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The Swords Dance TM had been obtained by Sato just yesterday from someone — and yes, that someone was Joe Kondo, the same man Sato had long since mentally labeled with a "shady old fox" tag.
As for why Joe would be so generous as to gift him such a precious TM, Sato was perfectly clear on the reason: first, Joe was well aware he was at fault for not arriving to support him within the agreed-upon time.
Of course, Sato knew very well that this "first reason" meant absolutely nothing to someone like Joe — it was just an excuse.
The real reason was the second one. Judging by the crooked grin on Joe's face, Sato guessed that the Mega Stone from this operation had ended up in Joe's hands.
Moreover, it was almost certain that the Mega Stone just happened to suit one of the Pokémon Joe owned. If that were the case, Joe's strength would undergo an enormous breakthrough, and becoming a Elite Four level, or even a Champion-level Trainer wouldn't be out of the question.
Since Sato was the one who had first passed this major piece of news along — and passed it directly to Joe — it gave him the opportunity to earn merit and to secure the Mega Stone.
Thus, Joe undoubtedly owed Sato a huge favor this time.
That being said, Sato figured that the main reason Joe, that sly old fox, chose to acknowledge this favor and gift him the rare Swords Dance TM was because of Sato's strength. After all, the sight of his Swampert defeating the Gyarados across levels must have been very clear to those watching from the stealth aircraft.
There was no doubt that Rocket Team's victory against overwhelming numbers this time hinged on four key people: Sato, Janine, Maya, and Malos. Joe would have to be blind not to realize that Sato was destined for greatness.
And in fact, that was the case — Joe and the others had delayed coming to help under Giovanni's orders.
Thanks to his outstanding performance in this battle, Sato had thoroughly caught Giovanni's attention and was now being cultivated as a key figure in the Seed Project.
Joe, being one of Giovanni's most trusted confidants, naturally understood his boss well. From the moment Giovanni instructed him to personally hand over the Key Stone to Sato, Joe knew that Sato had been marked as a favored candidate.
Although Joe had wanted to explain that it wasn't his choice to delay support — that it had been boss's orders — he ultimately kept silent. After all, having just received huge benefits from Giovanni, it would be incredibly foolish to turn around and betray him immediately.
Thus, to mend his relationship with Sato, his rising star of a colleague, and to return the enormous favor he owed, Joe had no choice but to grit his teeth and part with the beloved Swords Dance TM as a gift.
Thanks to the TM, Sato let go of the grudge he held against Joe for breaking his promise, and gave up the idea of stabbing him in the back someday. However, the "shady old fox" tag remained firmly in place.
All things considered, Sato felt that trading a piece of information for a Key Stone and a Swords Dance TM was an absolute jackpot — his heart was brimming with satisfaction.
After observing Bellossom for quite a while from the side of the grass field, Sato nodded approvingly when he saw that Bellossom's training — combining Swords Dance with Leaf Blade — was progressing well. He then walked toward the dense thicket on the left side of the clearing.
Bellossom, seeing this, halted her practice. She retracted the Leaf Blade formed in her hands and quickly followed after Sato.
"That's enough. Come on out, we're moving forward."
Once Sato had entered about ten meters into the thicket, he stopped in front of a large tree and called out loudly.
The next second, the sound of rustling — "shh shh shh~~" — came from above. A large purple serpent rapidly slithered down the trunk.
Moments later, Arbok's massive body appeared before Sato. Its cold, emotionless serpent eyes stared into his for a few seconds, before it dipped its once-menacing head low toward him.
As for Arbok's training, Sato wasn't entirely sure where to start yet. The truth was, Arbok already had an outstanding offensive system of its own — the development of its three distinct hood patterns.
By continuing to refine these three pattern transformations, Arbok's strength would steadily rise. In the future, it would undoubtedly become a truly remarkable Pokémon.
The three hoods — Attack Pattern, Defense Pattern, and Speed Pattern — allowed Arbok, a Pokémon with fairly balanced base stats, to morph at any time into an elite close-combat fighter, a rock-solid tank, or a lightning-fast assassin.
In Sato's opinion, Arbok, with mastery over the three pattern transformations, was basically a weakened version of Deoxys — flexible and diverse in battle style, capable of at least six different fighting strategies.
And the only way for Arbok to fully master these transformations was through battle. Sato couldn't think of a better method.
Only by fighting against a wide variety of Pokémon could Arbok accumulate the battle experience needed to fully utilize the transformations — learning when and how to switch between them most effectively.
Yes — mastering the perfect timing for hood transformation was the essence of Arbok's unique fighting style.
In battle, while you are adapting to your opponent, your opponent is also adapting to you, gradually figuring out your combat rhythm and responding accordingly.
This responsive adjustment is essentially a kind of battle experience — or, more precisely, a form of body memory.
Imagine: just when an opponent begins to adapt to Arbok's aggressive Attack Pattern, Arbok suddenly switches to the Speed Pattern. Sato could already picture the opponent's utter breakdown in that moment.
Because even if the opponent consciously realized Arbok had changed styles, their body memory, honed in the heat of battle, would still instinctively react to the previous Attack Pattern — creating fatal mistakes.
Sometimes, experience and instinct could betray you in battle — often with deadly consequences.
Watching Arbok's behavior, a small smile appeared on Sato's face. Fearlessly, he stepped forward and stroked the head that Arbok had lowered.
This once-wild, defiant killer snake had now completely tucked away its pride. After the chaotic brawl the day before, it clearly understood that, compared to Swampert, it was still a junior.
At that moment, the sharp sound of something slicing through the air rang out. Crobat's silhouette descended from above, landing lightly on Sato's shoulders with its purple feet.
Shortly after, the glittering figure of his shiny Beautifly glided down from the sky, obediently perching on Sato's outstretched left hand.
Then, Swampert's massive, mountain-like body appeared behind Sato.
"Everyone's here. Let's move. Arbok, take point. We'll explore the west side of the deep forest this time."
Seeing all his Pokémon had gathered, Sato nodded and spoke to Arbok.
Arbok lifted its head, nodded toward Sato, Swampert, and Crobat, and then began moving into the dense jungle on Sato's left.
Not long after, a flattened path was carved through the underbrush — pressed into the earth by Arbok's enormous body.