Pokémon: Above the Top-Chapter 239: Everyone’s Pokémon

Nowadays, Sato's battles often started with debuffing the opponent. After all, he was still young, and many people with big egos liked to let him take the first move.

Naturally, he wouldn't be polite about it, he always opened with a debuff.

Scary Face hit, and Nidoqueen and Nidoking's speed sharply dropped. The Hanasaki siblings' expressions changed, and they immediately launched a counterattack.

"Nidoking, get in close with Double Kick!"

"Nidoqueen, use Earth Power!"

One was a close-range attacker, the other a ranged. Their coordination wasn't bad, but their speed had been reduced. Pupitar had plenty of time to react.

"Pupitar, jump and use Rock Tomb!"

Pupitar's tail compressed, revealing a pitch-black hollow. A blast of air shot out, and Pupitar rocketed into the sky like a silver bullet.

At the same time, the charging Nidoking was suddenly halted. Sharp, massive rocks burst out from all around it, crashing down and trapping it within.

"Nidoqueen, Ice Beam!"

"Pupitar, Hidden Power!"

Nidoking was trapped, but with its resistance to Rock-type moves, it wouldn't be long before it broke free.

Realizing this, Aoi gave up on trying to rescue it and focused entirely on taking Pupitar down.

Ice Beam howled through the air... but it met with Pupitar's Hidden Power.

Hidden Power took the form of about twenty energy orbs spinning chaotically outward. Ice Beam managed to freeze two or three of them, but the rest struck Nidoqueen straight on.

It was super effective!

Nidoqueen let out a shriek. Already slowed down significantly, she had no chance to dodge. The water-type orbs slammed into her relentlessly.

"Nidoking, Toxic!"

Splat!

Nidoking, having broken free from Rock Tomb, immediately hit Pupitar with Toxic... and it landed.

"Hidden Power! Finish off Nidoqueen!" Sato ignored Nidoking for the moment. He had to take Nidoqueen down first.

"Nidoqueen, Brick Break!"

Clearly, Aoi realized something was wrong; a single Hidden Power had nearly taken Nidoqueen out.

This Pupitar was overwhelmingly strong!

Bang! Bang!

Hidden Power and Brick Break landed at the same time. Nidoqueen collapsed backward onto the ground, completely out from the full-force Hidden Power, but not before landing a solid Brick Break on Pupitar.

This was the impact of a gap in natural potential and talent. Even at the same level, high-potential Pokémon were significantly stronger overall.

Pupitar, sent flying, quickly regained control mid-air. But now purple poison bubbles were rising from its body... Toxic had taken effect, draining a large chunk of its stamina.

As an "upgraded" status from standard Poison, Toxic doubled the damage every turn; it was terrifyingly dangerous.

At this point, Nidoking didn't need to attack. All he had to do was hold out against Pupitar's furious assault to win.

Normally, that was Sato's own go-to strategy.

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"Pupitar, Rock Tomb!"

"Nidoking, Protect!"

The jagged stones surged up, crashing down on Nidoking who had tucked himself behind a green shield. He was pinned under the weight of the collapsed rocks.

Watching Sato glare at him like he was an idiot, Hanasaki Mori suddenly got a very bad feeling.

"Pupitar, Earthquake!"

Mori panicked. He thought he had the win in the bag once Toxic landed, and hastily ordered Protect.

But Ground-type moves were super effective against Nidoking.

Though a Pokémon's Earthquake wasn't quite the same as a natural disaster, in a confined area, it could be even more destructive!

The ground beneath Nidoking began to tremble violently. The previously blocked rocks from Rock Tomb collapsed onto him again, dealing even more damage.

Sato had thought it would take two more turns to end the battle, meaning Pupitar would have to endure the pain of Toxic a little longer. But since the opponent made a mistake, there was no reason to hesitate.

"Pupitar, Hidden Power!"

Twenty glowing blue energy orbs surged forth. Through fine control, Pupitar easily directed them into the cracks between the rocks.

Boom!

Nidoking was blown out of the trap, eyes spiraling as he crashed to the ground, clearly unable to keep fighting.

Pupitar, victory!

The Hanasaki siblings looked extremely grim. They had scammed countless newbie travelers before, but now they'd been completely outplayed... and they were far from willing to accept it.

However, many in the crowd had long disliked their behavior. Now that someone had finally taught them a lesson, the bystanders were all too happy to surround them, cutting off any escape.

No way they were running now.

They might have done all kinds of shady things in secret, but in public, they had to at least pretend to be clean; otherwise, no one could protect them.

"Take it."

Four Poké Balls were tossed to the ground as the Hanasaki siblings turned to leave.

"Wait."

Sato stepped forward, picked up the four Poké Balls, returned Arbok and Lapras to Mark, then turned to face the two of them again.

"You're not done yet."

"What more do you want?! We already gave you Nidoking and Nidoqueen!" Hanasaki Mori growled with barely restrained anger.

"I said earlier: if I won, my friend's Pokémon would be returned," Sato paused, then continued, "and your Pokémon would also belong to me."

"Didn't we just give them to you-?"

"I meant... all your Pokémon."

Sato took two steps forward. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the entire field, sparking an immediate uproar.

"You think you can just make the rules now? Don't be a bully!" Aoi hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'm the bully? Then let the crowd decide... who's really been "bullying" whom?"

Sato smiled, but it was full of disdain.

"Yeah, we all heard it! They bet all their Pokémon!"

"That's right! You lost fair and square!"

"Serves them right. Hand over all your Poké Balls!"

"..."

Clearly, this wasn't the siblings' first time pulling a stunt like this. Some of the onlookers were definitely past victims.

Now that the tables had turned, everyone was kicking them while they were down. The Hanasaki siblings were absolutely seething with hatred for the kid who had humiliated them.

And yet, they still didn't know the name of the one who brought them down.

"Not handing them over?" Sato asked calmly, which only made the crowd angrier. Even more people joined the shouting.

Still clenching their jaws, the siblings refused. Sato didn't waste any more words, he simply signaled Gengar to search them.

"Gengengeng~"

More than ten Poké Balls were pulled out by Gengar in a single swoop, stunning everyone present.

So many...

"I'll hand these over to Nurse Joy. If you recognize your Pokémon, let her know and claim them yourselves."

"Yeah!!"

The crowd cheered, proud to have been part of what felt like a massive win. Everyone was brimming with satisfaction.

No one paid any attention to the Hanasaki siblings slinking away in disgrace... no one but Sato, who noticed the venomous glare in their eyes.

"Heh~"