Hariyama fell.
This meant that Bea won the first round of the battle.
Natsui, Misty, and May stood to the side and clapped. Scott also had a smile on his face. He joined them and clapped too.
Scott was the owner of the Battle Frontier. He did not care whether a Frontier Brain or a challenger won. He was happy as long as the fight was great. What he wanted to see was the spirit of the Battle Frontier.
While Natsui was clapping, Bea glanced at him quickly. She acted as if nothing had happened, then immediately looked back at the field.
No one noticed this small movement. Even Natsui did not see it.
Greta felt bad about the result. However, she accepted that she had lost the first round.
That fight had been a test of pure strength. Her Pokémon was simply not as strong. It lost in a fair head-on clash. There was nothing else to say.
Greta recalled Hariyama into its Poké Ball. She took a moment to choose her next Pokémon. Then, when the second round began, she raised her hand and sent out Medicham.
Medicham looked almost human. The top of its head, its legs, and its lips were bright red, with pale yellow markings on those parts. The rest of its body was white.
Its upper body was thin, but its lower body was much thicker. It also had long arms. Because of its colors, it looked a little like someone doing yoga or a dancer.
This kind of Pokémon trained hard in yoga. Because of that, it had very strong mental power. It could use that power to predict what the opponent would do.
Usually, it fasted for long periods so it could meditate. If it focused deeply enough, it could see the opponent's aura. Some people said it could increase its energy through meditation. Its senses would become extremely sharp. It could even hide its presence by blending in with the mountains and fields.
Medicham was a Psychic- and Fighting-type Pokémon. Compared to Hariyama, it focused more on skill than brute force. Its movements were beautiful and almost dance-like, letting it dodge attacks and strike the opponent hard.
Bea looked at Medicham. She thought for a moment, then looked at her own Pokémon.
She recalled Pangoro and sent Hawlucha onto the field instead.
At first glance, this did not seem like a very smart choice.
Medicham was a Psychic type, while Pangoro was a Dark type. That meant Medicham would have a much harder time dealing with Pangoro. But Bea still switched out and gave up that advantage.
However, she had her reasons.
Pangoro had been hurt in the previous round and was also tired. Bea did not know whether it could finish another full battle. She wanted to let it rest so she could use it later if needed. That was her backup plan.
Also, Hawlucha was a Flying type. Compared to Grapploct, it would be less helpless against a Psychic-type Medicham.
The referee gave the signal.
The second round officially began.
Bea understood the type issue, so Hawlucha attacked first the moment the battle started.
Hawlucha had the word "hawk" in its name, and the feathers on its body looked like a cape. However, it could not truly fly. Its body was very light, and it could jump very high. It also used its wings to adjust itself in midair, letting it stay airborne for a short time.
That made its attacks very hard to predict.
However, Medicham's body was extremely flexible, and that helped it a lot.
Hawlucha attacked repeatedly, but Medicham moved with smooth, flowing motions and avoided every strike with ease.
Hawlucha tried to slash with its talons, but it missed again. Gradually, it began to grow impatient.
That gave Medicham an opening.
Greta and Bea were both very good at finding mistakes. If there was even the slightest gap, they would use it immediately.
In an instant, Medicham used its psychic power. Hawlucha's body stiffened. Then Medicham followed up with Fighting-type attacks and brought Hawlucha down quite easily.
This battle was not really decided by which Pokémon was stronger. Medicham's flexible body simply countered Hawlucha's style very well. Its Psychic typing also gave it an advantage here.
The score was now tied at one to one.
The students were happy because Greta had won a round. Natsui and the others, meanwhile, all looked at Bea. Her face stayed calm.
They knew the match was not over yet, so they waited to see what she would do next.
Very soon, Bea showed her strength.
She proved once again how solid her training was.
When the third round started, she still did not send Pangoro back out. Instead, she chose Grapploct.
The type matchup was still not in her favor. However, Grapploct used the four tentacles on its upper body to great effect and defeated Medicham despite the disadvantage.
Medicham's movements no longer worked against those four tentacles. Grapploct found its chance, grabbed Medicham, and squeezed it tightly until Medicham fainted.
The score became two to one.
But the fight still was not over.
Pangoro returned to the field after resting and faced Hitmonchan.
Pangoro was clearly much stronger. Hitmonchan was said to punch faster than a bullet, but Pangoro crushed it.
With one punch, Hitmonchan lost the will to keep fighting.
With two punches, Greta lost any chance of turning the match around.
Pangoro stood there with a bamboo leaf in its mouth, looking overwhelmingly powerful.
In the end, Bea won the battle by a score of three to one. It was a fairly easy victory.
The students looked confused, sad, and disappointed. Natsui and the others, however, clapped for the battle.
"I lost." Greta looked at the result and shook her head. Then she looked at Bea and said, "Your Pokémon are raised very well. I'm no match for you at all."
Greta was a Frontier Brain, but she was not the kind of person who worried too much about her reputation. She was not embarrassed by the loss. She accepted it calmly.
However, she did not know that Bea was not very good at talking to people.
Bea heard the praise and only nodded.
"Losing one round proves that my training is still not enough."
Greta did not know how to answer that.
If losing one round meant her training was not good enough, then what did that say about Greta? She had lost three rounds. Did that mean her training had been worthless?
And what did that mean for all of her students?
Greta heard the stiffness in Bea's voice and guessed that Bea simply had a very serious personality. So she shook her head and stopped thinking about it.
Then Greta walked up to Bea. She took a gold badge from her shirt. It was round and looked like a coin.
"This is the Guts Symbol. It is proof of strength for winning at the Battle Arena. Please take it."
Bea thanked her, accepted the Symbol, and put it into her backpack. Then she stepped back and looked toward Natsui.
Natsui stood up and walked over with Misty and May.
"Congratulations. That was a really good fight."
He congratulated Bea first. Then he turned to Greta. He was about to speak, but Greta shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I really want to battle you right now, but as you just saw, all of my Pokémon have been defeated. Until they recover, I'm afraid I can't battle you."
"Eh?" Misty looked surprised. "Miss Greta, do you only have these few Pokémon?"
"Of course not," Greta said with a laugh. "I have many more Pokémon. But if I'm going to battle a Champion, I want to use my strongest team. And as you can see..."
Natsui understood.
Medicham and Hariyama were among her strongest Pokémon. He would have to wait. Since he also wanted to face her best team, he was willing to wait for them to recover.
"Alright. I'm willing to wait."
Natsui agreed, and Greta looked pleased.
For Gym Leaders and Frontier Brains, battling experts like Natsui was a very valuable chance to improve their Pokémon. She did not want to miss that opportunity.
After speaking with Natsui, Greta turned to Bea and smiled.
"Miss Bea, if I may ask, you must be a karate expert too, right? I was wondering... besides the Pokémon battle, would you be willing to have a karate match with me?"
Everyone looked at the two women again.
This was no longer a Pokémon battle. It was going to be a karate match.
That was a very rare thing to see.
Bea was surprised that Greta wanted to test her karate directly. She thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
"I can do that."
Greta handed her Poké Balls to one of the students so they could be taken for treatment. Then she adjusted her clothes and looked at Bea.
A very strong aura rose from her.
Natsui led the two girls back to where they had been standing before so the field would stay clear. Scott took off his sunglasses and watched the arena closely.
The students became very quiet.
Bea looked at Greta without backing down. Her own aura also rose rapidly. Then both of them let out a shout and took their stances.
They faced each other, shifting back and forth, searching for a weakness, waiting for the right moment to attack.
The atmosphere became extremely tense before the fight even began.
Natsui did not understand karate at all. He did not know the technical terms or the finer details. He was just watching because it looked exciting.
Then suddenly, Greta moved first.
She attacked Bea with her hands. Bea blocked and countered at the same time.
Everything happened incredibly fast.
In only one or two seconds, the two of them exchanged blows and separated again.
At first glance, it looked like a draw.
However, the students nearby gasped. It seemed that Bea had the advantage.
Misty lowered her voice and asked, "Natsui, can you tell what's happening?"
Natsui shook his head.
"I've never practiced it, and I don't know the rules. Let's just watch. We'll know the result when it's clear."
If one side had a huge advantage, anyone could see it. But when experts fought at high speed, it was very hard to tell who was actually winning. It was not easy to see who had really landed a clean hit.
At moments like this, you could easily tell who was an amateur and who was a real expert.
But Natsui did not need to understand every detail. He could still enjoy the match.
After that first exchange, Bea and Greta both understood each other's level. They stopped testing and started attacking seriously.
They passed by each other again and again, using both hands and bare feet. They exchanged blows several times in rapid succession. It almost looked like a battle between Pokémon instead of humans.
Natsui and the two girls watched with great interest. The students were staring too. It was rare for them to witness such a fierce karate match.
Then, at last, both women stepped back at the same time and bowed to each other.
Natsui and the others were confused.
Was it over already?
It did not look like either of them had won clearly.
Greta laughed and said, "People in Kanto once called me a rare talent. I always thought I was very strong, but I didn't expect to meet someone even stronger today. Thank you for holding back just now."
Natsui could not help thinking about how many so-called talents there were in the world.
Kanto called Greta a rare talent. Galar called Bea a once-in-a-hundred-years talent.
Everyone seemed to love using the word talent.
But Greta's words clearly meant something.
Did that mean Bea had won the karate match too?
It really seemed that the "hundred years" title meant something.
"You are too kind," Bea said, shaking her head. "You were able to take my attacks. That proves it was only a draw."
"Oh, come on." Greta held up her hands. "Just look at these. They're already this red. The power in your last kick was way too strong. Even though I blocked with both hands, it felt like my bones were about to crack. If we kept going, my hands would have swollen up first. So I lost this match."
Now everyone understood.
They had looked equal on the surface, but Greta's body could not have taken many more hits.
The students stared at Bea in shock, almost as if they were looking at a monster.
She looked around the same age as Greta, yet she was far stronger. It was incredible.
In the end, Greta had lost the karate match too.
That meant she had lost to Bea in every way, in Pokémon battle and in direct combat.