The group sat on the benches, watching the screen as yet another "Perfect" appeared.
Their expressions had already gone numb. It didn't feel like they were watching a competition but rather a one-sided "slaughter" performance by Kazuki.
Throughout the entire tournament, whenever their team was up, Kazuki would volunteer to go first and then put on a dazzling display of skill, sending another team of players off the stage with looks of disbelief.
What was even more terrifying was that, perhaps to demonstrate his earlier claim of being "a little bit good at everything," he actually switched to a completely new character for each opponent he faced, and the victories were still overwhelmingly one-sided.
Erika was already regretting her earlier suggestion of a friendly match after the competition. Although it was hard to gauge the skill level of Kazuki's opponents since every match was so lopsided, based on her own estimation after watching the matches, she probably wouldn't fare much better than them.
"Senior Hei, wake up. It's the final match." Umbreon extended a slender finger and poked Hei's cheek, who was leaning against her, peacefully snoring with her mouth open.
Startled awake, Hei's eyes snapped open, and she quickly looked around in alert. When she realized where she was, a look of understanding crossed her face.
Oh right, she was watching Kazuki's match with Umbreon and Sabrina. She had just fallen asleep because the matches were so one-sided that they became boring.
Subconsciously, she looked up at the large screen in front of her. On the screen, a Machamp had cornered a Dragonite, holding an absolute advantage in both positioning and health. Even in this situation, Machamp continued to pressure its opponent with punches and kicks, leaving Dragonite with no room to move.
The immense pressure finally got to the Dragonite player, who activated their super move, hoping to gamble their way out of the pressure. However, Machamp was already prepared and used its own command grab super move at almost the same time.
Dragonite, whose super move had no grab immunity, was caught by Machamp's four arms, and its remaining health was completely wiped out in one hit. The Dragonite player let go of the joystick, feeling their body go limp. The serious expression they had during the match was now replaced with resignation.
"You're really amazing. I admit defeat."
Shaking hands with Kazuki, who had stood up from his seat, the thoroughly defeated opponent didn't try to save face. Instead, they watched the boy return to the spectator area with a look of respect.
"It seems my hand was in good shape today, and luck was on my side. Mission accomplished." Kazuki walked over to his two teammates with ease and spoke.
Hearing this, Erika and the buzz-cut young man exchanged glances, both seeing the awkwardness in each other's eyes. Kazuki had single-handedly taken down all the other teams, leaving them with a huge lead in points… They hadn't done anything, and yet they had won the competition?
"Kazuki, very strong, very cool." The first to congratulate Kazuki was Sabrina, who had remained silent throughout the entire match. As a beginner, she didn't have much of a concept of Kazuki's achievements, but watching him win match after match was enough to make her proud.
"Because Sabrina was watching me from behind. Just thinking about that gave me a reason to never lose."
Cupping her blushing face, Kazuki closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Sabrina's, completely ignoring the presence of others. Watching the two of them "flaunt their affection" so openly, Erika couldn't help but mutter to herself:
"I thought they were still in the 'not officially together' stage, but it seems they've already reached this point… Maybe next time I should recommend a perfume that can heighten emotions and keep the spirit in a state of excitement?"
The buzz-cut young man felt like he had just heard something dangerous and subtly took a step to the side.
The broadcast announced an invitation for the top ten teams to come forward to receive their prizes. Kazuki ended his moment with Sabrina and turned to his teammates:
"It's about time we head over. As for the division of the prizes and the prize money…"
"Of course! As we agreed earlier, no matter what rank we get, the prizes are all yours." The buzz-cut young man quickly chimed in, perhaps feeling that this alone wasn't enough to show his sincerity, he added:
"But since this competition was basically won by you alone, I don't dare take too much of the prize money. How about a 70-30 split?"
Originally, the Dratini was already planned to be given to Kazuki, so he wasn't too heartbroken about not getting it. However, the prize money could have been a nice bonus, and now he had to give up 70% of it. It felt like his heart was bleeding.
However, while the buzz-cut young man was still lamenting his loss, Erika began to subtly intervene:
"Not to be rude, Captain, but this doesn't seem very fair. Kazuki did almost all the work, and we didn't contribute anything. Giving him only 30%? Shouldn't it at least be a 50-50 split?"
Hearing this, the buzz-cut young man was momentarily stunned. After realizing what she meant, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. "No, no, that's not what I meant. The 70% isn't for me… I mean, the 30% is for me… That's not what I meant either…"
His words unconsciously became more formal, and his mind was in chaos due to panic. Now, the buzz-cut young man no longer had the energy to care about whether he could get the money. He could guess that the higher-ups had set this up to win over the young trainer. If he made Kazuki unhappy, Mr. Raviel would definitely make him regret it.
"Don't be nervous, Captain." Kazuki patted the buzz-cut young man's shoulder, waiting for him to calm down a bit before continuing:
"If it weren't for you telling me about this competition, I wouldn't have gotten anything today. I'll only take 20% of the prize money. You and Miss Erika can discuss how to split the rest."
Saying this, he turned to Erika, "Miss Erika, do you have any other suggestions?"
"Let's go with what you said." She replied with a smile, her calm eyes hiding whatever thoughts were deep within her.
…
"This is your prize. You can inspect it here first."
The lady assisting Kazuki's team with receiving their prize and prize money bowed and then stepped aside, leaving them with a square pillar in the center of their vision. As they approached, the glass cover on the pillar slowly opened, revealing a black-and-white Poké Ball with golden patterns inside.
An Ultra Ball, aside from the specialized Poké Balls tailored to specific Pokémon species, this was one of the most comfortable types of Poké Balls. Using it to catch Pokémon could significantly increase the capture rate.
Picking up the Ultra Ball from the pillar's platform, Kazuki held it in his hand. Inside was the juvenile form of Dragonite, a Dratini with limitless potential.
Kazuki silently stared at it for a long time before pressing the button on the ball and pointing it at the ground:
"Come out, Dratini."
In a flash of red light, the blue, eel-like body of Dratini slowly unfurled. The small, white protrusions on its head, which would eventually grow into horns, were still underdeveloped. Its hazy eyes slowly opened, as if it had just woken up.
The white fins on the sides of its head gently swayed as its senses began to take in the light and sounds of the outside world. But at that moment, its long, serpentine body suddenly began to tremble violently.
"Clack clack clack clack!"
What's going on? The sudden strange noise made a big question mark appear over Kazuki's head, but he quickly realized that it was the sound of Dratini's light blue scales clattering against each other as it trembled.
It seemed… terrified.
Its long body curled up, shaking up and down as if it had been electrocuted. For some reason, Kazuki had the strange feeling that it might melt into a puddle of fear at any moment.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you…"
Saying this, Kazuki took a step forward, but seeing the boy approach, Dratini's reaction became even more intense, even starting to roll its eyes.
To prevent it from dying of sheer panic on the spot, Kazuki had to stop in his tracks, not wanting to further stimulate it.
Seeing this, Erika quickly rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a bottle of perfume with calming properties. She opened the bottle and let the scent waft out, but Dratini's trembling didn't slow down in the slightest.
Helpless, Kazuki turned to Sabrina for help. He had no idea what this Dratini had been through to be so terrified of humans. Perhaps Sabrina's telepathy could uncover the reason.
Understanding his meaning from his gaze, Sabrina nodded slightly, a motion only Kazuki could see. Her psychic energy slowly drifted toward Dratini.
Although she hadn't established a telepathic link with Dratini's permission, with Sabrina's abilities, reading some of its surface-level thoughts wasn't a problem. Soon, she received feedback from her psychic powers.
"How is it? Can you tell what's causing this?" Seeing Sabrina suddenly freeze, Kazuki quickly asked through the telepathic channel.
What he received was a complicated look from the girl, along with the thoughts she had picked up from Dratini:
"So many people so many people so many people so many people…"
Kazuki's brain was suddenly flooded with the high-frequency repetition of the phrase, nearly making him black out. After finally catching his breath, the lingering sense of despair in his chest made him feel a bit depressed himself.
Now, looking at Erika, who was trying various perfumes to calm Dratini, Kazuki hesitantly spoke up:
"Miss Erika, I'm thinking… maybe it's just socially anxious…"
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