Kay turned to face his opponent, his expression serious, and said, "Now, I want you to raise your hand and shout clearly that you surrender this battle and that I am the winner."
Player 27 raised an eyebrow, looking at Kay with confusion and slight irritation, and then he replied. "I told you I'd surrender, but I didn't agree to make myself look like a fool."
His voice held a hint of annoyance, clearly not fond of the idea of publicly declaring his defeat like that.
But Kay quickly explained, his voice calm and firm. "I'm not trying to humiliate you; I want you to do it as a guarantee for me. What if I return your Cubone's bone and then you change your mind or attack me? There's nothing stopping you from doing that. And I'm not sure if the organizers actually heard our deal."
He paused for a second, letting the logic sink in, then continued. "I'm sure there are cameras watching this island to see who wins each battle. But unless you declare your surrender loudly and clearly, the people running this tournament might not know what just happened. They might count you as the winner just because they didn't hear our deal. But if you raise your hands and shout your surrender, the cameras and microphones will catch it. The organizers will hear it, and I'll be officially marked as the winner. And if you try to attack me afterward, you might be disqualified entirely."
After Kay finished speaking, a long silence passed between them. Then, unexpectedly, Player 27 chuckled and began clapping his hands again, slowly and respectfully.
"You've thought of everything, haven't you?" he said with a smile that didn't seem as hostile anymore.
"You're more dangerous than you look. I expect you a bright future." Then, without another word, he raised both hands in the air and shouted loudly, his voice echoing through the quiet clearing, "I am Player 27! I confess that I have surrendered my battle against Player Number 10, holding ticket Number 20!"
Kay felt a sense of relief, but that feeling was quickly followed by surprise. A grin appeared on Player 27's face right after he said those words, and Kay's eyes widened slightly.
'He knows I changed my number…' Kay thought. It was true; he had changed his ticket number to keep his identity hidden from other players.
The first time someone had figured it out was the person targeting him, which made sense. But Player 27 wasn't supposed to know.
That meant he had been watching all the players, not just his own target. Kay didn't say anything.
He kept a calm face and pretended not to understand what his opponent had meant, acting like it was a coincidence.
Just then, Growlithe reappeared, jogging back from the woods. Kay turned toward his Pokémon and gave it a gentle smile.
"Growlithe, I'm sorry, but could you bring the bone back?" Growlithe barked, a short, understanding sound, "Graaaw…" and turned around, heading back into the trees once more to retrieve the hidden bone.
Meanwhile, Kay walked over to Eevee, who was lying on the ground, barely able to move.
Its body was covered in bruises, and it breathed heavily, worn out from the tough battle. Kay knelt beside it and began treating its wounds with healing potions he had prepared earlier.
His hands were careful and gentle, and he spoke soft words of encouragement to his partner. Slowly, Eevee's breathing became more stable, and it opened its eyes a little wider.
A few minutes later, Kay noticed Growlithe emerging from the trees once again, this time carrying the bone in its mouth.
It trotted toward him proudly, tail wagging gently. When it reached him, it placed the bone by his foot and looked up at him with loyal eyes.
Kay picked up the bone, nodded at Growlithe with gratitude, then looked toward Cubone.
With a quick motion, he tossed the bone toward the Pokémon. Cubone caught it mid-air with a spin and gave Kay a respectful nod, silently thanking him for returning it.
Kay turned his gaze back to Player 27 and gave him a light wave. "I think that's everything. See you in the next game."
With that, he returned Growlithe to its Pokéball, put it in his pocket, and began walking back into the forest, disappearing between the trees.
Kay continued walking deeper into the forest, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the battlefield where the surrender had just taken place.
His footsteps were steady, but his mind was racing. After Player 27 had shouted out loud that he surrendered, Kay knew it wasn't just the cameras and organizers who might have heard it; other players nearby could have caught wind of it too.
That worried him. He couldn't predict how others might react. Even though it was prohibited to attack other players, no one could predict what could happen in these games.
Either way, Kay didn't want to stick around there to find out how other players would react. The safest thing to do was to disappear from that area quickly.
As he walked through the tall trees and thick brush, Kay took out his Pokédex and checked the time.
To his surprise, he still had a lot of time left before the current game phase ended. So, Kay decided to train with his Pokémons before the end of this game.
He already had ideas forming in his mind about the direction he wanted to take with Eevee and Growlithe.
After walking for some time, Kay found a small cave hidden among the trees, quiet and well-shaded, a perfect place to hide and train without being noticed.
He stepped inside and sat near the entrance, looking out at the forest through a curtain of vines and low branches.
He sat there for a while, thinking hard. His eyes were calm, but inside, he was sorting through dozens of thoughts, strategies, possible moves, and the next steps for his Pokémons.
After a long moment, he suddenly stood up and stretched his arms and back. He felt the stiffness in his muscles ease slightly.
Then he turned toward his Pokémons with a small smile. "Finally," he said with determination, "I've decided which moves you two should train on."
As he said that, he shifted his thoughts inward and called out to the Rotom System inside his head.
'System,can you help me with training Eevee and Growlithe?' The answer came almost instantly, the system's robotic voice echoing clearly inside his mind.
'If you mean helping your Pokémon learn moves instantly with no effort, then no. But I can assist by pointing out what they're doing wrong and helping you correct their training techniques.'
Kay gave a short nod, understanding what the system meant. He didn't want shortcuts anyway. He turned toward Eevee first and spoke clearly.
"Eevee, your training will focus on learning Calm Mind. It's a move that increases both your special attack and special defense. With your battle style, this will help you stay in the fight longer while also making your attacks hit harder, it would help you with your future evolution as well."
Then he faced Growlithe, his tone shifting just slightly to match Growlithe's more energetic nature.
"Growlithe, I want you to train on Flame Charge. Not only is it a solid fire-type move, but it also boosts your speed. With how you like to charge into battles head-first, that extra speed will make it harder for opponents to dodge your attacks and easier for you to strike first."
Eevee and Growlithe both gave cries of excitement, ready for the challenge. "Eevwee..." "Graaww..."
See you in the next chapter...
Drop some Power Stones...