That attack is seriously powerful.
Satoshi's gaze hardened slightly, recognizing the danger.
Luckily, Gigaton Hammer couldn't be used consecutively.
But Satoshi had no idea how long its cooldown was—this wasn't the game, after all, so he couldn't just count turns to predict its timing.
"Tinkaton, use [Flash Cannon]…!"
Taking advantage of Froakie's delayed recovery, Gotou Hitori pressed her attack.
"Deka!!!"
Tinkaton lowered its massive hammer, gathering energy in its palms, a dazzling sphere of white light rapidly forming.
"Froakie, block it with [Protect]!"
[Flash Cannon] compressed into a blinding point, then shot forward at tremendous speed, colliding head-on with Froakie's green protective shield.
The white beam and green shield clashed fiercely midair, the barrier trembling under pressure but managing to hold firm.
Based on Satoshi's earlier experiments, [Protect] wasn't absolute in this world; overwhelming attacks could shatter it outright.
Even Paul's Electabuzz in the anime had its [Protect] broken by Regirock's [Stone Edge], after all.
Why couldn't the teacher's Tauros break through? Probably because it had low Special Attack—only 40 at best.
Protect lasted only a brief moment. If Tinkaton followed up immediately with another [Gigaton Hammer], Froakie would surely be knocked out.
In other words…he had no choice but to attack proactively!
"Froakie, [Double Team]!"
At his command, Froakie instantly created over a dozen afterimages, surrounding Tinkaton and making it impossible to identify the real one.
"Now, [Water Pulse] again!"
"Kero~ kero!"
Satoshi's command spurred all the Froakies into simultaneous action, each leaping upward, preparing their attacks. Each held a sphere of surging blue energy, launching them toward Tinkaton from all sides.
"This move again… Uu~ Tinkaton, [Metal Sound]!"
"Dake~~!"
A harsh metallic screech burst from Tinkaton's mouth, sound waves slicing through the air and dispelling several of Froakie's illusions—yet missing the true body entirely.
"Dake~?!"
The genuine Froakie's [Water Pulse] hit home, knocking Tinkaton off its feet.
"Now, Froakie, [Icy Wind] to restrict its movement! Don't let it reach its hammer!"
Satoshi was deliberately banning the hammer. He'd noticed earlier—when Tinkaton used moves like [Flash Cannon], it briefly set down its weapon.
Froakie exhaled freezing air, swiftly encasing Tinkaton before it could fully rise, even freezing its cute little feet.
"Eh? Ah—[Metal Sound] again!"
Gotou Hitori began panicking.
Since the earlier [Metal Sound] failed to hit Froakie's real body, Tinkaton was now stuck at a huge disadvantage.
Unfortunately, a second [Metal Sound] could barely hold off the chilling attack. The move itself caused no damage—only minor air currents to slow [Icy Wind]'s advance.
The surroundings rapidly cooled; ice began creeping steadily up Tinkaton's limbs, threatening to fully immobilize it.
But then Gotou Hitori found a desperate solution:
"Tinkaton, quickly—use [Steel Beam] directly at the ground!"
"Dake—!!"
Gathering steel energy from its entire body, Tinkaton fired a devastating beam downward. The blazing ray slammed fiercely into the earth, creating a powerful shockwave.
The 140-power Steel-type move caused the entire battlefield to quake violently. The immense force freed Tinkaton instantly from the encroaching ice, blasting it skyward to safety.
Seeing this, Satoshi couldn't help but silently wonder:
If Groudon used that move, could it fly too?
Out of all legendary Pokémon, only one can't fly—guess who that is?
Tinkaton flipped gracefully in midair, regaining its balance and landing steadily. But after Steel Beam's recoil, it was clearly exhausted.
[Steel Beam]: Inflicts massive damage, but deals recoil equal to half the user's max HP (rounded up).
"One more [Flash Cannon]!" Gotou called desperately.
"[Double Team] again! Finish it with your strongest [Water Pulse]!"
Satoshi tugged his cap lower, eyes blazing with intensity.
At his command, Froakie's illusions reappeared, effortlessly dodging [Flash Cannon]'s final desperate shot.
"Kero~!"
All at once, the Froakies launched their [Water Pulses], converging on Tinkaton.
"Deka—!!"
Tinkaton flew backward, tumbling through the air with a pained cry before crashing heavily onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Tinkaton's hammer was indeed powerful, but without the opportunity to swing it, the Pokémon posed little threat.
"Yay~! Satoshi-kun won!" Anon, riding the emotional rollercoaster of the match, felt a joy greater than if she'd won herself.
Impulsively, she dashed toward Satoshi, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Hehe Congratulations!"
"Thanks. It's also because of your cheering, Anon."
Satoshi didn't resist—instead, he gently embraced her back.
Initially intending to praise Froakie, he was startled to see Anon so excitedly hugging him. Froakie, meanwhile, inexplicably turned away, facing the other direction.
Hmm?
"Kero, kero. (If I interrupt, Anon-san will definitely punish me… I'll just celebrate with Satoshi later.)"
[Uwaaah! This girl is too sneaky—using hugs to take advantage of you, when even I haven't hugged you yet!]
"Uhh…"
Oh no… Was I too forward? Has Satoshi realized how I feel…?
Anon suddenly became aware of her actions, her cheeks flushed deeply. Hastily letting go, she nervously bit her lip, embarrassed.
She desperately tried to suppress the fluttering in her heart, silently hoping Satoshi would notice her hidden emotions.
Suddenly, Satoshi's expression shifted seriously, making her heart pound anxiously.
Gulp…
Anon nervously swallowed. Then Satoshi finally spoke up:
"Anon, your heart's beating really fast… Is something wrong?"
Right. Expecting anything from this blockhead was silly of me.
"…No, it's nothing."
At his clueless response, Anon's face turned stiff. She quickly pulled away, irritated yet unsure how to express it. She hated the attention yet felt miserable when ignored—these complicated feelings were impossible to describe.
At this rate, he won't notice unless I give him my first kiss…!
Realizing this, Anon stepped back even further, her embarrassment deepening.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
"Forget it—let's just get some lunch. What do you want to eat, Satoshi-kun?"
Facing such an oblivious blockhead, Anon gave up explaining.
"You guys heading to lunch? Let's go together!" Nijika cheerfully chimed in.
"T-that was an amazing battle… Thank you very much," Gotou Hitori timidly added, bowing respectfully to Satoshi. Satoshi responded sincerely:
"You were great too, Hitori!"
He gave her a warm, sunny smile that instantly made her cheeks flush pink, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
"Ah… I'm not worthy… I'm lower than plankton… Uu…"
At his praise, the socially anxious Gotou Hitori shrank back, instantly self-conscious. Satoshi and Anon exchanged glances, quickly understanding how shy she truly was.
Neither minded, and all four happily set off together for lunch.
But just then, Satoshi glanced at the leaderboard:
MYGO had lost first place!
Well, he didn't particularly mind. He wasn't confident their six-member team could beat teams of nine anyway.
The top ten teams' scores were extremely close: Stage Girls, μ's, Kessoku Band, Service Club, Roselia…
His gaze paused at one particular name: Ave Mujica. Surprisingly, this team seemed to have only two members—yet held tenth place.
Just two people? Who are they? I really want to battle them!
Feeling his excitement build once more, Satoshi clenched his fists tightly, eager for new challenges ahead.