Pokémon: Above the Top

After exchanging all his game coins, Sato left the Silph Game Corner and took a taxi straight to the nearest Pokémon Center.

Through the rearview mirror, he noticed a few suspicious individuals tailing him. However, Sato wasn't interested in dealing with them—he had more important things to do.

Handing over Carvanha's Poké Ball to Nurse Joy, Sato sat in the waiting area, closing his eyes as he reviewed the results of his scouting mission at the game corner.

While there had been a minor hiccup, the haul of TMs he obtained exceeded his expectations.

Sato had spent an extended period in Lingua Town, dedicating much of that time to training his Pokémon's moves. Even then, they had only reached a basic level of proficiency.

Now, with each Pokémon needing to learn at least three new moves, the training workload was enormous.

However, with the Goldenrod City Incident approaching, Sato had to put his training schedule on hold and focus entirely on preparation.

For several days, Sato settled into a strict routine. Every morning began with physical training—mostly fundamentals—followed by 1v1 sparring matches between his Pokémon.

The newly added Carvanha quickly caught the attention of both Larvitar and Spinarak.

To accommodate its unique battle needs, Sato sought out a training ground that included both a grassy area and a water pool, ensuring Carvanha could fight at its full potential.

Sato had already devised a solution for Carvanha's inability to fight effectively on land—a significant weakness that could cripple its combat abilities. If not for this, even with its Elite Four potential, Carvanha would be too much of a liability to train.

Although he didn't have time for dedicated training just yet, this match would be a good test to gauge its current abilities.

"Zizi!"

Perched on its webbing, Spinarak waved its front legs at Sato, signaling that it was ready to go. Its eyes burned with determination as it stared at Carvanha.

"Carvanha, are you ready?"

"…Sha!"

Still adjusting to its new trainer, Carvanha hesitated slightly at Sato's command. However, after last night, when it consumed his blood, it had completely submitted.

As a naturally ferocious predator, the Blood Nourishment technique had a far greater impact on it than it had on Zoroark.

"Then let's begin!"

"Zizi!"

Taking the initiative, Spinarak quickly sprayed silk threads across the field, anchoring them to the grass and surrounding trees, creating an intricate webbed battlefield.

"Sha!"

Water surged around Carvanha as it propelled itself forward in a straight-line charge, launching a Water Gun attack!

Spinarak, however, navigated its own web with ease, darting through the silk threads to get behind Carvanha. The sturdy webbing absorbed the impact of Carvanha's attack, forming a rebounding arc due to the elasticity of the silk.

With its opponent now within reach, Spinarak's front legs glowed yellow-green, preparing to strike.

Sato immediately recognized the attack—it was a newly learned move from a TM: X-Scissor!

"Underestimating your opponent…"

Sato shook his head. Spinarak had rarely lost in battle under his command, and setting up the web battlefield was a good strategy. However, blindly using a move it hadn't mastered yet to try and win? That was a mistake.

After all, the opponent in front of it was a Pseudo-Elite Four Pokémon!

"Sha!"

Carvanha didn't retreat—instead, it charged forward.

The water around its body intensified, swirling even more violently. Then, its massive jaws snapped open—Bite attack activated!

Silk might withstand blunt force, but against a razor-sharp bite, it was completely useless! As soon as Carvanha's fangs touched the webbing, the threads were effortlessly sliced apart!

And it wasn't over yet—the resistance that had initially slowed Carvanha suddenly disappeared as the webbing snapped.

The tension in the remaining strands rebounded, launching Spinarak helplessly into the air!

"Sha!"

Carvanha pressed the attack, and the way it moved made Sato's eyes light up—it was using Reverse Water Gun Propulsion, utilizing the backward force of its water jet to adjust direction midair while maintaining speed!

"Zizi!"

Dazed from being launched, Spinarak instinctively grabbed onto a nearby silk thread, preventing itself from falling into the water. It shook itself back to awareness, only to see Carvanha already closing in again!

"Zizi! Zizi!"

In its panic, Spinarak resorted to the move it was most familiar with—Poison Sting!

Unfortunately, Carvanha effortlessly dodged by zigzagging through the air before slamming straight into Spinarak's body!

"This should be enough."

Sato gestured for Haunter to catch Spinarak before it fell into the water, then looked back at Carvanha—his expression a mix of excitement and disbelief.

"Carvanha, use Water Gun repeatedly!"

"…Sha?"

The battle was over, and Carvanha was confused by the order. But it obediently returned to the water and started firing rapid bursts of Water Gun in succession.

Sato's eyes narrowed, turning completely black as he enhanced his perception with Dark Energy.

One… two… three… after the fifth consecutive Water Gun, the corner of his mouth lifted into a grin.

Signaling Carvanha to stop, Sato stepped forward, placing his hand on its smooth, streamlined scales.

There was no roughness—just pure hydrodynamic efficiency.

No doubt about it.

Carvanha had the Ability—Speed Boost!

For the first time in a long while, Sato couldn't hold back his laughter. A Speed Boost Carvanha—what were the odds? One in a thousand?

Sato didn't care about probabilities—he only cared about results. And right now, the result was an absolute powerhouse in the making.

With just this Ability alone, Carvanha possessed true cross-tier battle potential!

Sato examined Carvanha closely. On the surface, it looked no different from any other of its species. However, beneath that exterior was a terrifying natural talent and a rare Ability.

The same applied to Spinarak. Even though its parents weren't particularly exceptional, it had somehow inherited the Sniper Ability, setting it apart from others of its kind.

Perhaps… powerful Abilities naturally provided some degree of talent enhancement as well.

Later, Zoroark and Haunter had a sparring match, continuing their long-standing rivalry.

As expected, it was a one-sided battle. Haunter could only rely on its ghostly movements to avoid Zoroark's relentless assault.

This made Sato seriously consider whether it was time for Haunter to evolve. After all, its evolution process was entirely within his control.

However, evolving would drastically alter its body shape, requiring a period of adaptation. With Goldenrod City's upcoming chaos, it wasn't the right time yet.

For now, Sato put that decision on hold.

After two battles along with tactical breakdowns and explanations, the entire morning passed.

The afternoon session focused on correcting weaknesses in each Pokémon's combat style.

Compared to battles, afternoon training sessions were much tougher—both for Sato and his Pokémon. However, they were already accustomed to this regimen.

The newly added Carvanha had fully accepted Sato, but its aggressive nature was undeniable. Its thirst for battle and strength was evident.

Sato saw no resistance in it at all—it embraced training completely. And that was exactly what he wanted.

That night, Sato changed into a different outfit and headed back to Silph Game Corner for further reconnaissance.

However, this time…

He brought Zoroark along.

A Zoroark using its Illusion Ability… to disguise itself as a human.