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Around 6 PM in the evening, deep within the forest path near Viridian City, an intense Pokémon battle was unfolding.
Above the war-torn forest path, a Flygon and a Pidgeot were locked in a fierce aerial clash. Powerful moves from both Pokémon continually missed their mark, striking the ground instead and leaving devastating scars across the battlefield.
Due to the proximity to Viridian City, the battle had quickly drawn the attention of the townspeople. At this point, a number of trainers were scattered around the battlefield, watching the confrontation unfold.
From the current situation, Pidgeot appeared to be completely suppressed by Flygon. With each successive use of Dragon Dance, Flygon's dominance only increased, and Pidgeot's situation was growing more precarious by the second.
In fact, at the beginning of the battle, Pidgeot had leveraged its Agility move three times to establish a clear speed advantage, allowing it to pressure Flygon relentlessly.
However, Flygon seemed to anticipate every move Pidgeot made—responding with evasions or counters even before Pidgeot could fully act. Because of this, several of Pidgeot's carefully executed aerial ambushes were neatly dodged, and it even took a surprise hit from Flygon's lightning-fast Iron Tail, setting it back.
Then, as Flygon continued stacking Dragon Dance, its speed gradually caught up to Pidgeot's, and the tide of battle began to turn. Now, it was Pidgeot that was on the defensive.
Suddenly, the Pidgeot's trainer seized upon a moment when Flygon charged too aggressively and immediately gave a command for a counterattack.
Following the trainer's timely direction, Pidgeot used Quick Attack to burst forward with speed, displaying masterful aerial maneuvering. With a swift mid-air feint, it barely dodged Flygon's Dragon Claw and looped around to strike back.
Just as Pidgeot was about to deliver a crushing blow with a blazing Steel Wing, Flygon—as if it had eyes on the back of its head—had its long tail suddenly gleam with a metallic shine.
With a whip-like Iron Tail executed in a perfect dragon twist, it struck Pidgeot directly on the head with pinpoint accuracy.
Instantly, the stunned Pidgeot let out a pained screech and plummeted to the ground like a wounded bird.
In that moment, Sato—soaring above the battlefield on Crobat—had a flash of blue light flicker across his eyes. Flygon suddenly burst with a terrifying surge of Dragon-type energy and dove down like a dragon-shaped comet aimed at the falling Pidgeot.
The next second—BOOM!—the impact shook the entire earth.
"Roooaaaar!!"
Flygon reemerged from the cloud of dust, ascending triumphantly into the sky with a victorious roar.
"Damn it, can someone tell me what the hell is going on? Is this guy a psychic or something? He hasn't said a single word since the start of the fight, but his Flygon fights like a damn ace."
High above the battlefield, the blonde-haired trainer—also riding a Flying-type—gritted his teeth as he looked down at his unconscious Pidgeot lying battered in a crater.
Despite his frustration, the outcome was clear. With no other choice, the blonde trainer cast one last bitter glance at Sato—who had already recalled Crobat and Flygon and was now once again mounted on Arcanine—then returned his defeated Pidgeot into its PokéBall.
Including this blond man, Sato had now defeated eight Team Rocket elites in one-on-one battles, each sending out Pokémon at the pseudo Elite Four level.
Using his telepathic abilities, Sato had effortlessly overwhelmed every single challenger along the way.
However, the intensity of each battle was clearly escalating. The first opponent—who used a Primeape—had gone down in under two minutes. But this latest fight, against a level 57 Pidgeot, had taken nearly eight minutes.
As expected, stronger Team Rocket elites were still ahead. At this point, Sato was starting to question the true intent behind the Rocket boss's arrangement.
The entire situation felt oddly reminiscent of a gym challenge in a video game. Could it be… was the final challenger meant to be Giovanni himself?
The thought sent a shiver down Sato's spine—but also sparked a glimmer of excitement. As a trainer hungry for strength, he longed for worthy adversaries.
After defeating the blonde trainer, Sato rode Arcanine smoothly into Viridian City. On the way to Viridian Gym in the city center, he wasn't stopped again.
However, just as he caught sight of the gym from afar, an icy beauty with long, ice-blue hair suddenly appeared and blocked his path—just like the eight Rocket elites before her.
Sato blinked. The woman looked familiar—like he had seen her somewhere before.
Unfortunately, she showed no intention of chatting. Without a word, the icy woman pointed to a standard-sized battlefield at the roadside and walked toward it.
Sato understood immediately—this was the ninth Rocket elite sent to challenge him. Saying nothing, he guided Arcanine telepathically to follow her.
To be honest, Sophia was completely stunned when she saw Sato.
She had been following a secret directive from Giovanni to serve as the ninth examiner in testing a new Rocket recruit's strength. She had never expected that recruit to be Sato.
As someone who had once helped Sato take his first steps as a trainer, Sophia knew he was talented—but she had not imagined he'd grow so fast. In just a few months since his debut, he had already reached the strength of a pseudo Elite Four level trainer.
And now, even after defeating eight challengers of that caliber, he was still in peak form, ready to face her—the final examiner.
For a brief moment, Sophia recalled the second round of the Rookie Competition that had just ended yesterday. Knowing Sato had also taken part, a tangle of complex emotions surged within her cold heart.
"How ridiculous… To think I'd be the one to raise a monster like this," she thought to herself with a hint of bitter irony.
As someone who had once failed the trials on the mysterious island, Sophia now understood why Sato's growth had been so explosive. His strength made sense now. And with it, she couldn't help but recall her own bitter memories of being utterly crushed by a psychic girl on that same island.
Her eyes grew colder.
The next moment, a pale blue PokéBall flew from her hand. As it opened upon hitting the ground, a terrifying wave of cold air surged out like a winter storm, engulfing the entire battlefield.
In an instant, a layer of ice spread across the arena at a pace visible to the naked eye. As it covered nearly two-thirds of the field, a powerful Weavile stepped confidently onto the reflective ice.
As soon as Weavile touched down, snow began to fall in a ten-meter radius around it—forming its own frozen domain.