"Both sides, are you ready?"
"Let the battle begin!"
Rotom's voice cut cleanly through the arena. Jingūji Yoraku, who had stepped onto the battle platform with no real enthusiasm, drew a slow breath and reached for her Poké Ball.
There was nothing left to do but fight. Whatever happened next, she just had to see this through.
"Go — Bisharp!"
The Poké Ball snapped open, and the sharp, blade-armored Pokémon materialized on the field with a metallic ring.
BisharpType: Steel / Dark —
Gender: Male
Energy Level: 34 (Superior)
Ability: Defiant
Potential: Magenta
Held Item: Metal Coat
Known Moves: Fury Cutter, Metal Claw, Slash, Swagger, Pursuit, Assurance, Iron Defense, Metal Burst, Metal Sound, Iron Head, Sucker Punch, Swords Dance, Endure, Facade, Taunt, Payback, Dark Pulse, X-Scissor, Air Slash, Stone Edge, Throat Chop, Snarl…
David's eyebrow rose slightly.
He had not expected this. Jingūji Yoraku looked slight and composed — not the kind of trainer he would have pictured pairing with a Bisharp. The Pokémon was bladed, aggressive, and built for pressure. It was, honestly, a little beyond what he had anticipated from her.
Her overall strength also seemed a step above Kuki Genichi's.
Still, David had no intention of recalling Salamence, even with the type disadvantage sitting plainly in front of him. After more than twenty consecutive battles that morning, Salamence was not worn down — if anything, the opposite was true. Each fight seemed to sharpen it further. The dormant energy it had absorbed from the Breath of the Sea God, packed deep within its body since its last evolution, had begun to stir. The chain of battles had reawakened it, and now it was being drawn on steadily with each exchange, fueling Salamence through one match after the next.
It was not just a figure of speech to say Salamence grew stronger with each victory. Right now, it was practically running on an active Moxie boost.
As a Pokémon widely known for being a late bloomer, David's Shelgon would normally have had to reach the Professional level before evolving. Fully evolved pseudo-legendary Pokémon were, as a general rule, Professional-level at minimum. But exceptions existed. David's Salamence and Luke's Metagross were two of them — both had evolved at the Superior level with outside assistance, their bodies carrying more energy than they could immediately process. For Salamence, most of that energy had been sitting dormant, meant to be absorbed slowly over time.
The battles today had changed that.
David had noticed it with quiet satisfaction. Salamence was already sitting at level 39 — just a step away from the Professional threshold. Compared to his Vulpix at level 37 and his Kirlia at level 36, Salamence had quietly become the most likely candidate to break through first. If things kept going at this rate, it would get there.
On the field, Bisharp faced the enormous dragon hovering in the air above it and showed no hesitation. No flinching. No backing away. It stared up at Salamence with sharp, narrow eyes, its bladed arms held at its sides, looking almost impatient — like it was waiting for an excuse to move.
David's interest sharpened.
A Bisharp at the Superior level, staring down a Salamence 5 levels above it, without a flicker of fear. According to the Pokédex, Bisharp were known to lead packs of Pawniard into clashes against far stronger opponents — even Haxorus — without any apparent concern for the odds. Watching this one stand its ground against Salamence made that entry feel very real.
What would something like this look like if it ever evolved into Kingambit?
He filed the thought away and shifted his attention back to the battle.
"Swords Dance, then Stone Edge," Jingūji Yoraku called out.
David had not commanded Salamence to move. He never did at the start — not in any of the twenty-plus battles that morning. His approach throughout had been consistent: let his opponent act first, keep the pressure rolling, and take his time. A fast win was one thing. Watching the Sakura Alliance trainers work through their strategies while knowing the outcome was already decided — that was something else.
Jingūji Yoraku seemed to have picked up on this, because she did not hesitate. If David wasn't going to rush, she would use every moment she had.
Bisharp raised its arms, and for a brief instant the air around it seemed to sharpen. Its speed and power climbed sharply under the effect of Swords Dance. Then, without pausing, it thrust both arms forward. A ring of jagged rocks tore themselves from the arena floor, spinning rapidly before launching upward toward Salamence like a volley of missiles.
The Stone Edge was boosted. Super effective. And aimed directly at a target hovering with nowhere obvious to go.
"Whoosh whoosh—"
The rock spikes split the air as they rose.
Salamence spread its wings.
It did not dodge by retreating — it shifted, subtle and smooth, riding the wind field it had been shaping around itself since the start of the match. The Tailwind it had established earlier was more than just a speed boost. Since absorbing a trace of Lugia's power, Salamence's control over Flying-type energy had grown considerably. Shaping air currents, redirecting wind pressure — it had become second nature. Its enormous body moved with a ease that looked completely wrong for something its size, and the rock spikes streaked past harmlessly, not one of them making contact.
"Flamethrower — hit back!"
Flames built in Salamence's throat, deep orange and roiling. This was not the Ember it had used as a young Bagon — this was the technique it had refined across every stage of its evolution, sharpened further by the energy of the Fire God's feather it had absorbed. When Salamence opened its mouth, the fire that poured out was a wall of heat, wide and rushing, falling over the battlefield below like the breath of something from a legend.
Next to Salamence's frame, Bisharp looked small. Almost impossibly so. It stood at the base of the oncoming flame like a lone figure facing something much larger than itself — brave, maybe, but clearly outmatched in scale.
Jingūji Yoraku had already read it.
"Bisharp, Protect — now!"
The command came the instant the flames left Salamence's mouth. Bisharp snapped its arms up, and a green barrier flickered into place around it, catching the full force of the Flamethrower. The fire washed over the shield, spreading wide — wide enough that it covered the ground around Bisharp like a Fire Spin. If it had tried to take that directly, it would not have survived the hit.
The Protect held. The flames dissipated.
Bisharp exhaled — one breath of relief.
"Dodge! Get out of there — now!"
Bisharp did not question the urgency in its Trainer's voice. The instant Protect faded, it threw itself sideways, rolling across the arena floor without any pause to think.
A fraction of a second later, Salamence slammed into the exact spot where Bisharp had been standing. The Dragon Rush left a crater in the arena surface. Bisharp, still catching its footing, looked at the sunken ground beside it and went very still.
"Prrr..."
It swallowed hard.
If it had been even a moment slower, it would have been on a stretcher.
"What a shame." David's voice was casual, almost amused. "Dragon Rush actually got read."
He had issued the command silently, through his bond with Salamence — no spoken word, no signal. And yet Jingūji Yoraku had caught it anyway. Bisharp had barely reacted in time, but its Trainer had given the warning before that.
A special ability? David thought, watching her quietly. Or just sharp instincts?
On the other side of the field, Jingūji Yoraku was not doing nearly as well as her expression suggested. Her palms were damp. Watching the battles from the crowd below was one thing — standing on the platform was entirely different. The sheer weight of Salamence's presence in the field, the scale of it, the ease with which it moved — it pressed down on everything around it, and she could feel it from where she stood, thirty meters away on the command platform.
She could only imagine what Bisharp was feeling up close.
Of course the first major opponent I run into in Cloudspire is someone like this, she thought, jaw tight, running through her options. Kuki Genichi was going to hear about this for a very long time.
But that was later. Right now, she had a battle to finish.