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"You did well, Staryu. Come back and rest."
After watching Staryu lose its ability to battle, Sato decisively surrendered, preventing his opponent from taking the chance to inflict further harm. He took out its PokeBall, recalled Staryu, and offered a few comforting words.
Since Kirk's Victreebel had crushed Staryu with overwhelming strength, the crowd — which had previously leaned slightly in Sato's favor — quickly shifted sides. They began cheering for Kirk, the Trainer who had displayed such dominance.
Hearing the spectators' applause, Kirk finally revealed a satisfied grin. Raising both hands, he nodded to the audience, as if he had already secured victory in this three-on-three Pokémon battle.
He even tilted his head back arrogantly and glanced at Sato with a smug expression, clearly one step away from saying, "You're finished!"
Sato, however, merely smirked coldly. He had originally planned to toy with him a little longer — but just moments ago, he'd received a message from Captain Reggie. One glance at the shocking contents was enough to tell him that he didn't have much time left to waste on this rookie.
"Your turn, Swampert."
Sato drew the PokeBall containing Swampert and tossed it forward under the crowd's expectant gaze.
A flash of white light burst out, and Swampert's towering, mountain-like figure appeared on the floating platform opposite Victreebel.
"So you couldn't resist sending out Swampert after all, huh? Let's see how my Victreebel handles that."
"Victreebel, Leaf Storm!"
Kirk squinted his eyes, a sneer curling on his lips. As soon as the referee's whistle signaled the start, he taunted Sato and immediately ordered Victreebel to launch a fierce attack.
But before his words had even finished leaving his mouth, his eyes went wide with disbelief.
Before Victreebel could so much as begin using Leaf Storm, Swampert had already leapt into the air. From above, it unleashed a massive, ice-blue beam as thick as a barrel.
The speed of the attack was like a bullet — Victreebel didn't even have time to react before being struck head-on. In an instant, it was completely annihilated by Swampert's Ice Beam.
What's more — the attack didn't just take out Victreebel. The entire water field beneath them froze solid in the blink of an eye.
The audience members who had been cheering for Kirk and his Victreebel went silent. One by one, their faces mirrored Kirk's — stunned and disbelieving.
"Uh… V-Victreebel is unable to battle! Swampert wins!"
Even the referee had been caught off guard by the sudden one-hit knockout. After swallowing hard and confirming Victreebel was out cold, he hastily declared the match over almost as soon as it began.
"Whaaa—!"
The referee's announcement snapped the audience out of their shock. The arena erupted into chaos.
By now, Kirk's face was drenched in cold sweat. The moment Victreebel was instantly defeated, he realized the truth — he had been nothing but a clown on display.
Baku's Swampert wasn't weak at all, nothing like the reports had described. Kirk might not have been a master, but he knew power when he saw it. The Swampert before him was definitely at the Peak pseudo Elite-Four level.
In fact, he suspected that it might even surpass the terrifying Gyarados that served his own boss — and that was saying something.
If even Kirk, the so-called "star gladiator," was shaken to his core, those behind him were no better. The moment they saw Swampert obliterate Victreebel in an instant, many of them furiously smashed their cups in rage.
Plenty of them had seen Swampert's earlier battle video against Hanmo's Crawdaunt. But clearly, Baku had been holding back back then — tricking them into underestimating Swampert's true strength.
And to be fair, their mistake was understandable. Baku's Swampert wasn't known for long-range moves; it preferred close combat.
"Hey, trash over there — hurry up and recall your Pokémon. Then send out your next one to die."
Sato had no time to care what others thought. He needed to move quickly. When he saw the Team Aqua Trainer across from him frozen in fear, too stunned to recall his Pokémon, Sato's tone turned impatient and sharp.
Kirk flinched under Sato's cold glare. The humiliation stung, but he gritted his teeth, swallowed his pride, and silently withdrew his frozen Victreebel.
To be fair, the match organizers had gone to great lengths to give Kirk an advantage. His final Pokémon was a level 50 Ludicolo — a strong one, skilled in many ranged Grass-type attacks, and boasting the excellent ability Swift Swim.
If the Swampert on the field had truly been Baku's, not Sato's, then Kirk might have actually stood a chance.
Unfortunately, there were no "ifs." From the moment the organizers chose him to face Sato, his defeat had already been sealed.
The last battle didn't last long. Swampert easily closed the distance on Ludicolo, then smashed it down with a single, devastating Ice Hammer, ending the fight.
Sato left the battle zone calmly, collecting his winnings — fifty thousand contribution points — from the gambling pool.
Meanwhile, several nautical miles away from the Team Aqua base, on the open sea, Captain Reggie and his crew were speeding toward the island aboard a heavily modified speedboat.
Reggie had spared no effort to assist in Sato's rescue mission — not only bringing his best men, but also enlisting Hoenn's own Dragon-type Elite, Drake, as backup.
At that very moment, the still-vigorous Dragon Master Drake soared thousands of meters above them on his ace Salamence, gliding steadily over the ocean, ready to strike at any moment.
When Reggie had gone to request his help — explaining Sato's situation — Drake had immediately recognized an opportunity to recover the stolen artifact.
He agreed on the spot, on the condition that Sato would either recover or destroy the stolen item during the mission.
At the same time, Drake secretly began mobilizing forces, assembling a powerful League strike team.
The sea was undoubtedly Team Aqua's home turf, and evading their surveillance on the water was nearly impossible. Therefore, the League assault team was approaching — from the air.
Indeed, Drake wasn't alone above Reggie's speedboat. Hidden among the thick clouds behind him was a massive airship, faintly visible through the mist.
Because of Sato's unexpected interference, the League's full-scale assault — originally planned for two days later — had to begin now.