Chapter 79: Elite Ace
Chapter 79: Elite Ace
Swipe—
Rows upon rows of data flashed across the phone screen, leaving Lanny dazzled.
With patience, Lanny carefully sifted through each entry one by one.
...
[Pidgeot]
Ability: Keen Eyes
Power Rating: Main Elite Combatant
Available Moves: Brave Bird Strike, Air Slash, Razor Wind, Agility, Roost, Whirlwind, Heat Wave…
Assessment: Highly mobile, extremely fast, a team striker.
Required Points: 1800 per week
...
[Dragalge]
Ability: Sniper
Power Rating: Main Elite Combatant
Available Moves: Bubble, Hydro Pump, Twister, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Dance, Brine, Focus Energy, Bubble Beam…
Assessment: Possesses powerful long-range attack capabilities, a formidable special attacker for the team.
Required Points: 1720 per week
...
[Armorex]
Ability: Danger Sense
Power Rating: Elite Ace
Available Moves: Swords Dance, Pin Missile, Shell Blade, Aqua Cutter, Slash, Iron Defense, Head Smash…
Assessment: An all-rounder Pokémon with both offense and defense, meticulous and calculating.
Required Points: 2700 per week
...
“Hmm…”
Lanny’s finger slid over the phone screen, a faint look of indecision appearing on his face.
Judging from the data alone, the Pokémon in Dark Star’s rental library were all extremely powerful, yet none met the standards in his mind.
Even though Lanny had added several of his ideal keywords into the search bar, there were virtually no Pokémon in the rental library that perfectly matched all his criteria.
The three Pokémon shown above were already the closest matches to his requirements, but they each still had shortcomings.
Some lacked stamina, others would be severely limited by certain terrains…
Of course, part of this was due to Dark Star’s limited foundation—if the organization could develop and accumulate resources steadily for a few more years, or even a decade, the inventory situation would surely be much improved.
But for now, to accomplish his task, Lanny had no choice but to make do.
His gaze locked onto [Armorex], and his finger hovered over the [Rent] button, yet he hesitated to press it.
Among all the Pokémon currently displayed, “Armorex” was already the one that most closely fit Lanny’s standards.
But it still had many flaws.
Mobility and rarity aside, there were also significant issues from Lanny’s own perspective.
His main area of operations within the organization was in Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh. The Pokémon he encountered during missions were all native to those regions.
As a professional trainer, for the sake of convenience in battle, he had certainly studied the unique abilities of some Pokémon from more distant regions like Kalos and Alola, but actually commanding unfamiliar Pokémon in battle would require far more time to adjust and coordinate than those from his familiar regions.
Moreover, as a Pokémon’s strength increased, the number of moves it could master grew, and each developed its own distinctive style based on its growth. To expect Lanny to familiarize himself with the combat traits of an unfamiliar rental Pokémon in the tense environment of the League tournament was simply unrealistic.
“What should I do?” Lanny’s mind raced.
“Take out Ziling by force?”
Impossible! Even if he could succeed, his spy identity would inevitably be exposed. The power hidden behind the daughter of a Champion was simply too great—if her safety were threatened in any way, his own life would be forfeit.
“Bribe the officials?”
Ha. The League had built up a stellar reputation among the public over the years; there was no way they’d tarnish it over something as minor as the top sixteen in a tournament. Under-the-table manipulation of the draw was already pushing the limit. If he were the son of the League President, maybe there’d be a sliver of hope…
Shaking his head, Lanny managed a bitter smile. He marveled at the absurd ideas that always surfaced in his mind when cornered.
He walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, staring at his reflection in the mirror as he fell deep into thought.
Suddenly, a strange idea popped into Lanny’s mind.
He remembered the Flaafy from the Water-type Gym.
“But that wasn’t long ago… Even though that Flaafy displayed extraordinary strength at the time, no matter how talented, at best it would only have just reached the threshold of the elite class now.”
He knew there was little hope, but curiosity gnawed at him. Lanny opened the Dark Star app on his phone once more.
He entered [Flaafy] as the keyword, and for the power rating, he chose [Professional—Elite], then hit search.
“Huh?”
Surprise flickered in Lanny’s heart as he found the search results on his screen were completely empty.
“Could it be…”
Excitement shone in Lanny’s eyes.
He changed the power rating keyword from [Professional—Elite] to [Above Elite] and searched again.
Swipe—
The previously blank screen suddenly displayed a single search result.
“As I thought!”
Lanny silently applauded his own insight and fixed his eyes on the screen.
...
[Flaafy]
Ability: Static
Power Rating: Elite Ace
Available Moves: Tackle, Growl, Thunder Wave, Hidden Power (Dragon), Thunder Shock, Cotton Spore, Charge, Thunder Punch, Magnet Rise, Take Down, Electro Ball, Dragon Breath, Confuse Ray
Assessment: Highly mobile, exceptional in both special and physical attacks.
Required Points: 2870 per week
...
Gulp—
A sudden swallowing sound echoed in the room.
Lanny rubbed his eyes, hardly daring to believe what he saw.
“Elite Ace!?”
“A Flaafy with ‘Elite Ace’ level strength?”
If it weren’t for the organization’s professional back-end staff who updated and checked the Pokémon data daily, Lanny might have thought there was a system error, perhaps swapping “Professional” for “Elite” in the power rating by mistake.
His reaction was justified—Pokémon at the “Elite Ace” level could already qualify as the leaders of sizable wild Pokémon groups. In the human world, they could serve as the trump card for mid-tier trainers.
Even after all his years in the organization, Lanny’s own Ace Pokémon had only just reached the “Elite Ace” level.
Yet now, an unevolved Flaafy had already attained this rank!
Lanny distinctly remembered that the last time he checked, that Flaafy was still at the “Professional” level. The leap in strength left him utterly astonished.
Filled with amazement at Flaafy’s extraordinary talent, Lanny lowered his head to study the detailed data displayed on the screen.
Recalling Flaafy’s agile performance in battle, his eyes lit up.
“This is the one!”