Paralyze, burn, and freeze—three different types of beams converged on Sceptile, who kept dodging and leaping, searching for an opportunity to attack Hydreigon.
However, most people could tell that Sceptile's speed had significantly decreased, and its moves were not as strong as Hydreigon's. Seeing his situation, the Frontier Club's side was genuinely concerned.
Both Hydreigon and Volcarona displayed strength far beyond what you'd expect from Trainers of their age. These weren't Pokémon that could have been raised solely by personal effort.
"Damn!" Scott had been scratching his head ever since the battle started. Based on his and Hogan's prior investigation, they knew that the Castelia Club had raised a few powerful Pokémon for the younger generation. However, he didn't expect their strength to be this overwhelming, far exceeding the level of other Trainers their age. With this kind of strength, even in the Champion League, they wouldn't come in last!
"This Kaveh, to be entrusted with two such powerful Pokémon by the club; they must have high expectations of him!"
The sheer power of Hydreigon and Volcarona left the Trainers on the Frontier side in stunned silence... When they thought of their own Pokémon, they couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. Although they were very confident in their own Pokémon, seeing Hydreigon and Volcarona's dominance forced them to make comparisons.
Defeating the opponent one-on-one... they had no confidence!
Even Terrance, after analyzing the situation, felt uncertain!
Hydreigon and Volcarona, in a sense, could no longer be considered Pokémon solely raised by Kaveh. Instead, they were Pokémon jointly raised by the Trainers to boost the club's reputation.
As one of the outstanding new-generation Trainer of Castelia Club, Kaveh naturally had the right to use Hydreigon and Volcarona. Of course, for Hydreigon and Volcarona to acknowledge him, and for Kaveh to qualify for the Champion League at such a young age, he must have something special about him.
Terrance didn't admire many Trainers of his age, nor did he have much interest in them. Apart from a few like Cynthia, who he admired, he found it hard to muster any fighting spirit against most people. But seeing the strength of Volcarona and Hydreigon ignited his competitive spirit.
"Sceptile—"
The battle had been tense, but the disparity in strength was too obvious. Kaveh's skill level was above that of everyone else present, without a doubt. Watching the one-sided battle, Castelia's boss grinned with satisfaction. This was exactly the outcome he had wanted to see.
Throwing a mocking glance over, he laughed heartily. If he hadn't been extremely confident about the battle, he would never have provoked Scott and made a wager.
The more he imagined Scott's mortified expression at the end, the happier the Castelia boss felt, almost to the point of excitedly slapping the armrest of his chair.
"Do we even need to take the field?"
The Trainers on Castelia's side exchanged glances and shook their heads. As members of the same club, they had a much clearer and more accurate understanding of Kaveh's strength compared to the Frontier side.
Very strong, extremely strong. At least, none of them were a match for Kaveh; they weren't even on the same level. Kaveh was being groomed to be the dark horse representing Castelia in the Champion League three years from now, aiming to directly advance to the second half of the Champion League.
Meanwhile, they were still striving just to qualify for the Champion League.
"Ethan lost..." Saki's small mouth opened wide in disbelief.
Ethan's opponent hadn't even revealed his third Pokémon yet. As for the two that had appeared, they hadn't taken any significant damage at all.
Troy, Terrance, and herself—at least in Saki's opinion, the three of them were on par with Ethan in terms of strength. But if Ethan was defeated, how could they possibly win?
Ethan's defeat meant that the Frontier Club had lost two people, while the Castelia Club had only lost one.
"That old fox—" Scott sighed. Although he had weathered many storms, and could handle any outcome, losing face in front of his old rival was something he couldn't tolerate.
"The third one to go would be Saki, right?" Scott recalled, looking at Saki. She nodded absentmindedly, clearly not very confident in herself.
"I remember your Charizard is very strong. Maybe it could..." Scott started to say, but trailed off. Even if Saki managed to take down one of Kaveh's Pokémon, it wouldn't change much.
Moreover, Saki's other two Pokémon are likely a bit weaker than Ethan's and the others'. Her victory over Yami was likely due to the strength of her Charizard.
Considering the situation Saki might face, Scott felt a headache coming on. Kaveh, this move the Castelia Club had made...has really put him in a difficult situation.
Right now, Kaveh was like a massive mountain blocking the Frontier Club's path. If they couldn't get past him, they could forget about winning.
Even if they managed to defeat Kaveh with a battle of attrition, they would still have to face three more Trainers from the other side, and there was no good method to handle that.
"Troy, Terrance, do either of you have confidence..." Scott asked, but he hesitated. He wasn't clueless about the Trainer industry and knew the difference in resources and planning between Pokémon raised with a club's full support and those raised by individual Trainers.
So, facing this situation, even Scott himself wasn't confident.
"Fine, so they think they can bully us because the Frontier Club doesn't have enough foundation. When I get back, no matter what, I'm going to spend money to raise two new Pokémon and recruit some outstanding rookies as the next generation members." Scott thought to himself, feeling helpless.
The Frontier Club was established not long ago, almost a spur-of-the-moment decision Scott made to get into the Trainer industry. Although the club had quickly risen to become one of Hoenn's top clubs due to massive financial investment, it still lacked any significant achievements or fresh talent. In other words, the club hadn't yet fully established its structure or long-term plans.
"He suggested a battle between the new generation members instead of the official members because he knows this is our weakness."
Scott had always understood this, but in critical moments, one couldn't always rely on logic. He had often acted impulsively in the past. In summary, it was a case of having the money to be willful.
Winning would be best, but even if they lost, they couldn't afford to lose their spirits. This was Scott's current thought.
"Leave it to me."
Troy and Terrance weren't rookies, so they wouldn't make bold claims. They're not the type to rush into a challenge purely driven by impulsiveness. When they say something, they take responsibility for it. This is why they hesitated — they can't guarantee victory.
After thinking it over, Terrance took a deep breath and said, "Let me give it a try." His eyes gleamed as he looked intently at Scott.
Scott remained silent; he didn't have any better options. Since Terrance understood Kaveh's strength and still dared to take on the challenge, he naturally had to support him.
"Alright, do your best. Win or lose, we can't let the Frontier Club lose its spirit!"
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