Such a battle had already surpassed the level of those of the same age. Aya and Kenny felt somewhat ashamed and could not help but take two steps back.
The Elite Four were also unconsciously drawn into this battle.
Houndoom's Flame Charge collided with the icicles, producing a "sizzle sizzle" sound as the ice melted.
As the icicles collapsed with a loud crash, Houndoom had already slammed into Piloswine.
"Piloswine, hold on!"
Tetsuya shouted at the top of his lungs. The obstruction from the icicles had already reduced most of the power of Houndoom's Flame Charge, which had been his objective. At present, Piloswine could still withstand Houndoom's power. What it needed to endure was the burning from the flames.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment…
"Avalaaanche!"
Following Tetsuya's command, Piloswine let out a piercing howl in response to Tetsuya's shout. A massive snowball formed in the air, hanging by a thread on the verge of collapse. As long as Piloswine released its force, it would crash down onto Houndoom.
Only at this moment did Karen realize this was a trap. Although she knew that shouting would be useless in such a situation, she still could not help but cry out, "Houndoom, ruuuun!"
Just as Karen finished shouting, Avalanche had already engulfed Houndoom completely…
Buried within the snow pile was Houndoom. According to Tetsuya's battle style, he would have followed up with another Earthquake to finish it, but considering the situation here, he could not go too far, so he stopped his attack.
"…I lost," Karen said.
"Mmm. Thank you for the battle," Tetsuya said as he recalled Piloswine.
At this moment, Ryosuke could not believe the scene before him. He knew Karen's strength better than anyone. Although she was only ten years old and had not yet gone out to travel and train, she already had the ability to advance past the preliminary rounds of the League competitions.
Yet she had lost just like that, and to an unknown nobody he had never even heard of…
Maiko quietly said to Kenny beside her, "…Go investigate this Tetsuya's background."
Kenny nodded and left without drawing attention.
"Hmm, let the kids train well. The competition is the day after tomorrow," Pryce said as he brought Tetsuya to the side.
The other three Elite Four all revealed awkward smiles. At this moment, they had countless questions in their hearts, yet they could only suppress them…
---◓---
Throughout the entire day, the other three Elite Four were restless. Originally, they had planned to use this Elite Four Challenge to suppress Pryce and let him "understand" their "methods", so that he would not oppose them everywhere and cut off many of their sources of income.
Many Gym Leaders who were affiliated with them had been taken down by Pryce for corruption and bribery. However, Tetsuya had suddenly appeared midway, and his strength was so formidable. He did not resemble someone who had only just begun training under Pryce.
This completely disrupted their plan, and they were naturally eager to understand the situation!
Tetsuya was now also caught in a dilemma. With his current level, stepping into this vortex would be a dead end. He could not offend Pryce, and he also could not provoke these three Elite Four. The only option now was to finish the event and immediately return to Ecruteak City, leaving this place of trouble.
That night, Ryosuke, Tōkichi, and Maiko, coincidentally gathered in the secret room of Ryosuke's mansion.
"My student Koga had his main Pokémon crippled by someone, you all know that… Now, Aya is quite strong, but still a bit lacking. Then Pryce suddenly brings out this Tetsuya kid. And his strength is such that he can actually fight Karen. In the main battles, even if he loses to those Elite Four students from Sinnoh, he still would not embarrass himself…
Could it be that our carefully planned scheme to suppress Pryce in this competition is just going to fall through like this?" Tōkichi said first.
"Let's first investigate this Tetsuya's background. I don't believe that someone like him is just a random Trainer Pryce picked up!
But before we planned this Elite Four Challenge, we clearly investigated Pryce and found that he had no students. Could it be that he hid it so deeply…?" Ryosuke said.
"Oh~ I've already checked."
After Maiko spoke, both Ryosuke and Tōkichi stared at this enchanting woman.
Maiko covered her mouth slightly with her pink folding fan, letting out a charming laugh, and said, "Fufufu~ You men really are not careful! I already had my little darling💫 investigate Tetsuya's background during the day."
"Whoa! As expected, Elite Four Maiko is reliable!"
"The praise from you two is more than I deserve~ This Tetsuya's home is Ecruteak City, and he is currently Matsuba's official pupil at the Ecruteak Gym."
"Matsuba of the Ecruteak Gym…? Good grief. We've tried to recruit Matsuba many times, and he always brushed us off. Could it be that he has already secretly joined Pryce's faction…?" Tōkichi said as he drew in a sharp breath.
"Tch, we'll talk about Matsuba later. The key now is how this Tetsuya got involved with Pryce. Is there any other information?" Ryosuke's interest had also been piqued.
"After that, when Pryce went to manage the Gym evaluation, he went to the Ecruteak Gym, but he didn't take Tetsuya away at that time. Recently, when investigating Pryce's movements, it was found that he brought this Tetsuya from the Battle Park in Evermere City to Mt. Silver.
Sigh… the specific situation is still unclear." Maiko also appeared somewhat helpless.
"Hmm? The Battle Park in Evermere City that Pryce opened?" Ryosuke asked.
"Huh? Yes, is there a problem?"
"Something's not right… a kid called Kawakami Rei is the informant I placed in Pryce's Battle Park. The last time he reported to me, he said that Pryce's old 'lover' Sheila had organized for someone to undergo 'special training' at the Battle Park, but when he asked, he was told that it was not Pryce's student, so I didn't pay attention to it.
I thought that if it were an Elite Four's student, they would be eager to show off. Now that I think about it, that person was probably Tetsuya, and those words must have been taught by Pryce…
Hmph, this Pryce is truly calculating. To have such a student and still keep all of us in the dark…" Ryosuke could not help but knock on the table.
"It's likely that Matsuba was also helping Pryce take care of this Tetsuya. Otherwise, how could such a Piloswine be raised in just a few months? Heh~ I think Matsuba has long since sided with Pryce's faction. We absolutely cannot let him off!"
Tōkichi brought up Matsuba once again. To put it bluntly, it was only to avenge his student Koga. After all, the matter of Koga kneeling before Matsuba in public had already become an open secret.
However, Matsuba was cautious in his actions and never did anything out of "line". The Matsuba Family had also stood in Ecruteak City for over a hundred years. It was indeed difficult to find a way to deal with him.
"We will definitely find a way to deal with Matsuba… However, Matsuba is like a flawless egg. How to crack him open still requires long-term planning. For now, the issue is how we should deal with this Tetsuya!"
The three of them looked at each other.