Battle Tent.
After getting a preliminary understanding of the process and watching some videos, Kashiwagi became increasingly interested.
The reality differed slightly from what the watermelon-cut kid had described. It wasn't that the Trainer did nothing; their primary role was managing the rotation.
If a Pokémon ran into trouble, the Trainer could swap them out for another.
In a way, this format allowed Pokémon to showcase their independent combat instincts while keeping the Trainer strategically involved. It was a solid system.
The only "catch" was the Pokémon Egg reward—it was a total gacha blind box.
The winner didn't get to choose their prize; the organizers handed out whatever was available.
There was no fixed rarity.
Imagine someone fighting tooth and nail to the finals, only to hatch a Wurmple or a Zigzagoon. It was enough to make anyone's blood pressure spike.
Besides, it wasn't as if the Battle Tent organizers didn't have rare Pokémon eggs in stock.
However...
It was precisely this "lottery" aspect that kept bored Trainers flocking to the event. Everyone wanted to test their own luck.
Kashiwagi, currently carrying a Lucky Scale, felt the same urge.
Even if he wasn't 100% sure Aggron and the others would sweep the finals, he had to try.
"Might as well give it a shot."
Kashiwagi said, smiling at his team. Conveniently, the Battle Tent had a tournament scheduled for tomorrow, and registration was still open.
Knock, knock.
Suddenly.
A knock came from the door.
Immediately following, Wally's voice rang out.
"Hello, sorry to bother you... but it's dinner time. If you don't mind, we provide meals here, both for you and your Pokémon..."
"No thank you, but thanks for the offer."
"...Oh. Okay then."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Wally's footsteps sounded heavy and slow as he walked away. He seemed dejected.
Kashiwagi tilted his head, wondering why Wally was staying at his cousin Wanda's house helping out instead of traveling. Had the anime version of Wally developed an interest in the hospitality business?
That would be a waste. Wally had exceptional talent as a Trainer—he was the hardworking type who lived and breathed for his Pokémon's growth.
"Forget it. I've still got my own growing to do,"
Kashiwagi stopped overthinking it. While seeing a familiar face was pleasant, but that was about it.
He turned to his team. "Alright, who wants to go out with me?"
"Zwei-lous!" "Zwei-lous!"
Zweilous, who had been lying down resting, was the first to lift its heads and respond, looking like a dog hearing the word "walk."
His enthusiasm was so intense that the others who wanted to respond to swallow their cries.
Aggron yielded with the grace of a "Big Brother"; Mawile wanted to remain dignified; Chansey inherently disliked competing; Galarian Corsola hadn't even woken up; and Porygon was momentarily dazed and responded a beat too late.
Halfway through its response, Porygon saw the others were silent and lowered its own voice.
"Ha! You again, you big goof!"
Kashiwagi gave Zweilous's heads a messy rub and then signaled for Porygon to follow.
Since evolving, this fellow hadn't become distant; instead, it clung to him even tighter. It would even wait outside the bathroom door and let out a few cries, as if afraid he might fall into the pit.
The time spent alone with it had increased significantly lately. If this continued, it would surely spark resentment from the other Pokémon. Over-reliance on a Trainer wasn't good for its growth, either. It was time for a bit of "distancing".
"Zwei-lous—" "Zwei-lous—"
Left behind the closed door, Zweilous howled at the ceiling, hoping to call Kashiwagi back.
But seeing that his Trainer didn't look back, he dejectedly slumped onto the carpet, resting both heads to sleep.
Chase after him? He wasn't that stupid.
Zweilous knew better than anyone that a Pokémon couldn't just wander around a human city alone. He remembered the time he and his friends were captured; that lesson was etched into his soul.
Even though he was strong enough to blast his former kidnappers into the sky, he didn't want to cause trouble for his Trainer.
Nearby, on a floor cushion, Galarian Corsola's eyes flickered briefly before dimming again.
I thought that idiot would chase after him.
Guess he has a bit of a brain after all; those two heads weren't grown for nothing.
...
...
Passing the counter.
Kashiwagi caught a glimpse of Wally and Gallade hiding behind it, huddled together eating rice balls in small bites.
Sensing Kashiwagi's gaze, Wally scrambled to put the rice ball down and stood up with a bow.
"Good afternoon!"
There was a stray grain of rice on the corner of the boy's mouth. Kashiwagi was about to point it out, but Gallade moved with lightning speed, plucking the grain and eating it himself.
The movement was so fast it left an afterimage.
So fast!
Kashiwagi narrowed his eyes, nodded slightly, and pushed the door open to leave, with Porygon following close behind.
Wally watched their retreating backs and whispered, "I've never seen that Pokémon before. I wonder what it's like to battle it... Ah! No, no, I still have work to finish!"
He shook his head, suppressing the urge to battle.
...
On the other side.
Following the signs, Kashiwagi walked for about fifteen minutes before reaching the entrance of the Battle Tent.
Despite the name, it wasn't a literal tent. It was a concrete building with a decorative fabric canopy stretched over the top to create a pointed dome.
They called it a tent.
"..."
There was no entry fee for the Battle Tent; you just needed a Pokédex or a Trainer ID to register. Out of curiosity, Kashiwagi asked who the owner was. Sure enough, it was Scott.
The man who owned the entire Battle Frontier. Kashiwagi wondered just how filthy rich that sunglasses-wearing guy had to be to pull something like this off.
Just as he was sighing inwardly and wasabout to leave, someone blocked his path.
"That's a Pokémon, right? Definitely a Pokémon!"
The stranger looked at Porygon with excitement, a Poké Ball already in his hand. "Let's battle!"
"...Sure."
Seeing Porygon's eager expression, Kashiwagi agreed.
Thanks to his "glowing" cooking, his friendship level with Porygon had reached four hearts. For a Pokémon that had been on the team for less than two weeks, that was impressive.
Furthermore, while it hadn't learned Trick Room over the past week or so, the fact that it had successfully learned Thunderbolt made him quite satisfied.
The two left the Battle Tent and found a battlefield by the roadside.
It was nearing evening.
The horizon revealed hints of a dim yellow hue.
Before starting, Kashiwagi noticed the opponent had a slight limp in his right leg.
"Is your leg alright?"
"It's fine, it's fine! Almost healed! One more week and I'm back to 100%!"
The man laughed. "I just couldn't hold back the itch to battle. It's hard to find an opponent at this hour."
Verdanturf Town had a perpetually laid-back vibe. Even though many Trainers visited, few were actually looking for a serious battle.
Kashiwagi sent out Porygon.
The man sent out a Pokémon that looked like a kangaroo wearing a green mushroom hat—Breloom.
"Bre-loom!"
Breloom punched the air several times, its fighting spirit practically vibrating.
As it entered the field, Porygon's Download ability triggered.
A glow of stat-boosting energy rose from Porygon. Kashiwagi couldn't recall if Breloom had higher Physical or Special Defense off the top of his head.
Thankfully, Porygon let out a specific beep.
"Pah!"
A single syllable.
It seemed Special Attack had increased.
Pokémon were always more sensitive to their own stat changes.
The stranger blinked at the display. "What was that? Come to think of it, this is my first time seeing this Pokémon."
He realized too late he hadn't scanned it with his Pokédex. He cursed his impatience.
He hadn't battled in a long time and was becoming quite rusty.
On the other side.
Kashiwagi exchanged a look with Porygon, who had turned to look at him, and nodded slightly.
Reasonably speaking, the fact that Porygon wasn't well-known was a bad thing for Dr. Akihabara, but for a Trainer like Kashiwagi, it was a huge advantage.
Information disparity is a crucial element of Pokémon battles.
If that watermelon-cut kid from before had known that Conversion allowed Porygon to freely change its type, he certainly wouldn't have been so careless.
"Conversion!" Kashiwagi commanded.
"Pah-ree!"
Multi-colored lights glowed on Porygon's body, and the blue parts quickly shifted to a pinkish-purple.
As a Grass/Fighting-type Pokémon, Breloom had a type advantage over the Normal-type Porygon, so changing types at the start was vital.
Otherwise—
"Mach Punch!"
Whoosh!
Breloom vanished and reappeared instantly at Porygon's side. Its red claws shot forward like bullets!
Even though Kashiwagi and Porygon's dynamic vision caught the silhouette of the punch, it was already too late to actually react.
Breloom's fist slammed squarely into its head!
THWACK!
A dull thud.
Porygon was knocked back a full two meters by the punch before steadying itself.
"Psybeam!" Kashiwagi shouted.
Porygon raised its tail and fired a multi-colored beam at Breloom. The beam was incredibly fast, piercing through the dust and hitting Breloom dead-on.
Boom!
"Bre-loom!"
The Pokémon groaned in pain. A STAB-boosted (Same Type Attack Bonus) Psybeam from a Special Attack-boosted Porygon-2 was nothing to sneeze at.
Even though Breloom was high-level, it couldn't help but show pain after taking a direct hit.
But after the initial wince, it didn't get angry; instead, it actually started to grin.
"Bre-loom!"
"Ohhh ho! This Pokémon called Porygon is really tough!"
The opponent's voice sounded even more excited. "Doesn't the Pokédex say it's a Normal-type? And its counterattack speed is so fast! Interesting! Truly interesting!"
"Ha, Porygon, fly up and gain some height!"
Kashiwagi refrained from engaging in the banter, focusing entirely on dealing with Breloom.
Trainers in the main regions often loved to give long-winded speeches mid-battle, handing over opportunities to their opponents.
However, this man hadn't battled in a long time, and the same likely applied to his Breloom. Their excitement was understandable.
"I believe that after this, Porygon will grow even more!"
He thought happily.
The original purpose of coming to Verdanturf Town was to help Porygon and Galarian Corsola level up and learn more moves.
...
...
At the entrance of the guesthouse.
Wally and Gallade kept glancing inside the door.
Every evening at 6:00 PM, his cousin Wanda would force him to clock out, not allowing him to stay in the guesthouse any longer.
She would say: "You're a Trainer! I appreciate you helping me run the guesthouse, but don't forget your true calling!
"Go find some Trainers to battle! Verdanturf Town is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!"
His true calling...
As Wally walked slowly forward, he stared at the bluestone tiles on the ground.
Although he had solved his physical weakness by traveling and growing stronger with his Pokémon, he felt truly lost after his defeat at the Ever Grande Conference and a second defeat at the Indigo Plateau.
Where should his path lead? Could he really become the strongest Trainer?
Because there was no "normal game progression" and Wally hadn't asked Mr. Norman to help him catch a Pokémon, he didn't have a "rival and friend" relationship with Brendan. Their only connection was that final match at the Ever Grande Conference.
Having lost his target to chase and failing to see results from two conferences, Wally was completely adrift.
So he had returned to Verdanturf Town, hoping for spiritual healing and to find the path he should take next.
Maybe being a guesthouse owner was actually quite nice?
After helping Wanda for a few days, he had genuinely begun to entertain such thoughts.
Though he felt sorry for his Pokémon, persuading them to run a Pokémon guesthouse together might be quite good. Occasionally, as the owner, he could even battle the guests.
Wally kicked a pebble.
Gallade watched him with concern. The Pokémon wasn't much for words, so he just stood by his Trainer's side, and could only watch over Wally silentrly
In short.
No matter what choice he made, it would support him unconditionally—
BOOM!
The sound of an explosion echoed from a nearby battlefield.
Wally and Gallade turned their heads simultaneously, both involuntarily drawn to it. They then shared a look, both feeling a stir of excitement.
Despite his inner confusion, whenever he encountered a strong Trainer or heard someone battling, he was always instinctively drawn toward it, as if driven by primal urge.
"Should we... go look?" Wally asked tentatively.
"Gallade!"
Gallade nodded in agreement.
The two ran toward the source of the battle sounds.
...
Presently.
They saw a Breloom battling a rather unfamiliar Pokémon that was with their guest. The former's speed was incredibly fast, each strike seemingly dealing massive damage to the latter.
Yet, strangely, light would frequently flare up on the latter's body, quickly recovering its health.
Wally didn't recognize the Breloom's Trainer, but the Trainer of the strange Pokémon was the guest who had checked in earlier.
"So strong..." Wally whispered.
He looked at Porygon in surprise.
Anyone could see the Porygon was lower level than the Breloom, yet it stubbornly hung on, finding the perfect windows to strike back.
Witnessing such a heated clash, Wally's throat went dry. He felt a desperate urge to go up and command the Breloom Trainer himself.
In the end, Porygon couldn't outlast Breloom's endurance and fell to a Seed Bomb.
"Finally... finally won! How is your Porygon so tanky?!"
The limping Trainer panted heavily. Breloom also slumped down exhausted, looking like a withered mushroom with a collapsed face. If the fight had gone on any longer, it would have collapsed first.
"There are a lot of complex mechanics involved."
Kashiwagi kneeling beside the fainted Porygon, a hint of surprise on his face as well.
He was genuinely impressed.
This was the first time he had pushed Porygon's combat potential to the limit; he hadn't expected it to be so resilient.
Of course,
The use of Conversion 2 to become a Ghost type had been the key—it completely nullified Breloom's favorite speciality move, Mach Punch.
"Rest up, you did amazing," he whispered, stroking Porygon's head before returning it to its ball.
As he turned to head to the Pokémon Center, he saw a familiar figure watching from the sidewalk.
Their eyes met.
Wally waved his hands frantically. "Uh! I was just—!"
"Finished with work?" Kashiwagi interrupted, seeing the lingering excitement on the boy's face. "Sorry, I only brought one Pokémon with me, so I can't battle you. Why don't you ask this guy?"
He pointed to his previous opponent.
"Not me! I'm done too! I'm heading home to rest for the day!"
The opponent hurriedly begged off, gave an apologetic smile, recalled his Breloom, and ran off as if his life depended on it.
Despite being half-crippled, his running speed wasn't much slower than his Pokémon's. He disappeared in moments, vanishing completely from the street in record time.
Kashiwagi twitched his lip. "This rehab guy's mentality is not strong enough; he ran after just one match. Looks like you're out of luck."
"I... I was really just watching"
Wally poked his fingers together, explaining awkwardly, "I didn't plan on battling."
"Oh? Is that so~?"
Kashiwagi nodded, though his face literally screamed "as if I believe you".
The look on Wally and Gallade's faces a moment ago was pure longing. Now he was saying he was "just watching"?
You can lie to a stranger, kid, but don't lie to yourself.
Wally was clearly going through a slump and trying to run away from his passion.
Kashiwagi could vaguely guess what state of mind Wally was in.
However, he wasn't good at counseling people, so he didn't bother feeding him useless platitudes.
He got straight to the point: "Do you want to battle now? If you're up for it, let's have a match at the guesthouse's field after I stop by the Center."
"Um..."
Wally felt a surge of desire in his heart, yet for some reason, he hesitated, instinctively turning to look at Gallade.
"Gallade!"
Gallade nodded firmly. It could see that its Trainer truly wanted to battle and had been holding it in for a long time; it decided to use this chance to give him a push.
Seeing his partner's resolve, Wally finally smiled.
"Okay!"
"Then wait for me. I'm going to the Pokémon Center." Kashiwagi smiled back. A match against a League runner-up? This was the perfect way to test his progress.
"I-I'll go too!" Wally pulled out his Poké Balls. "I need to give my team a check-up..."
A pre-battle check-up was a very common practice.
Since Pokémon are like professional athletes and might not always be at their peak, check-ups are essential to ensure their condition.
Once issues like lack of acclimation or stress are identified, they can be promptly addressed or the Pokémon can be swapped out.
...
Guesthouse Backyard.
The back garden of the Guesthouse featured a surprisingly large battlefield. Kashiwagi and Wally stood on opposite ends.
Nearby,
His cousin Wanda watched them with an excited expression. A few other tenants were also scattered around, standing or sitting, peering into the battlefield.
For the tenants of this guesthouse, although there had always been a large battlefield in the back, very few people ever used it.
Now, someone was actually going to battle, and one of them was that shy front-desk boy.
It certainly piqued everyone's curiosity.
Retracting his gaze from the onlookers, Kashiwagi called out, "How should we do this? 1-on-1? 3-on-3?"
"Anything is fine!"
Wally took a deep breath, and his aura shifted.
Many Trainers change when they enter a battle state, giving off a strange impact to those unfamiliar with them.
Wally was no exception. The "sickly, polite boy" vanished, replaced by a sharp, focused Trainer. He radiated the seasoned air of a pro. He resembled Paul when Ash first met him—exuding an aura of seasoned skill.
Even his speech became decisive.
"Then let's go with 3-on-3"
Kashiwagi said with a smile, tucking three Poké Balls into his pocket.
To save their energy for the Battle Tent tomorrow, he wasn't going to use Aggron or his main heavy hitters.
Besides, a match with a runner-up was the perfect "learning experience" for the younger members of his team. It would be an incredibly valuable combat experience.
"Alright!"
Wally pulled out a Poké Ball.
In a street battle, there are no referees. When to release Pokémon and when to strike depends on the mutual understanding of the Trainers.
According to the common unwritten rules, the moment both sides meet each other's gaze while holding their Poké Balls, the Pokémon can be released.
Pop! Pop!
Two Poké Balls flew up and opened.
In flashes of white light.
A grayish-white stone appeared on Kashiwagi's side, while Wally chose the elegant and beautiful Delcatty.
The latter was visibly stunned when he saw Galarian Corsola. It wasn't until Corsola extended its smoke-like tentacles and floated off the ground that he realized it was even a Pokémon.
Another one... a Pokémon I've never seen!
Wally felt a heavy pounding in his heart, sensing that some feeling buried deep within him for a long time was returning.
That desire to grow alongside Pokémon, the yearning to see more unfamiliar Pokémon—the original vision of his journey.
Why did I start my journey in the first place?
A wave of frustration hit him, like a computer program crashing halfway through execution. He gripped his his clothes tightly, biting his lower lip hard without finding an answer.
Clearly,.. Wally hadn't figured it out for himself yet.
Sensing his distress, Delcatty looked back worriedly.
Kashiwagi looked at his opponent's condition and frowned. "Are you feeling okay?"
"...I'm fine!"
Wally released his grip on his collar. After taking another deep breath, his state improved significantly.
Hearing the firm response, Kashiwagi nodded.
"Alright then, I won't hold back! Curse!"
"Cor-sola..."
Galarian Corsola's eyes glowed brilliantly. Eerie purple smoke erupted from its body, forming a shrieking ghostly shadow that lunged at Delcatty!
"Double Team, dodge it!"
Delcatty responded with blinding speed. Flash! Delcatty split into a dozen illusions. The ghostly shadow struck one, but it dissipated into thin air.
"Disarming Voice!"
"Meow-ow!"
The many Delcatty simultaneously released pink soundwaves. When they struck the ghostly shadow, it was entirely dispersed.
In a real battle, moves weren't just "game code". Curse was an energy-based attack; it could miss, and it could be countered by a stronger move.
Correspondingly, as the ghost shadow vanished, Galarian Corsola's flagging spirit suddenly became as full as if it had taken a tonic.
Evidently, when the ghostly shadow was dispersed, the stamina consumed wasn't lost. Since the Curse failed to take effect or be blocked by any specific effect, the drained stamina was returned—though the elemental energy was not.
Curse is like a transaction made with elemental energy and a certain entity from the spirit world. If the transaction fails midway, the other party is too embarrassed to keep taking the life energy.
Of course.
Dispersing a Curse isn't something that can be done without a certain level of strength.
"Impressive," Kashiwagi muttered, admiring how smoothly Wally chained his commands.
Galarian Corsola stared at its opponent. This was going to be a tough one.