"What do you mean?", asked Axel.
"What do I mean? You know exactly what I mean. I can clearly tell that Charizard was not giving its all. It didn't use the move that it used last time. If it had used that move, then the battle would have been close. But you told it to surrender.
And you are also telling me that Charizard is not your best Pokemon. It is Shedinja.
You are indirectly humiliating me.", shouted Cynthia.
Axel had totally forgotten how prideful Cynthia really was. He had not told Charizard to use that move due to its own inability to handle the after effects. Also , this was not a life or death battle. It was just a competition.
"Cynthia, I didn't tell Charizard to use that move because its body could not handle all that power. Its body is harshly affected after using that move. It needs to train harder to handle that move.
I was not underestimating you or Garchomp. Also, this is not a life-or-death battle. This is a competition."
Cynthia finally realized all of it. But this raised another question. If Charizard could not handle so much power, does that mean that Garchomp could not also handle it and it is also affecting Garchomp's body?
"What do you mean that your Charizard could not handle that power?"
Axel went on to give a detailed description of what Ninetales had said to him and how he came to know about it.
"Does that mean that my Garchomp is also being affected by using that move?", asked Cynthia.
"I don't know what your Garchomp is using and it is dragon-type Pokemon. So, maybe it has some resistance to such kind of things."
"My Garchomp is using 'Explosive force' direction and it is also adding its pre-domain move to enhance itself further.", said Cynthia.
'Explosive force' was one of the directions that you can train your dragon-type Pokemons. It was not a secretive direction and it was really very simple.
The Pokemon had to store some additional or surplus and explode it all at the same time.
It was quite simple to explain and also very simple to do. But till now, only 1 dragon type Pokemon had been able to do in the history of this world.
That was why it was called a forbidden direction.
Yet, Cynthia and Garchomp were walking on the same path.
"Axel, thank you for your explanation. I will get Garchomp checked. You might have just saved its life."
###
The night went on and Cynthia was totally focused on Garchomp. She was asking it various question and she had already booked a flight to the Sinnoh region, to her home to get Garchomp checked.
"So, Axel. You said that Shedinja is the best Pokemon. But I see Pokemons like Charizard, Venusaur, and other Pokemons and I realize that all of them are special in their own way.
How can you do that?
I mean how can you train each of your Pokemon in their own way to make all of them special?", asked Steven.
Cynthia was not the only one who had observed Axel. Steven was also doing the same.
"I don't know why you are asking this question. Isn't it our job as their trainer to give them all they want to help them fulfill their dream to become stronger?
I might have favorites among my Pokemons but that doesn't mean that I will not treat all of them equally."
"So, are you going to participate in the tide battle now?", asked Lance trying to change the topic.
"Yes, I am and this is my debut tide battle. I cannot afford to make any mistake."
"Do you need our help?", asked Lance.
"This is something that I have to do myself. To prove to myself and also to my team that they can depend on me. So, I will do it alone.", said Axel.
He had made a lot of preparations for it.
"But there is something that you can help me with.", said Axel.
"Oh, what is it?", asked Lance clearly interested.
Normally, Axel would not ask for any help. His pride prevented him from doing so. But now, he was actively asking for one. This clearly interested Lance.
"I want to set up a school."
"School? What kind of school?", asked Cynthia who was also very interested in it.
"The biggest school in this entire world. The school of monsters. That is what I want to create.", shouted Axel laughing hysterically.
Of course, he had too much to drink but Lance being close to him could tell that this was not just alcohol. This was something else.
###
It must be known that the concept of school was not so popular in this world. It was not like in his old world where there was a provision of compulsory education.
So, not many people not even people like Lance, Cynthia, or Steven gave much importance to the school. They had also never joined one. Only their families had provided them with all of the knowledge that they knew till now.
Axel believed that since the school was not so popular here and he knew the importance of school and education, why not popularize it?
The students or trainers, trained from the school could apply to his mercenary team or become capable people who might support him in their time of need.
He had asked help from the royal family but they first wanted to see his performance in the tide battle.
So, he thought to propose this to his new friends.
###
"Lance, you know that I have a knack for grabbing the right opportunity, right?", asked Axel.
"Yes, I believe that you do. You just get lucky in these kind of things. From being the successor of the Pokemon master to all these restaurants, your training schedule how you train, and now this mercenary team.
I can confirm that you are lucky and have a knack for such things.", said Lance with a smirk.
As per Lance, the guy was clearly lucky in at least one of those things that he just said.
"Ok, you might think that I am lucky but I believe that I know the value of things that most people don't. That is why I am ahead of all of you.", said Axel, and then he turned towards Lance, Steven, and Cynthia and said,
"I am telling you. This school thing is going to work. I don't know why the concept of school is not popular but I have experimented with the concept of school in Hakone city and the results are very astounding.
I am not saying that all the students will be gifted like us but even if a couple of them turn out to be good, then it is a bonus for us in the future. We can get new talents on our side and that would make us grow and make us stronger."
Axel had set up a normal school in Hakone City with the help of Venu's family and it had been going quite well. It had only been a couple of years and the result had been good and Axel had not even personally been invested in that school.
At that time Steven said, "Axel, it is not that the concept of school is not effective but the reason why the concept of school is not popular is because higher-tier families are very greedy.
They don't want to hand out all the knowledge to the common public. They want to keep them to themselves. Some of them have their private school where only their families can study.
And personally, I agree with them.
I am not saying that helping others is bad but giving all the things, wasting time and resources while not expecting anything else is just plain stupid."
"That is where you are wrong. Just imagine. You are personally training a group of genius students who are not from any family for 3-5 years. You are there with them. You are already emotionally connected with them.
Do you really think that you will not receive anything?"
"Then what do you think that we will receive?", asked Steven.
"We will give them options on where they could go after they study and all the options will lead to us.
After they graduate, they can go to the exploration team of Cynthia, or they can join my mercenary team, or they can join my day care or they can become an employee of Devon corporation.
Our companies would get to pick them first and they will also give them priority first.
If we give them 3-5 options teaching them and telling them about the options for 3-5 years, they would obviously choose one of them.
But we must also have a good background and good companies for them to like us. They are also not fools."
"So, we will basically train them and manipulate them to be a part of us in the future.", said Steven.
"Yes, that is basically what I wanted to say and even if they join the league and the royal family, the publicity of the school would still be in a positive light.
We are the school that produced and trained such good trainers and the public opinion would always be on us."
When Axel spoke in that way, it suddenly made a lot of sense. At that time, Cynthia said,
"Axel, are you saying this because we might get extinct in 10 years?"
"Yes, that is one of the reasons. I want to use everything that I can for the future. I don't know what I will be facing in the future but I do know that I cannot do it alone.
That is why I trust you too. Because you are strong and you can help me."
Cynthia didn't say anything. If they were to accept the proposal then Cynthia and others would have to invest a massive amount of money and resources for this project and this was not something that they could decide without discussing with their families.
But Lance was not affected by it.
"Okay, I will invest in this project."
Even Axel was shocked by how fast Lance agreed.
"Lance, are you sure? If you agree to this, then you will have to invest a massive amount of money and resources and you might not have the authority to decide such things."
"You leave that to me. Axel, I have wasted all my chances when you said about day care, or about the mercenary team. I knew you were doing it but since I hesitated, I never got the chance.
Now, I am not going to make that mistake. I choose to believe in you. Just tell me what you need to make that school and we will plan for it.", said Lance.
Lance made a power move and completely changed the dynamic of the conversation.
Steven could not hold on and said, "Now, hold on. Lance, are you sure about this? You don't even have that much money. Your family does."
"I am sure that my family would support this decision. Don't say that your family doesn't listen to you and your instincts.", said Lance.
Lance and Axel joined hands and agreed to this deal.
"Now, hold on a second. I also want to be a part of it."