Team Rocket’s Second-in-Command!

The battle officially began.

At the referee's signal, Raihan and Hop released their Pokémon at the same time.

Two Poké Balls arced through the air and landed on the battlefield.

With a flash of white light, a Coalossal and a Cinderace appeared on opposite sides.

Seeing the match start, Luo Yuan finally withdrew his gaze from Sabrina and turned to watch the field.

As he expected, Raihan hadn't sent out one of his core team members. The Coalossal on the field wasn't even close to Elite Four level.

Of course, for dealing with a rookie challenger, that was more than enough.

What surprised Luo Yuan, if only slightly, was Hop's strength. While his Cinderace didn't impress him personally, its performance was actually quite decent for a novice trainer.

If I had to compare him to someone, Luo Yuan mused, Hop's strength is probably about 80% of Gary's.

As Luo Yuan drew comparisons between Hop and Gary Oak, the battle kicked into gear.

At Hop's command, Cinderace surged forward with explosive speed, dashing toward Coalossal.

Coalossal, however, showed no sign of panic. Narrowing its eyes into slits, it fixed its gaze on the oncoming Cinderace, steam and heat beginning to jet from its nostrils and the vents along its shell.

Boom!

Coalossal stomped the ground—cracks spiderwebbed outward from beneath its feet, racing toward Cinderace's path.

If Cinderace pressed forward, it would take the full brunt of a [Bulldoze] or [Earthquake].

Hop didn't want his Cinderace taking that kind of hit at the start of the match, so he shouted quickly, "Dodge it!"

At his order, Cinderace kicked off the ground with its powerful legs, launching high into the air.

While airborne, it gathered energy at its feet—flames igniting beneath it. In just a few brief seconds, a blazing soccer ball had taken shape under its foot.

Cinderace aimed, then launched the flaming projectile downward in a fiery arc.

Whoosh—!

Its signature move, [Pyro Ball], streaked downward toward Coalossal like a blazing comet.

But Raihan and his Coalossal had clearly anticipated the counterattack.

With a single wave of Raihan's hand, Coalossal withdrew its limbs and head into its stony shell.

Boom!

The [Pyro Ball] struck the Coalossal's shell, exploding on impact and carving a crater into the ground around it as smoke billowed out.

"Whoa!"

Hop's fans erupted in cheers at the dramatic blast.

But the celebration didn't last long. A burst of red light flashed within the smoke.

Then came a roar of erupting flames—an inferno burst out, blowing the smoke aside in an instant.

Coalossal's [Heat Crash] exploded outward in every direction, targeting anything nearby without discrimination. And Cinderace had landed squarely within its blast radius.

"Not good!" Hop's fans' excitement gave way to panic.

Seeing his Cinderace caught in the blast zone, Hop shouted frantically for it to dodge.

Cinderace, with its lean frame and powerful legs, was built for agility—normally it could evade most attacks with ease.

But this time, it was up against Raihan.

Though Raihan hadn't used his core Pokémon, his grasp of battlefield timing was razor-sharp. Before issuing the [Heat Crash] command, he had already anticipated Hop's next move.

And Hop had walked straight into it.

"Coalossal, three o'clock—[Yawn]!"

Coalossal, still mid-attack, managed to turn its head and let out a huge, sleepy yawn—aimed right at the direction Cinderace was dodging toward.

Cinderace, trying to escape the flames, ran directly into the path of the attack.

A wave of drowsiness hit it like a wall. It staggered and let out a yawn of its own, its speed dropping instantly.

The worst part? It still hadn't cleared the range of the flames.

Now dulled and sluggish, Cinderace couldn't react in time—even as Hop called out desperately, it was too late.

Fwoooosh!

The blaze surged forward, engulfing Cinderace completely.

The intense heat jolted it awake—but by the time it tumbled out of the blast zone, its once-white fur was scorched and singed across large patches of its body.

And this was after factoring in Cinderace's natural resistance as a Fire-type. If it had been a Grass-type Pokémon, one hit like that would have taken it out of the match entirely.

"Looks like Hop is falling behind," the announcer commented.

As they spoke, the broadcast cut to a close-up of Leon in the stands, likely hoping to capture his reaction.

But as Galar's Champion, Leon had seen his fair share of battles—he wasn't about to lose composure over something like this. Instead, he smiled and waved cheerfully at the camera, prompting squeals from the crowd.

Leon's poise came from years of experience.

Hop, on the other hand, was still new to all of this.

He had grown up in the Champion's shadow, always taking Leon as his role model—and so he deeply cared about his brother's opinion.

When he saw the camera cut to Leon, Hop's heart wavered.

He worried about embarrassing himself.

Worried about disappointing the person he admired most.

That inner doubt crept into his actions—and in a Pokémon battle, hesitation was fatal.

His previously stable and logical command style began to unravel. He started fumbling his calls, and Raihan seized the opportunity to push the momentum further with his Coalossal, driving Hop back step by step.

"Hop's still too green," the commentator noted, giving a fair assessment.

Compared to Leon's composure, the difference was night and day.

Those words stung when they reached Hop's ears.

He glanced at his Cinderace, who was struggling to hold its own, then turned to look at his brother in the stands.

And just like that, emotion took over.

He clenched his teeth, raised his arm—and activated his [Dynamax Band]!

"Oh? Finally getting serious?" Luo Yuan perked up from his seat, intrigued.

Until now, the battle had been fairly dull—watching this low-level match had almost put him to sleep. Honestly, even a squabble between Gary and Ash would've been more entertaining.

But at last, he thought, something worth watching.