During the time that followed, the tournament continued to unfold.
With the change in the rules, the battles became increasingly exciting.
Battle after battle, more and more students had the opportunity to demonstrate their true strength, instead of merely watching the strong teams crush the weak ones.
Thanks to reasonable tactics and proper team arrangements, some university teams with less overall power managed to display part of their universities' true foundation, triggering waves of applause throughout the entire stadium.
If there was one match that generated the greatest anticipation, it was undoubtedly the confrontation between Pokémon University of Ironvale City and Pokémon University of Luminary City.
"The second university team of this generation is really strong."
"If they were to fight with all their strength, wouldn't the first university team end up losing to the second university team?"
As the battle between Pokémon University of Ironvale City and Pokémon University of Luminary City began, the university professors started discussing animatedly.
"Patrick Mills from the Mills family, Lucas Silver from the Silver family, Marcus Foster from the Foster family, Claire Dawson from the Dawson family, and on top of that Ethan... this lineup is truly powerful."
A professor nodded his head. Given that the age difference between the first university team and the second university team of this generation was not large, their levels of strength were indeed quite close.
"Perhaps we should reselect the members of the first university team."
Another professor spoke while stroking his chin, causing the others to show thoughtful expressions.
"Let's wait a bit longer. The league's university tournament for this generation is about to begin."
Another professor lightly shook his head. The first university team had been training together for a long time, and it was not a good moment to make changes.
On the field, the battle continued.
"Whew, it looks like we've already secured it. Although there were some unexpected incidents during the battle, everything turned out fine in the end."
Below the stage, seeing that Patrick's Arcanine managed to defeat the opposing Feraligatr thanks to the extreme explosion of its Flash Fire ability, Lucas let out a sigh of relief.
"Now it's my turn to go out... although the result no longer depends on me. I don't know why, but I have a feeling I'll become the opponent's punching bag."
Claire lightly shook her head and then slowly walked onto the field.
Although the outcome of the match had already been decided, this was an exchange tournament and not one focused exclusively on victory, so the two remaining battles still had to be fought.
"Punching bag?"
"Saying it like that sounds bad, but it's also a very good training opportunity."
Ethan thoughtfully touched his chin, considering whether he should take advantage of the situation to send out one of his Pokémon to train a bit.
At the same time, in the rest room of Pokémon University of Luminary City, the members of their university team were talking among themselves.
"Captain... in the end, we lost."
The vice-captain of Pokémon University of Luminary City's team scratched his head with a frustrated expression after stepping down from the stage.
In fact, they had correctly guessed the opponent's tactical arrangement and had directly conceded the first and second rounds.
However, they never imagined that even when he himself went out to fight in the third round, he would still end up losing, which felt extremely helpless.
"It's true that we lost a move, but this is an exchange tournament; the real result isn't measured solely by the final victory."
The team captain, Max Sterling, gently shook his head and then fixed his gaze on Ethan, who was reflecting on the opposite side.
"Exactly, our ultimate goal isn't simply to win either. As long as our captain can defeat the opposing captain in a head-on battle..."
The vice-captain smiled faintly and looked toward the field. At that moment, the battle was already coming to an end, and their third-strongest member had also been defeated.
"Ah, it's my turn."
Max smiled slightly and stepped onto the stage with a calm stride.
Opposite him, when Ethan stepped onto the field, the audience once again erupted into cheers.
After Rhyperior's dominant performance in the first round, Ethan had gained an enormous number of supporters.
"Nice to meet you."
As soon as they stepped onto the stage, the two greeted each other politely.
Since in the previous match Pokémon University of Ironvale City had emerged victorious, this time it was Pokémon University of Luminary City's turn to send out their Pokémon first.
"Then, my Pokémon will be him... go, Gengar!"
Max took a deep breath, and his gaze instantly became sharp.
With the opening of the Poké Ball, Gengar appeared on the field with a mischievous grin, floating lightly in the air.
"Gengar...?"
Ethan fell into brief contemplation.
After hesitating for a moment, he chose a Poké Ball from among those he carried behind him.
"I'll leave this battle to you."
With a faint smile, Ethan threw the Poké Ball.
A flash of white light shone, and a blue, puppy-shaped Pokémon appeared on the field—it was Riolu.
"Riolu?"
Upon seeing the Pokémon that appeared, almost everyone present was stunned.
After all, Gengar was a Ghost-type Pokémon. Sending a Fighting-type Pokémon against it, and moreover in its initial form—a Riolu that did not look strong at first glance—was something no one could understand.
What was Ethan trying to do?
"Is senior Ethan planning to give up this round to give the opponent some face?"
"But facing a Gengar by directly sending out a Riolu... isn't that a bit too blatant?"
Immediately, the stadium was filled with murmurs. Some even began to speculate that Ethan was deliberately letting the opponent win, since according to the score, Pokémon University of Ironvale City had already secured victory.
"Riolu?"
Max was also stunned when he saw Riolu on the field, but his expression gradually darkened.
He had sent out his star Gengar with the intention of fighting with all his strength and reclaiming some prestige by facing Ethan, the opposing captain, head-on. But the fact that his opponent sent out a Riolu made it clear that he did not intend to take the battle seriously. All of his plans collapsed, and that caused anger to grow within him.
To make matters worse, voices from the stands had already begun accusing Ethan of acting blatantly, which made Max's expression even more unpleasant, as an inexplicable rage burned in his chest.
"Eh... it's that Riolu."
At that moment, Lucas, who was below the stage, recognized the Pokémon, and his expression froze.
He knew very well that this Riolu had an innately weak constitution and that its combat capability was not particularly high.
Seeing it come out, he also instinctively thought that Ethan was giving away points, although it was far too obvious.
However, Ethan was not thinking about that at all. From the beginning, this battle had been conceived as an opportunity to train his Pokémon, and the result did not matter much to him.
The moment he saw Gengar, he immediately thought of Riolu, which possessed the power of Aura. Under aura detection, Gengar's invisibility capability would practically have no effect.
Moreover, although Riolu was a Fighting-type Pokémon, its true strength lay in its psychic power. In a situation like this, it could even be treated as if it were a Psychic-type, so when facing a Ghost-type Pokémon like Gengar, Riolu was not at as much of a disadvantage as it seemed. That said, the pure difference in power was still a considerable problem.
(End of chapter)