"Our winner this time, the Elite King competitor, has decided to continue fighting! Now, his prize pool has accumulated to 120,000 Pokédollars, and if he wins again this time, it will reach a substantial sum of 200,000 Pokédollars."
"Can our competitor the Elite King keep his winning streak? Let's wait and see!"
A presenter in flamboyant attire stood in the center of the battlefield, loudly announcing the generous prize pool amount.
Announcing the prize pool amount so directly not only stirs up the participants' passion but also excites the audience.
This helps attract more participants for the arena battles!
"Elite King! Elite King!"
"Elite King!"
"Elite King!"
...
Amid the crowd's cheers, a person wearing a hip-hop-style mask waved, clearly enjoying all the attention.
Cain, waiting at the entrance platform, although he had already commented once before, couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment again upon hearing the crowd's cheers.
Elite King? Does he think he's the king of elite trainers? Do people now pick names so brazenly?
As Cain continued with his remarks, he heard the presenter say, "So, let's give a warm welcome to our next challenger, Blue Peacock!"
"Booooo!"
When the name Blue Peacock was announced, the crowd erupted in boos.
Blue Peacock?
In the Pokémon world, the name Peacock refers to a bird resembling a rooster—a blue rooster?
Just by the name alone, it doesn't sound strong; what name is more intimidating than Joker?
Cain, hidden under a long black cloak, slowly walked to one side of the field.
"Will competitor Joker, who has won three consecutive times, maintain his winning streak, or will challenger Blue Peacock defeat him and become the new arena champion? Let's see the battle!"
After the presenter finished his exaggerated announcement, he moved to the rest area on the side, leaving the rest of the time to the referee.
"In this battle, each competitor can use two Pokémon. When both Pokémon of one competitor lose their ability to fight, that competitor will be declared the loser."
"Let the battle begin!"
With the referee's command, both competitors took out a Pokéball and launched it onto the field.
Cain's Pokémon was a Skorupi.
In his first arena battle, Skorupi could fight and learn some combat techniques.
Meanwhile, on the other side, competitor Blue Peacock released his Pokéball, revealing a Lotad.
Cain used his system to scan its data: a dark yellow-quality Lotad, level 22, with the Swift Swim ability.
Lotad, a Water and Grass-type Pokémon, has decent attributes but is weak to Bug, Flying, and Poison types, taking double damage from them.
It turns out Skorupi is a Bug and Poison type, making it a perfect counter to Lotad.
Competitor Blue Peacock on the other side clearly didn't recognize Skorupi as a Pokémon, as he showed no reaction upon seeing it and instead remained confident.
Lotad's Swift Swim ability could be useful on a rainy day, but in this sunny weather, it practically has no effect.
"Skorupi, use Agility!"
A raspy voice came from under Cain's black hood.
This was Skorupi's first one-on-one battle between Pokémon and trainers.
Upon receiving the command, Skorupi quickly moved across the rocky field, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Lotad, use Growl!" Blue Peacock, seeing Skorupi's movement speed, nervously gave the order.
Lotad let out a sound similar to a duck's quack, but it had no effect on Skorupi; the Growl move failed.
"Skorupi, use Bug Bite and then Poison Tail!" Cain didn't let the circumstances affect him; the fact that Skorupi wasn't affected was normal; otherwise, all his training would have been in vain.
Skorupi's eyes showed excitement; it had been a long time since it had a battle!
These past few days had been filled with intense training; both in physical abilities and techniques, according to Cain, it had trained enough.
However, Skorupi knew that among Cain's Pokémon, its combat strength was relatively low; each time it trained with its "older brothers," they always let it win.
This time, facing an unknown enemy, it could finally show its full strength.
In the midst of its swift movement, Skorupi's speed increased again, even forgetting the weight it was carrying.
Under Lotad's terrified gaze, its Growl had barely finished when Skorupi appeared right in front of it.
With a bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes, Skorupi's teeth were imbued with a faint green energy from the Bug type.
During these training days, it had been so close to using this move to bite down all the trees in the garden nearly to the ground.
With a fierce bite, without hesitation, it bit Lotad.
Lotad cried out in pain!
This sharp pain, due to the double vulnerability, almost made it lose consciousness.
But this wasn't the end!
Skorupi's tail, loaded with purple poisonous energy, struck Lotad again without hesitation.
Though Skorupi's poison wasn't as developed as Haunter's, Skorupi, being a scorpion, naturally contained venom. The fact that it wasn't fully developed only meant that the poison wasn't very strong, but it didn't mean it didn't exist!
After finishing the attack, Skorupi jumped back, quickly distancing itself from Lotad.
This was the first battle rule Cain had taught it: after an attack, don't continue chasing; always hold your position and prepare for any counterattack from the opponent.
However, clearly, Lotad no longer had the ability to counterattack.
"Lotad has lost its ability to fight! Competitor Blue Peacock, please send out your second Pokémon!"
Although Blue Peacock's face was covered by a mask, sweat appeared on his forehead; Lotad's direct defeat had put a lot of pressure on him.
On the other hand, Cain showed no emotion.
If Skorupi couldn't defeat an opponent like this, then what was the purpose of all this training?
Two Pokémon of the same level, an overwhelming advantage in quality, physical strength, combat techniques, and type advantage. In this battle, even without his guidance, Skorupi could win!
From the stands, cheers began for Cain.
These spectators are like this; they support whoever seems stronger. Before Cain won, they were also cheering for others.
Seeing Cain's Skorupi defeat Lotad so easily, they started to realize the strength of the "Joker" competitor.
After returning Lotad to its Pokéball, Blue Peacock gritted his teeth and took another Pokéball from his waist.
He's arrogant, not stupid; he had already guessed that he probably wouldn't make it this time and that the prize pool money probably wouldn't be his.
This time, he sent out a level 21 Gloom, whose combat power was even lower than Lotad's and also vulnerable to Skorupi's type.
(End of chapter)