"Elite Four Bertha, the plane will be landing in Jubilife City in ten minutes," the beautiful flight attendant approached a window seat in first class, smiling as she spoke softly.
"Mm, go ahead and notify everyone to prepare," Bertha nodded, instinctively giving commands.
The flight attendant's expression didn't change in the slightest; after all, that was already her original task.
Seated just behind Bertha were Flint and Volkner, currently watching Sato's battle video at Oreburgh Gym on their tablets. These were internal League materials, inaccessible to the public.
"Sato is progressing too fast. At this point, I can't even say I'm confident in winning against him," Flint stated bluntly, while Volkner remained silent… he had already been defeated by Sato.
"Why do I have this strange feeling… like this Sato guy knows exactly what steps to take at every stage? As if, when the time comes, he just breaks through… like walls don't even exist."
To Flint's left sat two young Trainers around the same age.
One had deep green hair with a tuft curled upward in the center, wearing a black tank top and orange pants, radiating a youthful aura. He was the one who had just spoken.
The other was completely the opposite. Dressed in a red suit, with round black-rimmed glasses and long purple hair, exuding a mature demeanor, without saying a word the whole time.
Behind them were several other outstanding young Trainers directly affiliated with the Sinnoh League, clearly following the group into the increasingly bustling Jubilife City.
…And they were only a small portion of those heading to Jubilife. Other Gym Leaders who had been defeated by Sato had also made their way there.
Byron from Canalave City, Wake from Pastoria City, Maylo from Veilstone City, and many other Gym Leaders whom Sato hadn't yet challenged also took leave and made the trip.
As for Trainers currently traveling… anyone even remotely close to Jubilife City began altering their routes and heading there en masse.
Even though this wasn't a "League Tournament", nor a celebrity exhibition match, and with no prize money involved, the level of attention the battle was receiving was beyond imagination.
Among this wave of Trainers… a woman… with long golden hair and dressed in a black robe stood in front of an ice cream shop. She had been hesitating for nearly half an hour, still unable to decide on a flavor…
Of course, Sato knew none of this. Even if he did, at most he would show a face of surprise.
Right now, he had devoted all his attention to preparing for the match against Lolo.
Being able to develop Jubilife City into the most prosperous city in Sinnoh… Lolo certainly deserved credit for that. And it was precisely because of this that had the capital to challenge Elite Four Bertha in influence.
Lolo specialized in Flying-type Pokémon!
In the Pokémon world, purely Flying-type Pokémon are extremely rare. The only known one -right now- is a Legendary Pokémon from Unova.
This made Lolo's team incredibly flexible. From a purely Flying-type perspective, preparing for the matchup might not even be worth the effort.
The only relatively effective intel was that Gym Leaders must use more than half of their local-region Pokémon for Gym Challenges.
Since Sato and Lolo were conducting a Gym evaluation, the rules would closely follow those of a standard Gym Challenge.
That meant at least two of Lolo's Pokémon would be Sinnoh-native Flying-types. With that in mind, the possibilities were considerably narrowed down.
By backtracking from his own specialty in Dark-type Pokémon, Sato gradually began forming guesses about what kind of Pokémon Lolo might use.
---
Everything proceeded without a hitch, and the moment the three of them set foot in Jubilife City, the news had already spread online.
The Dark King Sato… he had arrived!
Less than half an hour after the three of them checked into the Pokémon Center, Lolo's official challenge letter was delivered by a Gym Trainer from Jubilife Gym.
Many people witnessed this scene firsthand, and simultaneously received the battle information.
[Time: Tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.]
[Location: Jubilife Stadium.]
The battle wasn't being held at the Gym… it was being moved to the Stadium!
Just how confident was Lolo to dare place this battle in a stadium under the eyes of thousands?
…Little did they know, Lolo had been pushed to the edge and had no choice but to move the battle to the stadium.
These past few days, countless old friends -openly or discreetly- came to try and persuade Lolo. "Endure it and things will settle down, take a step back and all will be well, don't act rashly like the younger generation."
But how could this battle be just a simple match?
Right before the battle, Lolo received insider news that Bertha was preparing to formally take action against the head of their faction, using the Lake Verity incident as the main leverage, alongside years' worth of findings, all to be submitted as a named report to the League headquarters.
If Lolo lost this match, Lolo's reputation would take a massive hit, and Bertha could strike while the iron was hot, starting with Lolo, then following the trail to bring down their entire group.
But if he won, the prestige of their generation of older Trainers would receive a major boost. For the sake of regional stability, the League would naturally be cautious about taking any action against them.
The reason he had lashed out at Sato in the first place was because he had learned from their boss that the Lake Verity incident had been orchestrated entirely by Sato and his two companions.
Furious, the hot-tempered Lolo jumped into the spotlight himself. He had only intended to engage in some "verbal sparring". Who would've thought Sato was a diamond-hard opponent, handling both soft and hard tactics alike.
Even with a lifetime of experience, he found himself cornered with no way forward or back. Not only had he failed to gain anything, but he'd practically lost his entire hand in the process.
This battle might just be one of vindication for Sato.
…But for him, it was a battle of life and death.
If he won, he and the few remaining old comrades could enjoy their final stretch of peace.
If not… then let it be a grand farewell in front of everyone!
And if Sato were to know his thoughts right now, he'd probably just say, "That old man sure is dreaming big!"
At last, time marched on, and under the restless anticipation of the crowd, the moment of the battle arrived.
As the most prosperous city in Sinnoh, Jubilife City naturally had a massive stadium.
There were no tickets sold for the battle that day, so the stadium was packed to capacity despite its size.
The stadium director had great foresight as well. Knowing many important figures would be attending, they proactively mobilized all necessary staff and equipment, ensuring that the scene remained well-organized.
At exactly nine o'clock, Sato and Lolo were already standing on opposite ends of the command platforms, and the Gym referee was in position as well.
Even though it was their first time seeing each other in real life, the moment they met they were set to clash, it was as if they were natural-born rivals.
"The Jubilife Gym evaluation will now begin. Both participants will use three Pokémon in a 1v1 rotation battle. The match ends when one side's three Pokémon have all lost the ability to battle!"
No flashy introductions.
…The match had officially begun!