The family was busy with the competition. There were too many things to work out. The group did help them with it. Agnes was practicing her anchoring voice. Arron and Cerlin were monitoring the entertainment section while Noah and Axel were looking after the stadium.
The new Pokemons were fascinated by the new training grounds. There were also records on each training ground and Togetic was going to beat one of those records. Bagon was training extra hard to evolve. It could feel that it was on the verge of evolution. It just needed a bit of push.
Alakazam was also in the same scenario. Axel believed that it would rank up pretty soon. Its rank-up condition was going to be met very soon. He believed that it might also rank up before the start of the competition.
Meanwhile, Gogoat had also started its training. Before, it focused on a wide range of moves but now it was determined to focus only on defensive and healing moves. It was the guardian after all. It also told Axel that it wanted to focus on new moves that would focus on the same aspects.
Axel was happy to see the change and he was going to fully support it.
###
After 2 days, Lyra and Hymer arrived. Lyra was happy to see her old friends. She had become a bubbly girl with extra energy. Meanwhile, Hymer was a bit reserved. He didn't talk much. He was not unfriendly, but he chose every word carefully.
Looking at Hymer, Axel could tell that the guy was a few years older than him. He wanted to know his exact age but it would be awkward to ask the age of a person he had just met.
Lyra was very helpful in the kitchen. She was constantly helping his mother with various tasks. Kate was more focused on training her Pokemons. She was also helpful but she was not an extrovert like Lyra.
His mother didn't talk about Lyra being his future girlfriend and that relaxed him a bit.
After another day, Lorelai also came and all the participants had come up. Only 4 days were left before the start of the competition. For some reason, the restaurant sales increased a lot after the competition was announced.
###
Finally, after 4 days, the competition started.
"That is a lot of people out here. I didn't know that Hakone city had so many people.", said Lance glancing at the crowd.
The stadium was fully packed. There were a lot of people outside the stadium looking at those big screens. The competition had become very popular.
His mother had also made a plan to stall some food shops outside the stadium if there was a crowd outside. It turned out to be a good decision. His mother was turning out to be a good businesswoman.
###
"Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys and Pokemons. Welcome to the 3rd Blaze Pokemon competition."
There was a loud cheer from the crowd.
"Way to go, Hakone princess."
"Princess, you are the best."
"Agnes…."
Agnes had come onto the stage and she was wearing an elegant dress. After Axel confirmed for the competition, she had already ordered the dress and it had just come yesterday.
Agnes had prepared a lot for this day. She had practiced a lot for this speech. Everything has to be perfect.
"All of you know the history of this competition. It started off as a normal competition between the family members and now it had taken such a huge form. I thank you all for coming to see the show."
The cheer from the crowd became louder.
"Now, you all know the rules of this competition. It is a fight between Pokemons. A spar. Trainers cannot interfere with it. The trainers, whose Pokemons would be participating in this competition are,
1. Lance
2. Lyra from the Toise family
3. Lorelai from the league
4. Cody from the Venu family
5. K from the Venu family
6. Ryker from Zard family
7. Hymer from the Toise family
8. Kate from the Zard family
9. Axel, my brother
10. Arron, my father
11. Cerlin, my mother
12. Noah, my uncle
13. And myself.
There was a lot of cheer from the crowd. Except for the family members, Lance also seemed to be popular. This must be cause Lance participated in the last league battle.
However, the highest cheer was for Axel and Agnes. Axel could understand that he had a fandom as he was Axel but how come Agnes was so popular?
"Hakone princess will definitely win this time."
"Yes, I am rooting for Dragonite."
'Why is she being called a Hakone princess? What is this development?', thought Axel.
Since Agnes was so cute and innocent and young, everybody loved her. Being the younger sister of Axel also made her famous.
There were some people in the crowd that were expecting Red and seeing that he was not coming this time, most of them were not happy.
"We all feel bad about Red's presence but he has some important work to do. Red sir is a powerful trainer, so, of course, he would be busy.
Now, without further ado, let me start the competition. The first battle section would be common-rank Pokemons.
I know they are not as powerful as elemental-rank or king-rank Pokemons but these little Pokemon are also very tough.
The fight list of common rank Pokemon section are:
1. Togetic (Axel)
2. Bagon (Axel)
3. Aerodactyl (Axel)
4. Croconaw (Axel)
5. Togepi (Lance)
6. Riolu (Lance)
As you all know, the selection of the fight will be by drawing lots. So, that is what we are going to do.
I will select 1 person from the crowd to come on stage and he/she will help me in the selection."
The crowd went bonkers after hearing this. This had never happened before. Everyone was excited to go to the stage.
A lucky young girl was selected and with her help, the selection process was completed.
Togetic Vs Croconaw
Bagon Vs Togepi
Aerodactyl Vs Riolu
This was the fighting selection.
The first battle was between Togetic and Croconaw. This was the first time many people of Hakone City had seen these Pokemons. These Pokemons were not native to the Kanto region and Togetic was also very rare.
The battle went on but it ended within 5 minutes. Obviously, the winner was Togetic. Togetic acted as the boss of young Pokemons but it was also very powerful. Even though both of them had evolved, Togetic now had the option to fly and most of Croconaw's moves were physical type.
Axel noted down all these points. This was the perfect time to see the mistakes of his Pokemons and correct them.
The next fight was between Bagon and Togepi. This was an interesting fight cause Axel didn't know who would win. Bagon had just crossed the baby stage but it was also a dragon-type Pokemon.
This battle took little over 5 minutes but Bagon with sheer determination. Its defense was very high for Togepi's stamina to handle. This showed the might of dragon-type Pokemon to the crowd.
Bagon instantly became the crowd's favorite.
The third battle might be the most interesting one. Aerodactyl vs Riolu.
Now, Aerodactyl was better than Riolu in every way. It was older, it could fly, it was powerful and it also had evolved. Axel accepted that the battle would end within a minute. Yet, that was not the case.
###
The battle went on for 4-5 minutes.
Aerodactyl started with 'Dragon breath' but Riolu immediately dodged it. Lance's Riolu also knew the move 'Detect' and it was using it to its full advantage. Aerodactyl used multiple moves like 'Hyper beam', 'Iron tail', and 'Stone edge'. However, none of them connected. It started to get frustrated and then used 'Sandstorm' and also 'Rock polish' to increase its speed.
Axel thought that the battle would be over soon but surprisingly, Riolu closed its eyes. Axel liked that determination. 'Sand storm' would make it difficult to look around and the sands could also enter its eyes which could be deadly in battle. So, it directly closed its eyes.
Aerodactyl then went for a bite but Riolu dodged and then used 'Focus punch' which hit it right in the face. The battle went on for quite some time but eventually, it was hit by 'Stone edge' and was bitten. The battle ended there.
Axel was genuinely impressed by this Riolu. He didn't know that Riolu could be this powerful or was this Riolu special? Lance was lucky to have such a Riolu. He was also motivated to train his own Riolu.
There was a break after all 3 battles and then the crowd went on to eat numerous foods with their heart content.
After the break, the battle started again, and this time,
Togetic and Aerodactyl
Bagon
It was an interesting battle. Bagon went to the final stage automatically but the fight between Togetic and Aerodactyl was flashy.
It was an aerial battle. On speed and on air, Aerodactyl was much better than Togetic. Its long wings made it easier to fly higher and longer. Its speed was also better than Togetic. Both of them were flying-type Pokemons.
Aerodactyl started with 'Sand storm', 'Rock polish', and 'Stone edge'. Aerodactyl knew that Togetic was not an easy opponent. It also knew that it was far weaker than Togetic but it was not going to give up.
This might be the most intense battle of the common rank Pokemon section, so everyone was concentrating on it.
Togetic also used 'Wish', 'Nasty Plot' and fired up 'Future sight' in the air. The timing of 'Future sight' was 10 minutes. Axel didn't know why it used the move as the battle might end before 10 minutes.
Aerodactyl and Togetic fought a very harsh battle. It looked like Aerodactyl's defense was also heightened after its evolution. It had become a strong Pokemon. It was able to connect a 'Bite' but Togetic immediately used 'Egg defense' and then 'Dazzling gleam' to get out of it. It then used 'Wish' again to recover and then used 'Stored power'.
Aerodactyl was also not going to take it all without giving anything. Surprisingly, it was able to connect 'Hyper beam'. However, Togetic ended the match after using 'Flamethrower' while 'Sunny day' was activated and then 'Metronome' which summoned 'Ice beam'.
'Ice beam' was supper effective against it, so the move hit it hard. After training it for a long time, Axel came to realize that the moves used during 'Metronome' were very weak compared to the original move. That should be expected cause if the power of the move was as powerful as the original then the move 'Metronome' would be broken.
###
"Since you can see, Togetic is tired, it would need some time to heal. We all want it to give its best. The final battle is going to be held and it is fighting against a dragon-type Pokemon. Let's see who will win."
Agnes was trying to make it as mysterious as possible but everyone knew that Togetic was going to win. Nobody thought that such a cute and harmless-looking Togetic could be so powerful. All of them had seen Bagon battle before it was far weaker than Togetic.
###
"Axel's Pokemons are dominating the field. I can't believe that common-rank Pokemons could be so strong.", said Lyra.
"Yes, his Pokemons are stronger. Axel is an interesting character.", replied Hymer.
"I told you, that you would love to come here. Axel is a powerful trainer. You might not be able to defeat him."
"You might be right. I want to fight Axel one on one someday."
###
The final battle of the common rank Pokemon section was going to start. The crowd wanted to see the battle of uncommon rank Pokemons as this battle was already decided.
However, none of them knew that this battle would get very interesting.