Inside the Pokémon Center, David and the others had signed up for the League City Rookie Cup. After registering their information, they rented a battle room at the front desk, preparing for a friendly match among themselves.
"How about it? What rules should we follow?" Emma asked from the edge of the arena.
"How about this—since there are four of us, we can simply pair up, decide opponents by drawing lots, and then have the winners of the two groups battle it out directly," Luke suggested.
The other three nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
So David tore off four pages from a notebook on a nearby table, drew a mark on two of them, then folded all four pages, shook them a few times with his hands together, and spread them out.
"Those who get the same paper will be in one group to battle. Let's start now."
Miles chose first, then Emma and Luke. David opened the last blank paper left in his hand, which had a mark on it.
Among the other three, Miles and Emma got blank papers, while Luke's paper also had a mark.
This made it simple: David versus Luke, Miles versus Emma.
"Come on, David, let me show you what I can do."
Luke took the lead, stepping onto the battle arena and releasing his Beldum.
David stood opposite him, and Zorua jumped down from David's shoulder, heading straight to the center of the arena, ready for battle.
"Both sides in position, battle, start!" Emma picked up a referee's flag, intending to play the role of referee, getting into character.
"Beldum, quickly float up and then use Iron Defense." Because Beldum's early combat power was quite limited, Luke planned to use Beldum's ability to levitate to gain the upper hand by strengthening its defense in the air, making it nearly invincible.
Watching Luke use Iron Defense to strengthen his defense first, David, knowing Zorua's true type, wasn't flustered at all and directly had Zorua focus on strengthening itself as well.
"Don't mind it for now, Zorua, let's use Hone Claws, then use Dig to get closer."
Zorua used the Hone Claws move on the spot, a faint white light glowing from the little fox's claws. Then, using both claws, it used Dig to burrow underground, moving toward Beldum's position.
At this moment, Beldum in mid-air had completed Iron Defense, its defense increased. Seeing Zorua approaching through the tunnel, Luke immediately gave an order.
"Good opportunity, Beldum, use Take Down with full force on the ground." Seeing Zorua burrow underground, Luke smiled, feeling the time was right. Without holding anything back, he directly had Beldum use the more powerful Take Down.
"Beldum!"
Beldum, having completed Iron Defense, heard its Trainer's command. Its body, suspended in mid-air, began to accelerate, smashing down heavily onto the ground in the direction Zorua was heading.
Boom! The battle arena erupted with dust clouds where Beldum had just crashed down. At this moment, Zorua in the tunnel seemed to have stopped moving, leaving only Beldum, which had just risen again, looking around in mid-air.
"How about that, David? Isn't your brother amazing!" Luke showed a confident smile.
"You're celebrating too early. This is exactly the moment. Zorua, now—jump up and use Will-O-Wisp!" David also smiled.
"What?"
From the crater Beldum had just created, a black and red figure, like lightning, broke through the flying dust and leaped up.
Three rotating purple, eerie flames suddenly appeared beside Zorua in mid-air, fiercely striking the Beldum ahead.
"Beldum~" Beldum, hit by Will-O-Wisp, had a scorched mark on its bronze-colored body. A faint purple flame could still be seen flickering, and a pained expression immediately appeared on its face.
"Hold on! Beldum, continue to use Take Down on Zorua." Seeing Beldum hit by Will-O-Wisp, Luke was no longer as calm as before, shouting anxiously.
"Zorua, Double Team, then use Shadow Sneak." David still commanded with ease.
"Zoro~ Zoro~" Hearing the command, Zorua landed from mid-air and began to quickly circle Beldum on the battle arena—one becoming two, two becoming four. Four identical figures tightly surrounded Beldum.
Beldum, preparing to use Take Down, couldn't distinguish which was Zorua's true body. In the pain of the Will-O-Wisp's burning, it didn't wait for its Trainer's further instructions and directly charged at the closest figure in front of it.
"Boom~" The clone hit by Take Down disappeared on the spot. At the same time, Zorua's true body instantly appeared behind Beldum, landing a Shadow Sneak imbued with Ghost-type energy on Beldum's body.
"Bang!" Beldum, struck by the attack, fell from mid-air, crashing onto the battle arena.
"Beldum!!!"
Hearing its Trainer's call, Beldum, lying on the ground, struggled and shook, wanting to rise again to continue fighting, but the purple flame flickering once more on its body finally took away its last bit of remaining stamina.
The attack power reduction caused by Will-O-Wisp already made Beldum, which could only use Take Down, extremely disadvantaged. At the same time, the continuous damage from the burn status became the final blow.
Emma, who was acting as the referee, seeing this, quickly waved the flag. "Beldum is unable to battle. Zorua wins!"
"Alright, David! You sneaky guy! What an amazing Zorua—such speed, such powerful moves. It seems my loss wasn't unfair." Luke stepped forward, used a Poké Ball to recall the exhausted Beldum, and said to David.
David, meanwhile, was holding the victorious little fox, rewarding it with a small treat. He smiled upon hearing Luke. "Of course! You should know whose Pokémon this is. Go ahead and restore Beldum's stamina! We still have to watch Emma and Miles's battle later."
Not long after, once Luke returned, Emma and Miles, who had been standing by, were now in the arena.
"Go, Growlithe!"
"I'm counting on you, Togepi!"
"Roar~" Growlithe let out a roar as soon as it entered the arena, activating its Intimidate ability to try and lower the opponent's attack power. Unfortunately, this move seemed to have little effect on Togepi.
"Poli~ Poli~" On the other side, Togepi, who had just appeared, saw Growlithe roaring at it and angrily waved its small arms, as if saying it would teach the opponent a good lesson.
"Growlithe, use Leer, then charge forward and use Double Kick."
Growlithe looked at Togepi from its spot, widened its eyes, and made a fierce expression. Then it started running, charging toward the other side. If Togepi was caught at close range at this stage, the battle would likely end very quickly.
"It's not that easy! Togepi, use Charm, then use Sweet Kiss."
On the other side of the battlefield, watching the charging Growlithe, Togepi made a teary-eyed expression on the spot, staring intently at the oncoming Growlithe, which made Growlithe pause, and its running speed involuntarily slowed down.
"Growlithe, snap out of it!" The portly boy on the side shouted anxiously.
Seizing the opportunity, Togepi directly used Sweet Kiss. The pink, sparkling heart hit Growlithe head-on, who couldn't dodge due to its reduced speed, causing it to fall into confusion.
"Yes! That's it, Togepi! Now use Metronome!" Emma, seeing her strategy work, cheered excitedly, directly issuing a command for Togepi to continue attacking.
"Poli~" Togepi, hearing the command, gently waved its small hand on the spot. The Serene Grace ability in the real Pokémon world probably didn't just refer to an ability like in the games—Togepi's Metronome demonstrated its incredible luck.
A rapidly spinning water sphere shot out from in front of Togepi, directly knocking Growlithe, still in confusion, out of the arena. It lay on the ground, unconscious and unable to battle.
"Growlithe!"
David, seeing this, immediately announced the result. "Growlithe is unable to battle. Togepi wins!"
This battle ended quickly in an unexpected fashion.
"No way! Emma, you guys aren't playing fair!"
"Togepi is already overpowered, but it shouldn't just randomly give me Water Pulse!"
Miles, while busy picking up the fainted Growlithe, showed a bewildered expression, complaining to Emma as if questioning life itself.
"Yay! Togepi, you're amazing! Mwah!" Emma completely ignored Miles's complaints, rushing directly into the arena, picking up Togepi, and kissing it enthusiastically.
"toge~" Togepi also chirped happily in her arms.
"Come on, let's continue, David! Since Zorua and Togepi haven't used much stamina, there's no need to wait. Let's just start the final match!"
At this moment, Emma, riding high from her victory, spoke to David by the side of the arena, inviting him to a final match to press her advantage.