Pokémon: Above the Top

Joseph refused to tell Sato which familiar face had scheduled a Gym Challenge, and Sato had no way of finding out. After all, Joseph was the head of Gym support and logistics, Sina and the others didn't dare "offend" him either.

"All because of what happened this morning?" Sato finally remembered. He had, in fact, been a little cheeky.

But apologizing? No way. So instead, he lounged on the Gym Leader's big sofa, calmly waiting.

Up in the referee's booth, Sia glanced at Sato, then at Joseph, muttering quietly, "…What childish men."

Before long, the so-called familiar face finally walked into the Gym.

"SAAAATO! I came to see you!" A loud, dramatic voice rang out, and Sato immediately recognized her.

"Clair? Aren't you supposed to be in Blackthorn City getting ready to become a Gym Leader? What are you doing here?" Sato asked, puzzled.

"It's because of you!" Clair huffed, puffing her cheeks in frustration, catching Sato completely off guard.

After some explanation, Sato finally understood… Blackthorn City's Dragon-type Gym had always been the undisputed number one in Johto.

But after a string of "impressive achievements" from Sato, many began to question the current Gym rankings across the Johto Region.

Now, as someone preparing to inherit the Blackthorn Gym in a few years, Clair found herself in a tight spot… unless she could match Sato's accomplishments.

Otherwise, if people started saying the Blackthorn Gym wasn't as good as Shadownight Gym, she wouldn't even have grounds to argue back.

As for giving Clair a few years to surpass Sato, beat Lance, and defeat Karen? That was just impossible.

"So you're joining the League Conference… to 'build' your credentials?" Sato asked, half-laughing.

"What else am I supposed to do? And not just the Johto League. I need to participate in the tournaments for Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh too. And I can't place low in any of them. Don't you think this is your fault!?"

The more Clair spoke, the angrier she got. With hands on her hips, she glared at Sato like all of this was his doing.

And Sato was genuinely stunned by Clair's roundabout plan. It wasn't hard to imagine: if Clair actually pulled off a grand slam at the League Conferences and won four championships, her "prestige" would be more than enough to justify her claim as the strongest Gym Leader in Johto.

Although the League Conferences had their flaws and the overall competitive level was on the lower side, at the very least, the winners still needed real strength.

More importantly, because the battles weren't too difficult to follow, the general public could enjoy watching them. The popularity of the League Conferences far surpassed nearly every internal League selection exam.

With popularity came fame, and with fame, everything became easier. After all, not everyone could be as "terrifying" as Sato.

…Still, if Clair wanted to compete in the League, so be it. But coming to Shadownight Gym to get a Badge with that kind of intent? Sato wasn't about to let her off easy.

"What can I say? Even your cousin lost to me. Maybe the title of number one Gym should rotate a bit~" Sato, completely unaware of Clair's frustration, even went so far as to deliberately provoke her.

"Ughhh! I'm definitely going to beat you today!" Clair fumed, pulling out a Poké Ball to make her stance clear.

"Sia, announce the rules," Sato said, skipping the small talk and jumping straight into the battle.

"The Shadownight Gym Challenge is now underway. Each side may use three Pokémon. The match ends when all three Pokémon on one side lose the ability to battle. The Gym Leader may not switch Pokémon during the match. Please send out your first Pokémon!"

"Pupitar." With no hesitation, Sato sent out the fired-up Pupitar.

"Kingdra, this one's yours!"

To Sato's surprise, Clair sent out her Starter Pokémon right from the start. Then again, Water-type moves were indeed highly effective against Pupitar.

"Battle start!"

"Kingdra, use Water Pulse!"

"Pupitar, use Dark Pulse."

Water Pulse and Dark Pulse collided fiercely in the center of the battlefield, creating a powerful explosion that kicked up a sizable cloud of dust.

"Pupitar, use Dig."

"Hmph, Kingdra, blast Hydro Pump into the hole!"

Despite the smoke interference, neither side sat still. Both moved quickly to counterattack.

Pupitar spun into a spiral bullet and vanished in an instant.

Kingdra leapt high into the air; not only to guard against Dig's surprise strike but also to more accurately fire Hydro Pump into the underground tunnel.

"Sand Tomb to defend." Sato's command was simple, seal the tunnel entrance with Sand Tomb. Water would lose effect the moment it met sand.

All that was left was to wait for Kingdra to fall back down.

"Kingdra, use Rain Dance!" Falling was inevitable, but they had to be prepared for Pupitar's next move.

"When it comes to weather, my Pupitar won't lose~ Sandstorm!"

Sato grinned. Pupitar spent every day in the Mimicry space surrounded by sandstorms. Even if it hadn't awakened the Sand Stream ability, its control over Sandstorm was terrifying.

Whenever a weather condition came into play, the Gym's front yard arena would automatically open its roof, allowing both sides to fight at full strength.

Dark clouds gathered, and raindrops began to fall in a heavy shower… but before the rain could take effect, a powerful sandstorm rose from the battlefield.

A sandstorm vortex spiraled upward from the ground, breaking straight through the low clouds.

"Damn it… weather suppression!" Clair gritted her teeth. Kingdra wasn't exactly mobile to begin with, so after its entry it had no choice but to leap into the air to avoid Dig.

She had hoped the rain would boost its speed, but she hadn't expected that even in its final form, Kingdra would be suppressed by a second-stage pseudo-legendary.

'Even if you're a pseudo-legendary's, this is just bullying!'

"Return, Kingdra! Rhydon, you're up!"

With Kingdra helpless in a sandstorm, Clair didn't hesitate to use her right as a Challenger and switched Pokémon.

"Pupitar, Earthquake."

"Rhydon, Earthquake!"

"Pupitar, delay your attack~"

Sato grinned again, sending a chill down Clair's spine. 'What kind of trick was he about to pull now?'

Rhydon jumped high, then came crashing down with force, unleashing a terrifying shockwave of Earthquake that spread across the field.

Just as the tremors were about to hit Pupitar, it suddenly launched into the air like a silver bullet.

Pupitar -known as the Bullet Pokémon- could compress air in its tail to launch itself.

"THAT'S CHEATING!" Clair shouted as she watched helplessly. The tremors from Rhydon's Earthquake faded just as Pupitar dove back down and unleashed its own Earthquake.

This time, Rhydon couldn't dodge, it took the full force of the devastating Earthquake head-on, and the damage was substantial.

"Follow up with Dark Pulse." Sato had no intention of going easy, he pressed the attack.

"Rhydon, use Aqua Tail!"

Aqua Tail blasted away the Dark Pulse, but as the tail swept forward, Pupitar had already vanished again.

"Rhydon, use Earthquake now!"

"Too late, Dig."

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250 Pw-Chapo