Pokémon Court

“Terrance has won! Who’s the next challenger?” In the arena, after Growlithe, covered in scars, knocked out a Pokémon, the staff member who was also acting as the referee announced.

This staff member was the same person who officiated Terrance’s first round. Due to some kind of rule, he continued to oversee Terrance’s subsequent matches.

The staff member had worked at the Battle Tower for many years and had seen countless Trainers. However, even with all his experience, he found Terrance to be an exceptionally talented Trainer.

“Terrance is already in his fourth round. If he wins this one, it’ll be his 28th consecutive victory. That’s incredible! How long has he been here?”

“He’s a rookie. I heard he hasn’t redeemed any prizes yet. It’s clear he’s aiming to rack up more wins to get the most valuable prizes. He’s really confident. Isn’t he afraid of something going wrong midway and losing his winning streak, or missing out on even the lowest-level prizes?!”

“Not redeemed anything yet? He’s really holding out—what a terrifying guy. Most Trainers choose the safe option, trying to use up every chance each time, just in case something goes wrong… but not him!”

The audience whispered among themselves, and a few renowned Trainers who had come to watch couldn’t help but pay extra attention to Terrance.

It had been a week since Terrance arrived at the Battle Tower, and this was his fourth round of challenges. That’s right—up to this point, he had achieved 27 consecutive victories. If he won one more match, he would win his fourth round.

In other words, if Terrance won another round after this, he would qualify for the High-level Area!

Once he earned the High-level Area’s qualification, his options for redeeming prizes would significantly increase.

Each round of seven matches took Terrance about two hours to complete. While he had won his first round with a swift and aggressive style, he later added Growlithe to his battle team.

Altaria, Beautifly, Mismagius, Growlithe.

These four Pokémon took turns battling, forming a team of three Pokémon for each battle. Due to Growlithe’s fighting style, it was almost always the first Pokémon in Terrance’s team to faint from exhaustion. Given its frequent injuries after battles, Terrance gave it the most rest. Even though he had been here for a week, his winning streak was “only” at 27, and he was now in the fourth round.

Over these few days of fighting, Terrance also noticed a pattern: the Trainers trying to block challengers were generally weaker than those challenging the tower. This was likely an assessment of their own abilities—if they were confident, they would be trying to build their own win streaks instead of taking the easier route of blocking a challenger who wasn’t at full strength.

Throughout this week, Terrance realized that the “Beginner Area” was just a gimmick to attract Trainers. Truly skilled Trainers would advance to the High-level Area through consecutive victories and participate in more challenging battles.

But despite that, the element of surprise was high for over thirty-five matches. If luck wasn’t on your side, you might run into a high-level Trainer just passing through. Plus, with the requirement to defeat seven times the number of your own Pokémon to maintain the win streak, many found it frustrating. Unless your strength was exceptional, the only option was to wait for the “right time.”

Terrance had been fairly lucky. Over these 27 battles, he hadn’t faced any particularly tough opponent.

However, due to Growlithe’s fighting style, there was one round where Terrance was down to just two other Pokémon as usable combatants and almost found himself in a dire situation. Fortunately, he managed to pull through in the end.

In a week, with 27 consecutive victories, Terrance made a name for himself in the Battle Tower’s Beginner Area.

This fame, under normal circumstances, would have caused a small-scale sensation. Trainers in the Beginner Area who were skilled enough to advance to the High-level Area usually attracted a lot of attention from the audience, who would come to watch their battles. But recently, several Trainers like Terrance had emerged all at once—a number so high it was frightening.

In just one week:

One Trainer completed five rounds of consecutive victories and advanced to the High-level Area.

One Trainer completed four rounds of consecutive victories.

Including Terrance, there were four Trainers who had completed three rounds of consecutive victories.

The number of Trainers who demonstrated the ability to achieve at least one round of consecutive victories suddenly exceeded 10, which puzzled all the regulars at the Battle Tower and the Trainers who frequently attempt to “block” challengers’ winning streaks.

It was as if a wave of high-level Trainers had suddenly flooded the Battle Tower, shattering the usual peace.

“So, you’re the Terrance who has already won 27 consecutive battles,” a young man in sportswear said as he leaped onto the arena, his eyes filled with curiosity and scrutiny.

“Just yesterday, I ended a Trainer’s third round of consecutive victories, bringing their record back to zero.”

“Although I don’t know why so many strong Trainers have appeared recently… it doesn’t seem like a bad thing,” the young man laughed. Normally, the opportunity to snipe someone’s win streak is hard to come by, but now that chance has increased significantly.

“Your three Pokémon must be exhausted by now. Look, your Growlithe can barely stand.”

“Thanks for your concern, but it’s the only one I don’t have to worry about,” Terrance said, glancing at Growlithe.

“Huh…” The young man in sportswear was taken aback, then shook his head and said, “If you’re not going to switch Pokémon, I’ll use this one as my first. Come out, Golem!”

“Going for the type advantage, huh…” Terrance thought to himself.

Moreover…

In these recent battles, Growlithe’s fighting style had already been observed by others. Against such a Pokémon, sending out a heavyweight like Golem was undoubtedly the best choice.

“Want to give it a try?”

“Your Growlithe’s usual battle style is ‘Tackle,’ right? My Golem won’t be afraid of that!” The young man in sportswear smirked at the panting Growlithe. At this point, anyone could see that Growlithe was nearly out of stamina after the previous battles. In this situation, Golem seemed destined to win!

Terrance stared at Golem with a blank expression, assessed the situation, and then slowly spoke, “Indeed, it doesn’t have much stamina left.”

“Woof!” Growlithe shook its body slightly and nodded.

“Well then, I’ll have to trouble you a bit. I’ll have Altaria and the others finish the battle as quickly as possible.” After getting Growlithe’s confirmation, Terrance nodded.

“Flare Blitz!!”

Under the disbelieving and shocked gazes of the young man in sportswear and the surrounding audience, Terrance still gave a command.

“Are you an idiot?” the young man in sportswear exclaimed, “Growlithe barely has any stamina left. Attacking Golem like this is just a waste of energy!”

Whoosh~~

Growlithe lifted its head, and a burst of heat rose from its deep orange fur. Its front limbs, like elephant hooves, stomped forcefully on the ground, and its entire body instantly ignited with a blazing flame. In the moment it dashed forward, its whole body transformed into a column of fire that radiated intense heat.

Boom!

The sound of its pounding footsteps echoed in the hearts of the onlookers. There was almost no time to react; Growlithe’s movements were too fast. The young man in sportswear had a command stuck on the tip of his tongue, but he could only watch helplessly as Growlithe charged over.

Flare Blitz?

It was more than just a Flare Blitz. Compared to the standard scorching glow of Flare Blitz, the move Growlithe executed was even more spectacular. The flames that engulfed its body were not as concentrated, instead, the scattered sparks formed a wave of heat around Growlithe, completely engulfing it. If you were to observe closely, it would give the illusion of burning the very space around it.

This is because the temperature of the air around Growlithe had risen so rapidly that it made the surrounding air feel thick and heavy, giving it that hazy appearance.

“I’ll let you attack then!” The young man in sportswear gritted his teeth. He had quite a bit of confidence in Golem’s defense. Faced with such a fast attack, Golem barely had time to react, but…

Bang!!

The column of fire surrounding Growlithe collided with Golem. For a moment, it seemed as if both Pokémon had frozen in place, until the next moment when the massive force slowly spread out.

Boom! A wave of heat spread out from Growlithe, and the immense impact directly pushed the heavy Golem away.

Ssss~~

The intense pain from the violent impact caused Golem to retract its limbs into its body, rolled far away like a ball. A part of Golem’s body was noticeably dented and charred from burns. Even after Golem stopped rolling, that area was still emitting heat.

“……”

The entire arena, both on and off the stage, fell into silence. As everyone looked at Golem, whose limbs had extended naturally again but whose eyes were unfocused, and then at the Growlithe lying on the ground with its legs in the air, unconscious, most people were baffled by this battle.

“You did great, Growlithe.” Terrance took out the Poké Ball, recalled Growlithe, and then threw out Altaria’s Poké Ball, saying, “Let’s continue.”

If Growlithe had enough stamina, such destructive power might not have been unleashed. The key lay in the move “Reversal.” In that instant, with a signal from Terrance, Growlithe used “Reversal,” “Flare Blitz,” and the partially mastered “Heat Wave” at the same time, which minimized Growlithe’s recoil damage and maximized its destructive power. As a final blow, Growlithe used a special force technique, delivering a fierce strike to Golem that resembled a Fighting-type move but with fire damage.

“This…” Looking at the Golem that had lost its ability to fight in a single exchange, the young man in sportswear was speechless, but his expression quickly calmed down, and he took a deep breath. “I underestimated you. My second partner is this one.”

It was a fierce-looking Pokémon with sharp claws that it brandished as it entered the arena.

“Weavile, be careful of its moves, don’t get hit.” The young man in sportswear immediately warned Weavile the moment it appeared.

Altaria’s previous performance had been too overwhelming. Whether they were struck by its “Dragon Pulse,” “Dragon Breath,” or “Dragon Rush,” no Pokémon had yet managed to walk away unscathed.

All of them were mercilessly knocked out instantly!

The young man in sportswear had never seen a Pokémon with such powerful moves and such a flexible attack trajectory!

“Draco Meteor,” Terrance thought for a moment and said.

“A different move?” The young man in sportswear was startled. He had sent out Weavile intending to rely on its agility to dodge Altaria’s attacks, then use an Ice-type move to deliver a fatal blow.

Boom!

The light ball that Altaria had condensed suddenly exploded, and countless rocks fell, covering a wide area that seemed to engulf the entire arena. Seeing this, the young man’s pupils shrank and he took a deep breath, saying: “Weavile, step on the rocks and use Ice Beam!”

“Weavileee!!”

Weavile’s sharp eyes locked onto the falling Draco Meteor. As the other rocks exploded upon impact with the ground, Weavile leaped into the air. However, as soon as Altaria let out a high-pitched cry, a look of panic appeared on both Weavile’s and the young man’s faces.

With Altaria’s high-pitched cry, the scattered energy rocks of Draco Meteor exploded simultaneously before even hitting the ground, creating a fireworks-like display and filling the air above the arena with smoke.

The explosion of the energy rocks did not stop with Altaria’s cry. Within the smoke, dazzling lights flickered occasionally. The crowd only heard a scream as Weavile, in the process of stepping on the rocks, was struck by a massive impact from the sky before mercilessly crashing to the ground, knocked out cold.

“How is this possible…?”

Two battles, both ended with a single strike. How could Terrance look like someone who had already been through six battles?

“What the heck is with that Draco Meteor?!” Many exclaimed in surprise. The Draco Meteor exploded mid-air before it even made contact, leaving the ascending Weavile completely bewildered…..How was that even possible?

Terrance smiled slightly. The “Erase” move it used didn’t require any calculations. For Altaria, who had already identified a “pattern” and “timing,” there was no need for complex steps. It simply erased the energy rocks of Draco Meteor mid-air, causing the energy to disperse and blasting Weavile away.

The young man’s third Pokémon was Seviper. When old enemies meet, emotions run high. Although Altaria was exhausted, its fighting spirit ignited once more, much to the young man’s dismay. And on top of that, Terrance still had Mismagius. Faced with two Pokémon, the young man ultimately couldn’t turn the tables.

Terrance won again.

Four rounds in a week, twenty-eight consecutive victories, left the onlookers gasping in amazement and applauding him.

“Keep it up! When’s your next challenge?!”

“One more win and you can advance to the High-Level Area. Haha, that’s impressive!”

Faced with the crowd’s voices, Terrance, having experienced the cheers of countless spectators during several Pokémon Contests, showed almost no reaction.

Giving his usual response, Terrance headed toward the treatment area to have his Pokémon’s injuries and stamina restored.

Growlithe had taken quite a beating in this round and would need a good three days to recover, so it wouldn’t be able to participate for a while. However, the little guy had great self-healing abilities, so it might not even take three days before it was back to its lively self.

“Ah…”

“Mr. Scott finally sent a message.”

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