Kashiwagi stood up and looked at Huowu, who was holding her arm.
Chansey, who had been hiding, poked its head out and hurried over with medicine and bandages, its panicked expression full of genuine concern.
"You alright?" Kashiwagi asked.
"...I'm free now, aren't I?" Huowu turned her gaze toward him, her eyes burning with intensity.
"Of course you are." Kashiwagi reached into his pocket and tossed her the Snarl wristband. "Here. Call for rescue."
She scrambled forward, snatched up the device, and pressed the emergency button. Only then did she let out a long, shuddering breath of relief.
"Thank you."
Huowu took the medical supplies from the arriving Chansey and patted the Pokémon's head with a smile. The tension that had gripped her for hours finally dissolved into a sense of security.
"Lucky!"
Chansey trotted back to Kashiwagi, a look of surprise and pride on its face. Its paws waved about as if to say, I did it! Successfully initiating a medical treatment on its own was a massive step forward for the Pokémon.
"Great job."
Kashiwagi smiled and patted its head. Chansey's anxiety clearly stemmed from deep-seated self-doubt; it likely hadn't received much affirmation in the past, leading to a lack of confidence in everything it did. It was a "problem child" of sorts, but for Kashiwagi, it was a manageable flaw. He was working to fix it, starting with these small acts of healing. He believed that in a few months, Chansey's confidence would return, and he would have a true "Smiling Angel" (or "Pink Demon") on his team.
For now, though, work remained.
Kashiwagi's Drone Rotom flew closer. "You have received total Donations of 1,560,000."
Another huge amount. What happened? Did the donation rate spike because fewer contestants are left?
He checked his watch. Over three hours had passed since the start of the match, and he had only just secured his third "prey." He had expected the ambushes to come quickly, but the Team Snarl members seemed to have sensed there was a dangerous presence in this sector and were actively avoiding it.
Even Ken, the one he had "high hopes" for in the east, had made a sharp turn on the radar earlier, bypassing this area entirely before vanishing into a cluster of other red dots. This had left Kashiwagi and Huowu in an awkward stalemate for over two hours.
Realizing that staying in one spot was making him predictable, Kashiwagi had moved several times to confuse the enemy radar. After a long struggle, he had finally lured in one more fool.
The match had now reached its boiling point. From what he could tell, only six contestants remained on each side. Soon, the "Team Battle" phase would begin as the distance restrictions were lifted. Once teammates could regroup, Ken would no longer be a threat; Kashiwagi knew Ken wasn't powerful enough to take on a coordinated group.
He and Huowu swapped their clothes back to their original uniforms.
On the horizon, the rescue Delibird flapped its wings toward them. It was hard to imagine an Ice/Flying-type surviving this long under the scorching sun. Kashiwagi squinted against the glare.
"Won't it get heatstroke? ...Wait, it's going down."
He had barely spoken the words when the Delibird's flight path became erratic. It wobbled in the air before plummeting toward the ground. Huowu's smile froze. Fortunately, after a few seconds, the bird managed to right itself, flapping its small wings desperately until it reached them.
"..."
Kashiwagi hesitated, then took a water bottle from a prisoner's bag and walked over. He poured a bit of water over the Delibird's head. As the cool droplets splashed, the dizzy bird blinked, then flapped its wings excitedly, tilting its head back to gulp down the fresh, cold water. Its glazed eyes sharpened back to clarity.
Huowu's expression softened. If the rescue Pokémon failed, her mental state would have crumbled.
"Let it rest for a bit first, or it won't make it back," Kashiwagi said softly.
"Yeah," Huowu nodded. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt; if the Delibird lost strength and fell while she was in the bag, she'd have nowhere to go but down.
A short while later, the recovered Delibird flew off with its large cargo bag. Kashiwagi watched it leave, then turned his gaze to the two unconscious prisoners on the ground, deciding which "tool" to use next. After some deliberation, he decided to wake them both.
Judging by their performance, both were "hard-boiled"—or at least, they acted tough for the cameras. To make them useful, he'd need to employ a tactic like the Prisoner's Dilemma. Since he'd never actually done it before, he needed a moment to strategize.
"Let's think while we rest. It's way too hot."
He exhaled a puff of warm air. The temperature difference between day and night in the desert was extreme. It was approaching noon—the peak of the sun's fury—and the ground was hot enough to burn bare skin. Even Aron couldn't stand it, retreating into the shadow beside Kashiwagi.
"Ah... you're so cool." He patted Aron's head, feeling the refreshing sensation of sticking his hand in a freezer.
"Gron?"
"You probably can't feel it yourself." Kashiwagi smiled and pulled Chansey over. "You want to try?"
"Lucky~"
Chansey tentatively extended a paw. Seeing Aron nudge closer, it rested its paw on the metal shell. When the chill seeped in, a look of delight spread across its face.
"Told you." Kashiwagi rubbed its fluffy head.
His "temp worker," Vibrava, had returned to its Poké Ball the moment the battle ended to sleep. It was only friendly with Chansey; to Vibrava, Kashiwagi and Aron were just coworkers—the kind you might nod to if you were feeling particularly social. Since it would be leaving after the match, Kashiwagi didn't mind the distance; he preferred to focus his energy on Aron and Chansey. One was unevolved, and the other had psychological hurdles to overcome.
A little while later, Kashiwagi decided it was time to wake the two "failures" and pick his next pawn. But just as he dragged one of them into the sunlight, his body suddenly stiffened.
He whipped his head around. There, on the dust-swept path, a blurry figure had materialized out of nowhere.
They were less than a hundred meters apart.
The air shimmered with the heat, looking like a stage curtain being drawn back. Kashiwagi stood his ground, narrowing his eyes.
"So it is you. The red dot that freezes over and over, yet always stays standing. I was curious how you did it. You only just got your Pokémon recently, didn't you?"
The figure spoke, his voice unnervingly sinister.
"...Who says a new trainer can't have combat experience?" Kashiwagi dropped the Snarl grunt he was holding.
There were at least ten minutes left on the radar cooldown. At this time of day, no fool would normally go searching for an opponent under the blistering sun. If you failed to find them, you wasted your stamina; if you did find them, you might not be in a state to fight.
And yet... he had miscalculated.
Ken stepped out of the shadow of an arch-like rock formation. "Such confidence. No wonder you aren't afraid of me."
Under the blazing heat, Kashiwagi let out a sigh. "If I told you I was terrified, would you leave?"
Ken gave a jagged, cruel laugh. "No. Hehehe—"
"BATTLE REQUEST!"
Beep!
Both wristbands chimed simultaneously!