The beautiful woman looked at Alex and said with a friendly smile, "Try to stay relaxed. If you don't like a question, you can always deny it. It's not live, so you don't have to worry about saying something wrong. It would also be good if you had one of your Pokémon standing next to you so that it is interesting for the audience."

Alex gave his usual fake smile and agreed to the interviewer's words. He got Kirlia out of her Pokéball and told her to stay next to him. ​​

The blonde woman showed Alex an "ok" sign as she counted down with her finger.

"Hello, dear viewers! We are in front of the Celadon City arena, and almost all preliminary round battles are finished. This trainer here is Alex, who showed a lot of potential in the preliminary rounds. He is one of the strongest rookies taking part in this tournament with a participant number of 6."

Alex showed a fake smile when he said, "Hello there."

Kirlia also smiled as she waved her hands to the camera. Unlike Alex, her smile looked much more sincere.

The blonde woman asked, "Alex, the tournament will start tomorrow. What rank do you think you will achieve in this tournament?"

Alex thought a bit when he said, "I will probably surprise a lot of people with the rank I get. I have too many expectations from the great me. To be honest, getting only 6th rank would be a failure for me. I am here to win this tournament. Only the top rank is suited for me."

The blonde woman was surprised that Alex said it so confidently. Normally, almost all trainers are humble and try to avoid telling what position they could possibly reach.

She asked, "Alex, you seem to be pretty sure that you will reach a higher rank than 6th. Why are you so sure that you can surpass all the expectations?"

Alex showed an arrogant expression when he said, "Because the level is not the perfect way to measure the strength of the Pokémon. The most important thing about a Pokémon is not levels but the willpower."

The blonde woman looked at Alex in surprise when she heard such a reply from Alex. Willpower is important, but not as much as move mastery, body mastery, LV, and tactics. She thought that Alex was an arrogant kid who hadn't trained his Pokémon properly. She found a perfect target to make fun of.

She said to Alex with a fake smile, "Alex, willpower is surely important. But what is move mastery, body mastery, LV, and tactics to you?"

Although Alex was actually quite delighted that she asked this question, but he showed a different expression on his face.

He said with an arrogant expression, "Hmph! Useless against the power of willpower. Only levels are a training reason, everything else can be ignored. Especially tactics. Hahaha, who is so stupid to waste his time like a coward thinking about tactics. With the burning willpower, my Pokémon and I will destroy everyone in our path."

The blonde woman suppressed her grin when she heard Alex answer. Then she saw Kirlia's confused look. She took the chance to ask directly, "Alex, your Kirlia seems a bit confused by your answer. Can you explain that?"

Alex looked at Kirlia with a false angry expression when he said, "She got that from Scizor. Although she still listens to me, she is not as obedient as Crobat."

Kirlia, who can feel Alex's emotions, knew that Alex was very content with hers, even though he was showing such an expression. She thought about it and understood what Alex wanted to do.

After a few seconds, she looked at Alex and gave him a smile.

Alex nodded and said, "Hmm, good, you finally understand this truth."

The blonde reporter asked, "Alex, could it be that Pokémon do not listen to your commands."

Alex showed a surprised expression when he said, "What‽ Impossible. You know that only Pokémon that listen to your trainer are allowed here."

The blonde reporter smiled as she said, "Yes, but as long as the Pokémon listens to the trainer's command every so often, it is counted as the Trainer's Pokémon."

Alex showed an emotionless expression when he said, "Ms. reporter, can you delete this part, please?"

The reports ignored Alex's question when she said, "Alex, thank you very much for this interview and good luck at the tournament."

Alex watched emotionlessly as the woman said goodbye and quickly left him alone. When he saw her disappearing back, he couldn't help but smirk a little.

He adjusted his red cap a little bit and went to his hotel.

...

In the evening, Alex and his Pokémon were sitting together at a large table for dinner.

Alex looked at his Pokémon as he said, "Ok. I want to tell you all something. We are going to win this tournament that will start tomorrow, and I have a plan where I need the help of all three of you."

Almost all Pokémon looked at Alex with a curious look. Except for Kirlia, as she had already figured out what Alex's plan was going to be.

"First of all, you are forbidden to use Expert Move with the strength and speed of Expert Rank unless I let you know beforehand. In addition, I will 'hardly' give you direct commands during the fight. So before the battle, I will tell you all the tactics for almost all the possible situations that may occur. You have to follow them in the fight without me saying anything."

"Don't worry, we will do this only against opponents I am 99% assured to win. In addition, if the situation gets a little tight, I will throw away these deceptions. I hope to be able to surprise the one of the top 3 participant with this deception. This will provide us an astonishing advantage. Even if it is only a small advantage, it is worth the preparation. Maybe with a little bit of luck, this camouflage will only be revealed later."

After Alex roughly explained his plan, he said with confidence, "Let's surprise this world together!!!"

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