"Thank you for your hard work, Venusaur."
Sam smiled as he recalled Venusaur into its Poké Ball.
Venusaur had truly done its best.
Not only had it defeated Smoochum, but it had also exhausted itself to the point where it could no longer fight Cloyster. Even so, its performance had given Sam an enormous surprise.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would be the final winner of this duel.
Just imagining the words "defeated Lorelei" made his heart race.
"Come back, Cloyster."
Lorelei shook her head helplessly. She hadn't expected Venusaur to be so resilient.
Watching Venusaur defeat two Pokémon in a row genuinely surprised her.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
The battle wasn't over yet.
"Go, Delibird."
Although there had been some unexpected developments, the final result would not change.
She would still win.
That was Lorelei's confidence.
"Delibird… a rare Pokémon," Sam murmured.
Aside from Pryce's Delibird in a special episode, he had never seen anyone else use one in battle.
"Detective Eye."
---
[Pokémon]: Delibird
[Type]: Ice / Flying
[Strength]: High Gym Level
[Potential]: Elite
---
After assessing Delibird, Sam smiled.
This was the first smile he had shown during the entire battle.
Lorelei adjusted her glasses, a faint sense of unease rising in her chest.
"Come out, Scyther."
The battle was over.
The fruits of victory would finally be his.
The moment Scyther appeared on the battlefield—cold-eyed, twin scythes gleaming—Lorelei immediately understood why Sam had smiled.
She had been completely played.
According to the Alliance's information, Sam's Scyther should have been at high Gym level.
But the Scyther standing before her had clearly stepped into the Elite realm.
Sam had hidden it far too well.
"You chose to let Venusaur deal with Smoochum, then used Cloyster to make sure I never learned Scyther's true strength," Lorelei said coolly.
"All just to deceive me at the very end."
"Sam, you're truly impressive."
"Thank you, Miss Lorelei," Sam replied with a smile—neither arrogant nor overly humble.
Thanks to Venusaur's performance, Sam's plan had unfolded perfectly.
If Venusaur hadn't defeated Cloyster, forcing Scyther to appear early, Sam was certain the final Pokémon he would be facing would not be Delibird.
A Gym-level Pokémon simply could not contend with an Elite-level opponent.
Even if that Pokémon belonged to Lorelei herself, the outcome would not change.
Lorelei wasn't a sore loser.
Sam had used information disparity and tactical planning—along with Venusaur's perseverance—to force her into a disadvantage. That was skill, not luck.
Still, even knowing the result was inevitable, she had no intention of surrendering.
Because that was what it meant to be a Trainer.
To fight—even when victory seemed impossible.
"Delibird, Present!"
Facing Scyther, whose strength far surpassed Delibird's, Lorelei abandoned all caution and ordered a direct assault.
"Delii~!"
Delibird flapped its wings and soared upward, tossing down brightly wrapped Presents one after another.
Watching Delibird flying through the air, Sam couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he still couldn't understand how a penguin was supposed to fly.
Thanks to Scyther's overwhelming strength, Sam actually had the leisure to think about such nonsense mid-battle.
"Scyther, dodge."
Snapping back to reality, Sam issued the command.
The Present boxes crashed into the ground and exploded violently.
But Scyther's speed was simply too fast. No matter how many Presents Delibird dropped, not even a single blade of its wings was touched.
After continuously attacking for a long time, Delibird finally began to tire. It hovered in the air, preparing to recover before launching another bombing run.
"Now—Scyther, Quick Attack!"
It was clear that Lorelei didn't fully understand Scyther.
Otherwise, she would never have allowed Delibird to remain suspended in the air.
The instant Sam spoke, the blade-like wings on Scyther's back began to vibrate violently.
With a sharp buzz, Scyther shot upward like a bolt of lightning.
"How is that possible?!" Lorelei exclaimed.
For a moment, she thought her eyes were deceiving her.
Although Scyther carried the Flying-type name, true flight had never been its specialty. Short bursts using its wings were possible—but sustained aerial movement like a real Flying-type Pokémon was considered impossible.
Yet what she was seeing now completely shattered that belief.
The Scyther before her was flying better than most bird Pokémon.
If she hadn't witnessed it personally, Lorelei would never have believed such a thing was possible.
Delibird, which had been resting midair, suddenly saw Scyther appear in front of it in an instant.
It froze.
???
Crash!!
Delibird was knocked straight out of the sky.
Originally, Lorelei had planned to rely on Delibird's aerial advantage to deal with Scyther. She never imagined that even this final lifeline would be completely outclassed.
Slower.
Weaker.
And even inferior in the very skill it relied on to survive.
There was simply no way Delibird could win.
The battle instantly turned one-sided.
"Come back, Delibird."
Lorelei smiled bitterly.
She had originally planned to defeat Sam, offer him guidance as the victor, and then entrust the young Lapras to him.
She hadn't expected to lose instead.
The outcome completely disrupted her original plan.
Seeing Lorelei standing there in silence, lost in thought, Sam suddenly felt nervous.
He worried—irrationally—that she might become angry and decide to take back the Lapras she had intended to give him.
But that fear was unfounded.
As an Elite Four member, Lorelei possessed far greater composure than that.
She was simply reflecting on the battle.
"Here."
Her voice sud
denly softened.
"Take good care of it."
It was obvious how much she cherished this Lapras.
"Don't worry, Miss Lorelei," Sam said seriously.
"I promise—I'll take very good care of it."
---------------Author---------------
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