"Is today's match the quarterfinals?"
Steven munched on melon seeds and asked Lucas, who was standing by the railing.
"That's right."
Lucas grunted in affirmation, then looked down at the schedule Lucian had sent him.
"Let me see, today's match schedule is... Huh? Gary and Paul are facing each other? So soon?"
Lucas looked at the third match on the schedule on his rotom phone; the avatars of Gary and Paul were flashing.
"I thought they would meet in the semifinals. I didn't expect them to meet now."
Lucas couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
"Are Brother Paul and Brother Gary going to fight?"
Shauna sat on a chair, swinging her short legs. Tomoyo had sewn a pocket on the front of her clothes that looked like Doraemon's, which was filled with melon seeds. She asked Lucas while munching on the seeds and swinging her legs.
"That's right, they're facing each other today."
There was no worry on Lucas's face about one of them being eliminated, only the anticipation of watching the fun.
"Ex" vs. "Current"?
Who wouldn't want to see that? Tell me, who among those who like Pokémon wouldn't want to see that?!
Anyway, Lucas felt he couldn't resist such a temptation.
"Does that mean only one of them can advance?"
Lucas turned to look at Shauna and nodded. "That's right. Who are you looking forward to seeing advance, little Shauna?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Shauna lifted her chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "I feel... either one is fine."
"Who are you looking forward to more?"
"Both."
"Pick one."
"I won't."
"You must pick one."
"Sister Cynthia, the uncle is forcing a child!"
"Mm?"
The sound of high heels rang out, and Cynthia's cold voice entered Lucas's ears. Lucas shivered.
"You... you're here?"
Lucas turned his head and looked at Cynthia with a smile.
Cynthia stared at Lucas for a moment, then walked to her seat and sat down, gesturing for Shauna to sit on her lap.
"Next time he forces you, just punch him," Cynthia said nonchalantly.
Lucas remembered the Rhyperior that had been knocked to the ground by a single punch from Shauna... That punch would probably hurt a bit...
Thinking of this, he looked at Shauna and found her raising her fist at him. The threatening meaning in her eyes was self-evident.
This little girl, who did she learn this from? Now she's full of mischief and has learned how to tattle.
It must be that little fatty again. Not teaching anything good, just teaching the child bad things.
He looked at Gengar, who was adjusting a selfie stick. When it received the schedule yesterday, it planned to record today's match between Gary and Paul. At the same time, it had learned a lot of photography techniques on Red, so it ran out overnight to buy a selfie stick and prepared to take pictures today.
Oh, it used Lucas's bank card.
"Why not use the rotom phone? The rotom phone can't capture the handsomeness of me, Gengar, meow."
Gengar, who was introducing this to the Team Rocket Trio disguised as reporters, suddenly felt its rear end tighten.
Who? Who wants to plot against me again?!
Gengar did a 180-degree spin and landed in a Gaia-style pose, looking at everyone and all the Pokémon around.
Strange, there's no one there?
Gengar depressedly reached out to scratch its head. Recently, it always felt like someone wanted to plot against it. Could it be that it has sensitive skin?
No, I have to use Lucas's bank card to buy more things when I get back and clear my shopping cart. That should fix the sensitive skin.
Gengar gave itself a checkmark for its wit.
Unable to reach its head, it scratched its rear end, then turned around to continue dealing with the questions from the Team Rocket Trio.
Lucas looked at Gengar, who was being interviewed, with black lines on his forehead.
Speaking of which, with the Team Rocket Trio dressed like that, can you really not tell?
They basically just put on hats, changed clothes, and stuck on fake mustaches, and that counts as a disguise?
This talking Meowth is already abnormal in itself, okay?
Also, you pretending to be reporters to interview is one thing, but why can your interview be synchronized to the big screen?
Looking at Gengar's fat cheeks on the screen, Lucas was speechless.
Is it possible that your disguises are always about infiltrating the enemy from the inside?
"So that's how it is. Then, may I ask if you have any suggestions for this match? Or which contestant are you more optimistic about?"
Reporter Jessie handed the microphone to Gengar and began asking Gengar questions in a professional manner.
"Gengar..."
"Who are you optimistic about, meow..."
"Gengar!"
"You don't need to translate that, meow! Oh, is that so? Meow!"
Lucas: ... A bunch of clowns.
"It said..." Reporter Meowth began to translate Gengar's words sentence by sentence.
The venue manager sitting at the control console looked at the content on the big screen in the venue, picked up a thermos, and took a sip of goji berry water. "Those employees are doing well. Where did you find them?"
The assistant on the side quickly replied, "They are temporary workers. I wasn't planning on hiring them, but they said it didn't matter if the salary was lower, so I hired them."
"Not bad, a wise choice. After it ends, go ask them if they want to become full-time employees. Also, pay their full salary; don't lower it. We must learn to win over such good talent, otherwise, it won't be good if they get poached by competitors."
The manager took another sip of goji berry water and said indifferently, "The three of them give me the feeling that they are stronger and more capable than all our reporters combined."
"Yes, I understand. I will go ask them in a while."
"Mm." The manager nodded gently. "Make sure to follow through. Just the fact that they could get up to the stands shows they are extraordinary. You know, before they came, no one had ever been able to get up to the stands to get close to Champion Cynthia and the others."
"Also, who is that man on the screen? He looks very familiar with Champion Cynthia and the Sinnoh Elite Four, including Elite Four Lucian; they can even sit together and drink tea. And that one, that's Mr. Steven, right? To be able to sit with so many Champions and Elites, he must also be a powerful Trainer. Find an opportunity and have those three interview that man."
One word from the leader, and the subordinate runs their legs off.
"Yes, I'll call them right now." The assistant had just taken out the phone when the manager reached out and stopped him.
"Wait a second." The assistant looked over and found that Lucas's face had already appeared on the big screen.
"Truly rare talent..." The manager narrowed his eyes happily.
"Speaking of which, how did you guys manage to sneak up here?"
"Eh? Lucas recognized us?" James listened to Lucas's words and was very surprised. You have to know that until now, no one had been able to see through their disguise at a glance.
As expected of Lucas!
Lucas: If it were this obvious and I still couldn't tell, then there would really be something wrong with me, okay?!
"We walked up from the stairs on the side. I checked to see if anyone was blocking it, and then I just walked up with Jessie and the others. What's wrong? Are we not allowed up?" James asked in a low voice.
"It's not that. I was just curious how you got up here, since no reporters have come up to interview in the past few days." Lucas shook his head slightly.
"Because we wanted to interview you, Lucas. We originally wanted to interview Champion Cynthia, but thinking that she is the Champion of the Sinnoh region and we are Team Rockets, we were scared to death when facing her, so we gave up." James said, holding the microphone.
"So that's it." Lucas nodded, then looked at James. "But is it really okay for you to say that while holding the microphone?"
James looked at the microphone in his hand. "You mean this? It's fine, I turned off the microphone beforehand."
Lucas watched his own voice being broadcast on the screen.
Lucas: ... "That was interview content we synthesized with a machine, hehe."
Hearing James's words, Lucas looked at himself talking eloquently on the screen and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Being in Team Rockets really is a waste of your talents...
After finishing the interview with James, they ran down from the stands before the match started.
"We're leaving now, Lucas." Jessie waved at him secretly from the corner and then whispered with her mouth movements.
Lucas waved at them with a smile, then glanced at Gengar. Gengar handed the selfie stick to Lucas, still wanting more, and then jumped into the shadow.
Lucas took the selfie stick, pondered for a moment, then clamped the rotom phone in it and raised the selfie stick. "Come on, look at the lens, make a peace sign."
Steven looked at the rotom phone, patted his suit, tilted his head, put on a proper smile, and made a peace sign.
Cynthia held little Shauna and also made a peace sign.
Little Tomoyo was held by Grandma Bertha, who adored Little Tomoyo. Little Tomoyo made a peace sign, and Grandma Bertha, keeping up with international trends, made an international friendly gesture.
Lucas was amused.
Lucian pushed his glasses, acting cool.
Flint reached out and tousled his afro.
Aaron brushed his cowlick.
"Ready, three." Gengar, who had just returned, was shocked when it saw this. ∑(ǒ|||) What are you doing?! "Two." "Put down my selfie stick! I haven't even used it yet!" "..." "Stop it!!!" "Click."
The photo was frozen; everyone and all the Pokémon in it looked very good.
The layout of the photo was generally very good, if only the person in the lower right corner fighting with a certain purple fatty could be removed.
"Here, take it back, stingy." Lucas returned the selfie stick to Gengar, not forgetting to pull its mouth corners.
Gengar snorted, turned its head away, and continued to ponder its selfie stick.
At this moment, the match began. The Team Rocket Trio returned to their workstation with the snacks Gengar had given them and started watching the match.
"So delicious——" Jessie chewed on a sausage, saying with satisfaction.
The first to appear were Tobias and the Trainer of Heatran.
Having two Trainers who possess Legendary Pokémon kick off today's matches was a good choice to stir up the atmosphere.
"Who do you favor, Lucas?" Steven sat in his seat, watching the two on the field, and asked.
"Just call me Lucas." Lucas remained standing by the railing; he preferred watching matches standing up rather than sitting. "Tobias, I suppose."
"After all, he is a bit more mature." Steven nodded slightly, not saying anything more.
"It's starting." Aaron said, and everyone present, along with their Pokémon, looked over.
Darkrai and Heatran appeared simultaneously in the center of the field.
The moment Heatran appeared, it let out a roar at the Darkrai opposite it.
Darkrai hid in the shadows, revealing only half of its body. Its white bangs completely covered one of its eyes, and it was watching the Heatran opposite it coldly.
"After watching for a while, I feel like this Darkrai isn't as cool as the one we know," Lucas said softly.
"Nini." I think so too. Mime Jr., sitting on the railing, expressed agreement.
"Victory will definitely be mine." Heatran's Trainer spoke up.
Tobias looked at the man in front of him and smiled. "Come and try."
The referee's whistle blew, and Heatran made the first move.
Without waiting for its Trainer to speak, it unleashed Magma Storm at Darkrai on its own.
Powerful magma converged into a storm, rushing towards Darkrai.
Darkrai stood where it was, not moving.
"Dodge." Hearing Tobias's voice, Darkrai nimbly dodged the Magma Storm.
A 75% accuracy rate is no different from 0% accuracy. Lucas continued to watch the match.
The Magma Storm dispersed, leaving the field covered in magma, looking like blood. The intense heat caused the temperature of the arena to rise.
Seeing that Darkrai had dodged its move, Heatran roared in anger. Then, it slammed its four feet into the ground, and giant, sharp, terrifying stone blades began to emerge from the earth, heading towards Darkrai. Stone Edge.
"Dark Pulse, shatter it." Darkrai gathered dark energy in its hands and then fired it, shattering all the giant stone blades.
"Shadow Ball." In the smoke-filled arena, the Shadow Ball pierced through the smoke and landed on Heatran's body.
"Roar!" Heatran slid backward, its giant four feet carving four deep marks into the ground.
Heatran steadied itself, then its body surface began to glow red, emitting Heat Waves that covered the entire arena. The powerful Heat Wave generated by Heat Wave blew away the smoke on the field, but Darkrai's figure was no longer there.
Just as Heatran was searching everywhere for Darkrai, the shadow under its feet slowly converged into the shape of Darkrai.
"Now, Dark Void!" Tobias called out. Darkrai jumped out from the shadow, pressing the Dark Void in its hand against Heatran's face, which wore an expression of disbelief.
Boom! An explosion sounded, and Heatran was blasted onto the ground. The Dark Void contained Dark Pulse within it. Heatran, hit by the Dark Void, fell into a sleep state.
"It's over." Cynthia, holding Little Shauna, said softly.
Steven, Lucian, and the others nodded one after another. In battles between powerful Trainers, even the slightest detail being caught can lead to defeat.
"Are they going to rotate? Who is the next Pokémon? Is it also a Legendary Pokémon?" Lucas watched the field and couldn't help but say out loud.
From the start of the battle until now, Heatran's Trainer hadn't said a word, nor had he issued a single command.
Just when Lucas thought he would rotate, that Trainer didn't make any moves, only wearing an expression of disbelief on his face.
Seeing this, Tobias smiled. "Darkrai, Dream Eater!"
Heatran, in its sleep state, wailed in pain. Heatran woke up from its dream, stood up, and the next second, wobbled and collapsed.
"Heatran is unable to battle. Darkrai wins." The referee rode a flying device to the center of the field, checked Heatran's condition, and after seeing the spiral eyes, raised the flag, announcing the result of the match.
"Please send out your next Pokémon." Lucas narrowed his eyes.
"I forfeit." The Trainer's voice rang out. The originally cheering arena fell into silence.
Lucas also frowned.
"If even Heatran couldn't win, my other Pokémon have even less chance, so I forfeit." The Trainer explained.
Lucas: ——
"It's over just like that?" Flint asked in disbelief.
Even Cynthia frowned.
"Being brought to a height that doesn't belong to him by a Pokémon that is beyond his ability range." Lucian commented.
"Little girl, you must not learn to be like him in the future." Grandma Bertha lowered her head and said to Little Tomoyo, who was sitting on her lap.
"Mm, I won't, because Uncle said that even when facing a Trainer stronger than oneself, one must have the courage to give it a try." Tomoyo said crisply.
"Even a child understands this principle, yet he doesn't." Aaron was somewhat angry.
"Could it be that he thought from the beginning he could win the championship with just one Heatran, and then challenge us, or even Big Sister?!"
For Aaron, the only Elite in the many Pokémon Leagues to win his position using Bug-type Pokémon, fleeing without a fight was the thing he hated most.
Steven did not express an opinion. After all, this was a matter for the Sinnoh League, and as the former Champion of the Hoenn region, he had to avoid the appearance of impropriety. However, he didn't like this Trainer either.
Lucas said nothing. The referee saw that he didn't seem to be lying, glanced at the spectator stand, Cynthia nodded slightly, and then the referee raised the flag.
"Tobias advances!" After announcing the result, Heatran woke up. It looked at the back of Darkrai as it left with Tobias, unable to accept the result of losing to it, so it roared angrily at the sky, and a Magma Storm began to sweep across the arena.
The field was full of magma, and quite a bit of it was flying towards the spectator seats. Fortunately, the Sinnoh League had taken precautions, and many Psychic-type Pokémon flew onto the field, using psychic power to block the magma.
Heatran noticed Lucas in the spectator stand. It felt that Lucas was mocking it, so it used a Magma Storm towards Lucas.
Seeing the Magma Storm rushing towards the spectator stand, Steven stood up and walked quickly to Lucas's side. Bronzong had just flown out of the stand when it saw a nimble figure faster than itself rush out of the stand and leap directly towards the Magma Storm.
After that Pokémon touched the Magma Storm, the entire Magma Storm was absorbed, turning into magma covering its fur.
Ninetales transformed into a huge chariot of fire, crashing into the rampaging Heatran.
Heatran felt as if its body had been hit by Regigigas, feeling intense pain as it flew backward and became embedded in the wall.
Ninetales lowered its head and let out a low growl.
"Roar!" Where did this fire turtle come from? Try going on a rampage again and see what happens?!
After saying this, Ninetales's body was covered in flames again, preparing to crash into Heatran, which had just managed to get down from the wall.
You lost and you still dare to throw a tantrum? You throw a tantrum and still dare to attack Lucas?
Heatran had just come down from the wall, only to be back on the wall again.
"Ninetales." Hearing Lucas's voice, the flames on Ninetales began to disappear.
It shook its head gently, its massive size, perfect proportions, and elegant, beautiful posture making the arena cheer again.
There is nothing more thrilling than a Legendary Pokémon going on a rampage, only for a beautiful and elegant Pokémon to rush out and forcibly suppress it in a violent manner.
Ninetales looked at the magma all over the ground and began to run around the field. The staff, who were originally struggling with what to do, saw that wherever Ninetales passed, the magma disappeared completely.
Seeing that Ninetales had dealt with Heatran, Lucian jumped onto Bronzong's back and flew towards the field. A qualified Elite must be able to quickly and properly solve problems when unexpected accidents occur at the League Conference.
Ninetales returned to Lucas's side and lowered its head towards Lucas. Lucas reached out to stroke Ninetales's head.
"I didn't expect you to be able to absorb magma, this is really——" Too abnormal, right?
Ninetales narrowed its eyes and hummed comfortably.
"Shu~" Entei taught me.
"I see."
Flint, sitting behind, was extremely envious.
Lucas was 1.8 meters tall, but Ninetales stood much taller than Lucas.
How did Lucas raise such a strong, yet aesthetically pleasing Ninetales? This kind of beauty was not the beauty of strength, but the beauty of body proportions combined with temperament.
I really want one——
As the Fire-type Elite, Flint was deeply attracted to Ninetales.
Ninetales's head was held in Lucas's arms. It opened its eyes and glared at Flint.
Flint: ——
Forget it, I don't want one anymore. Flint shrank his neck. So fierce——
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