"Huff... huff!"
After finally escaping the arena, David cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Once he confirmed no one else was nearby, he finally sat down on a bench and let out a long, relieved sigh.
"Zorua~! (You jerk, David! You almost suffocated me!)"
After David stopped running, there was a sudden movement in his arms. Zorua, who had been quite uncomfortable being held so tightly, finally poked its small head out, breathing heavily while simultaneously complaining to its trainer.
"You've got some nerve saying that. Whose fault do you think it was that we had to run so fast? Hmm?"
David, who had just caught his breath, heard this complaint and reached out to lightly flick Zorua's forehead in mild irritation.
"Zorua~ (Hehe! It's because I'm just too cute!)"
Hearing David's words, Zorua giggled foolishly, not forgetting to show off a bit.
"Yes, yes, you're absolutely the cutest," David replied with mock exasperation.
Although Zorua's disguise ability was powerful, ever since he'd entered the Novice Cup tournament, David had actually anticipated that due to various circumstances, Zorua would eventually reveal its true form. He'd also expected that a Pokémon like Hisuian Zorua—which had never been seen before in this region—would certainly cause quite a commotion once it suddenly appeared in public.
After all, he couldn't realistically keep Zorua in its disguised form forever. Originally, he had planned to let it reveal its true form when they won the Novice Cup championship together, preferably during the finals on the main stage where it would make the biggest impact.
However, despite all his careful planning, he still hadn't fully anticipated the extent of people's passion for Pokémon in this world. As soon as the match concluded, audience members had rushed forward, eager to learn more about Zorua.
After all, the appearance of an entirely new Pokémon species—or even just a newly discovered regional form—was significant news, even on a global scale.
What was even more ridiculous was that reporters had somehow appeared out of nowhere. What were reporters even doing at a Novice Cup event? Were they really that desperate for content? They were actually covering what amounted to a beginners' tournament, and where had they even pulled those cameras from?
In short, David was internally fuming about the reporters' abnormal and sudden appearance, yet he remained completely oblivious to the fact that he and Layla—as contestants whose skill far exceeded the typical Novice Cup level—might also be considered somewhat abnormal themselves.
It was fortunate that people in the Pokémon world generally maintained high standards of conduct. Besides watching and asking questions, they hadn't engaged in any overly aggressive behavior, which had allowed him to barely escape with Zorua.
The ordeal had completely exhausted David, who—after awakening his Aura abilities—had proudly started calling himself a "superhuman."
The only real problem now was that Zorua's true form had been exposed prematurely. Well, at least I was smart enough to report this to Mom way back when. When people start asking questions, I'll just say that Zorua is a newly discovered regional variant.
Any specific inquiries could be directed to the Imperial Capital Research Institute, just as his mother had suggested earlier. If anyone wanted more information about Zorua, they could try their luck getting it from the Institute—good luck with that.
"David? Why are you here?"
A sudden voice from behind startled David badly. He assumed it was the reporters from earlier tracking him down. He grabbed Zorua and was about to bolt when he suddenly realized the voice sounded familiar. Looking back, he saw it was Miles, and he finally relaxed.
"David, why were you about to run away?"
Seeing David's panicked reaction, Miles scratched his head in confusion. He glanced down at himself, thinking, 'I didn't do anything wrong, did I? Why is he trying to run away from me? It's not like I'm some kind of monster.'
"It's nothing. Anyway, Miles, what are you doing here? Is your match finished already? And where are Emma and the others?"
David, who had been thoroughly spooked, felt a bit embarrassed about his overreaction. He realized he'd become paranoid—seeing potential threats everywhere. After calming down, he asked Miles about the situation.
"Emma and the others should still be in their matches. I was actually heading over to watch them. Oh, and David... I got eliminated. You guys have to avenge me!"
Speaking about this, Miles's face showed an uncharacteristically dejected expression. He had originally declared that as long as they didn't face each other, he would fight his way to the Top 8 and successfully meet up with everyone. Instead, he'd been knocked out before even reaching the Top 64.
That opponent who beat him had been so arrogant about it too! Miles had initially planned to take his Growlithe to the temporary medical station for treatment, then go check on his other companions, but he'd unexpectedly run into David along the way.
The two began walking together toward the medical center.
"Now that you mention it, David, why are you here? What about your match? Earlier on my way here, I heard that someone in Zone D apparently used some kind of unknown Pokémon or something. Oh right, you're competing in Zone D too... Wait—"
Before Miles could complete his sentence, he turned his head and suddenly noticed Zorua perched on David's shoulder. He pointed at the small fox with a trembling finger, gasping repeatedly, too shocked to form coherent words.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!"
Seeing Miles's reaction, David quickly gestured for him to lower his voice. He glanced around nervously—thankfully, there were no reporters in sight. After considerable effort persuading Miles to calm down, David temporarily recalled Zorua back into its Poké Ball.
"David, what was that? That person everyone was talking about—that was you, wasn't it?"
David nodded in confirmation. After a moment of contemplation, he gave Miles a general overview of what had happened during his match and recounted the story of how he'd originally caught Zorua in its unusual form.
"David! You've been keeping this secret from us all this time!"
After listening to the explanation, Miles looked at David with an expression of mock betrayal.
"Hehe! It was just a temporary secret—you know, a secret weapon. You understand, right?"
Faced with Miles's "wounded" expression, David could only offer an awkward chuckle and vague excuse, feeling somewhat guilty about keeping his friends in the dark.
Before long, the two arrived at the nearest temporary medical center. After entrusting Growlithe's Poké Ball to the medical staff on duty, they waited for approximately half an hour. Once Growlithe had been fully treated and returned to them, they headed toward Arena A.
They'd already received messages in the group chat about meeting up at Arena A. By this point, among all eight competition zones, only Willow was still competing in her match.
They arrived at Zone A shortly afterward. The next match was about to begin—Willow's match, specifically.
After locating their group according to the meeting coordinates shared in the chat, they found Emma already waiting there. Besides her, several other friends from their group were present as well, but including Luke, they all wore rather gloomy, dejected expressions.