"Did you see today's hot search? Elite Four Sato is doing a battle exchange in xxx Village. Tons of Trainers are already rushing there overnight!"
All over the Johto and Kanto Region, Trainers gathered in twos and threes, all talking about Sato, who had vanished right after his big win.
"The one with him is Cynthia from Sinnoh, right? They're both so strong… how is anyone supposed to live up to that?"
"Winning in both career and love… I'm so Oran right now~"
"I'm so bitter Persim~"
"…Huh? What's bitter Persim?"
"..."
"HEEEY! Is that really the point?"
A single Trainer shouted loudly to bring them back on track, jabbing a finger at the words "battle exchange."
"A chance to fight an Elite Four member… HOW ARE YOU NOT EXCITED?!"
---◓---
"Absol, Razor Wind."
"Abso!"
On the beach, a pristine white Absol stood proudly, not a single blemish on its fur. Under the sunlight, its coat reflected a faint white glow.
It spun sharply, launching two tangible blades of wind that howled through the air and blasted the opposing Kingler off its feet.
Kingler was sent flying and slammed into a rock by the beach, then slowly slid down, having lost the ability to battle.
"Absooo~!"
Absol gave a soft, excited cry. The crescent blade on its head gleamed coldly, making the crowd instinctively take two steps back.
'So cool…!'
A few more seconds passed, and still no one dared to step up and challenge Sato again, making Absol look even more awe-inspiring.
"Return, Absol."
Sato called Absol back, nodded politely to the surrounding crowd, and turned to leave with Cynthia.
The crowd instinctively parted to make way, not daring to stop them.
"Ahhhh! No way, how come I've never seen Absol on TV before? Is it a new Pokémon Elite Four Sato just caught?"
As soon as Sato left, the crowd buzzed with curiosity over the "newly" revealed Pokémon.
"You fake fan! He caught Absol aaaages ago~ Just never used it in a battle before!"
"Oh… How would you know that, stalker fan~? You probably bought that info from some scalper. Yuuuuuuck… DISGUSTING!"
"…Stalker fan? YOU'RE THE-"
The two of them couldn't care less about the noise behind them. They picked up the pace and returned to camp, then packed up and headed back to the hotel.
---◓---
After packing his bag, Sato asked casually, "So, where to next?"
Cynthia blinked and said playfully, "Where else~? Back to work. I've been away from Sinnoh for days!"
"I see…"
Sato paused for a moment, then spoke up without hesitation: "I'll go with you. Like… maybe meet your grandma or… something."
"Meet… my grandma? That's it?"
Cynthia pretended to be curious and deliberately pressed him.
Sato gave a helpless shrug, then took three quick steps to stand directly in front of her.
Suddenly their faces were close… so close he could see his reflection in her eyes.
"Of course not."
He took Cynthia's hand and said gently, "…I just want to spend more time with you."
Their eyes met, and the affection between them felt like it was about to overflow at any moment!
Cynthia lowered her head and leaned gently against Sato's shoulder. A wave of peace and comfort spread through her whole body.
"When we both become Champions…
Let's get married."
'Ba-dum-thump!'
Suddenly, Cynthia muttered those words, and Sato's heart skipped a beat.
"…Really?"
He couldn't believe what he had just heard, and couldn't help but ask again to confirm.
But Cynthia suddenly broke free from Sato's embrace, her face flushed red as she ran off to continue packing.
"I-If you didn't hear it, forget it… DUUUUMMY!"
"I heard it.I HEARD IT LOUD AND CLEAR!"
Sato quickly admitted it, unable to suppress the silly smile of happiness on his face…
---◓---
In the end, Sato saw Cynthia off onto the plane back to the Sinnoh Region, then headed straight for the Johto League Headquarters himself.
Rushing off to accompany his girlfriend right after a match had made quite a few people in the Johto League uneasy.
Was Sato another unreliable Elite Four?
Wait… another?
Fortunately, Sato returned to headquarters the very next day and began handling his duties as "the top Elite Four" with full dedication.
This reassured everyone, and while Sato's popularity was at its peak, the League pushed forward many initiatives that had previously stalled.
For example: public distribution of Starter Pokémon, the expansion of general education, changes to the minimum age for acquiring Pokémon, and so on.
Drawing from the experience of his previous life, Sato could already foresee the League's long-term development trajectory through much of the current work.
Since the overall direction was good, Sato didn't mind letting the League use his name to promote these efforts.
After all, beyond the absolute power that Elite Four represented, they also served an important public image function.
But because of this, Sato also requested plenty of benefits in return. Chief among them: a drastic reduction in field assignments.
He also applied for the right to mobilize Elite Four candidates; letting those "geniuses" in reserve gain field experience while also taking on part of his workload.
This included full support from Mark.
After some time on the job, Sato realized that most field missions didn't actually do much to help him grow stronger.
On the other hand, sparring with Seasoned-type Trainers at headquarters made him feel true improvement again.
Gradually, Sato's life as an Elite Four member settled into a stable rhythm.
Unless there was an especially difficult mission requiring his personal attention, Sato began regularly inviting senior Trainers at headquarters for training battles.
Because of the power difference, Sato often battled in 1v2 or even 1vX matches.
But adding more opponents wasn't a simple 1+1. Some clever combinations left Sato completely unable to retaliate.
Losing… was inevitable!
And for those veteran Trainers, the appeal of defeating Sato was enormous.
Everyone wanted the chance to battle him in person, hoping to spice up their otherwise average résumés with a notable story.
No one seemed to care that these multi-on-one matches wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.
Even winning wouldn't be honorable!
But Sato had already gained the training he wanted.
Every day, Sato would call Cynthia to talk about their day and share updates.
After learning that Sato was accelerating his growth through 1vX battles, Cynthia got interested and tried the same in the Sinnoh Region.
But her results weren't as good…
Sinnoh's foundation was far weaker than Johto's; there weren't many Seasoned-type Trainers to be found, even behind the scenes.
On top of that, Cynthia's battle instincts let her handle multiple opponents with ease.
She did improve.
But not by much…
Cynthia-chan: [This is so frustrating! "(ノ _ <,, )]
Sato tried to comfort her, but deep down he couldn't help feeling a little relieved.
'What if your girlfriend's talent is just too high, and she's always stronger than you?
Asking for a friend. Seriously… it's urgent!'
And just like that, three years flew by…
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