students and honor-roll types.
And Lacey definitely gave off that sort of vibe.
One, she was pretty.
Two, she was clearly an excellent student at her school.
Total academy-type Trainer.
It fit the stereotype so perfectly that it was hard not to make the connection.
"Then I'll send my Pokémon out first."
Grey took out a Poké Ball and sent out the Keldeo he had caught that morning.
"Keldeo, get ready to battle!"
"Keldeo!"
This time, Keldeo didn't use telepathy. Instead, it let out a loud cry brimming with fighting spirit.
Lacey: "???"
Wait a second—what Pokémon had Grey just sent out?
Keldeo?!
The apprentice of the legendary Swords of Justice?!
To face her, Grey had actually sent out Keldeo!
Lacey's brows twitched. She really hadn't expected Keldeo to be her opponent.
Still, Keldeo had Fighting typing.
So shouldn't the advantage be on her side here?
Lacey quickly thought through who she should send out.
Primarina, Granbull... or Excadrill?
Those three were the heavy hitters on her team, and Excadrill was even descended from her father's ace.
And on top of that, Excadrill's Tera Type was Fairy.
That would let it counter Keldeo's Fighting typing very effectively.
All right.
In that case, it's you!
"Excadrill, let's go~!"
Lacey chose her ace, Excadrill.
A mole Pokémon with steel drills on its head and hands appeared, and in terms of presence, it was no less impressive than Keldeo.
Pokémon: Excadrill
Type: Ground / Steel
Level: 50
Ability: Mold Breaker
Moves: Horn Drill, others omitted.
A level 50 Excadrill, equal in strength to Keldeo.
And it had Horn Drill, an outrageously unfair move.
Grey felt that if Keldeo went into this with the same excessively confident battle style as before, it was going to get dropped again.
"Keldeo, don't let your guard down. Your opponent is strong. Treat it like you're facing an actual Elite Four member, understand?"
Grey spoke up to warn Keldeo.
"Yeah, I know."
Keldeo scraped its front hooves back and forth, its broken horn aimed squarely at Excadrill, as though it wanted to cut it down with the Sacred Sword it was so proud of.
"Excadrill, now let's make you even cuter~!"
Lacey suddenly called out, and somehow a shining crystalline orb appeared in her hand.
As glittering crystal particles slowly scattered down, Grey watched with obvious interest.
Terastallization—a battle system unique to the Paldea region.
It could temporarily change a Pokémon's type, and if the Tera Type matched one of its original types, its same-type attack bonus could shoot up to a terrifying two times.
Used well, it was the kind of battle system that could completely change the flow of a match.
The mind games behind it were pretty intense, too.
[What is that?]
[Mega Evolution?]
[No, that's not how Mega Evolution looks. A Key Stone should be smaller.]
Most viewers had no idea what Terastallization was. It was the kind of thing that mostly stayed in its own circle. Outside Paldea, you'd really only see it at Blueberry Academy or in Kitakami, which was relatively close to Sinnoh.
And what Lacey held in her hand was a Tera Orb.
At that moment, the Tera Orb dropped onto Excadrill's head.
Pink Tera energy wrapped around Excadrill.
In an instant, crystalline light spread over its entire body.
And when the light finally faded, a huge pink heart crowned with white wings appeared above Excadrill's head.
Fairy Tera Excadrill.
Its type had now changed to Fairy, and it still retained its original same-type attack bonus.
"Whoa, Terastallization. Nice, very nice."
Grey clapped. This was his first time actually seeing another battle system used in person.
Come to think of it...
After all this time, he still hadn't unlocked a single battle system himself.
He scratched his head. Sometimes Kanto really was just too behind the times.
Things like Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax, Terastallization—he couldn't use any of them.
At some point, he really was going to have to go out and actively pursue one of these systems.
It was one of the few ways left that could still significantly boost combat power.
"Ehh~? So you already know about Terastallization, Leader Grey?!"
Lacey blinked. She had been planning to proudly explain it herself.
But Grey already knew.
"Terastallization from the Paldea region. I've heard a little about it."
Grey smiled lightly and gestured. "Lacey, you take the first move."
"Okay! Then I won't hold back~!"
Lacey's fighting spirit surged, and Excadrill flexed its claws open and closed, clearly trying to intimidate Keldeo.
"I'm not scared of you!"
Keldeo shouted back, but didn't recklessly charge in.
It knew it couldn't match Grey when it came to controlling the flow of battle. No matter how badly it wanted to attack, it couldn't move on its own before Grey gave the order.
"Excadrill, use Drill Run!"
Excadrill immediately folded both arms over its head and spun into the shape of a drill.
It flew low over the ground, the fierce current of air whipping up dirt and dust along with it, nearly hiding its advancing body from view.
Keldeo frowned slightly, but still didn't move.
Seeing how obedient Keldeo was being, Grey felt that it really had made some progress.
Then he gave the order.
"Keldeo, dodge with Aqua Jet, then use Bubble Beam!"
In an instant, rushing water wrapped around Keldeo's body, pulling it away before Excadrill could reach it.
Excadrill chased relentlessly after Keldeo.
The shockwave from its forward rush nearly made Keldeo stumble and fall.
Fortunately, Keldeo had at least some battle sense, and that much pressure wasn't enough to matter.
Once it judged the distance to be about right, Keldeo spun around without hesitation and fired out a chain of bubbles from its mouth, the stream gathering into a beam of light as it shot forward.
Rat-tat-tat!
Bubble Beam hit perfectly, forcing the Excadrill still in the middle of Drill Run to take the attack head-on. It had no choice but to dive underground, vanishing from Keldeo's sight.
"So it hid underground?"
Keldeo paced back and forth. It really didn't like fighting Pokémon that burrowed into the earth like this.
"Use Surf on the hole."
Grey instantly came up with a counter.
Keldeo responded by gathering Water-type energy from beneath its hooves, and in the blink of an eye, a three-meter-tall wave surged into existence, lifting its body up into the air.
The feeling of standing atop the wave and looking down on everything below made Keldeo feel rather pleased with itself.
Under Keldeo's control, the massive wave came crashing down toward the hole.
Crash!
Water poured into the tunnel, filling it even faster than Excadrill could dig.
Spurt!
By the time Excadrill burst back out of the ground, its entire body was drenched and it was panting hard.
Clearly, that Surf had done serious damage.
If it hadn't Terastallized into Fairy, that one move alone might have left it half dead.
[Now that's more like it! That's the kind of power a Mythical Pokémon should have!]
[Was it throwing the match this morning? The thing that got folded by Metagross in two punches is actually threatening Excadrill like this?]
Thanks to people from Blueberry Academy explaining things in chat, the viewers knew Lacey's Excadrill was about as strong as Clay's ace—possibly even on track to surpass it.
And yet now it was getting beaten around like this by the same Keldeo that had been demolished earlier that morning.
At this point, nobody understood the power scaling anymore.
No matter how they looked at it, something felt off.
Could it be that every Pokémon who followed Grey grew explosively stronger in a short amount of time?
Otherwise this just didn't make sense.
In truth, Grey hadn't really trained Keldeo much at all.
At most, Keldeo had fought a few wild Pokémon while they were crossing the desert and had gotten some real battle feel back.
Keldeo truly lived up to the name of genius. It improved incredibly fast.
Its raw strength hadn't changed much, but its practical battle experience had shot through the roof.
You could say that against ninety-nine percent of Pokémon at the same level, Keldeo would have no problem at all.
And as for the remaining one percent...
Those were probably Grey's Pokémon.
"Excadrill, use Drill Run again and get behind Keldeo!"
Lacey was still trying to find a way to bring the battle into close range. Once she got into melee, the advantage would absolutely be hers.
Of course, Grey had no intention of giving her that chance.
"Keldeo, Hydro Pump!"
Keldeo stomped forward hard with one hoof, blue light like crashing surf bursting from its mane.
Its repaired tail spread out like an oar, and with the push of the water, it briefly lifted off the ground.
Across from it, Excadrill's drill had already become a spinning blur as it came tearing in through the dust.
And at the instant the two were about to collide—
Boom!
The Hydro Pump blasted from Keldeo's mouth in a column over three meters wide, the recoil pushing Keldeo backward through the air by half a meter.
That tightly compressed torrent of water slammed directly into Excadrill's drill, and the explosion of spray instantly covered the battlefield in mist.
When Excadrill burst out of the fog with its spinning speed clearly slowed, it could no longer maintain full drill form, its arms already separating again.
"Now! Use Tera Blast!"
Seeing that the two Pokémon were close together, Lacey quickly had Excadrill unleash its strongest move.
Compared to the luck-based Horn Drill, she'd rather gamble on Tera Blast and see if she could catch Keldeo off guard.
"Drill!"
The crystalline steel armor around Excadrill suddenly cracked apart, and dreamy pink light burst from the gaps.
Bzzzz!
The air began to tremble, forming a visible vortex, while a pink-black gravitational black hole of energy rapidly formed around Keldeo's body.
This pocket of warped Fairy energy bent space itself, as if even light couldn't escape its pull.
When the black hole swelled to its limit, even the broken stones scattered across the battlefield began to float, as though gravity itself had stopped mattering.
Fairy Tera Blast.
"Damn it... what an annoying move!"
Keldeo struggled wildly within the twisted field of attraction, all four hooves kicking uselessly through empty air.
The black hole of Fairy energy dragged it closer and closer to the center, and that feeling of having nothing to brace against left it irrationally irritated.
"Don't panic. Use Hydro Pump for recoil."
Grey's voice cut through the chaos at exactly the right moment.
Keldeo immediately understood. High-pressure water suddenly blasted from the gaps beneath all four hooves.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Keldeo shot upward like a rocket, tearing itself free from the edge of the energy black hole.
Lacey and Excadrill: ?
There was another trick like that?
They could only watch as Keldeo escaped the black hole successfully, while Excadrill had no way to stop its move midway.
Boom!!!
Tera Blast detonated, leaving a massive crater where it had gone off.
Only—
Keldeo had already escaped long before it landed, so despite all the noise and spectacle, the move had basically been nothing more than fancy fireworks.
"Hydro Pump!"
Grey's command came down again.
"Got it!"
Keldeo aimed the bottoms of its hooves at Excadrill, and four identical jets of water blasted out at once.
Bang!
Excadrill, having just finished using Tera Blast, was struck on the spot. It skidded several meters, but still didn't go down.
Its stamina had clearly been trained well.
Of course, the bigger reason was that it was no longer weak to Water.
If it had still been Ground-type, taking two Hydro Pumps in a row probably would've left it with almost nothing.
Even so, Excadrill was hanging by a thread.
Its stamina had dropped to a dangerous level.
In other words, it was in the red.
A few more hits and it would be finished.
"Looks like that hit somewhere bad..."
One look at Excadrill's condition told Lacey that Keldeo had landed a critical hit.
This wasn't good. She needed to end it quickly.
With that thought, Lacey pointed forward and shouted, "Excadrill, Horn Drill!"
If that move landed, instantly taking out Keldeo and turning the entire match around wasn't impossible!
"Drill!"
Excadrill pressed its arm drills and the horn on its head tightly together, then leaped upward. The force of its spin whipped up another fierce gust of wind.
Bzzzzzz!
The shriek of a high-speed drill tore through the air. Excadrill became a living drill machine trailing a pink flare behind it, carving a trench half a meter deep through the ground in its wake as it drove straight toward Keldeo's heart.
Horn Drill was truly terrifying.
Its speed was impossible to follow with the naked eye.
But to Grey, Excadrill was still too slow.
"Keldeo, finish it with Surf!"
Keldeo understood immediately. A towering curtain of water crashed down from above and swallowed Excadrill whole.
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