Because Gastrodon had been forcibly frozen by Weavile, the battle ended just like that.
Abruptly.
But if it had been an official League match, Gastrodon actually wouldn't have been considered defeated. Only when it's confirmed to have completely lost the ability to battle does it count as a loss.
Gastrodon's soft body gave it extremely high resistance to blunt impacts, but when it came to breaking free from Frozen status, it was utterly powerless.
So Cynthia decisively chose to forfeit, leaving Sato momentarily stunned.
He… had beaten Cynthia?
He had beaten the future youngest Champion of the Sinnoh League?
'Tch, what a dreamlike feeling~'
On the other side, her ice cream was ruined, and she had lost the battle. Even the ever-composed Cynthia looked slightly irritated at this point.
"Roserade, Sunny Day!"
Suddenly, the sunlight turned scorching hot. The thin layer of ice covering Gastrodon began to melt visibly.
Using physical force to break Frozen status is the worst option. Sunlight's heat is by far the safest method.
Soon, Gastrodon shakily climbed out from the shattered ice. Its soft body had become noticeably stiff, but thanks to its strong regenerative ability, it wasn't in too bad a shape.
"Here, eat this!"
Joseph walked over and handed out a defrosting remedy made with Aspear Berries.
Cynthia looked at Joseph with slightly surprised eyes. Her partners were all strictly trained and almost never accepted food from anyone but her.
But now, Cynthia could clearly sense that Gastrodon liked Joseph.
Even Glaceon tilted its head curiously as it watched him.
Since it was a specially formulated Ice Heal, the effect was naturally excellent. In no time, Gastrodon was back to hopping and crawling around energetically, circling Joseph.
"Thank you! My Gastrodon actually really likes you," Cynthia said sincerely, clearly not faking it.
"Just lending a hand, no need to thank me."
Joseph smiled, reaching out to rub Gastrodon's head as it eagerly nudged forward for more affection.
Though it was just a brief encounter, after sharing a battle and Joseph offering help, their interaction became unexpectedly warm and pleasant.
Seeing that it was already around noon, Joseph warmly invited Cynthia to join them for lunch.
Cynthia was about to decline, but her stomach very uncooperatively growled twice.
Cynthia: …I'm fine, I'm not hungry.
Stomach: No, you are!
In just a split second, Cynthia's face visibly flushed red.
"Miss Cynthia, don't turn us down now! Joseph's cooking isn't ordinary… you try it once, and you'll never forget it!" Mark eagerly started promoting… ahem, introducing.
"Stay for lunch before you go. I have an Umbreon, maybe it'll get along with your Glaceon," Sato added his "persuasion" too.
He swore he only wanted to see if Umbreon could learn something from Glaceon…
Seeing all three of them inviting her so enthusiastically -and the fact she really was hungry- Cynthia quickly agreed.
If there's good food, why not eat?
And so, the four of them -or rather, Joseph- started a fire and began cooking lunch right there at the battlefield.
"Umbreon, I found you a new friend!"
Sato released his Umbreon, and Glaceon, seemingly interested, ran over on its own initiative.
A black and a blue bigcat-sized Pokémon stared wide-eyed at each other, curiously sizing one another up.
In terms of looks, Umbreon and Glaceon were the standouts among the Eevee evolutions; one mysterious and cool, the other graceful and elegant.
And Sato's Umbreon was female, while Cynthia's Glaceon… was an adorable little boy!
Of course, as the "parent," Sato firmly denied any arranged relationship. He truly just wanted Umbreon to learn from Glaceon!
After all, Glaceon was an Ace level Pokémon.
Before long, the two Pokémon grew familiar with each other, chattering back and forth in their own way, creating an unusually harmonious atmosphere.
Joseph continued cooking lunch, while Mark took Phione out to "bully some weaklings."
As they say, it feels great to stomp on weaklings… and even better to do it nonstop.
Phione was in the middle of rapidly growing, and it needed a steady diet of low-level battles to grow. So anytime he had a moment, Mark took it out to find opponents.
With nothing better to do, Sato and Cynthia started chatting seriously -ahem… rambling- about the Eevee family.
"When Eevee's future evolution isn't yet determined, you can let it learn different types of moves and observe which type it seems to prefer before attempting evolution."
Cynthia watched the two playing Pokémon and spoke calmly.
"Yeah. Umbreon and Espeon evolve based on the time of day, night and day each have different effects. But I was wondering… could dusk be another possibility?"
Sato looked at Umbreon suddenly leaning in toward Glaceon and thought to himself, 'Woah! Nice move!'
Glaceon was startled by Umbreon's sudden closeness. A blush flashed across its blue-and-white face, and though surprised, it simply sat quietly in place without moving away.
Cynthia's brow furrowed slightly as she continued, "It's not just time. The environment is another major factor… like how Glaceon and Leafeon evolve."
"I think Eevee probably has even more evolution forms, we just haven't discovered them yet."
Sato's face remained calm, but in his mind, a tiny version of himself was sitting back drinking soda, watching with great enjoyment as Umbreon tried to flirt.
"Maybe…" Cynthia said. "Glaceon!"
She finally couldn't help but step in. If she didn't stop them now, she felt like Umbreon would soon be lying on top of Glaceon instead!
At her call, Glaceon reacted like a kid caught secretly meeting a girlfriend, hurriedly dashing back and showering Cynthia with a wave of affection.
Soon after, Sato's Umbreon also came running back. Though it was heading toward Sato, its head remained tilted in Glaceon's direction at Cynthia's feet.
"Hey hey, you're drifting!" Sato couldn't help but point out. 'They just met and you're already this eager? You're gonna scare Glaceon away!'
Looks like he'd need to start giving special lectures to the single guys in his team on how to date properly…
Even though he hadn't dated himself… he'd seen plenty. He was totally a theoretical expert, okay?
At that moment, Umbreon finally returned to Sato's side, cheeks flushed; though because of its dark fur, it wasn't as obvious as Glaceon's.
But clearly, Glaceon didn't mind that Umbreon hadn't reached Ace level yet. And even though it was just their first meeting, the two seemed to hit it off.
Pokémon relationships weren't as complicated as those of humans. If they liked each other, that was enough.
And then… after spending a moonlit night together… a gift of their love would be found in the nest.
A Pokémon egg!
----
Just then, Joseph's Meganium called out loudly.
Sato stood up immediately, gave Cynthia a nod, and the two of them walked toward the table together.
Time to eat!