Pokemon: The Legendary Trainer

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The first round of preliminaries wouldn't conclude until 120 contestants were decided. But picking 120 winners out of 2,421 participants—even with only one-on-one Pokémon battles—was no small feat in terms of time and organization.

Especially given the current shortage of battle arenas, this initial phase was dragging on even longer than expected.

Based on the sheer number of competitors, making it through Round One meant you had to defeat at least five opponents to qualify among the final 120.

But in this process of sieving gold from sand, those who survived the brutal cuts clearly weren't average Trainers. Even the weakest among them could still be considered elite-level.

After defeating Kimura—a Trainer ranked Top 8 in this year's Johto League—Sato went on to face three more opponents before lunchtime.

Unfortunately, aside from Kimura who barely counted as a decent fighter, the next three challengers were all laughably unqualified. They were clearly there just for fun or to pad the numbers. With just his shiny Pelipper, Nidoking, and Heracross, Sato effortlessly swept them all.

At 12:11 p.m., Sato was sitting at an outdoor table of a roadside restaurant near the main battle arena, having lunch with several of his Pokémon.

Due to the overwhelming crowds in all nearby restaurants—and the fact that he hadn't made any reservations—Sato, despite having money to spend, couldn't even book a private room.

Not wanting to delay the competition just to eat, he had no choice but to settle for the patio seating of this high-end restaurant, one that thankfully wasn't as packed as the others.

But with a giant Swampert—the glutton of the team—present at the table, it was impossible not to draw attention.

By now, the plates stacked on Sato's table had formed a small mountain, and the floor was littered with discarded food scraps. And both continued to pile up.

"Could you send someone over to clear these dishes and food scraps? Oh, and bring another twenty seafood skewers, plus one bottle of warm Moomoo Milk and three iced orange juices."

Calm as ever, Sato glanced at the mountainous heap of dishes in front of him. Once it reached a certain point, he flagged down a cute-looking waitress and gave his next order without a hint of hesitation.

"Right away! I'll get someone to clean up and have the kitchen start on it."

The maid-uniform-clad girl, tray in hand, instantly understood what kind of customer she was dealing with. She knew this table was a VIP. Without delay, she bowed respectfully and dashed off into the restaurant.

Moments later, under the stunned gazes of the nearby diners, two brawny kitchen workers wheeled out a pair of carts and began swiftly clearing away the stack of plates and scraps under the table.

"Holy crap, that blue-skinned Pokémon eats like a monster! I swear it's on par with a Snorlax. If I had one of those, I'd be broke within a month."

"I'd go broke in a week—what the hell does his Trainer feed it, a whole cow?"

"That Swampert is eating more than all six of my Pokémon combined. Is that even a real Swampert?"

Nearby Trainers who had been enjoying their meals now found themselves utterly distracted. Their eyes twitched, and whispers spread like wildfire among them.

Sato had excellent hearing. He picked up on almost all of their mutterings—but merely smiled faintly, completely unfazed.

Swampert was his ace Pokémon. As long as he could keep it in peak condition, Sato was willing to spend whatever it took.

"Sato—I knew it was you! You look so different now. If it weren't for Pichu and Swampert, I might not have recognized you at all."

"Hey there, little Pichu! Long time no see. You've grown so much since the last time!"

A familiar voice rang out from behind, and then a blue-haired young woman appeared beside Sato's table—along with a graceful Lopunny.

Pichu, who had been happily sipping from a bottle of Moomoo Milk, turned around. The moment he recognized the newcomer, he dropped the bottle and gleefully leapt onto her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek affectionately.

"Daisy? I thought you said you were going to Kalos! What are you doing here?"

The instant he saw her face, Sato recognized her: Daisy Oak, granddaughter of Professor Oak. This time, he didn't hide his identity. Instead, he looked at her in mild surprise.

Back when they parted ways, she had mentioned she was heading to the Kalos region. He hadn't seen her at the Oak Pokémon Research Lab recently and assumed she had already left. Never in a million years did he expect to run into her here in Johto.

"You're seriously out of the loop, huh? The Kalos League doesn't start again until January next year. It's only September—you've got plenty of time."

"As for what I'm doing here? Shopping, obviously. And visiting a few friends while I'm at it."

"I was planning to head back yesterday, but then Goldenrod Department Store announced this super fun event, so I decided to stick around a bit longer. Never thought I'd actually bump into you here."

"Oh, and I'm guessing you're competing too, right? Promise me—you're not allowed to lose before I get a chance to battle you."

"I heard from Grandpa that you've gotten really strong lately. I didn't believe it at first, but after seeing your Swampert just now… I believe it. So let's go all out when we do battle. I'll use my strongest Pokémon against you."

When she heard Sato confirm his identity, Daisy's expression turned into one of I knew it! She gently set the now-reluctant Pichu back onto the table, then stood with one hand on her hip and pointed directly at Sato, issuing her challenge.

"Lopuuuunny!"

At her side, her Lopunny mirrored the exact same pose and let out a spirited cry.

"No problem. If I run into you, I'll give it everything I've got. And you'd better not hold back either."

Watching Daisy and Lopunny challenge him in perfect sync, Sato's eye twitched slightly. But the thought of facing Daisy in her prime made his blood boil with excitement. He nodded earnestly.

"Um… excuse me, are you two going to keep ignoring me? I've been standing here for ages…"

Just as they finished making their battle pact and were about to chat about other things, a voice full of grievance interrupted them from behind.

At some point, a pink-haired girl—accompanied by a Miltank—had walked up behind them. She now stood with arms crossed, casting a resentful look at Daisy, clearly upset about being left out of the conversation for so long.