Lorelai and Lance were from rich families. Only rich and influential families could get a spot in the Kanto League. So, they also had homes in the Kanto League. They were more familiar with the place than Axel.
It was not like they lived here but they came here more often than Axel.
Lorelai took them to many places. Most of them were shops that sold unique things like lockets of your favorite Pokemon, toys shop, jewelry shops, and many more. It was surprising that gold was coveted and expensive here. It was the same as his previous world. There were many things that varied from his previous world but one thing was always the same.
Women loved shopping.
Exploring turned into a shopping spree. Axel and Lance were starting to get bored.
"Axel, are you not going to train your Pokemons before the league battle?", asked Lance.
"Nah, we have trained as much as we could. Now is the time to see the result. I also don't want them to get accidentally hurt before the league battle."
"That is a confident attitude. Hey, you said that Charizard and Shedinja are training someplace. Are you not going to call them right now?"
"Not right now. I would not need them during the preliminaries. I have my other Pokemons including Nidoking and Steelix. Both of them said that they needed some time as if they were going to reach or achieve something. So, I let them train there for some time."
###
After being bored, Axel and Lance went their separate ways. Red had still not come and 5 days went like that.
When Axel told Lance that he was being trained by Red, Lance was very jealous.
"So, that is why you have 4 king-rank Pokemons. I could also have 4 king rank Pokemons with the help of someone like Red.", declared Lance.
"I can't deny that Red helped me a lot but I also did my part.", said Axel.
"Oh, I want to see how much you have improved. Why don't we have a fight right now?", asked Lance. His voice increased with every word.
"Yes, let's do it. There is some empty space right there.", said Axel pointing out to the ground next to them. He also had enough of Lance. He wanted to show Lance the difference between their powers.
"Guys, calm down. We are here to bond and to talk about the league battle. We are not here to fight.", Lorelai started to calm them down, and calm down they did.
Lance and Axel were very hot hotted people. They would fight on simple things and Lorelai was always there to calm them down.
They explored the place. Axel got to see a lot of interesting things. Axel could tell with certainty that the Kanto League was more developed than anything places that he had visited before.
He had been here a couple of times but he had not been able to explore it fully and deeply. The city was properly planned and the infrastructure was great to look at. There were a lot of research and training areas and Axel was able to see a lot of new things.
###
5 days passed like that and now it was time for the start of the league battle.
At 7 a.m, Axel could see the fireworks in the sky. This was the tradition for the start of the league. The seats were getting filled up and within 2 hours, the stadiums were packed.
Since it was the preliminaries, there were a lot of stadiums that were packed with viewers. However, the opening of the league battle was to be done in one of the stadiums, with music, dance, celebration, and finally Ho-Oh's fire.
It went on for 5 hours and now it was already past noon.
###
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Kylie and I am the commentator of today's battle. We have Amit, Karen, and Ravan as the judges here. Today we will be having..."
The commentator gave a long speech. She first introduced herself, the judges, and the referees. She then greeted the audience and went on to say how many battles would held today.
There would only be a battle with 1 Pokemon and it would be a knockout round. So, everybody was told to use their best and most powerful Pokemons in the preliminaries.
Axel also had his battle today with a guy named Muddy. Normally, he would have researched this guy but he knew that he would not need it. He didn't want to use Steelix or Nidoking in the first battle but he also didn't want to risk it.
After 4 hours of battle, his name was finally called.
"Now, for the next battle. First, we have Muddy, a young and vibrant trainer. This is his first time in the league battle and he would be facing Axel who is also making his first debut here today.
All of us know who Axel really is but for those who don't, let me tell you, Axel is the successor of the Pokemon master, Samuel Oak, and is rumored to be a powerful trainer."
The crowd went wild after hearing Oak's name. Many of them knew who Axel was cause he was famous but there were still some of them who didn't know about him. Most of these people were from other regions.
Watching battles all day long was exciting but it could also be boring if the battles were monotonous.
So, after hearing Axel's name, most of them acted as if they had come alive. They wanted to see how powerful Axel was. If he was as powerful as rumored, they would be commenting on internet and if he was weak, they would also be commenting on the internet.
Either way, they were going to have a great time.
###
Both of them came to the battle stadium. The crowd went wild after seeing Axel's face. The crowd reacted neutrally after seeing Muddy. Axel was used to such glares but Muddy was not.
It was a huge opportunity for Muddy. Muddy was around 19 years old. Within 6 years, he had been able to participate in league battles. So, he considered himself to be a genius and he would have been right if there were no trainers like Axel and Lance.
He knew that he had a powerful team of Pokemons but he was never famous. If he could defeat the successor of Oak, he would be ultra-famous. He would also be very rich. There would be many people, that would want to pay to have his attention.
He was already dreaming of being a billionaire before the battle even started. He was brought back to reality after he heard the referee spoke.
"The rules had already been told before. So, I would not repeat it again. Play fair and no cheating. Now, Axel choose, heads or tails?", asked the referee.
"Heads.", said Axel.
The referee flipped the coin and said, "Heads it is. Muddy, call out your Pokemon first."
This was a standard way of battle. Even though it was 1 Pokemon battle, it must be determined who was going to send his/her Pokemon first. Those who sent their Pokemon second would have a competitive advantage. It might be a turning point in preliminary battles as the battle would be decided with 1 Pokemon.
Axel had decided that he was going to call out a king-rank Pokemon if he lost the toss but now since he won the toss, he would choose, which Pokemon he was going to use.
"Come out, Gogoat!!!!", shouted Muddy and threw a master ball.
"MOOOWWWWW"
Axel was already familiar with Gogoat cause he had one on his team. Seeing the opponent, Axel gave an evil smile and proceeded to take out his Pokemon.
"Axel, call out your Pokemon next.", said the referee.
"Come out.", shouted Axel and called out his Gogoat.
"MOOOOWWWWWW"
When Axel saw his opponent, he could tell that it was a pseudo-king rank Pokemon but it was far weaker than even Venusaur. So, he had a plan to show how powerful a Gogoat could be.
Muddy seemed to have unlocked his aura but he had not mastered it very well. He could not tell how powerful his opponent really was but he could say that it was more powerful than his own. So, he was going to be very careful with this battle.
"Let the battle Begin!!!!"
"Gogoat, 'Grassy Terrain!!" X2
Both of them shouted the same thing at the same time. Axel's Gogoat was very experienced in this move and it showed in the battle. His Gogoat was able to cover a lot of area and it was very different. The area covered by Axel's Gogoat with 'Grassy Terrain' clashed with Muddy's Gogoat (It will be called Gogoat 1 in this fight).
Axel's Gogoat finally won and now almost 50% of the battle stadium was covered with 'Grassy Terrain'. This battle stadium was very big.
The crowd was surprised by the power of Gogoat. It was extra powerful for a pseudo-king rank Pokemon. The effect of Gogoat's 'Grassy terrain' only worked on Gogoat and not others and the grasses on 'Grassy terrain' were very sharp and it was hurting Gogoat 1 when it moved.
"Gogoat, use 'Sunny day'", shouted Axel.
"Gogoat, you also do the same.", said Muddy.
Very soon, everybody could see 3 suns in the sky. Gogoat's 'Sunny day' was obviously stronger than Gogoat 1.
"Gogoat, now use 'Field control' and bind Gogoat. Then use 'Solar beam'"
Every one was out of their minds as many thick trunks came from ground and started to surround Gogoat 1. This bounded Gogoat 1 and now it was struggling to get out of it.
Gogoat didn't need to charge its 'Solar beam' cause it had already used 'Sunny day'. The 'Solar beam' was faster as it had crossed the threshold and it was more powerful than before.
The yellow beam of light hit Gogoat 1 on its face. This beam became extra destructive and it was bounded with tree trunks. So, as it could not fly out of the impact, its body had to suck that impact while it was rooted on the ground.
"MOOOOWWWWWW"
Any Pokemon would have fainted after that devastating hit but Gogoat 1 was a pseudo-king rank Pokemon. It would not go down so easily.
"Gogoat, use 'Horn leech' and finish the battle", shouted Axel.
The trunks that were damaged after 'Solar beam' had been repaired and now they were still holding it one the same spot.
"Gogoat, use 'Wild charge' and try to get away from it.", said Muddy. His head was now finally working. He was too surprised by seeing Axel's Gogoat. t
It used 'Wild charge' and using that move with full power, it was able to get out of the bindings but Gogoat 1's misery was still not over. When it got out of those bindings, it was again bound by other trunks that came out of the ground.
It was like a never-ending torture.
By that time, Gogoat had already come near it charging its horns and it hit Gogoat 1 on its head with 'Horn leech'
BANNNNGGG
It was a powerful charging attack and Gogoat 1 had already closed its eyes while it was standing. It was only standing cause the bindings were not letting it move an inch.
The referee came near Gogoat 1 and announced.
"Gogoat has lost the battle. Gogoat and Axel win!!!"
The crowd started to cheer Axel's name while Muddy called out his Gogoat in the ball and proceeded to go to the healing center. He turned towards Axel one last time and asked, "Can I ask you something?"
"You already did but you can ask another one.", replied Axel.
"If I train my Gogoat more, can it become as powerful as yours?", asked Muddy.
"Yes, it could. How did you think I made it this powerful?"
"And final question. Is this your most powerful Pokemon?", asked Muddy.
Axel then gave an evil smile and then said, "Not by a long shot."
"Thank you for replying, I will train harder and come here after 2 years.", said Muddy. He gave a low bow and then went to the healing center to heal his Pokemons.
Axel also went out of the stage. The commentator called another participant for the battle but Axel was not interested to see it. Lance's battle was in another stadium and it must have already been completed. So, he called Lance to ask what happened.
"I won very easily. Are you doubting me in preliminaries too?", asked Lance over the phone.
"No, I was just curious. Let's meet in the same restaurant and talk about tomorrow."
"That restaurant would be packed with customers and we cannot get in. The league battle has already started and we will not get any places in the restaurant from now on.
Why don't you come to my home? My dad and my grandmom want to meet you.", said Lance.
"You mean Blackthorn City previous gym leader 'Dragon' and Elite 4 member 'Agatha' want to meet me?", asked Axel.
"Yes."
"Yeah, that is a hard pass, dude. I just won my battle and it was stressful. I don't want to be stressed out again today.", said Axel.
"Oh come on. They are not evil people."
"I know and I also know that we will be talking about some future deals when I meet your father and grandmom and I don't want to do that right now.", said Axel.
"So, where do you want to go?"
"You tell me. I am the guest here."
"Let me call Lorelai too. Why don't we go to her home then? There are no famous people there.", said Lance.
"That is a good idea. Okay, let's go there but first ask her about it."