Axel spent the next couple of days training against the wild Pokémon in Victory Road. He wanted to be absolutely certain he was ready, that his Pokémon were ready. And after several days, he finally felt as though they were ready.

The Pokémon League Headquarters's lobby contained a Pokémon Center and a Pokémon Mart. Annoyingly, however, they didn't carry Hyper Potions- only Max Potions and Full Restores, neither of which Axel was certain he would be able to justify buying over Hyper Potions- more often than not they restored all the HP he needed them to. This made it necessary for him to fly on Norbert's back to Cinnabar Island- their Pokémon Mart happily sold Axel all the Hyper Potions he needed.

Finally, Axel found himself walking to the back of the lobby, where a small, inconspicuous doorway would lead him to the Elite 4- the four strongest Pokémon Trainers known to man or Mankey. He wasn't gonna lie, he was a bit nervous... besides their being strong, he wasn't allowed to go back to heal his Pokémon between fights- he was only able to rely on whatever medicine he brought with him, hence his recent shopping spree for Hyper Potions and Full Heals. He also brought all the Elixirs and Ethers he could find, both regular and Max- they were PP restoratives, and he had yet to need to use any on his journey... hopefully he had enough here to hold him over. Finally, Axel took a deep breath... and walked through. He could hear the door closing behind him, but he kept on looking forward- he was on a large platform adrift in a pool of water, and a red-haired woman stood before him.

"Welcome to the Pokémon League, Axel" she greeted Axel. "The badge check guards informed us that you were coming. I am Lorelei of the Elite Four, and when it comes to icy Pokémon, no one can best me."

"So you use Ice-types," Axel remarked.

Lorelei nodded. "And why wouldn't I?" she replied. "Freezing moves are powerful. And your Pokémon will be at my mercy... when they're frozen solid!" she exclaimed, throwing an Ultra Ball. "Dewgong!" she exclaimed as the Water/Ice-type materialized on the platform before her.

This was it. The fight was beginning. Axel knew he had to start strong if he had any chance. "Kraken!" he bellowed, throwing a ball which unleashed his Gyarados. Over time, Kraken had proven to be pretty much the strongest Pokémon Axel possessed. He would work with his team equally, but Kraken always rose above the rest, accepting his unofficial position as leader of the team with pleasure, and using that position very well. "Use Thunderbolt!" ordered Axel.

"Take Down!" ordered Lorelei.

"Dewgong gong!" Dewgong exclaimed as it propelled itself with its fins, sliding across the platform. Kraken blasted it with electricity, and while the attack had an effect, Dewgong kept going, and slammed into Kraken. The attack, however, had little effect, to Lorelei's mild surprise- clearly she had underestimated Kraken.

"Now! Thunderbolt again!" called Axel. And this time, the Electric attack finished off Dewgong.

"It seems I've underestimated you," Lorelei admitted as she withdrew Dewgong. "That was my mistake, and one quite unbecoming of the Elite Four." However, she was smiling. "It seems our battle is destined to be quite a bit more interesting than I had originally thought," she added, throwing another ball. "Cloyster!" she shouted, another Water/Ice-type appearing before her.

Axel was smiling, too. "Yeah... this is gonna be an interesting battle," he agreed. "Kraken, Thunderbolt!"

Kraken roared loudly as he blasted Cloyster with electricity, and as the attack subsided, the Bivalve Pokémon fell over.

"Come back, Cloyster," said Lorelei, returning the Water/Ice-type to its Ultra Ball as she threw another Ultra Ball. "Slowbro!" she exclaimed. To Axel's mild surprise, the Pokémon that appeared before him was not an Ice-type at all.

"Kraken, come back!" called Axel, withdrawing his Gyarados as he threw another ball. "Ragweed! Razor Leaf!" he ordered his Venusaur.

"Amnesia!" Lorelei called as the leaves were pummeling Slowbro. However, the attack had much more of an effect than Lorelei had anticipated- it was striking a weak spot, and Slowbro was already looking quite injured as it tried to forget about its troubles to boost its Special.

"Heh, feels pretty good to be on this side of the critical hits," Axel remarked. "Again, Ragweed! Razor Leaf!"

"Saaaaaur!" Ragweed replied, firing off another arboreal assault, this one finishing off the Slowbro almost instantly.

"Slowbro, come back now!" Lorelei said, withdrawing the Water/Psychic-type. "That critical hit..." she murmured. "Slowbro is usually quite good at taking special attacks, especially once he uses Amnesia... Now, go, Jynx!" she added, throwing another Ultra Ball. This one unleashed a vaguely human-shaped Pokémon with long blonde hair.

Axel held out Ragweed's Poké Ball. "Come back, Ragweed!" he said, withdrawing the Venusaur. Jynx was one of the few, if not only, Ice-types in existence that wasn't part water, and as such, this was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of a weakness of the Ice type one doesn't usually get to exploit. "Go, Norbert!" he shouted, throwing out the ball which unleashed his Charizard. "Flamethrower!"

Norbert roared loudly, unleashing powerful flames from his mouth, and before Lorelei could even issue a command, Jynx had collapsed.

"Yes!" Axel cheered as Lorelei withdrew Jynx. Ice was weak to Fire, but considering all known Ice-types besides Jynx (well, OK, and the legendary Articuno, but as that was considered to be a mirage by most, nobody really counted it) were part Water, it wasn't exactly the easiest type advantage to make use of.

"Impressive," smiled Lorelei. "Even though common sense would dictate that Ice is weak to Fire, few Trainers actually seem to know this. Then again, mine must be one of the few, if not only, Jynx to be owned by a Trainer. They're not found in the wild, at least not in this region... Now, behold my best Pokémon!" she declared, throwing one final Ultra Ball. "Lapras!" she called, as a formidable sea creature materialized. Four flippers and a long neck snaked out of a spiked shell. It somehow looked gentle and powerful at the same time, Axel couldn't quite explain it. Like it was as approachable as the cuddliest and friendliest Jigglypuff, yet as ferocious and powerful as... well, as Kraken. But one thing was for certain- Lapras was a Water-type, and Norbert was a Fire-type. Putting two and two together from that, it wasn't exactly rocket surgery.

"Come back, Norbert!" Axel called, withdrawing his Charizard as he threw another ball. "Kraken!" he added, his Gyarados reappearing. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Lapras, Confuse Ray!" Lorelei ordered.

Kraken roared loudly as he zapped Lapras with powerful electricity, but to Axel's astonishment, Lapras didn't seem the least bit fazed. Then, it squealed loudly as it shone a bright, dazzling light at Kraken. The Gyarados immediately started to sway back and forth.

"Kraken, snap out of it!" pleaded Axel. "Use Thunderbolt!"

Kraken roared in confusion... swayed back and forth dangerously... and crackled with electricity. A grin slowly spread across Axel's face as his Gyarados fought through the confusion and blasted Lapras with electricity again.

"Here!" Lorelei shouted suddenly, tossing an orange spray bottle into the air. As it flew above Lapras, it began to spray its contents onto the Water/Ice-type. Once all the Super Potion was used up, the bottle clattered to the floor on the opposite end of the room.

"Kraken, once more! Thunderbolt!" called Axel. And once more, Kraken fired off a powerful electrical blast... and at long last, Lapras fell in defeat.

"You're better than I thought," Lorelei smiled as she withdrew Lapras. "Go on ahead, but be warned- you only got a taste of Pokémon League power!"