Even though Arcanine was paralyzed, it didn't mean that it could not do anything. It could still move but its movement was now a lot slower than before and it might flinch here and there.
Togetic then used 'Ancient power' and it managed to raise all of its stats. It also started to use 'Flamethrower' and 'Dazzling Gleam' multiple times. Now, Arcanine was in a pinch. It was paralyzed and its speed had been compromised. Its build-up scenario had also collapsed. So, it could only do one thing and that to use physical attacks. That was what it did in the later 5 minutes.
It started to use 'Flare Blitz', 'Crunch' and 'Iron tail'. Togetic was very careful with 'Flare Blitz' as it was a powerful move. Togetic did get hit by 'Iron tail' once. After fighting for some time, both of their stamina was getting down.
"Arcanine, use 'Extreme speed'"
"Togetic, use 'Egg defense' and defend against it."
'Egg defense' was the highest defensive move that Togetic knew. Axel also knew that Togetic would not be able to dodge the attack as 'Extreme speed' was too fast to even see.
Arcanine used all of its power and then used the move while Togetic was successful in defending itself.
BANG!!!
Togetic was thrown off the ground as it crashed after being hit by the attack. Defending didn't mean that it would not get hurt. However, if it had not been defended, then it might have lost the battle.
"Togetic, finish the battle. Use 'Stored power'", shouted Axel.
Suddenly a huge explosion came and surrounded Arcanine. Nobody knew what it really was but the explosion was massive and Arcanine was in the center of it.
'Stored power' was an interesting move and it could become very deadly if it was planned well. Axel knew that since Arcanine was so fast, moves like 'Future sight' were not going to cut it so if focused all of his concentration on 'Stored power'.
'Stored power' was a psychic move and its power would increase based on the user stat's increase. That was why Axel told Togetic to use moves like 'Wish' even though it was not injured during the start of the battle. Togetic had also maxed out its 'Nasty plot' and had also used 'Ancient power'. So, its stats were very high right now.
So, the resulting damage was very high.
After the dust cleared, everyone could see that Arcanine had fainted. It was a rare rank Pokemon with low defense and health. It could only take so much.
"Arcanine is unable to battle. Togetic wins!!! Axel goes to the next round.", announced the referee.
Denvor and Axel shook hands after the battle.
"You did well. I didn't think that you could hold out for so long.", said Axel.
"I didn't think that I would be the one to lose.", replied Denvor.
After a very short talk, both of them parted ways.
###
Axel had thought that the battle would be an easy breeze but it was not. The trainer was not so shabby and Arcanine was a monster. If his other young Pokemons fought, they might have lost this battle. But that was why Axel was here.
He wanted to test his young Pokemon and increase their experience. It didn't matter if they lost or won. This was the way of life.
###
"Color me surprised. I didn't think that Axel would be able to win even though he used a weaker Pokemon. What do you think Angie?"
Angie was torn between correcting Elenora that it was 'Color me impressed' not 'surprised', or answering her question. This was one of the reasons why the queen didn't speak too much in public. She was always wrong on quotes and even while speaking she would make a lot of mistakes.
"Your majesty, the battle went as I expected. A talented trainer like Axel would not be called talented if he could not beat such an easy battle."
"Oh, you might be right on that one. Let's see how powerful he really is."
###
After some hours, the top 50 had changed to the top 25. Tomorrow was going to be 2 battles because tomorrow, they were going to select 8 participants that were going to participate in the quarter-finals.
As Axel was going through his hotel room, he met with Frank and then decided to eat at a restaurant.
"It is your treat. You won a good battle today. Togetic had grown a lot stronger.", said Frank.
"Yes, it has."
"It is the strongest among the young Pokemons right?", asked Frank.
"Yes, it is."
"What happened? Why so serious? You won the battle not lost it."
Axel had been thinking of a serious question regarding Togetic. Even though it had won, Axel felt that there were too many things that Togetic needed to improve.
Before, it would be only him that would be thinking about such a thing but after spending time with Frank for such a long time, he thought to humor Frank on this question. He knew that he could trust Frank now.
Frank was a little too serious when he first joined. His arrogance was toppled by Axel and his father and he had a lot to learn. So, he never talked much and only concentrated on training himself and his Pokemons.
But after spending some time with Axel and raising the stats of his Pokemons to a satisfied level, he started to open up. Axel found out that Frank was really a good guy and he was someone that Axel could trust.
"Come on, spit it out.", said Frank as he sat off the chair. They were now already in the restaurant. Axel also sat opposite of him.
"I feel that Togetic is weaker than I imagined it to be. It still needs to learn a lot of things. I am thinking about how to train it from now on."
"Weak? You call your Togetic weak?"
"Yes, Togetic is a special attacker. Except for moves like 'Flamethrower', 'Dazzling gleam' and 'Extrasensory', it doesn't know anything. The type variations are also not good.
I also think that it should learn some weather moves that complement itself. Arcanine could fight for so long due to 'Sunny day'. I want some fairy-type weather move that could boost its powers."
"Axel, I think that you should not pressure Togetic like this. It is already very strong and it is not even 1 year old. It lacks some move but it is only a rare rank Pokemon.", replied Frank.
"That is where you are wrong.", said Axel.
"What do you mean?", asked Frank in a surprised voice.
"You just like any other trainers think cute and young Pokemons like Togetic like a human child. However, Pokemon are very different from humans.
We humans would be tired after training for some hours but Pokemons could train for an extensive amount of time and not get tired. They would also not have a bad effect in the future. Instead, it would be good for them."
"Good for them? But wouldn't training them so hard would break the relationship and also cause some negative effects on Pokemons? I mean even though they are Pokemons, it is recommended that we take slow for the first few months and then we slowly increase their training regime."
"You are wrong again, Frank. You are still thinking young Pokemons like your younger brother or sister, that they should be treasured and no harm should come to them.
I am not saying that you are the only one to feel that. I am also the same."
"Are you? I mean you grind them like hell."
"Haha, you are wrong the third time today. I am not grinding them like hell cause I feel that they are too cute or innocent to stand the harsh training. Meg was in rare rank in its 7th month and Togetic did it when it was in its 10th month. That is the difference of 3 months. Now you realize how soft I have been with them.
If you think that I am wrong, then you have seen my Pokemons. Charles, Meg, Marcus. All of them don't look like life is such out of them. None of them think badly of them. In fact, they are very protective of them. They don't have anybody deficiency and they were able to take that harsh training and still come out off top.
Let's take your example. We got Riolu at the same time but mine evolved a month ago but yours, I don't see any signs. Your young Pokemons like Croagunk and Gabite are just starting their training and it is only light exercise.
If you had been serious about their training, then most of them would have evolved right now."
"So, you are saying that I should be hard on them on training."
"Yes but also no. I feel that your Pokemons are the representation of yourself. If you want to become the strongest trainer, start to train hard, you have a dream to reach a certain stage, and your Pokemon would do anything for you to achieve it.
But you have to have a strong determination for that to happen. So, first, look at yourself. Think about what you want to achieve in like 5 years and then think if you are doing everything you can to achieve it. You will find your answers after that."
Those were some profound words that Axel had just said. Frank did notice that Lance had completely changed after the Aeus island trip and he was training his Pokemons seriously. He thought that it was now time that he got serious too.
They started to talk about Togetic's weaknesses and how they could counter each and every one of them.
"If you are thinking about a weather move, then why don't you just teach them pre-domain move? But that takes a lot of time.", remarked Frank.
Then it suddenly hit Axel out of the blue. Why don't he just do that? He had a talent that would help his Pokemons in creating their domain move and with enough practice, he believed that his young Pokemons could do it.
"You are absolutely right Frank. Why didn't I think of that?", exclaimed Axel.
"Because it is literally impossible to do it right now."
"Frank, tell me what is the requirement for a Pokemon to create its pre-domain move?"
"First of all, the Pokemon must be an elemental rank and then have a higher mastery over their cores."
"That is right. Just when Togetic reaches elemental rank, I would teach it a pre-domain move."
"Axel, that would just be a waste of time. Even though the rules say that a Pokemon could not have a good mastery over its core when it just reaches elemental rank."
"That is the challenge, Frank. Without challenge, life would be so dull.", said Axel with a smile.
Frank knew that he could not convince Axel, so he just let that slide. Togetic would take some time to reach the elemental rank, so there was no problem in just thinking about it.
As they talked, they also felt that Togetic needed to learn some speed-increasing moves like 'Agility'. Its speed needed to be faster than before. It also needed to learn some other special type moves.
After coming to the hotel, Axel talked to Togetic about what he had planned. Togetic also felt that it lacked a lot since it could not overwhelm the battle this morning. It needed to train hard enough if it wanted to be the boss of the group.
After talking with it for some time, Axel went to sleep.