Soyo shook her head slightly, revealing her gentle side as she naturally reached out and held onto Satoshi's hand. Since he was so dense anyway, taking things a little further shouldn't be a big deal.
Even if he never realized her feelings, it didn't matter. Soyo had already made plans to catch a Hypno—then hypnotize Satoshi and force him to sign a marriage registration form. She was thinking decades ahead already.
The Soyo of today was planting seeds for the future—completely different from everyone else!
I'm already preparing for the Marriage Cup ten years from now. None of these other girls can beat me!
Victory will definitely be mine!
The confidence radiating from Nagasaki Soyo was as powerful as that of a certain old acquaintance who had met an unfortunate end.
"Soyo-san, how about we decide fairly with rock-paper-scissors? I want to join this event too~"
While Soyo was still feeling proud of herself, Anon extended a fist, ready to settle this with a quick round of rock-paper-scissors.
"Fine by me, Anon-chan."
"I wanna join too~ Me too~"
Without the slightest hesitation, Soyo agreed. Karen jumped in to participate as well.
Soyo vs. Anon vs. Karen.
The three girls threw their hands forward rapidly—Soyo and Karen immediately went with paper, while Anon chose scissors.
"Eh?! I lost again!"
Soyo's eyes went wide, practically popping out of their sockets.
"Looks like I'll be pairing with Satoshi then~ Soyo-san, you just stay right here, okay?"
Anon leaned close to Soyo's ear, whispering cruelly, causing a renewed wave of despair to flood over Soyo.
"W-wait! I'll do anything you want, can we at least make it best two out of three?!"
"You really only think about yourself, don't you?"
The doubles match at the Battle Café was basically a friendly competition where each team sent out a single pair.
Right now, there were about eight pairs participating, meaning it'd take only three rounds to finish.
Since this was just a relaxed event, Satoshi intended to battle casually without being serious—after all, the whole point of going out was to relax.
[Satobaby, you're not planning on winning?]
It's not that I don't want to win. I just want them—and our Pokémon—to fully enjoy this victory banquet.
Satoshi casually responded to Furiko, beginning his post-meal warm-up.
[Uuuu... Satobaby, you're really too sweet! I'm literally crying! I wanna pamper you so much~]
[Mission: Enjoy yourself thoroughly! Reward: Fire Stone.]
"Uh… anyway, thanks for that."
Hearing Furiko's nonsensical outburst, Satoshi clenched his fist at first—but once he saw the mission appear, he felt Furiko's kindness and quickly calmed down.
Though this task seemed kind of pointless, it was still a reflection of Furiko's goodwill.
Why pointless? Well, because it seemed he already had plenty of money at home anyway.
"First up on stage, the pink-haired maiden Anon and our Red-Hat Demon King, Satoshi!"
The MC energetically introduced the competitors.
"Isn't my title kind of weird? What's with 'pink-haired maiden' anyway~? Can't I have something cooler?"
Anon pointed at herself, stepping onto the battlefield, looking quite confused.
Satoshi's title sounded so cool.
What about hers?
"Don't worry, you'll definitely get a great title someday. You look really cool when you battle seriously, Anon."
Satoshi comforted her from the side, causing Anon's mouth to twist into an odd smile after hearing his praise.
"Ohhh~ Ehehehe~?"
After all, as a Pokémon Trainer, titles were something one naturally cared about.
Clearly, the MC hadn't done enough homework. If it were Satoshi, he would've called Anon something like "Sugar Smile Anon" or "Mysterious Maiden of Sylveon."
"Next up are two incredibly strong competitors—the Ice Queen, Yukinoshita Yukino, and the Elite-level trainer who's served as a support member for 30 different teams, Hachiman Umi!"
"Just a casual battle is fine." "Understood."
Two girls with cold demeanors stepped onto the field, practically freezing the atmosphere with their presence alone.
Anon...maybe we should start considering a losers' bracket now.
Satoshi felt a faint pressure that winning might be difficult. A singles match would've been fine, but doubles was trickier.
Hachiman Umi was strong—even he wasn't confident he could beat her right now.
However, this was after the Cup, and everyone's Pokémon were tired—including his Raichu and Grookey. At this point, the Pokémon available to battle were surely weaker than usual.
In other words—winning might be possible!
"Ninetales, I'm counting on you." "Then I'll go with Dewott."
Appearing on their opponents' side was an Alolan Ice-type Ninetales and the second-stage Water starter Dewott. Both Pokémon looked tired, clearly not in peak condition. On Satoshi's side...
"Frogadier, I choose you!" "Sylveon, let's win and get ourselves an amazing title!"
In terms of base stats, the Pokémon were similar, but Satoshi guessed their side had the higher stamina, thus a better chance at victory.
Even Ninetales' [Snow Warning] ability didn't fully cover the battlefield, making it seem especially weak.
"Ninetales, [Icy Wind]."
"Kon~!"
At Yukino's command, Ninetales opened its mouth, unleashing a freezing gust that chilled the battlefield instantly.
"Frogadier, jump lightly—then [Water Pulse]!"
Seeing this, Satoshi quickly directed Frogadier to leap into the air. Frogadier followed obediently, gracefully jumping to dodge the icy gusts, carefully avoiding hitting the ceiling.
"Koga!"
Midair, it adjusted its posture before firing off a ball-shaped [Water Pulse] attack.
"Dewott, protect Ninetales with [Razor Shell]."
Just as the [Water Pulse] was about to hit Ninetales, Dewott suddenly appeared in front, quickly slashing through the water attack with a sharp shell.
The two attacks collided midair, releasing dazzling light and splashes of water.
"So cold…"
The chilling winds made Anon shiver involuntarily, lowering her Speed by one stage.
"Oh, really? I actually feel pretty warm~"
Satoshi replied heartlessly, smiling gently as he wrapped an arm around Anon's shoulder, pulling her slightly closer.
"If we stand closer together, you'll feel warmer, right?"
"Uwaah~ S-Satoshi…?"
Instantly, Anon felt a thrilling sensation, her body growing soft. Her heartbeat quickened wildly, like a startled little deer.
She had completely lost her battle awareness.
Ehehe… Satoshi's hand feels so warm and nice...and he smells good, too~
Anon, fully intoxicated by Satoshi's charm, failed to notice her Sylveon, not far away, turning back confusedly while being battered by Icy Wind.
"Sylvee?! (Why are you flirting while I'm getting hit?!)"
"Ugh, when is Anon-chan going to finally fall from that stage~~ Ahhh~~ It'd be great if she suddenly fell ill~"
Meanwhile, Nagasaki Soyo had accidentally crushed her drink bottle in her hands.
"Sylveee...(Forget it, I give up.)"
Moments later, Sylveon fainted, collapsing onto the field.