Behind the judges' panel, Sato, Howard, and Nurse Joy stood side by side, completely unconcerned that Gallade's punch had wrecked their seats.
Inside the Spatial Barrier, Magmar swung its sluggish Fire Punches with effort, instinctively trying to fend off Gallade's relentless assault.
Unfortunately, Magmar was just an ordinary Low Elite Four Pokémon.
The outcome had been decided from the start.
Yasunori gritted his teeth, eyes wide, fists clenched so hard they turned pale… but he couldn't even bring himself to shout the word "forfeit."
He was the strongest combatant of the Yamaguchi Family, and he represented the family's reputation.
Even if Magmar stood no chance of winning, he could not surrender voluntarily. Not until it fell.
"Magmar, Fire Spin. Cover the whole field!"
Yasunori gave the command in a deep voice, and Magmar forced itself to rally, attempting to cast Fire Spin across the entire stage.
With its eyes closed, Magmar tried to sense Gallade's position through the spreading flames.
There!
Magmar suddenly twisted its head and fired a scorching Flamethrower straight in that direction.
At the same time, Joseph had already conveyed the most direct counterattack plan to Gallade through the Viridian Power.
"Slash through it!"
"Gallade!"
Gallade flashed forward into the projected path of the Flamethrower, crossed its arms, then swung outward forcefully!
Two white cross-shaped slashes burst forth, instantly splitting the Flamethrower into four separate streams.
"Charge in. Psycho Cut!"
Gallade didn't slow down, passing straight through the fragmented flames and arriving in front of Magmar.
In the next moment, Gallade's eyes glowed purple, and its hands gathered gleaming violet light…
Shing!
Shing!!
Psycho Cut… Double Hit!
Gallade landed on one knee, slowly sheathing its blades. As it opened its eyes, Magmar collapsed with a thud.
Gallade, complete victory!
The applause started small but quickly grew louder. Gallade calmly returned to Joseph's side, as if nothing had happened at all.
Gengar also deactivated the Spatial Barrier and quietly slipped back into Sato's shadow, silently awaiting the next mission.
Only the beaten and battered Magmar lying on its back served as proof that any of this had really happened.
At that moment, Joseph spoke.
"You lost. So now, do as I said…" While speaking, Joseph pointed toward the spectators who had been hit by Flamethrower earlier.
"Apologize to them!"
It was only now that the crowd finally understood! What Joseph had wanted all along was simply an apology.
Yasunori's face went pale. He struggled to steady his trembling right hand and recalled his fallen Magmar.
Looking at the whispering spectators and their disdainful stares, he felt both shocked and furious.
But after weathering many storms in his life, he took a deep breath and finally bowed at a full ninety degrees toward the affected audience.
"I'm sorry!"
---◓---
[And so, depending on the intensity of the competition, the level of venue protection will vary.
The Breeders Association Evaluation Competition involves no intense combat scenarios, so only basic safety measures are necessary…]
On television, Leader Howard pointed to the damaged field and explained calmly. With his seniority, no one suspected he was covering for Joseph.
Which meant that what had happened at the Breeder Competition was, without question, the fault of Trainer Yasunori.
And it wasn't just his fault. It was a complete, undeniable loss. No chance for rebuttal.
Goldenrod City, Goldenrod Farm.
Leader Howard warmly welcomed Sato and the others, enthusiastically bragging about how he had seen Sato's potential at first glance back in the day, going on and on about his "sharp" instincts.
Joseph kept smiling silently, putting on the appearance of attentively listening.
But he occasionally glanced at Sato with a half-smile, as if saying, "So you've finally been humbled too."
Sosuke and Sina were different; they listened with full attention to Leader Howard's tall tales, as if reliving every moment of the past.
After all, when Sato had first appeared before them, he had already been dazzling like a comet.
"Sato! My Miltank is super strong! I'm definitely going to beat you today!"
The little girl was growing up. Whitney shouted with a "fierce" cuteness, and the Miltank beside her echoed with a series of enthusiastic "Moo! Mil! Tank!"
"Then let's battle in a bit," Sato replied with a smile, though he had already started calculating when to leave.
After lunch, everyone headed to the pasture's battle field. Sato and Whitney each stood on one side, and their respective Pokémon were already on the field.
Miltank!
Pikachu!
Yes, the Pokémon Sato sent out was the adorable Electric-type he had once raised purely as a pet… Pikachu!
Now, Pikachu was even cuter than before, and its strength had improved dramatically.
Ever since it started actively training and battling, Pikachu's strength had steadily grown.
Of course, it was still undoubtedly the weakest among Sato's team.
As for Miltank on the other side, it had already reached Ace level.
Given Whitney's age, this was already an outstanding achievement among her peers.
With temporary referee Sosuke announcing the start, the battle officially began.
…Five minutes later
Pikachu cheekily poked the exhausted and collapsed Miltank twice with its tail. After confirming it couldn't get up, it swiftly leapt onto Sato's shoulder with a smug, tsundere expression that screamed, "I'm awesome!"
"Not bad. You've been training well with Drapion and the others."
Pikachu nodded repeatedly and even flexed its arms to show off non-existent muscles.
"Whoaaa…! Pretty good," Sato responded half-heartedly.
Across from him, Whitney hugged Miltank's head with a disappointed look, gently petting and comforting it.
But thinking about how her opponent was Sato -the current guardian deity of the Johto Region- Whitney felt it was only natural that she lost.
If she had won, now that would've been strange!
She quickly came around, and a smile returned to her face.
Happily, she recalled Miltank and insisted on dragging Sato along to get both Pokémon treated; even if Pikachu wasn't hurt, it was at least tired, right?
After sitting through a bit more of Leader Howard's storytelling, the four of them took their leave and returned to Goldenrod City, then boarded a plane to their next destination.
This time, Joseph temporarily rejoined the team. The four of them traveled together to the hometown of the "Twin Elite Four" of Johto, Mahogany Town.
"Leader, your first match in the Elite Four Tournament has been decided. You'll be battling Elite Four Sen. I've compiled this information over the past few days. It may be useful."
On the plane, Sosuke handed over a thick stack of documents, detailing every recorded match Sen had ever fought since rising to fame. It was far more than just reference material.
Sato took the documents and looked straight into Sosuke's eyes.
"You've made up your mind?"
Sosuke nodded, answering with equal seriousness, "I have. I'll head to League Headquarters and guard your rear lines, Leader!"
Sato smiled and handed over a gift he had long prepared, offering it to Sosuke…
"My back is yours to watch from now on!"