"Rolling Kick!"
The giant pressed his advantage, refusing to let Lairon catch its breath. He was determined to end this right now.
"Iron Defense!"
Kashiwagi stubbornly chose to defend again.
The giant didn't understand what Kashiwagi was planning or what unexpected trick he might have up his sleeve. He only knew one thing: it didn't matter what status move was coming if the Pokémon was knocked out before it could use it!
Hitmontop spun forward, its two legs and tail moving so fast they were a blur of lethal motion. It was a terrifying sight.
But Lairon didn't flinch. On the contrary, it let out a roar, almost welcoming the assault. Enveloped in a silver halo, it actually charged forward to meet the spinning storm head-on!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
A rain of spinning kicks slammed relentlessly into Lairon's forehead!
Normally, two stacks of Iron Defense should reduce a 4x effective physical Fighting move to nearly neutral damage. However, as established before, boosts in this world weren't simple percentages; their effectiveness depended on move mastery. In this case, even after two Iron Defenses, Lairon's 4x weakness wasn't fully neutralized.
It was taking a brutal beating!
However, unlike the previous time it was sent flying, the injured Lairon held its ground. It grit its teeth, using its head to stubbornly ram against Hitmontop's kicks, its eyes burning with a mix of fury and unyielding resolve.
Kashiwagi shouted with everything he had, "Hold on! You can do this!"
"Lai—ron!"
Lairon gave a muffled roar in response. Its eyes were locked on the Hitmontop right in front of it. Its stamina was plummeting, but its spirit was soaring!
In that instant, the roar of the crowd seemed to vanish. The world went silent. Kashiwagi and Lairon had entered a miraculous state of singular focus.
Then.
"Now! Endeavor!"
Kashiwagi let out a roar that had been suppressed to the limit before exploding. "Ram him through!!"
"LAI-RON!!"
Lairon bellowed in unison. Summoning its final dregs of stamina, its body erupted in a blinding white light as it slammed itself into Hitmontop with everything it had!
BOOM!
The air itself seemed to crack!
The power was astronomical. Even Hitmontop, who had been one-sidedly pummeling Lairon, turned pale. Its face contorted in the split second before it was sent hurtling backward.
The giant stared in disbelief. The announcer was screaming like a madman:
"Lairon! Lairon used Endeavor! A move used when stamina is at its absolute limit! What terrifying power! Ladies and gentlemen, this is a move that forces the opponent's health down to match the user's own!"
"Ah! Look! Where did Hitmontop land? It fell right back into the pit of the still-swirling Sand Tomb! Was this calculated by Kashiwagi in advance?"
As the dust from the Sand Tomb finally settled, Hitmontop's head was buried in the massive pit, its legs sticking straight up in the air.
BEEP—
The piercing alarm of the arena sounded.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the AI has ruled Hitmontop unable to battle! The first Pokémon is down—ah, Lairon! Lairon has collapsed as well!"
The announcer watched with regret as Lairon finally toppled over.
"It seems Endeavor drained the very last of its strength. But we must thank Lairon! It showed us yet another magnificent reversal—a true victory of the underdog! Mr. Shiratori, what say you?"
"Heh... hehehe... yes. You are quite right."
Shiratori's mouth twitched. He finally realized it: this host was 100% targeting him. Why? Was there a grudge? It seemed he had trashed Kashiwagi so hard that the host saw a goldmine for engagement and refused to let him go. Shiratori was starting to regret taking the giant's bribe.
Useless idiot! Losing to a kid! You said you were a lock for the Top 4? Get lost!
On the field.
The giant was equally devastated. His Hitmontop had just hit its peak, it had Lairon cornered, and then—BAM—a total reversal. Where did Lairon get Endeavor from? It wasn't in the files!
Kashiwagi felt a pang of regret but smiled as he patted Lairon's head. "Good job. You fought a beautiful battle. Rest well."
He had hoped the pressure might trigger an evolution, but they hadn't quite caught the spark. No matter—it would happen in time.
"Time to keep moving toward victory."
He threw his next ball. The flash of light snapped the giant back to reality, but he had already lost the momentum.
The giant had to gamble on Hitmonlee waking up quickly. He sent the sleeping Pokémon out against the incoming Mawile.
Kashiwagi gave him no openings. Mawile used a continuous stream of Fairy Wind, turning the bird's sleep into a literal nightmare. By the time Hitmonlee finally woke up, it was battered, bruised, and exhausted. It couldn't even stand, let alone fight.
To make matters worse, as Mawile caught its breath, it used Stockpile and Swallow, boosting its defenses and recovering the health it had lost earlier.
Even though Hitmonchan still had one good fist left, there was no chance for a comeback.
"Let us congratulate Candidate Kashiwagi for advancing to the Top 8!"
The announcer's vibrant voice echoed through the stadium.
In the competitor's hall, a young man watched the screen with a slight smile. He was the "clean" one Kashiwagi had noticed earlier. Even though he hadn't even played his match yet, he was already looking at Kashiwagi as his guaranteed next opponent.
"We're loaded, Kashiwagi-bro!"
"We're rich, Kashiwagi-bro!"
"The future is bright, Kashiwagi-bro!"
Kashiwagi was mobbed by his squad the moment he exited. They were patting their bulging pockets, grinning ear to ear.
"Alright, alright, look at you all getting cocky over a bit of cash." He laughed and swatted at their heads. "I mean it, though—no more betting. Quit while you're ahead."
"Aww, but Kashiwagi, your momentum is unstoppable! Everyone is guessing your new odds! I heard some crazy gamblers are pushing your odds to the extreme!" Naruhisa was riding high on the win, rattling off betting slang.
Kashiwagi stopped walking and looked at him silently. The group sensed the shift and went quiet. Naruhisa's voice trailed off, looking at Kashiwagi's unreadable expression with a hint of fear.
"I don't mind if you buy a ticket or two on a match where we have a clear shot. I see that as 'earning,'" Kashiwagi said seriously. "But now? I have no certainty. I know I might have reached my limit. If you buy now, you're just gambling. I don't support gambling on something I don't even believe in myself."
He looked at them all. "I can't be responsible for everyone, and I'm not some big-shot leader who's going to dictate your every move. But I'm warning you: gambling is addictive. The chance of it destroying you is much higher than the chance of it helping you. You—no, we—people from Iridium Street, don't we know the ugliness of gambling? How many times have we been lured and cheated by casinos?"
"We don't have enough chips to play that game. Every time you bet, you should be prepared to lose your life, not just celebrate a small win..." He sighed. "I don't want to lecture you, but I really don't want to see any of you step into that abyss and never come out."
Kashiwagi pushed past them and walked away in silence.
The squad stood there, speechless. Finally, one man pulled a fresh betting ticket for the next round from his pocket and ripped it in half.
"My uncle... he lost a hand to the casinos because of debt. He became a shell of a man after that. I actually forgot... what a piece of trash I am!" He slapped himself hard and ran after Kashiwagi.
One by one, the others pulled out hidden tickets, tore them up, slapped themselves, and followed.
Naruhisa stood alone for a moment, whispering, "Always dragging Kashiwagi down... I'm such a failure." He was the only one who hadn't secretly bought a ticket for the next round, but he slapped himself the hardest of all.
Once he was "satisfied," he ran to catch up.