Under Sunada Kaoru's near-hysterical roar of a command, Rattata let out a piercing screech sharp enough to stab the eardrums.
The muscles across its small body bulged violently, tightening into hard, knotted ridges. That tiny frame now seemed to hold the force to tear the world apart.
Its two massive, vicious incisors gleamed with a cold metallic shine.
In the next instant, it moved.
The floor cracked under its kick, and Rattata's body shot forward like a taut white arrow, shredding the air with a murderous intent that allowed no retreat. It lunged straight toward the floating, seemingly defenseless Dratini.
"It's Hyper Fang!"
"Sunada Kaoru has lost his mind! He's going for an all-or-nothing suicide strike!"
"It's over! At this distance and this speed—there's no way Dratini can dodge!"
The audience erupted instantly in chaos. Gasps and panicked cries filled the arena. Girls who were cheering for Kudo Shiba only moments ago now turned pale, some instinctively covering their eyes, unable to watch the brutality that seemed inevitable.
Was that elegant, beautiful Pokémon truly about to be pierced through by those savage fangs?
Takai Yuko's heart clenched violently. Her fingers turned white from gripping too hard; even her breath halted.
On the battlefield, all that remained was the rapidly enlarging white streak that Rattata left behind—and the sharp wind it carried, cutting like blades.
Yet Kudo Shiba still stood there.
The roaring crowd, the opponent's madness, the killing intent rushing toward him—all of it was as if muted.
His eyes were calm, utterly unruffled, watching the charging Rattata as though witnessing a comedy that had nothing to do with him.
There was not the slightest ripple in his heart.
Courage was admirable.
But in the face of absolute bloodline suppression, courage was the cheapest thing in existence.
He could clearly see the bloodthirsty red glow in Rattata's eyes, the dust on its incisors, even the forceful wind that blew back the little fin-like wings beside Dratini's ears.
Half a meter.
Thirty centimeters.
Ten centimeters.
Death closed in on Dratini's face.
And at the instant when countless hearts rose into their throats—
Kudo Shiba finally moved.
He merely lifted his chin slightly and parted his lips, his voice soft as a whisper yet clear enough to cut through the entire arena.
"Dragon Rage."
His voice was not loud, but it carried an absolute, unchallengeable authority—as if spoken law became reality.
In midair, Dratini's lazy purple eyes seemed to receive a decree from an ancient deity.
A divine command had been issued—
and all creation must submit.
In that instant, a blinding brilliance erupted from deep within Dratini's pupils.
"Rooo—!"
A dragon's roar.
A high, majestic, overwhelmingly noble and ancient cry burst forth—completely incompatible with Dratini's tiny body—and it shook the arena violently.
The sound waves spread.
A violent, formless yet visible shockwave exploded outward with Dratini at its center.
It was not fire.
It was not lightning.
It was not any ordinary force.
It was the pure energy torrent from the apex of life itself—
the crushing dominance of dragon bloodline.
Rattata, sprinting at full speed, abruptly froze mid-charge.
Its overloaded brain did not even have time to comprehend what had happened.
Its fangs were mere inches away.
But those inches became an impossible chasm.
Forward.
It could no longer move forward even a single millimeter.
"Boom—!"
There was no massive explosion—only a deep, heavy sound that made every heart in the arena skip a beat.
The overwhelming Dragon Rage struck Rattata's body squarely.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Under the horrified stares of the entire audience, Rattata's charging form collided as if with an invisible steel wall rushing toward it at supersonic speed.
Its bones creaked in a sickening chorus.
The next instant, its body was blasted backward with a force several times greater than its charge, shooting through the air like a fired projectile.
It traced a tragic parabola across the arena.
"Bang!"
A heavy impact echoed.
Rattata's body slammed into the alloy wall at the edge of the battlefield, leaving a clearly dented crater on the reinforced surface.
Then it slid limply to the floor.
Its once-ferocious eyes had turned into dizzy spirals.
It had completely lost the ability to battle.
The arena fell into absolute silence.
You could hear a pin drop.
All whispers, all screams, every sound had been severed in an instant, as if a giant invisible hand crushed them.
Everyone stood petrified, expressions frozen.
They stared blankly at the elegantly floating Dratini, which looked as though it had done absolutely nothing.
Then they looked at the Rattata lying in the corner twitching faintly.
Their minds went blank.
One move.
Just one move.
The two attacks never even made contact.
A Level 5 Dratini…
against a trained Rattata that had charged full force…
using a type-effective, high-power attack…
Instantly defeated it with a single, inexplicable shockwave.
Was this something a newborn Dratini could do?
This violated every basic rule of Pokémon battles.
At the judge's stand, the experienced instructor had his mouth open wide enough to fit a Poké Ball. His flag was raised halfway—and froze in midair.
Only after more than ten seconds did he snap out of his stupor.
Trembling, he pointed the victory flag toward Kudo Shiba and announced in a shaky, strained voice:
"R–Rattata is unable to battle!"
"So the winner is… contestant Kudo Shiba!"
Those words were like a spark dropped into boiling oil.
The deathly silence exploded instantly.
The arena erupted with roaring shouts—shock, awe, screams, disbelief—forming a tidal wave of noise that almost tore the roof off the building.
Kudo Shiba ignored all of it.
He calmly recalled Dratini, then walked toward Sunada Kaoru, who still stood frozen, eyes empty.
Sunada Kaoru mumbled to himself, "Impossible… impossible…"
Kudo Shiba reached out.
He patted Sunada Kaoru's shoulder gently—almost familiarly.
As Sunada Kaoru lifted his dazed face, Kudo Shiba showed a "sincere" smile and, in a tone full of "encouragement" and "comfort," said warmly:
"Your Rattata was very brave. Truly."
"Train it well. It has potential."
That "comfort" was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Humiliation.
The purest, most devastating humiliation.
Sunada Kaoru could no longer endure the fall from heaven to hell. A sweet metallic taste surged up his throat—
"Pff—!"
He spat a mouthful of blood on the spot.
His vision went black, his body collapsed, and he fell straight backward.
(End of Chapter)
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