The group arrived at the battlefield and found that many League staff members were already seated in the audience stands. When they saw the group arrive, they greeted them with enthusiastic cheers.
"Hehe, everyone usually works so hard. Since this is a rare opportunity, I gave them a half-day off," the Unova League's main official said with a chuckle. "You young folks don't mind, do you?"
What could Sato and the others say? They just smiled and shook their heads, signaling they didn't mind.
"If we did mind, what are you going to do… call everyone back?" Mark muttered. Just then, the cheering suddenly stopped, and his voice landed squarely within earshot of all the bigshots, loud and clear.
"Ahem, well, let's all sit down then."
"Yes, yes, let's sit."
"…"
Behind them, Sato and the others struggled to hold back laughter as they gave Mark a big thumbs-up.
'Nicely done!'
Perhaps because of Mark's jab, the usual official speeches were quickly skipped, and the match officially began.
"As the hosts, we'll let the challengers choose their opponents!" the main Unova official said generously, even nodding at Drake as if to say, "See how friendly we are?"
"Thank you, Vice President. You may go choose your opponents," Drake replied, putting deliberate emphasis on the word "Vice."
Sato, Phoebe, and Ryoko didn't hesitate and walked straight up to their predetermined opponents.
[Marshal VS Phoebe.] [Jona VS Ryoko.] [Skyla VS Sato.]
This arrangement was specifically designed to guarantee Sato's participation. In the face of the bigger picture, even Phoebe had chosen to step aside.
Though she hated to admit it, a Sato who could use Mega Evolution was simply someone she couldn't beat. It was a difference of both quality and quantity, something tactics and clever tricks alone couldn't overcome.
And even in tactics and tricks, Sato was only a tiny bit behind her. That tiny difference came down to Ghost-types being more adept at change than Dark-types.
The battle began!
Three battlefields stood side by side. Six Trainers faced off in pairs, each throwing out a Poké Ball at the same time.
Phoebe sent out her Sableye, always regarded as type-neutral. Her opponent, Marshal, sent out the Unova native Fighting-type Pokémon: Sawk.
On Ryoko's side, both sent out Water-type starters from their respective regions: Swampert and Samurott. A Water-type mirror match was inevitable, and with Samurott's lack of Ground-typing, Swampert even held a slight disadvantage.
As for Sato, he immediately sent out his highest-level Pokémon, Weavile. As a Peak Elite -near Pseudo-, it was enough to handle anything at the start.
Skyla responded by sending out the Water/Flying-type Swanna; clearly predicting that Sato would use an Ice-type to counter her Flying-types.
"Battle begin!" ×3
"Sableye, use Fake Out!" "Sawk, Foresight."
---
"Samurott, use Razor Shell!" "Swampert, Bulldoze!"
---
"Swanna, Hydro Pump!" "Weavile, use Agility and charge in."
The three matches started simultaneously. Sato had no time to worry about the others, his full attention was on his own battle.
After entering the field, Swanna circled high above, launching Hydro Pump from above and forcing Weavile to dash around constantly.
But with careful observation, one could see that Weavile was anticipating nearly every Hydro Pump.
Though it was dodging the entire time, it hadn't taken a single hit, and its speed was even subtly increasing.
"SWANNA, use Feather Dance!" Skyla quickly realized something was wrong. As the youngest Gym Leader in the Unova Region, she wasn't just for show.
"Swan!"
Countless blue-and-white feathers rained down, denser than even a blizzard.
"Weavile, Blizzard." Sato responded steadily, countering move with move.
When Sato first encountered Weavile, he had been shocked by its Blizzard. After all, Weavile excelled in close combat, and its Special Attack was generally lackluster.
But after catching it, he discovered the same thing during training: its Special Attack was average. Except for Blizzard.
That move was absolutely devastating.
Feather Dance had no resistance against Blizzard and was instantly frozen into white ice shards, which were then swept up and launched toward the airborne Swanna.
"SWAAA~"
Suddenly, a cry came from Weavile's right side. Swanna, now impaled with several ice shards, reappeared just two or three meters away from Weavile.
As it turned out, Feather Dance had just been a smokescreen. Skyla had never intended to hinder Weavile's speed, she just wanted to use it as cover to get close.
But the ice shards formed by Blizzard ended up revealing her position, even injuring her with close-range cuts that made her cry out in pain.
"Swanna, use Scald!"
"Weavile, Sucker Punch."
At this point, Skyla could no longer pull Swanna back and opted for a direct attack. But Sato's specialty had always been preemptive strikes.
Sucker Punch -delayed yet sudden- landed hard on Swanna's vulnerable neck.
Swanna, usually "graceful and elegant", now fought like a berserk maniac. Scald sprayed wildly, its long neck both a weakness and a perfect tool for adjusting attack direction.
Sucker Punch and Scald both landed!
"Night Slash, don't let it get back up."
"Swanna, Wing Attack, escape quickly!"
In the sky, Swanna might reign supreme, but once grounded, it was completely at Weavile's mercy.
Swanna had a large body, it was a Flying-type Pokémon capable of carrying people. Because of that, it needed several wing flaps to get airborne again.
…And in that span of time, Weavile could do a lot.
Night Slash landed again, once more targeting Swanna's long neck.
Dark-type energy surged into the blow. Swanna let out a pained, piercing scream, and its wing movements instantly became erratic.
Flying? Out of the question.
Weavile didn't let up in the slightest. A second Night Slash followed immediately, again aiming at Swanna's weak spot.
"Swaa…"
Swanna staggered and collapsed to the ground, body twitching and neck slightly bent. If it didn't get treated immediately, its life might be in danger.
"Swanna is unable to battle. Trainer Skyla, please send out your next Pokémon!"
A flash of red light pulled Swanna back into its Poké Ball. Skyla ignored the referee's call and turned to hand Swanna off to the medical staff, who had been standing by.
Sato didn't raise any objections, and the home-field referee also turned a blind eye. He was clearly displeased with how ruthless Sato's tactics had been and felt strong sympathy for Skyla.
"You're strong, but I won't let you win that easily!" Skyla's eyes were red.
Even though Swanna was severely injured, she hadn't cried. Instead, she stepped forward firmly and sent out her next Pokémon.
Mandibuzz!