71. The debut of a tactical genius
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A slender knife mark appeared on Charizard's chest, stretching from his left shoulder to his right waist. A faint blush colored the wound.
Behind Charizard stood Frogadier, holding a kunai in one hand, looking calm and confident.
Without hesitation, Frogadier turned around and launched a Water Pulse from its mouth!
Unfazed, it prepared to strike again with the kunai.
"Boom~~"
Charizard was knocked into the water and didn't get back up.
"Charizard is unable to battle! Frogadier wins! Trainer Noah has two Pokémon incapacitated, so the final winner is Trainer Chris!" The referee announced the result.
The audience fell silent.
They were still fixated on the moment when Charizard had slapped Frogadier's clone away with a single strike.
Why was the Frogadier that used Fling just an illusion?
Could it be that this Frogadier had perfected Double Team to make the clones indistinguishable from the real one?
Impossible! The essence of Double Team is speed-based illusions, not real clones. Even Pokémon trained by world-famous Trainers have never made Double Team seem this convincing. If it had been something else, it must have been a different move, not Double Team.
But if Double Team can't do this at such a high level, then... what just happened?
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
"Do you know what's going on? Charizard seemed on the right track, but how did it get fooled by Double Team?"
"I have no idea, do you?"
"I don't know either."
"Ah..."
"Could it be... Substitute?" someone tentatively suggested.
Substitute?
Substitute!
That answer hit everyone like a revelation.
Substitute is unlike Double Team—it can attack! After all, it's created by the Pokémon sacrificing its own stamina.
So, was the Frogadier that Charizard defeated with Dragon Claw actually a Substitute?
But moments ago, Frogadier clearly used Double Team, and Charizard destroyed five of the clones with Dragon Claw. The last one had to be the real body, right?
If that's the case, then when did Frogadier use Substitute?
Smoke! It must have been during the smoke!
Soon, the experienced Trainers pieced together Chris's tactical strategy.
In the smoke, Chris's Frogadier used both Substitute and Thief in succession, effectively replacing the original Double Team.
After Charizard cleared the smoke with Gust, there were still two Frogadiers on the field. Naturally, Noah assumed that one was the real one and the other was a clone.
Chris then used the Fling move to mislead Noah while causing damage to Charizard.
This led Noah into the trap, making him attack the Frogadier he thought was real.
In the end, everyone saw what happened.
Charizard's Dragon Claw struck the Substitute, and Frogadier's real body took the opportunity to slash the defenseless Charizard and finish it off with a Super effective Water Pulse.
If the battle played out the way they had analyzed, then Charizard and Noah's defeat was inevitable.
The sophomores and seniors who had broken down Chris's strategy looked at him with awe and a hint of fear.
This guy's tactical prowess is... terrifying.
But he's in the breeding department! And he's just a freshman!
Is this guy a tactical genius? Born with an instinct for strategy?
"It's a shame this kid didn't join the combat department." The sophomore tactics instructor looked at Chris with a hint of regret.
In response, Chris shrugged helplessly. This was just using a shadow and Substitute; what was so special about that?
Wasn't this a simple tactic?
He thought to himself, *Well, I guess I am a bit of a natural...* He chuckled inwardly but quickly corrected his train of thought. *Ahem, let's not get ahead of ourselves.*
"Thank you, Senior, for the coaching." Chris smiled as he recalled Frogadier into its Poké Ball, then turned and walked away, leaving Noah standing there alone.
Watching Chris's retreating figure, Noah let out a soft sigh. As the one directly involved in the battle, he had realized what was going on even faster than the audience, and he already had a solution in mind.
"If my Charizard had mastered a move like Heat Wave, which could cover the entire field..." Noah mused.
"That would've made his strategy meaningless." Shaking his head slightly, he took out Charizard's Poké Ball. "Good job, buddy. Rest up, and we'll fight together again next time."
Noah stepped off the stage as the beautiful host came forward to wrap up the event.
"Let's give another round of applause for Junior Chris and Senior Noah for their incredible battle! That concludes our welcome party for tonight. Please exit in an orderly fashion!"
It took a moment, but the crowd finally snapped out of their shock.
"No way, Noah lost! The top sophomore, Noah, actually lost!"
"Yeah, and from now on, calling him the sophomore chief Noah is just... a joke."
"A joke? I think you're the joke! Do you honestly think you could beat Chris? You probably couldn't even follow his tactics."
"Of course I could follow them! I saw exactly what was happening!"
As the students broke into groups, discussing the intricacies of Chris's strategy, they focused less on Noah's loss and more on studying the clever tactics Chris had employed.
After all, if any of them had been in Noah's place, Chris's skill might have demanded that they think on his level just to keep up.
Meanwhile, one group stood out in particular—the members of the Battle Club.
Adam, the president of the Battle Club, had a face as dark as thunderclouds.
The heavy tension from his presence kept everyone in their seats, even though most had begun to exit.
Adam narrowed his eyes slightly.
Noah's loss had been unexpected, but not entirely unreasonable.
However, a loss is still a loss. And now, they would become the laughingstock of the breeding department. Worse, the Battle Club would be mocked by the entire school.
There was no doubt that within half an hour, the campus internet would be flooded with posts ridiculing them.
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