Since the finals had begun, all matches were held in the main arena, and Sato's match against Mr. Orin was scheduled as the third match of the morning.
Before that, only one person from Sato's group had competed: Wallace, widely recognized as the strongest among them.
"Honestly, Mr. Wallace's battle was so enjoyable to watch. No wonder they gave him the first match!"
Inside the waiting room, Ryoko, seated beside Sato, remarked with admiration, and the others nodded in agreement.
There were many ways to win. For example, Phoebe's opponents often had no idea what had just happened before losing… naturally, neither did the spectators.
But Wallace was different. When others tried to be flashy, it looked superficial. When Wallace did it, it was both beautiful and lethal. Every seemingly elegant move carried real power.
Even in the finals, Wallace's victories felt effortless, as if he were lifting something heavy with ease.
Soon, the second match of the first round officially began, featuring two long-established veteran Trainers. The battle was fierce, full of counterplays and reversals, stirring the emotions of everyone watching.
In the end, one Trainer's Pokémon had the advantage in type matchups and secured the win.
And next was the match between Sato and Mr. Orin.
Under everyone's gaze, both Sato and Orin stood up. After exchanging a brief glance and nod, they each walked toward opposite entrance tunnels.
Inside the tunnel, Sato took two Poké Balls from his battle belt. This was the lineup he had tailored specifically to Mr. Orin's battle style. Not his strongest duo, but the most suitable one.
"…Time to count on you two."
Sato softly spoke to the Poké Balls, which lightly shook in response.
"We now begin the first round, third match of the Ace Tournament finals.
Each side will use four Pokémon, and the match will follow a '2+1+1' format. When one side's four Pokémon have all lost ability to battle, the match is over.
The winner will advance to the Top 16 of this year's tournament; the loser will be eliminated in the Top 32. Do either of you have questions?" the referee announced seriously and thoroughly.
"Good. Both sides, please send out your Double Battle Pokémon!"
"Gardevoir, Honchkrow! Get ready for battle."
"Machamp, Heracross! It's your turn!"
With a flash of red light, the four Pokémon appeared on the battlefield simultaneously, all standing in battle-ready positions.
The referee looked left and right, then suddenly swung his flag down and shouted, "BATTLE START!"
"Gardevoir, Extrasensory, Honchkrow, Tailwind."
"Machamp, Brick Break! Heracross, Megahorn!"
Sato and Orin gave their commands at the same time, and all four Pokémon sprang into action.
The fastest was naturally "Gardevoir", who raised its hand and unleashed a powerful wave of Extrasensory that struck the charging Machamp head-on.
A gleam flashed in Gardevoir's eyes. Sato had already told them beforehand that Orin's Machamp had the rare No Guard Ability.
Against it, evasion was useless. The only path forward was to meet it head-on.
At the same time, Honchkrow soared into the sky, flapping its wings to generate an invisible wind that boosted both itself and Gardevoir.
On the other side, Heracross unfolded its not-so-sturdy wings and charged rapidly toward Honchkrow.
Although it was a Bug-type, there wasn't the slightest trace of fear in Heracross's eyes. It launched into battle with a full-power Bug-type move, looking as if it were ready to risk everything.
Machamp used Brick Break with all four of its arms at once, an intimidating display of force. However, under the influence of Extrasensory, it couldn't move forward at all.
That said, "Gardevoir's" Psychic power wasn't as strong as expected, and it couldn't push Machamp back either. The two Pokémon entered a deadlock.
On the other side, though Heracross showed no fear while airborne, its flying ability was far inferior to Honchkrow's, and its powerful Megahorn failed to land.
"Honchkrow, Heat Wave."
Honchkrow soared into the sky and flapped its wings fiercely. A surge of intense heat swept across the field, forcing Heracross straight back to the ground.
At the same time, Gardevoir took the opportunity to withdraw its Extrasensory and, in a blink, vanished from view.
As the Heat Wave dispersed, Honchkrow hovered overhead, gazing down at Machamp and Heracross. Its gleaming eyes held an unreadable expression.
"Machamp, Dynamic Punch! Heracross, follow up with close combat!"
Ignoring Gardevoir's disappearance, Orin gave direct orders for Machamp to strike at the airborne Honchkrow.
It was uncanny… thanks to the No Guard Ability, Machamp jumped lightly and landed right on Honchkrow's flight path.
To spectators, it looked as if Honchkrow had flown right into the path of the Dynamic Punch.
Many in the audience had seen this Machamp's "power" before. Some even closed their eyes in pity, and the gasps around them seemed to confirm their fears.
But when those people opened their eyes again, they could only stare in confusion at what seemed to be a "fifth Pokémon" now on the field.
As Machamp's Dynamic Punch flew at Honchkrow, Heracross followed closely, clearly aiming to land a follow-up hit. This content belongs to n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
But when the punch hit "Honchkrow", it burst like a balloon, vanishing without a trace.
At that moment, Honchkrow appeared beside Heracross again, this time carrying the now-revealed Zoroark.
"Honchkrow, Air Slash! Zoroark, Flamethrower!"
Air Slash and Flamethrower struck Heracross at close range, blasting it back down to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Yes, the Gardevoir that had used Extrasensory earlier had been Zoroark in disguise all along, which explained the lack of overwhelming Psychic power.
And when Honchkrow had seemingly used Heat Wave to push Heracross back, it was actually covering for Zoroark, who used its Illusion to fool everyone on the Arena!
The Honchkrow that was struck had been an illusion. When Machamp targeted it, the No Guard Ability simply locked onto that illusion.
"Heracross has lost the ability to battle. The match continues!" the referee took the opportunity to announce.
"Zoroark, Extrasensory, Honchkrow, Air Slash."
Sato had no intention of showing mercy. He pressed the two-on-one advantage immediately.
Orin froze for a split second, then a flash of determination crossed his eyes.
"Machamp, full-power Dynamic Punch!"
Completely ignoring the deceptive Zoroark, Machamp unleashed another Dynamic Punch toward Honchkrow.
To everyone's surprise, it turned out that Machamp had been holding back until now. With its full strength unleashed, it broke free from Zoroark's Extrasensory and tanked Honchkrow's Air Slash!
In the end, Machamp landed a direct hit on Honchkrow with Dynamic Punch!