"Anyone else?"
After defeating yet another random challenger, Mark arrogantly shouted at the audience below, which only further infuriated the Trainers who had lost to him earlier!
Sato and Joseph watched the scene speechlessly. 'You're relying on just one Arbok and still acting this smug? You're definitely going to get put in your place soon.'
"I'll take you on!"
A steady, deep voice came from the crowd. Everyone turned to look and saw a well-built, slightly short man with muscles all over stepping forward.
Beside him was a fierce-looking Pokémon: Crawdaunt, a Water- and Dark-type!
Just in case, Sato and Joseph ran down from their hard-to-find vantage point and squeezed their way to the front, but by then, the battle had already begun!
Arbok vs. Crawdaunt!
Crawdaunt had impressive strength and offensive power, while Arbok excelled at dodging and using a wide range of tricky moves!
For a while, the match was intense. Arbok's aggressive strikes even pushed Crawdaunt back for a time!
But Sato only needed a few seconds to realize… Mark probably wasn't going to win this one!
The muscle guy remained composed the whole time. Crawdaunt consistently responded with minimal cost, either evading or blocking Arbok's attacks.
Mark, on the other hand, was simply feeding off the crowd's excitement, having Arbok attack continuously!
On the surface, it looked like Arbok was dominating Crawdaunt, but the attacks were mostly just loud and flashy, the actual damage was minimal.
And the moment Arbok wore itself out and paused to catch its breath, that would be when it lost the battle!
"Crawdaunt, Crabhammer!"
Boom!
Just as expected, the muscle guy caught Arbok's momentary opening and ordered Crawdaunt to close in!
It hit!
A critical blow!
"Arbok is unable to battle. Crawdaunt wins! The victor is the Trainer from Ever Grande City: Archie!"
"Archie?" Sato felt a flicker of confusion. 'Why did that name sound so familiar?'
Since Mark had already defeated several opponents, even though he lost in the end, he still received a round of applause from the audience!
"Well? Well? Isn't my Arbok amazing? Oh, Joseph, Arbok's counting on you now!"
"No problem!"
"Sato? What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"Someone else just stepped up!" Sato didn't answer Mark's question and instead turned his eyes back to the stage!
"This new challenger is named Maxie! Reportedly a friend of Archie, the current winner. What kind of spark will their friendship ignite in battle?"
The announcer spoke with great enthusiasm, but down below, Sato was shocked by the two names!
"Maxie! Archie!"
'Aren't those the future leaders of the two most powerful dark organizations in the Hoenn Region? From the look of things now, it seemed they hadn't formed their organizations yet; they were even... friends?'
In both his past and present life, Sato's base of operations was always in the Johto Region, so he didn't know much about how Hoenn's two underground factions were founded and developed.
But what happened after this, that led close friends to become enemies, and even form rival organizations… now that had caught Sato's interest!
The battle on stage began. Maxie looked much more refined, but the Pokémon he sent out was just as fierce.
Camerupt!
Camerupt looked slow and clumsy, not very agile, but its power in battle was top-notch. Aside from its lack of speed, its attack and defense were rock solid.
Thanks to its typing, Camerupt opened with Amnesia, greatly raising its Special Defense.
Crawdaunt, with already low Special Attack, couldn't deal much damage that way and could only charge in for close combat!
In close quarters, Camerupt had the size advantage, but Crawdaunt's massive pincers packed a real punch. The fight between them was fierce!
Sato also noticed that the two Trainers knew each other very well, their reactions were fast and precise, almost instinctual.
It was far from just an intense surface-level brawl!
Their one-on-one clash lasted nearly ten minutes, making it the longest battle of the day!
In the end, Crawdaunt still managed to win thanks to its overwhelming type advantage, landing the final blow with Crabhammer!
Though Maxie lost, he didn't look frustrated. He just gave Archie a helpless thumbs-up.
They had a great relationship!
Archie laughed heartily and recalled the exhausted Crawdaunt, then threw out another Poké Ball.
Sharpedo! A purple Shiny Sharpedo!
And just like Sato's, it was floating in the air!
"Sato, isn't that exactly like your Sharpedo? Wow, that's awesome!" Mark exclaimed in surprise, then followed up with visible envy.
Being able to float meant Sharpedo was no longer limited by terrain, and its strength skyrocketed!
"Ladies and gentlemen, is there anyone else who'd like to step up and challenge? Once again, the winner who holds the stage will receive a major prize!"
"I'll give it a shot!" Sato felt a spark of excitement. He didn't care about the prize, he was just eager for a Sharpedo versus Sharpedo showdown!
After all, both of them were so unique!
"Oh! Another challenger! I wonder how long this little guy will last. Still, gotta admire the courage!"
"He looks too young to stand a chance!"
"What a cute little boy, I like him!"
---
"Hey there, kiddo! What's your name? You sure you want to challenge? No crying if you lose, okay?"
The host shamelessly teased Sato, which instantly made him dislike the guy.
'Who are you calling little!?'
"Go, Sharpedo!" Sato ignored the host and turned his serious gaze toward Archie.
As the Poké Ball's red light faded, a normally-colored but noticeably larger Sharpedo floated in the air!
"Whoa..." Gasps of awe erupted from the crowd. Most of them were Seabreeze Town locals, if not hundreds, they'd seen at least a dozen Sharpedo before.
But now, two incredibly special Sharpedo were appearing at the same time. One a Shiny, the other massive in size!
The key point was, both Sharpedo were floating in midair, and now facing off in the same arena!
"Hahaha! Kid, I won't hold back!" Archie laughed heartily. Since Sato hadn't introduced himself earlier, this was the only way he could address him.
"My name is Sato."
"Alright then, you take the first move!" Archie gestured gallantly, signaling for him to bring it on.
"Then I won't hold back! Sharpedo, Aqua Jet!" Sato commanded without hesitation.
"Block it! Retaliate!"
"Dodge it!"
"Close in!"
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Support has really dropped according to the metrics... I guess it's time to drop... down 2 chapters a day instead of 3!
Anyway, Patreon if you want top-tier spoilers in the titles (22+ Ch)!