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"Miss Clair truly has sharp eyes. You're right — 'Kira Hayashi' is just the alias I used to enter this competition. My real name is Sato."
"To be honest, I didn't expect to run into you here. Don't believe any of those malicious rumors online — I never tried to use some fake name to get attention. If I wanted to flaunt myself, I wouldn't have competed under an alias."
"But… the champion's prize this time is too tempting. And besides, I didn't want to lose to you. So I had no choice but to give it everything I had to defeat you."
Hearing Clair call him by his real name, Sato could only show a wry smile and nod, pretending to be a little helpless.
That Clair had tracked him down in Goldenrod and uncovered his true identity didn't surprise him at all.
After all, his Swampert and other Pokémon had received treatment at Pokémon Centers, leaving plenty of records. With the Dragon clan's influence in Johto, finding the identity of someone not actively hiding wasn't hard.
"Hmph. As long as you admit it. Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to confirm with my own eyes the true identity of my rival."
"You really are too slippery. Do you know how much time and effort I spent looking for you? I haven't even eaten dinner yet!"
"…(thousands of words omitted)…"
Clair's displeasure faded quickly once Sato admitted openly that he had fought her with everything he had. Still, she kept her pretty face stern as she grit her teeth and let out steam.
Losing to Sato had consequences — both for herself and for her clan.
She'd seen plenty of the ugly rumors online, and it had infuriated her. With her fiery temper, she would have loved nothing more than to unleash her clan's power and give those rumor-mongers a brutal lesson.
But she was sharp enough to know that would only backfire. Such an action would just embolden the slander and damage her clan's reputation further. So she had no choice but to swallow the bitter anger.
Worse, her father and several elders had scolded her harshly over the phone, demanding she cut her arrogance, train twice as hard, and — at the right time — seize victory back from Sato. Otherwise, she was told, she needn't bother returning to Blackthorn City.
Naturally, Clair felt deeply wronged. She always trained herself strictly. Losing hadn't been because she was arrogant — she refused to accept that.
But since she couldn't vent her frustrations on her father or the elders, she redirected it — at the man who had beaten her, Sato.
Only then did she realize she had no idea how to find him. She didn't even have his contact information. She asked the competition organizers at the Goldenrod Department Store for his number, but every call failed to connect.
(Note: Sato carries several communicators he confiscated from enemies. When not in use, he keeps them in his storage bag, which makes any calls to him unreachable.)
Helpless, Clair began searching under his supposed name, "Kira Hayashi." But that only turned up dozens of matches. Eventually, she discovered the identity was fake — the "Kira Hayashi" who matched Sato's disguise had been confirmed dead a month ago, his Trainer ID already voided.
Even so, as a direct heir of the Dragon clan, finding someone wasn't difficult. Through the family's resources, she checked the Goldenrod Pokémon Center's database and traced records of Pokémon Sato had used.
After narrowing down the list, she identified four candidates — and with further effort, she finally pinpointed Sato, the Kanto trainer.
"You went through all that trouble just to confirm my identity? You really didn't need to. You could've just waited until after my match tomorrow — wouldn't that have been easier?"
Sato, hearing the long story of her search, swallowed the last of his grilled crawfish skewers and sighed at the tomboy across from him. Honestly, was he supposed to care?
"Hmph, don't play dumb. The moment the match ended today, I went to look for you — but you'd already disappeared! Now I get it, you must've used your Ditto to disguise yourself and slip away."
Clair rolled her eyes, glaring at him. She pointed at the Ditto currently gnawing on a chicken leg at the table, her expression sour.
"Ha ha ha~ you caught me. Fine, you've confirmed who I am now, right? That should satisfy you. That being said, I still need to eat, so I won't be seeing you out."
In truth, Sato had Teleported away with his Natu that time, but he let her believe she'd seen through him, feigning an awkward admission.
"Heh.. Not so fast. You made me work this hard — now you're treating me to dinner. I'm starving."
Clair, proud but simple-minded, was still a princess through and through. Her words were sharp, but they carried a tsundere edge. Smug that she had "unmasked" him, she quickly hid her smile, putting her stern face back on.
Before Sato could respond, she had already plopped herself down at the table and started devouring food without a care for her image.
Her hearty appetite hardly resembled that of a refined clan heiress. Watching her, Sato couldn't help but see shades of Lance in her.
Still, he decided to humour her and let her do what she wanted as he sensed no malice from her. Honestly…. he actually appreciated her simple and straightforward manner…. especially after constantly being surrounded by shrewd and ruthless people for the past month.
Before long, to his surprise, she even released all her Pokémon to join the midnight feast, acting like they were old friends.
Fortunately, Sato had booked a large enough private room — otherwise her massive Dragon-type Pokémon would never have fit.
And to his shock, Clair's Pokémon could really eat. While not on Swampert's monstrous level, they rivaled his Nidoking in appetite.
Sato didn't complain about her freeloading. In fact, he was rather pleased. Though Clair never said it outright, her willingness to join him like this proved one thing: she truly regarded Sato as a peer — or perhaps, she was even willing to befriend this common-born trainer.
To gain the trust of the Dragon Princess over one meal — Sato knew this was a bargain he couldn't lose. With her connection, he might one day acquire valuable resources for training Dragon-types.
"…This is brutal. Good thing my wallet's thick enough. Any ordinary trainer would be bankrupted feeding this bunch of Dragons."
Half an hour later, at the counter, Sato twitched as he held a bill several meters long. The fat shopkeeper smiled obsequiously as his eyes fell on the number with six-zeros at the bottom.