Only to see Archie and maxie widening their ears with their hands, looking as if they hadn't heard clearly.
"..."
For a moment, Genji didn't know what to say.
"Elite four Drake! What did you say?!" Maxie shouted loudly.
It was as if he couldn't hear what he was saying unless he said it.
After speaking, he subconsciously picked at his ears.
On the other side, Archie was even more exaggerated.
He strode to the front and shouted, "Elite four Genji! Our Team Aqua has no intention of being enemies with the Alliance! It's just that what we're looking for is here. We hope you can consider the overall situation and not cause unnecessary casualties to the Alliance!"
Drake and Norman subconsciously took a step back.
We don't play with fools.
His voice was too loud.
The two of them also picked at their ears.
It seems that... the two of them have become hard of hearing for a short time.
Seeing Genji and Norman's actions and the disgusted expressions on their faces, Maxie and Archiealso realized.
What to do about being hard of hearing?
Drale didn't want to waste any more words with them.
They'd been locked in a stalemate for so long, without a real chance to fight.
He was supposed to be stationed at the League camp, but watching the wounded being brought back from the front lines, seeing the League's elites get injured one by one, was more painful for him than being injured himself.
Now that he'd finally met the two culprits, could he still tolerate it?
Especially since they were two deaf idiots.
There was no opportunity or ability to communicate.
He unbuckled several Poké Balls from his belt, and one by one, majestic and imposing Dragon-type Pokémon appeared.
Drake's Dragon-type army!
The true power of a Dragon-type Elite Four member was on full display.
Seeing Drake's immediate readiness to fight, Maxie's and Archie naturally couldn't back down.
However, in terms of individual strength, Drake was stronger than either of them.
They also unbuckled their Poké Balls and threw them all out.
League trainers generally recommend carrying six Pokémon, but Maxie and Archie clearly wouldn't follow the League's rules.
The individual strength of the Pokémon they summoned might not be comparable, but their sheer number was impressive.
Look at the Pokémon beside Maxie; he summoned three Camerupt at once, utilizing Team Magma's signature Pokémon to its fullest potential.
Archie, on the other hand, summoned three Sharpedoes alone.
Of course, the strength of these Pokémon varied.
Back when Aoki was relatively weak, on the S.S A.N., when he first encountered Yagyu on the ship, they were attacked by Team Aqua.
At that time, Archie commanded his Pokémon to fight Yagyu, but Yagyu was able to hold his own because Archie wasn't using his strongest Pokémon.
Both Maxie and Archie had a very simple idea: since raising a single Pokémon to Champion level is far more difficult than raising several Pokémon to near-Champion level, why expend so much effort to raise just one Pokémon to Champion level?
Wouldn't it be better to train several near-champion level Pokémon than to train one that barely reaches champion level?
Raising a Pokémon to champion level requires talent, resources, and training methods—all are indispensable.
And at that point, talent might be the biggest constraint.
A light blue-quality Pokémon is worth as much as many dark cyan-quality Pokémon.
Team Magma and Team Aqua aren't in the league, so the rule of six Pokémon per team applies—quality over quantity.
How to put it…
their thinking isn't entirely wrong.
After all, they did train them, and their demonstrated strength wasn't weak.
Of course, it's not that they don't have champion-level Pokémon, just not many.
Besides, training more Pokémon is just a transition in their view.
In the future, they'll definitely be controlling two legendary Pokémon!
What Pokémon can compare to two legendary Pokémon?
A very unique concept.
Maxie summoned nine Pokémon by himself. Archie didn't have less, also nine.
"Although I'm not very noticeable, don't ignore me," Norman said calmly, standing next to Genji.
Then, one by one, they leisurely tossed out their Poké Balls, striking a pose.
Two Slakings!
They lazily lay on the ground as soon as they appeared.
However, upon seeing the two Slakings, Maxie and Archie frowned.
"Norman of the Petalburg Gym?" Maxie said.
Team Magma knew a bit about Norman's strength.
His burst power might even surpass Drake's.
Aoki narrowed his eyes, scanning Norman's strongest Slaking, whose burst power was also the most terrifying.
Pokémon: Slaking (Light Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 80
Type: Normal
Ability: Sloth
Held Item: Choice Band
Basic Moves: Swagger, Hammer, Punish, Throw, Scratch, Yawn, One More Time, Slack Off, Surprise Attack, Amnesia, Desire, Slow Down, Double Up, Frenzy
Taught Moves: Thunder Punch, Focus Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Snore, Stomp, Desire,Knockout
TM: Protect, Bulk Up, Taunt, Hyper Beam, Knock Off, Thunderbolt, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Double Team, Flamethrower, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Low Kick, Focus Blast, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide
This Slaking is truly strong.
If, as it claims, the more severe and longer the laziness, the stronger and longer the burst of power it can unleash, then this Slaking is terrifying.
Even when Drake's Salamence unleashed its full power, it would likely be overwhelmed.
Normal-type Pokémon, while not having many type advantages or disadvantages, can learn a wide variety of moves across different types.
Norman's Slaking has far more moves in its TM slot than its base Pokémon.
"Your Slaking seems stronger now," Drake said with a smile, looking at Senri's lazy Slaking.
Norman smiled back, "I accidentally broke through a level recently."
"Good!" Drake nodded in satisfaction.
A breakthrough was good; it gave him more confidence.
"So, which one to choose?"
"Since I've been recognized, I'll choose Maxie," Norman said nonchalantly.
It seemed that Maxie and Archie were practically the same to him.
"Hahaha, good!" Drake laughed, jumping onto his Salamence and commanding his Pokémon to attack Archie.
Archie's face darkened.
If he had to choose, he would definitely choose Norman as his opponent.
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(End of Chapter)