Chapter 357:
"Unbelievable! Contestant Kaede's Dragonite defeated Magneton with a single Twister! It's clear that his Dragonite's energy level far surpasses Magneton's!"
"Let's see, Contestant Li's second Pokémon is Venusaur. Contestant Kaede is also switching... to Blaziken!"
"Blaziken used Flare Blitz! So fast! Oh my goodness, another one-hit KO!"
"He's switching again, switching again! Contestant Kaede is sending out Alolan Ninetales!"
"KO'd! Another one-hit KO from Alolan Ninetales's Blizzard?"
Within a mere thirty seconds, three Pokémon took the field one by one.
Aside from the first Magneton, where the opponent's trainer managed to issue a "Thunderbolt" command,
The other two Pokémon were basically defeated the moment they appeared.
The process was so fast that the announcer, Satoshi, barely had time to commentate before the battle was over.
His mouth became like a machine gun, rattling off non-stop.
The audience in the stands was also stunned.
Not counting the time taken to switch Pokémon, this entire match lasted at most ten seconds?!
They had originally thought Hayashi Kaede would bring another spectacular battle performance this time.
Like Meowscarada's Aura-guided commands last time, or Serperior's Grassy Terrain...
But this...
Silence. Still as stagnant water.
Despite having an audience numbering in the six figures, there was no reaction at first.
After a good while, whispers finally broke out.
"Are you kidding me? Are all his Pokémon this strong?"
"That Blizzard... even through the energy barrier, I can feel its chill?"
"I need to look this up; a contestant named Hayashi Kaede this powerful can't be unknown."
"The third match is... over. The winner is Contestant Hayashi Kaede..."
"Hayashi Kaede, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap... you're too terrifying!"
Even Satoshi, who had commentated in one breath, was stunned, stammering slightly as he announced the match result.
Seriously?
If he guessed correctly, that Alolan Ninetales should be the same Alolan Vulpix that participated in the Nagisuna City Junior Cup back then.
But at that time, Alolan Vulpix's strength was clearly not this powerful.
You could even say it was a world of difference.
How long has it been, for crying out loud?!
Right now, his heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat; he desperately wanted to know how Alolan Vulpix became so strong in such a short time.
"Sigh..."
The middle-aged uncle across the field recalled his final Pokémon, Nidoqueen, shook his head, didn't say anything more, and left the field first.
Watching this, Hayashi Kaede actually felt a bit guilty inside.
Seems like he might have shattered a middle-aged man's dream.
But he didn't say anything.
After all, in life, eight or nine out of ten things don't go as one wishes.
Even if the curtain didn't fall here, he would likely have been defeated in the next match.
He walked back to the contestants' seating area. This time, almost all the remaining contestants fixed their eyes on him.
But now, their gazes were filled with astonishment.
Clearly, what had just happened had shocked them all.
In the real world, there are no clear energy level displays.
What they could see was that Kaede's three Pokémon had one-hit KO'd all three of his opponent's Pokémon. Such strength was simply unimaginable.
Kaede stayed quiet and didn't plan on saying anything.
But as he passed by Yūji, the other called out, "Brother Kaede..."
"Hmm?" Kaede turned his head to look at him.
Yūji's eyes still held surprise and a hint of wariness.
"What's up?" Kaede asked.
But after he asked, Yūji just shook his head again. "It's nothing."
"Alright, I need to go back and rest for a bit."
After this match, Kaede could predict that the hype around it would probably be high.
Plus, the day's matches had just begun; even if he wanted to watch the matches, he could do so from his room.
Returning to his room, Kaede released all his Pokémon and immediately jumped onto the bed, lying down.
Just kidding.
He had already worked hard battling today; it was time to lie down.
"Blaziken, Blaziken~"
Blaziken came over, looking at Kaede expectantly.
"Alright, alright, alright, I'll edit your battle video right away!"
Kaede knew what it was thinking.
Nearby, Alolan Ninetales also came closer upon hearing this.
Only Dragonite seemed hungry and went to eat some Energy Cubes.
Today's battle video was very short; everyone only had one chance to appear.
But it was this single appearance that perfectly captured Blaziken's lightning-fast Flare Blitz and Alolan Ninetales's figure emerging faintly within the Blizzard.
Especially Alolan Ninetales: amidst the vast, swirling snow, it stood there, head raised, looking at the opposing Nidoqueen.
Although its expression within the snow wasn't clear, that was the point—the faint, slender silhouette made it seem even more mysterious and elusive.
o(＞＜;)oo: "Ninetales, Ninetales ~!" (Wow wow wow... so cool, so cool~)
Even Alolan Ninetales itself thought it looked really cool.
Back during the Junior Cup, it didn't have this awareness.
Now that it had evolved and grown up a bit, this feeling of thinking itself was cool became particularly obvious.
Its face was practically pressed against the screen, trying to get a closer look.
"Mhmm, mhmm, mhmm, from now on you can use this move to shoot down Rayquaza."
Kaede moved its face away, muttering.
"Ninetales~"
Alolan Ninetales laughed, its eyes crinkling with joy.
Even though it knew Kaede was teasing it, it couldn't help but laugh, burying its head back into Kaede's embrace.
Seeing this, Kaede grabbed its slightly protruding muzzle and said, "If the video gets edited, I should take a picture of you now, post it in the comments section of this video, and pin it."
"Ninetales...?"
Alolan Ninetales's expression changed instantly. It wanted to say something, but its mouth was covered, so it couldn't get the words out. It could only stare at Kaede in shock while struggling to free itself from his embrace.
It protested, "Ninetales?" (How can you do that!)
"Ha ha ha ha...."
Kaede burst into laughter.