10:30 AM. A Battle Center in Imperial City.
"Lucario, Bullet Punch — keep going!"
"Luca!"
A rapid flurry of iron-fast strikes left the Primeape across the arena with no room to breathe, let alone counter. The final punch connected clean, and Primeape was sent skidding clear out of the battle zone.
It hit the boundary like it had been knocked into a wall.
"Primeape!"
Its trainer rushed forward. Primeape hadn't fainted outright, but Lucario's barrage had left it completely dazed. And yet — true to its nature — even in that state, Primeape was furious. Its chest heaved. Its eyes burned. David watched it with genuine concern, wondering if the Pokémon's legendary temper was about to do what Lucario's fists hadn't quite managed.
He found himself wondering, briefly, whether it knew Rage Fist. If it actually fainted from pure rage, it would evolve into Annihilape. That would be something to see.
"Primeape is unable to battle. Lucario wins. The victor is David."
As if on cue, Primeape's legs buckled the moment the announcement played. It collapsed. Knocked out, ultimately, by its own anger rather than any final blow.
"Well, I'll be."
David shook his head. Primeape's reputation was fully deserved.
He watched his opponent recall the exhausted Pokémon, then recalled Lucario himself. A few taps on his ranking app to queue for the next match, and he turned and settled into a seat in the nearby rest area.
The crowd that had gathered behind the spectator rail was buzzing.
"That's already six wins for that Lucario, isn't it?"
"Six? You missed the start — this is the eighth opponent."
"Did you see the Shelgon earlier though? It was a floor and a half tall, I'm not even joking."
"Eight consecutive wins at Great Ball tier — haven't seen a streak like that in a while. And he looks so young. Is he a new trainer?"
"New trainer? No chance. No new trainer battles like that."
David let the chatter wash over him. Primeape had been his eighth opponent of the morning, and every one of them had gone roughly the same way — a few decisive exchanges, a clean finish, and then waiting in the queue for the next match. The waiting took longer than the actual battles.
After leaving home, he had come straight to the Battle Center. There was nothing else on his schedule, and it was a good use of the morning. Shelgon, newly caught, still needed time to get comfortable working within a team. Lucario had recently worked through some new techniques and needed the repetition of real battles to sharpen them. Letting them take turns was the obvious approach.
David hadn't spent much time at Battle Centers since earning his Great Ball rank last semester. He had come in occasionally — just enough to keep his points from slipping and avoid a penalty when semester rankings were calculated. As a result, his current placement still put him near the lower end of Great Ball tier, where his opponents today weren't exactly putting him to the test.
Not that he was complaining. The winning streak had drawn a healthy crowd for a New Year's morning, which was its own kind of entertainment.
The ranking system from Great Ball upward ran on points. Each win earned a base of five points, with bonuses added for winning streaks or for defeating opponents ranked higher than yourself. Each minor rank step required a hundred points to clear. Eight straight wins had brought David to within a dozen points of climbing from Great Ball V to Great Ball IV.
Almost there. One good match and that's done.
The problem was the matchmaking. It tried to pair trainers at similar levels, which meant he was still being matched against Great Ball V opponents. If he happened to get someone slightly higher ranked, the bonus points would push him over in a single win. If not, he'd need one more match regardless.
Since he had the time, it didn't much matter. Raising his rank a few steps while he had a free morning wasn't the worst way to spend the first day of the new year. It might even let him tick off part of his academy requirements for next semester ahead of schedule.
Ding~ A direct battle challenge has been detected. Accept?
David blinked at his phone.
That was unusual. Someone had actively sent him a challenge request.
He had just recorded his eighth win. An eight-game streak was visible to anyone watching the board, and someone had looked at that and decided they wanted a match. The system only allowed direct challenges between trainers within roughly one rank tier of each other, so his challenger wasn't dramatically stronger. But still — after watching those results, they'd chosen to step forward anyway.
Either they had something to back it up, or they were about to learn a hard lesson.
Might as well see who it is.
He accepted, stood up, and walked toward the assigned arena. And then he stopped.
"Luke?"
Standing on the far side of the arena was a face he recognised immediately. Luke — who was supposed to be out of the city for the holiday, having gone back to his hometown after working through the first half of the break.
What was he doing back in Imperial City?
"Long time no see, David."
Luke grinned from across the arena, relaxed and clearly pleased with himself for the surprise.
Before either of them could say anything more, the system's automated voice cut in, prompting both sides to confirm readiness.
Both trainers confirmed. Battle — begin!
The match between David and Luke got underway.