And so, a completely mismatched battle began.
On one side was Sato, going all out, hoping to use the opportunity to wear down his opponent.
On the other side was Wilma, deeply scheming, deliberately holding back to make Sato overconfident.
So what should have been a match where Sato was utterly crushed somehow turned into what looked like an even battle.
In the first round, Sato sent out his Peak Elite Zweilous, while Wilma sent out her relatively weaker Druddigon.
But "weaker" was only relative… Druddigon was at Peak Ace level, and that was no exaggeration.
But its Trainer wanted to throw the match!
"Druddigon, use Bite!"
--
"Druddigon, use Scratch!"
--
"Druddigon, use Dragon Rage!"
"…"
---
Druddigon had already gathered energy for a stronger Dragon Pulse, but was forced to hold it back and use the seemingly powerful but fixed-damage Dragon Rage.
Zweilous, meanwhile, was doing the exact opposite. Taking advantage of Wilma's intention to let him win, Sato often abandoned defense completely, going all-in with relentless offense.
Dragon Pulse, Earth Power, Aqua Tail, Draco Meteor…
By the time Zweilous collapsed from exhaustion, Druddigon was also covered in injuries, its eyes filled with frustration and fury.
"Honchkrow, your turn!"
With a flash of red light, Sato sent out Honchkrow and resumed his aggressive onslaught.
This time, perhaps fearing she was overacting, Wilma finally mounted a bit of an effective counterattack.
…But only just a bit.
Tailwind + Icy Wind quickly inflicted heavy damage on Druddigon.
And yet Wilma kept holding back, as if she'd forgotten her Druddigon could use Flamethrower.
The cold wind grew ever more biting. Druddigon became increasingly frozen. In its final moment before fainting, it turned to look at its Trainer.
'What did I ever do wrong!?'
Wilma couldn't help feeling a little guilty. After all, Druddigon had been her partner for so many years.
But if letting this brat go to his death meant sacrificing her partners for a bit, so be it.
"Altaria, continue the battle!"
"Alt~"
The graceful, beautiful Altaria appeared on the field, also at Peak Ace level. But without Mega Evolution, it was four times weak to Ice-type moves.
No need to say more!
Tailwind + Icy Wind.
Done and dusted.
Even though Icy Wind didn't have high base power, its lingering environmental effects made things difficult for Altaria, whose stamina continued to drop.
Once again, Wilma seemed to forget that Altaria could use Flamethrower and Fire Blast. She made no attempt to raise the surrounding temperature at all.
Then, under Honchkrow's disbelieving gaze, Altaria went down too.
Defeating two Peak Ace level Dragon-types in a row, Honchkrow felt today's battle was even easier than usual.
That left only one possible explanation…
It had gotten stronger!
"KROOOW KROOOOOW!"
Honchkrow flapped its wings excitedly, very pleased with its newfound strength, and even tilted its head at Sato expectantly, hoping for praise.
Sato smiled on the surface but sighed internally, wondering how his Honchkrow could be so big but so brainless.
'…Aren't crows supposed to be smart?'
Absolutely not!
On the other side, Wilma painfully recalled her Altaria, now purple from the cold, and suddenly regretted agreeing to Sato's scheme so easily.
But when she looked up and saw the excited expressions on Sato and Honchkrow's faces, she suddenly felt like she was just one step away from success.
'To destroy someone, first drive them mad!'
Wilma smirked proudly, then waved her hand to summon the Exeggutor standing beside her.
"Sato, believe me, your growth won't stop here. Let's keep battling to prove it!" Wilma fanned the flames even further.
"Thank you, Wilma! I'm getting more and more excited!" Sato responded with a mixture of pride and thrill, then recalled Honchkrow and sent out Zoroark.
"Zoroark, Night Slash!"
"Exeggutor, Egg Bomb!"
Exeggutor was still a Mid Elite Four level Pokémon. No matter how much Wilma held back, it was hard to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Egg Bomb flew straight in, intercepting Zoroark's charge with ease and forcing it to retreat!
"Sato, there's a vast difference between Ace and Elite Four Pokémon. Since you proposed this match, you must have had your own plan, right?"
Wilma spoke with an all-knowing smile, as if she had already seen through everything.
"As I expected of you, Wilma. In that case, please also evaluate how much my Dark Energy has improved!"
As he spoke, Sato's body began to emit a faint black glow. The Dark Energy activated and separated from his body.
[Dark Energy: Energy Amplification]
The black light formed an energy chain that connected Sato and Zoroark through the air.
In the next instant, the Dark Energy around Sato began to surge wildly, rushing through the chain and pouring directly into Zoroark.
Very quickly, Zoroark's presence began to soar: High Ace… Peak…
Unfortunately, even Dark Energy couldn't let Zoroark sense the true difference of the Elite Four level in advance.
But it was enough… for the "performance"!
"Zoroark, Night Daze!"
"Exeggutor, Seed Bomb."
Night Daze was incredibly powerful. Even against Exeggutor's Seed Bomb, it didn't lose out at all.
Now that their moves were evenly matched, the battle had a chance to turn around.
Both Sato and Wilma thought the same thing in that moment.
Of course, their reasons were completely different. Wilma wanted to make her loss look real, while Sato wanted his win to look real.
A new round of acting began. Sato shouted with excitement, commanding Zoroark to attack. Wilma, on the other hand, used her orders to subtly restrict Exeggutor.
Just like you can never wake someone who's pretending to sleep, if Wilma was determined to lose, then no matter how huge the gap between Ace and Elite Four levels…
As long as the acting was good enough, couldn't she still lose?
Exeggutor, its three faces all bewildered (⊙o⊙), collapsed. Even though it had personally witnessed the defeat of its teammates Druddigon and Altaria, and had now gone through it itself, it still didn't understand what its Trainer was thinking.
'I have three brains!'
Zoroark panted heavily, but showed little joy on its face after the victory.
It wasn't like Exeggutor. Smart as it was, Zoroark saw through Sato's performance. As a master of illusion tactics, it wasn't fooled by what was true or false.
So even though it had defeated, Zoroark only saw it as physical training.
A true victory… shouldn't feel this empty.
Wilma silently recalled Exeggutor, then looked at the calm and steady Zoroark and the overly excited Sato. She couldn't help but suppress her growing frustration once again.
.
.
150 PS - CH