Pokémon: Above the Top

"I-I just let my guard down earlier! Let's go again!" The beach guy recalled Pinsir while stammering an explanation.

The three girls in the audience, who had been laughing and chatting while watching the battle, also went silent. Faced with the beach guy's excuse, all they could do was force a smile.

That black Pokémon called Zo… Zoroark? So powerful!

"Sudowoodo, go all out!" The beach guy took two seconds to finally look a bit more serious before sending out his second Pokémon.

"Battle continues!"

"Sudowoodo, Double-Edge!"

"Dodge it, use Nasty Plot."

Double-Edge was extremely powerful and usually favored by Pokémon with the Rock Head Ability.

Sudowoodo huffed and puffed as it charged at Zoroark, but due to its average Speed, Zoroark easily dodged it.

Zoroark stood still and suddenly revealed a sinister grin, sending chills down Sudowoodo's spine as it turned to face him.

"Sudowoodo, use Rock Tomb to restrict its movement!"

"Zoroark, Night Daze."

Both Pokémon thrust their hands into the ground. Around Zoroark, several massive rocks abruptly rose and began closing in on it.

But before they could move far, Night Daze exploded outward from Zoroark's position, completely blasting away all the stones summoned by Rock Tomb.

Sudowoodo's luck wasn't great either, one of the rocks that got pushed away happened to strike it directly, knocking it into the air and pinning it to the ground, where it lay for quite a while.

Fortunately, they were just rocks, so Sudowoodo wasn't seriously hurt. It struggled to get up… only to find a pure white energy orb already in front of its face.

Focus Blast!

Boom!

Sudowoodo was sent flying once again. This time, after crashing down, it immediately lost consciousness, eyes replaced by spirals.

"Sudowoodo has lost the ability to battle. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon!" Sia quickly announced, thinking: 'It's already 2–0, and the Gym Leader's sweep is far from over.'

"Damn it, what even is this Pokémon?!" The beach guy now knew this wasn't some casual battle anymore. He had clearly run into a serious opponent. But still… got wiped out in just a few moves.

"Typhlosion, be careful, the opponent is strong!" This time, he sent out one of Johto's three starters: Cyndaquil's final evolution, Typhlosion.

"Then, the battle continues!"

"Typhlosion, use Flame Charge to boost your Speed!" The beach guy had clearly realized Zoroark's overwhelming Speed advantage and was hoping Typhlosion could match it.

"Agility to dodge." Sato grinned. Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, and Agility… Zoroark was one of the few Pokémon capable of learning all three top-tier boosting moves.

This "full-buff" strategy was a battle system Sato had developed specifically for Zoroark, and today, it was time to put it to the test.

Agility's boost far outpaced Flame Charge, but Typhlosion was a bit smarter than the previous two. After missing its first attack, it didn't wait for commands and continued attacking on its own, constantly raising its Speed.

"Interrupt it, use Extrasensory."

"Zorooo!"

Zoroark suddenly twisted around, digging in with all four limbs to slow down, while its eyes glowed with purple light. Extrasensory activated, and in an instant, Typhlosion was lifted off the ground mid-charge.

"Typhlo!"

Typhlosion thrashed wildly, kicking and flailing its limbs in a desperate attempt to break free from Zoroark's control.

"Typhlosion, use Shadow Claw to escape!"

At that critical moment, the beach guy gave a pretty decent command. Ghost-type moves deal double damage to Psychic, making them quite effective for breaking out of Extrasensory.

Upon hearing the command, Typhlosion managed to swing its claws, now coated with Ghost-type energy.

If Zoroark wanted to maintain control, it would require significant effort, so instead, it simply slammed Typhlosion hard into the ground.

BOOOOM

Typhlosion's fall kicked up a large cloud of dust. Sato didn't hold back at all, nor did he worry about whether Zoroark had landed the hit, and gave another command: "Feint Attack."

"Zoooo~"

Zoroark pushed off violently with its hind legs, gliding low across the ground and plunging into the smoke in the blink of an eye.

"Typhlosion, QUICK, use Flame Wheel!" the beach guy shouted in a panic, eyes wide with fear.

But before he could finish, Typhlosion had already been flung out of the smoke, tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop.

At that moment, the flames on Typhlosion's neck were extinguished. Sia silently counted to three, then raised the referee's flag. "Typhlosion has lost the ability to battle. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon."

3:0!

The beach guy stood dumbfounded on the podium, staring at his Starter Pokémon lying there, unable to even muster the courage to recall it.

At some point, Joseph had joined Sina and the others in the audience, quietly watching the "Gym Leader" who had suddenly snapped.

"…Sosuke, was the Leader already super mad when he came back today…?" Ponyo whispered to him.

"…Not really. Maybe it's just that this challenger seemed too casual, and it ticked him off…" Sosuke whispered back.

"Leader Sato is so strong… it feels like we'll never catch up," Sina said, a bit discouraged. Even though his Gligar had evolved into Gliscor under Sato's guidance, he still couldn't see the guy's back.

"Keep working hard. When I first met your Leader, I still thought I could go toe-to-toe with him. Now, I just want to be a Breeder," Joseph admitted, grinning.

His confession made the others smile too. They'd seen Joseph's strength over the past month. Forget Florges, both Gogoat and Gallade were insanely strong.

"The fourth one's up, it's Donphan!" Trish, on the other hand, stayed focused on the match, her mind racing with strategies on how she'd command Donphan to handle the enemy.

"Leader, you're truly incredible… I admit I underestimated you earlier. But even if the match outcome is already decided, I won't give up easily! Donphan, Defense Curl plus Rollout!"

Sato blinked, suddenly finding the beach guy a lot more likable. Earning eight Badges on your own was far better than cutting corners to enter the League.

…Still, that wasn't a reason to go easy. He'd battle as he always did. "Zoroark, Sucker Punch."

---

Ten minutes later, Zoroark used Flamethrower to take down the beach guy's final Pokémon: Bellossom.

In other words, this full 6v6 battle had ended with Sato sweeping the opponent entirely using just Zoroark.

By the end, however, the beach guy had dropped all his pride and distractions, and even managed to command Bellossom to put up a solid fight against Zoroark.

"There are still six months until the League Conference this year. If you want to place well, your current level is far from enough."

The latter half of the battle had improved considerably. And since Sato's anger had mostly cooled by then, he gave some earnest advice.

"Thank you for the guidance, Gym Leader. I've made up my mind; until the Conference, I'll stay here in Shadownight Town for special training. I'll challenge the Gym again before the tournament!" the beach guy declared seriously.

"…That's not what I meant."