The meeting place for MYGO was at the Rainbow Wing Pokémon Battle Café.
Rainbow Wing Pokémon Battle Café—usually just called "Rainbow Wing Café"—was currently the largest battle-themed restaurant in the city where Satoshi lived.
It's roughly like "Treasure Eatery" in Paldea's Medali Gym—the place Gym Leader Larry frequented—but the Rainbow Wing Café was larger. Plus, it allowed Pokémon to roam freely and eat as long as they weren't too huge or bizarre.
Like Garbodor or Hypno—those were a no-go.
But Hypno—though creepy-looking—was actually quite common in hospitals. Even the cute Mimi-sensei (Mimosa) used Hypno to help treat patients.
Ordinary students rarely came to Rainbow Wing Café; the prices were steep.
However, Satoshi's group was among the top ten teams from the recent Cup, so they enjoyed discounts or even free meals—as long as they didn't overspend their allowance.
The Cup was a monthly event; May's was battle-oriented, while June's was performance-themed.
According to Satoshi's knowledge, it was called the "Gear Cup," specifically for Coordinators and Performers, but since he wasn't interested, he didn't delve too deeply.
Performances were nice and all—but not necessary.
More importantly, his next competition wouldn't be such a small event—it was the High School Pokémon League, the pinnacle contest among high-school trainers.
Thinking of the Elite Four and Champion from his school, Satoshi's fighting spirit boiled with excitement. Not to mention there were at least two hidden powerhouses on his team. Imagining daily intense sparring sessions with these girls made him want to drag them straight home right now and battle relentlessly.
Training and battling every day until the girls collapsed breathless and exhausted on his bed.
If he could, Satoshi would have them stay at his place—from morning until night.
"Satoshi, over here~!"
"There's a seat between me and Soyo-san~ Hurry up and sit down."
As soon as he arrived at Rainbow Wing Café, Satoshi spotted the MYGO members.
Raana was eating a matcha parfait, Taki massaged Tomori's shoulders, and Tomori quietly studied her notebook.
Meanwhile, the other two girls had already chosen a spot for him.
"Alright, come out—Raichu, Grookey, Frogadier!"
At Satoshi's call, three Poké Balls flew out of his pocket, releasing his Pokémon.
"You all did great today, eat as much as you want."
"Rai!" "Pachi~!" "Koga~!"
Following his instructions, the Pokémon immediately dove into the food they'd been eyeing.
MYGO had bought plenty: berries, pastries, bread, sandwiches…
Since the school had a partnership with Rainbow Wing Café, students enjoyed substantial discounts. Not to mention, being top-ten winners and with Satoshi not short on money, the expenses didn't matter much.
What did matter was the tension between Anon and Soyo.
Soyo-san keeps staring at me… Could she really be planning to attack? Sylveon, get ready for battle!
I really wanna take down Anon-chan~ How can I get her off our team for good…?
The two locked eyes, invisible sparks crackling between them. Fortunately, Satoshi sat down between them right after releasing his Pokémon, interrupting their silent showdown.
"Satoshi, today you and Anon didn't get hurt, right? I was so worried about you~ Whimsicott was worried too, you know. Next time, pair with me, okay?"
Soyo sat beside him, voice soft and gentle, yet shooting a murderous glance toward her trembling Whimsicott before swiftly turning her sweet gaze back to Satoshi.
"Fufu…(Please, stop threatening me~ Life is hard enough!)"
Whimsicott shivered and hurriedly nodded in agreement with her trainer.
"Oh, we were perfectly fine! Actually, Satoshi and I visited so many places today, Soyo-san~"
Without any panic about Soyo's veiled hostility, the normally shy Anon countered cheerfully, reigniting their silent war.
Ahh… She looks so soft. I kinda want to pinch her.
Caught between the two, Satoshi's eyes were fixed elsewhere—specifically, the ongoing Pokémon battle on TV.
[Pinch what now? Could it be you're finally awakening, Satobaby?!]
The TV displayed an Idol Trainer battle between Hatsune and Yuki Setsuna.
Satoshi didn't know much about "Idol Trainer Hatsune," but he had looked into Yuki Setsuna a bit.
Apparently, Yuki Setsuna was one of the school's Elite Four, a Fire-type specialist whose ace was the "legendary Pokémon" Arcanine! With a base stat total of 555, it was quite famous in Kanto.
Satoshi badly wanted to stroke Arcanine's soft, fluffy body—it definitely felt amazing!
Back when he'd played the games, Arcanine's cool appearance and immense strength had completely captivated him.
In the Scarlet and Violet era, its performance had dipped a bit—mainly due to that one guy. After that one guy appeared, poor Arcanine was benched.
Who was that one guy? Needless to say, he was legendary:
Incineroar.
God, Incineroar was just too damn cool.
"Arcanine, final move! Use [Setsuna Scarlet Storm]!"
On TV, Yuki Setsuna shouted a completely made-up move name. Arcanine, engulfed in blazing flames, easily charged at Morpeko and ended the battle. Hatsune calmly withdrew her Pokémon without any expression.
Morpeko was fine for cuteness, but with a base stat total of only 436—and poorly distributed, at that—it was mostly used by idol trainers for looks.
Still… [Setsuna Scarlet Storm]?
"Isn't that just a regular [Flare Blitz]?"
Satoshi couldn't help but complain.
Even so, Arcanine really was cool!
Next time I see Officer Jenny, I'll have to beg her for one!
Satoshi instantly regretted not doing it earlier. Never would he have imagined that his first impulse to visit the police station would be for such a reason.
Just as Satoshi was lost in thought—still caught in the silent battle between Anon and Soyo—a pair of slender arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind the chair.
"It's been a while, Satoshi~"
Karen's energetic, adorable voice tickled his ears, jolting Satoshi back to reality.
He immediately turned his head, coming face-to-face with Karen and her Armarouge and Ninetales.
"Karen?"
"Mhm~ I came to see you!"
Cheerful and playful, Karen poked Satoshi's cheek, instantly igniting flames in the atmosphere.
Unconsciously, Soyo clenched her fists tight.
Crunch!
Her brand-new phone had apparently shattered.
"Anon-chan… Who's this?" she asked quietly.
"…Satoshi's childhood friend," Anon replied flatly.
Childhood friend?!
Anon and Soyo's eyes met. The hostility between them vanished instantly, replaced by a shared, singular thought:
First, eliminate Aijo Karen—then stab Anon-chan/Soyo-san in the back! ×2
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T/N:
"Mm. If you've read this far, I suppose you're at least a little invested."
"If you want to support the translator, there's a Patreon here: patreon.com/wisetl. It's optional—think of it as tossing a few extra coins on the counter. Early chapters are just a bonus side-effect of that support."
"This place also has its own strange currency… Powerstones. For every 100 Powerstones the story gets, you'll receive 1 bonus chapter. 100ps = 1 chp, 200ps = 2 chp, 300ps = 3 chp… you can do the math."
"If you'd rather talk than throw money or stones, there's a Discord: discord.gg/wisetl. Go there if you want to complain, theorize, or poke the translator for more updates. Just don't expect me to mediate your arguments."
Say thank you to Maomao guys