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Battles between Pokémon can change in an instant. One moment, a Pokémon may hold the advantage; the next, it can be completely turned around by its opponent.
In the battle between Nidoking and Gallade, the vast majority of the audience believed Gallade would win. After all, the type advantage was obvious, and Gallade could use teleportation-like movement, maintaining the initiative almost the entire time.
Especially when Gallade charged straight through Nidoking's Thunderbolt and landed a heavy punch that seriously injured Nidoking, everyone thought the battle was over. Yet who could have guessed that the situation would reverse so suddenly—Nidoking unleashed a full combo and knocked Gallade flat on the spot.
For a moment, many spectators felt as if they'd been riding a roller coaster. They stared at one another in shock, faces full of disbelief—particularly Alice's fans, whose expressions were utterly incredulous.
As Alice's supporters, they knew Gallade's strength very well. Yet now it had been defeated by the Nidoking of a trainer with little reputation. It was simply hard for them to accept.
Clap clap clap—
Even so, although many in the audience supported Alice, Nidoking's victory was undeniable. When faced with true strength, the crowd did not hesitate to give Sato and Nidoking a round of enthusiastic applause.
"Come back, Gallade. You did very well."
Alice recalled her defeated Gallade into its PokeBall and gently comforted it.
"Defeat accepted wholeheartedly. Mr. Suzuki's Nidoking is truly impressive—accurately predicting Gallade's landing point. If there's a chance in the future, let's spar again."
She then walked up to Sato, removed the white lace glove from her right hand, and extended her slender hand toward him with a radiant smile.
"Your Gallade was no slouch either. Its fighting spirit was incredible—Nidoking almost lost. Next time, I'll have to be even more careful."
Sato immediately reached out and lightly shook her hand, nodding with a smile.
After exchanging contact information, the two parted ways.
Watching Sato leave so decisively, Alice couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness. She had originally hoped to learn more about Sato as a Trainer.
After all, his strength was obvious. If she could establish a proper connection with him, it might prove invaluable in the future when she needed help.
Unfortunately, Sato gave her no such opportunity, brushing her off with the excuse that he still had other matters to attend to.
He didn't even give her a chance to pick up the bill. Their interaction ended at nothing more than a single Pokémon battle and the exchange of communication numbers.
"Miss, that man really doesn't know what's good for him. He rejected your invitation outright. You should've revealed your identity—his attitude would've changed instantly, I guarantee it."
After Sato had gone far away, a black-haired girl dressed in a women's suit walked up beside Alice. Wearing sunglasses, she stared at Sato's retreating back and spoke angrily.
"Yuanzi, watch your manners. A strong person naturally has pride. And remember—never mention anything about the family while we're traveling. Also, didn't I tell you not to dress like this?"
Alice frowned slightly, her expression tinged with annoyance.
"Yes, Miss."
The black-haired girl named Yuanzi stuck out her tongue and replied softly.
Then, to the astonishment of those nearby, she completed a lightning-fast outfit change—almost like Jessie and James after finishing their lines. In an instant, her formal suit was replaced with a neat casual outfit, and she transformed into a round-faced, cheerful-looking girl.
"So similar… really similar. Yuanzi, when we get back, help me look into this Trainer named Raiden Suzuki."
Alice looked at the personal maid and bodyguard her family had assigned to her, then turned her gaze back in the direction Sato had left, her expression strange.
Although Raiden Suzuki differed from the Sato she remembered in many ways—temperament, build, hairstyle—she still felt strongly that the man was Sato, the Trainer she had long sought to defeat.
And there was one thing she was now certain of: Raiden Suzuki's eyes were extremely similar to Sato's. When they looked at her, both carried the same faint trace of indifference and dislike.
"Understood, Miss. Oh—Mr. Hughes called earlier, but you were in a battle at the time, so I asked him to call back later."
As Yuanzi mentioned Hughes' name, Alice's face instantly flushed red.
"Idiot! Why didn't you tell me sooner? What if Mr. Hughes thinks I was neglecting him?"
Alice scolded Yuanzi in a low voice, cheeks burning.
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurriedly grabbed the pink communicator from Yuanzi's hands and nervously pressed the number at the very top of her contact list.
...…
Meanwhile, Sato gradually left the beach behind and returned to the city proper. However, instead of heading back to his residence in the city center, he went deep into the most chaotic western outskirts of Slateport City.
His purpose for entering the western suburbs late at night was simple—to digest the gains from his trip to the Dragon's Den. Slateport City's black market was hidden in this area.
Before long, dressed in black with a mask, Sato passed through several deserted alleys filled with flowing sewage. He casually lifted a nearby manhole cover, left a black card on the ground, and jumped straight down.
Not long after Sato disappeared, a man with an utterly ordinary face silently emerged from the shadows. He replaced the manhole cover, picked up the black card, and vanished once more into the darkness.
Like the black markets of many cities, Slateport's black market was built underground. This was a long-standing rule agreed upon by those who ruled the surface world and those who ruled the shadows: all black-market transactions had to take place where sunlight could never reach.
Sato navigated the maze-like sewers with practiced ease. After dealing with a few foolish wild Pokémon along the way, he entered the black market through its eastern entrance without incident.
It was already close to midnight, and the black market was gradually entering its liveliest hours. Today, Sato didn't head straight for the free-trade zone. Instead, he went directly to an underground money house.
After taking out a thick stack of unregistered bank cards, he was escorted into a luxuriously decorated room. Soon after, he met with a second-level manager of the underground bank.
The man never once asked where Sato had obtained the cards. After agreeing on the transaction fee, he immediately sent someone to exchange them.
A total of twenty-three unregistered bank cards—after deducting a 10% service fee—were converted into a single, completely clean unregistered card containing 52 million PokeDollars.
Sato then left the underground bank and entered the free-trade zone, spending his newly acquired funds without restraint.
To cover the food and storage costs of Swampert and his other Pokémon, Sato had previously transferred most of his earlier earnings to Professor Oak's Laboratory as sponsorship funds. At present, his usable capital was only around 80 million PokeDollars.
As the number of Pokémon under his command continued to grow, his daily food expenses skyrocketed. Combined with other major costs—such as Technical Machines—his finances were beginning to fall into the red.
If not for the substantial funds he had accumulated early on, Sato would have gone bankrupt long ago.
"It's time to establish some assets of my own. Relying solely on missions to make money isn't a long-term solution. And I also need a base of my own—it's not appropriate to keep leaving my Pokémon in other people's care forever."
Looking at the unregistered bank card in his hand, now rapidly depleted after purchasing several TMs, Sato couldn't help but sigh.