Matome had, of course, read up on Nathan and knew he was very powerful.
So when the battle started, she immediately sent out her strongest Pokémon—Greninja!
"Greninja, use Smokescreen!"
Although Nathan's earlier behavior seemed quite unserious, Matome didn't underestimate him.
After all, there aren't many people who can win the championship in their own country without real strength.
As Greninja released Smokescreen, nearly half the arena was covered in thick smoke.
"Pangoro, just charge in and drag Greninja out!"
Nathan didn't even bother trying to dispel the smoke. He simply ordered Pangoro to rush in.
What a joke—he was here to promote his Dynamax Candy, not to mess around with fancy strategies!
Seeing that Pangoro had really charged into the smoke, Matome was instantly delighted.
She had been worried that Nathan might instruct Pangoro to dispel the smoke or just wait outside for Greninja to come out.
But now—this was giving her a perfect opportunity!
Once inside the smoke, it was Greninja's domain.
"Hmph! Nathan, I thought you were stronger than this. Turns out you're nothing special. Greninja, use Shadow Sneak and aim for a vital spot!" Matome scoffed.
No matter how you look at it, sending your Pokémon into your opponent's smokescreen is a very unwise choice.
Yet Nathan had done exactly that.
A crisp ding echoed throughout the Murakami Battle Arena.
Matome froze.
Greninja had reported back—it couldn't break through Pangoro's defense!
Its attacks were no more effective than tickling.
"Greninja, use Water Shuriken!"
"Greninja, use Extrasensory with Shadow Sneak combo!"
...
Attack after attack, Nathan didn't even bother giving any commands.
He simply stood there, watching Matome put on a solo performance.
Meanwhile, inside the smokescreen, Pangoro had long since used Iron Body.
Greninja's attacks had no effect whatsoever.
It wasn't that Greninja was weak—it was that Pangoro was just way too strong.
Compared to Pangoro, Greninja simply stood no chance.
The spectators were all shocked by this completely unexpected match.
There wasn't even any back-and-forth; it was just Greninja scratching at Pangoro like a masseuse.
As time passed, the smokescreen finally dissipated.
"Pangoro, use Energy Ball! End this battle!"
"Rawrrr!"
Pangoro let out a roar and formed a compressed Energy Ball in its hands, then swallowed it.
Immediately, its already massive body grew even larger.
After swallowing the ball, Pangoro didn't wait for Nathan's orders.
It used Shave to approach Greninja instantly.
Greninja had already spent a lot of stamina on its earlier attacks, and its speed had noticeably dropped.
With Shave, Pangoro moved far faster than most Pokémon could match.
It grabbed one of Greninja's legs—this signaled the end of the battle.
Pangoro swung Greninja like a ragdoll and slammed it into the ground.
Hisss~
The entire crowd gasped at once.
Even the spectators watching the live stream sucked in a breath of cold air.
Simple, direct, brutal!
That slam left Greninja dizzy and dazed.
Pangoro let go of its leg, then jumped on the spot—leaping over ten meters into the air.
That was at least five or six stories high!
Then came a classic but devastating Body Slam.
It looked simple, but Pangoro had used Iron Body!
A chunk of muscle falling from the sky is one thing.
A chunk of iron falling from the sky is something else entirely!
Seeing Pangoro's move, Matome shouted, "Greninja, dodge it, quick!"
But Greninja was already disoriented and had no way of responding to commands.
Even if it could hear them, it probably wouldn't help.
Pangoro's massive body plummeted from over ten meters with a howling wind.
BOOM!
As Pangoro landed, the entire arena shook violently.
That alone showed just how powerful the move was.
On the battlefield, a crater the exact shape of Pangoro's body appeared.
Everyone who witnessed the match would never forget it.
That power, that durability—invincible!
At the edge of the crater, a furry paw appeared—it was Pangoro's.
It climbed out slowly and walked up to Nathan.
"This Nathan guy? 100% confirmed iron-hearted!"
"Who else would go that hard on a girl's Pokémon?"
"Love the raw, savage energy in that battle!"
Bullet comments on the live stream exploded with reactions.
Although Pangoro had been a bit rough...
No one was really criticizing Nathan.
After all, this was a competition—who cares if your opponent is a girl?
Matome, with teary eyes, ran to the edge of the crater and recalled Greninja into its Pokéball.
"I concede."
After retrieving Greninja, she immediately admitted defeat.
She had no choice—she didn't want to fight that monster anymore.
Just watching that attack hurt her as a girl—how could she let her Pokémon suffer like that?
As she turned away, a single tear hit the ground.
As fate would have it, the moment that tear hit the ground, the live broadcast director happened to catch it—and even replayed it in slow motion.
The audience exploded. They began verbally attacking Nathan online:
"Certified scumbag—made a girl cry."
"Poor girl had to face cold-hearted Nathan."
"Let me go! I'm heading to Valar to avenge her—I'm gonna beat Nathan up!"
"Whoever's going, I'll donate a penny for your plane ticket. Just make sure to kick him once for me."
…
Nathan, having just finished his match, hadn't checked the internet yet and was unaware of the situation.
Due to the drama of his first match—especially the emotional ending—people lost interest in the matches that followed.
That night, back in his hotel, Nathan finally looked at his phone and saw what was going on.
Reading the comments and articles attacking him, he felt wronged.
"This is the world stage, a global competition! Who cares if my opponent is a guy or a girl?"
He muttered to himself, "Sigh… I guess being too strong isn't always a good thing. What, should I start going easy if I face a girl next time?"
But thinking back on it… yeah, Pangoro might've been a bit heavy-handed during the day.
Still—it wasn't his fault! That was Pangoro's doing, not his. He didn't even give that order!
Since there were so many contestants in the preliminary rounds, Nathan had quite a bit of free time after finishing his first match.
And when you have free time, you naturally want to do something—just like Nathan.
Right now, what he really wanted was to check out one of Valar's mystic realms.
Although Valar wasn't large, it had no shortage of mysterious zones.
He'd heard of one particularly popular one: the Mt. Fudo mystic realm, which had nearly a hundred people entering and exiting daily.
While that number didn't sound huge, it was actually insane for a nearly S-rank mystic realm.
If such a high-level mystic realm had so many daily entrants, it meant it was truly special.
After asking the Murakami Arena staff, Nathan learned that his next match wouldn't be for several days.
There was no way he'd waste that much time sitting around watching matches.
He might as well use the time to level up his Grovyle.
His Eevee was still low-level, and Gastly was only level 10.
Nathan told Evelyn and the others about his plan to visit the mystic realm.
When they heard it was in Valar, they all wanted to tag along.
"Big bro, take us with you! We really don't want to keep watching matches anymore," Leo said, clinging to Nathan's arm.
Nathan gave him a look of disgust and pushed him away.
"What are you doing? We're both dudes. If you were a cute girl, I wouldn't mind a little flirting."
"You really want to follow me? I'm heading to Mt. Fudo mystic realm. If Evelyn wants to go, maybe. But you?"
He gave Leo a sidelong glance.
Mt. Fudo mystic realm!
As soon as Leo heard that name, he gave up on the idea instantly.
No way. He was still young—he had his whole life ahead of him.
Following Nathan into a near S-rank mystic realm? That was suicide.
With his strength, just surviving in there would be a challenge.
Evelyn was also taken aback upon hearing about the Mt. Fudo mystic realm.
She knew quite a bit about it too.
Rumor had it that even the weakest Pokémon in there were Gym-level—and they often traveled in packs.
The stronger ones?
They were all either in Elite or headed towards Champion level.
While she and the others were top-tier trainers in the national tournament...
(End of Chapter)