End of Competition

He mentioned that he would buy it tomorrow for Pidgeotto.

Venusaur requested to visit the Venu family to meet its parents. It had been a long time since it embarked on a journey, and it was missing them. Axel agreed, thinking that he would go to the Venu family after meeting Ash.

When it came to Arcanine's reward, Axel spoke up, saying, "Before you make a request, I have a suggestion. I know that you are on the verge of evolving to the elemental rank, and the only thing holding you back is your fire core mastery. So, I want to give you a naturally formed fire gem. It will increase your fire core mastery to a sufficient level, allowing you to rank up to the elemental rank."

Arcanine nodded in agreement, delighted at the prospect of finally achieving the elemental rank. However, what Arcanine didn't know was that Axel had already planned to give it a fire gem, regardless of the outcome against Charizard.

Nidorino's request took Axel by surprise. It asked Axel to help it evolve further. Axel was amazed that Nidorino hadn't forgotten about their conversation when they first started their journey.

"I do have plans to help you evolve further, but it will take some time. Since it's a time-consuming process, feel free to ask for another reward in the meantime."

At that time, the potential uses of the moonstone had not yet been discovered, resulting in no market for it. Axel had intended to journey to Mt. Moon and obtain the highest quality moonstone for Nidorino.

Unfortunately, Mt. Moon was a high-level area, and Axel needed at least a King-ranked Pokemon by his side for safety. Consequently, he couldn't fulfill Nidorino's request immediately.

After pondering for a while, Nidorino requested to learn 'Poison damage transfer', a move that Arbok had used during a previous encounter. Axel agreed to teach it the move, as he had some plans in mind for Nidorino.

Lastly, it was Alakazam's turn. Alakazam had no specific request and claimed it didn't need anything. However, after some insistence from Axel, it asked if it could visit Hakone City for one day every month. Alakazam had lived there for many years and missed the place and its friends in the forest.

Axel agreed to Alakazam's request as well, finalizing the completion of the competition.

The next step was witnessing Arcanine's rank-up. With its fire core already at 70%, and the natural fire gem obtained from the forest, it wouldn't take much time to reach 100%.

Everyone gathered to witness Arcanine's rank-up, particularly Axel's father, who was especially excited.

Once Arcanine accepted the fire gem, a red light enveloped it, and waves of fiery energy started emanating from its body. The process lasted for about ten minutes, during which his father reassured Arcanine to remain calm and embrace the transformation.

And then...

"ROARRRRRR!"

The red glow subsided, revealing Arcanine in all its majestic glory. It had transformed into a genuine elemental rank Pokemon. Axel's father couldn't contain his joy and even shed a tear of happiness.

Having an elemental rank Pokemon was an extraordinary accomplishment for any trainer. Although his father hadn't pursued the path of a trainer, he had always harbored the dream.

Before Axel, the family's financial situation had been unfavorable, which prevented his father from becoming a trainer. As a result, only Axel's uncle, Noah, had ventured into the world of Pokemon training.

Axel checked Arcanine's stats and confirmed that it had indeed become an elemental rank Pokémon.

---

Pokemon's Name: Arcanine (Age: 16 years)

Nickname: None

Rank: Elemental

Ability: Flash Fire (100%)

Hidden Ability: Justified (65%)

Potential: Purple (Advanced)

Health: 1800/1800

Attack: F Agility: F

Defense: F Sp. Atk: F

Sp. Def: F

Moves: Flamethrower, Crunch, Extreme Speed, Agility, Thunder Fang, Dig, Close Combat, Raging Fury, Morning Sun, Sunny Day, Flare Blitz

Core: Fire (Mastered)

---

Arcanine had also learned a new move called 'Flare Blitz', indicating that its fire powers had been significantly amplified. Congratulations poured in from everyone, celebrating Arcanine's rank-up.

To commemorate the occasion, Axel's mother prepared a sumptuous feast. Axel was delighted with this development. With Arcanine now an elemental rank Pokémon on the team, they had an added layer of defense when Axel was away. This would help safeguard the family in times of danger.

Arcanine received numerous pats on the head from both his mother and father, who had grown fond of the Pokémon. His mother expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "Axel, this competition is wonderful. We should do this more often."

Axel nodded in agreement, recognizing the positive impact it had brought. It allowed everyone to witness the true power of their teammates, fostering improvement within the team.

"Axel, why did you handicap our Pokémon?" his mother asked.

"Well, it was my competition, and I included them because I didn't want them to feel left out," Axel replied.

"No, we want our Pokémon to have the same opportunity," his mother insisted.

Axel realized that Ninetales faced the same issue as Arcanine—lacking complete fire mastery. However, he had already planned to give Ninetales a fire gem as well.

After some negotiation between his mother and Axel, they decided to rebrand the competition from "Axel Pokémon Competition" to "Blaze Pokémon Competition." The event would take place every six months, hosted in Axel's home. Therefore, Axel would return home every six months for the competition.

His mother effectively guilt-tripped him, mentioning that he should spend more time with the family. After considering it, Axel agreed. Returning home every six months seemed like a reasonable idea. It would also give him an opportunity to check on the progress of the school and the military.

Aurthur, his younger brother, was growing well. Although he was attempting to crawl, he would stumble every time. The birth of Aurthur had alleviated any mental stress that Axel had previously carried, making him stronger than ever.

Now, it was time for Axel to set off on his journey, but before that, he wanted to evolve Slowpoke into Slowking.