"Up next, we have two contestants everyone here knows well!"
The commentator's voice echoed through the arena, brimming with excitement.
"On one side—Peter! A rookie genius Trainer who stormed into the Bronze tier with ten consecutive victories! In less than a month, he's gone from a complete newcomer to Bronze rank—an astonishing rise powered by undeniable talent!"
"And on the other side— Tony, the widely known Champion Chaser! His entire team is modeled after Champion Cynthia's lineup. Among them, his Gabite is virtually undefeated in Bronze-tier matches!"
"…Huh?"
Peter blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that kind of background.
To be fair, Cynthia's team really was an extremely well-designed lineup.
Back in his previous life, when he played the Diamond & Pearl remakes, he'd been crushed by Cynthia more times than he could count. Without a level advantage, beating her was brutally difficult.
Even in Generations 8 and 9, plenty of players copied Cynthia's lineup for ranked battles—and some even made it into the top 200.
That alone proved how terrifying Cynthia's grasp of team composition was.
So sometimes, copying homework wasn't a bad way to grow stronger.
Of course—
If you didn't truly understand what you were copying, you'd just end up with a bad imitation that looked impressive but fell apart instantly.
"Then let me see what your Gabite can really do," Peter said calmly.
"Lopunny—get ready to fight!"
"Gabite! Crush him for me!" Tony roared.
Gabite♂ | Lv. 36 (Advanced)
"Swords Dance!"
Gabiteleapt into motion, beginning its fierce battle dance as its aura surged.
"Fake Out!"
Lopunny vanished in a blur.
In the next instant, she appeared right beside Gabite—her post-evolution speed smooth, elegant, and downright beautiful to watch.
Smack!
Her long ear slapped across Gabite's face, interrupting Swords Dance mid-motion and staggering it backward.
"Power-Up Punch!"
Peter gave the order without hesitation, keeping the pressure relentless.
From that very first exchange, he'd already confirmed something crucial—
This Gabite had Sand Veil, not Rough Skin.
Sand Veil: Raises evasion during sandstorms.
Rough Skin: Damages opponents that make contact.
That difference mattered a lot.
"Damn it… Dragon Claw! Tear her apart!"
Caught off guard at the start, Tony's expression darkened. He chose to stand his ground and trade blows head-on.
But he'd overlooked a key issue—
Lopunny could attack with her arms, legs, and ears.
Gabite, forced to stabilize its stance, could only rely on its arm fins and sharp fangs.
In terms of multi-angle offense, it was completely outmatched.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lopunny fired off three consecutive Power-Up Punches. She blocked Gabite's claws, whipped it off balance with a sharp ear strike, then sprang back in a clean retreat.
At the same time—
Light flared around her body.
Attack up. Speed up.
"ROOOAAAR—!"
The crowd erupted.
"This is incredible! Despite Gabite's clear level advantage, Lopunny has launched a flawless opening assault! Gabite gained nothing—while Lopunny freely boosted herself with Power-Up Punch!"
"Tch…"
Tony's face twisted in frustration.
He was a self-proclaimed Champion Chaser—yet he'd just been outplayed by an unknown rookie.
Unacceptable.
"Unforgivable… Gabite, use Swords Dance again!"
Gabite resumed its dance, blades of light swirling around its body as its killing intent skyrocketed.
Clearly, Tony planned to overpower Lopunny with raw stats—stack Attack, then end it in one blow.
Peter just grinned.
"Use… Encore."
"Mi-lo~!"
Lopunny clapped her hands cheerfully.
At the same time, Speed Boost activated—her speed rising yet again.
Tony's face drained of color.
"No—Gabite! Dragon Claw, now!"
Too late.
Under Encore's mental control, Gabite lost all autonomy and began repeating Swords Dance over and over.
Encore—unless countered by an overwhelming level gap or ironclad willpower—was almost impossible to break.
For the next three turns, Gabite was locked into nothing but Swords Dance.
Peter shook his head.
Even a pseudo-legendary was still just a pseudo-legendary before full maturity.
Against a max-talent Lopunny, Gabite was short by nearly a hundred points of talent. That gap erased its level advantage entirely.
With Lopunny stacking boosts nonstop, the outcome was already decided.
"Finish it," Peter said calmly.
"Charge in—High Jump Kick, full power!"
"Mi-lo~!"
Lopunny kicked off the ground, becoming a streak of brown light. Her leg whipped down like a guillotine—
BOOOOM!
Gabite was smashed straight into the arena floor.
Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact point. At the center, Gabite lay unconscious.
"Gabite is unable to battle! Lopunny wins!"
…
[Ding! Cross-tier battle victory. Gained Universal Talent Points ×5!]
The arena exploded into noise.
Amid the uproar, Peter stepped off the field calmly, not sparing a glance for Tony's stunned expression.
"Why is Lopunny so violent after evolving?! Pretty and deadly—I'm in love."
"Damn it, I came here to learn cursed tactics, not watch a stomp!"
"Alright, alright—just straight-up domination now? Couldn't we get a closer fight? I'm not satisfied!"
Online comments flooded in—many from Peter's SNS followers.
"Relax, guys! I just came from Nessa's fan group—she's here to snipe Peter! Next match is probably her!"
"WHAT—Nessa?! Is she wearing the high-slit swimsuit today? I wanna see!"
"Chasing him from Jubilife to Oreburgh… wait, that sounds suspicious."
"I'm Fionn, proud Nessa fan! I declare war! Today, this shameless Peter will be judged!"
"Uh… small reminder—Nessa's Chewtle already evolved into Drednaw — I mean Chewtle's evolution, Chewtle's evolved form Chewtle → Drednaw—anyway, it's a Rock/Water type now. Against Peter's Dolliv, that's a 4× weakness…"
"…."
Peter froze when he read the comments.
Nessa… came all this way?
He sighed.
Was she really that persistent?
The moment he returned to the waiting room, Nessa walked straight up to him.
Today, she wore a minimalist swimsuit—red off-shoulder bikini top paired with a black high-slit skirt. Every step she took drew attention like a magnet.
"Peter," she said confidently.
"After losing last time, I've grown a lot. I'm Bronze tier now too. Today, I'll defeat you at full strength!"
"Then we'll settle it in the arena," Peter replied with a grin.
"Just hope your Drednaw's shell is hard enough."
He had absolute faith in Dolliv.
Honestly—
If you couldn't win with a four-times type advantage, you might as well go home and hatch eggs.
"Hmph! I'm more worried you're not hard enough!" Nessa crossed her arms defiantly.
Peter raised an eyebrow.
"…You do mean fists, right?"
"…Huh?"
Nessa caught the teasing looks from people around them and finally realized what she'd said.
"…You're shameless!!"
She turned on her heel and stormed off, walking far faster than necessary.
Peter scratched his nose awkwardly, not bothering to explain.
Really—
It wasn't his fault.
Blame his past life's livestream chat. No real-world experience, but his trash talk repertoire was top-tier.
The next battle—
Was about to get very interesting.
--------------
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