"Boom!"
Blastoise slammed its foot into the battlefield.
The ground beneath it split apart as a violent shockwave tore across the arena toward Raichu. The entire court shook hard enough to throw the Electric-type off balance.
Darren's expression immediately changed.
"Damn it! Raichu, get out of there!"
He had not expected Ricky's Blastoise to know Earthquake. There was no way it had learned a move like that naturally; Ricky had almost certainly taught it through a TM.
And Earthquake TMs were ridiculously expensive. On the open market, one could easily cost around a million.
That alone told Darren that Ricky's background was probably anything but ordinary.
"Rai!"
Raichu tried to escape, but Earthquake was already spreading across the entire battlefield. Unless it suddenly grew wings, there was nowhere for it to run.
The shockwave struck.
"Raiii!"
Raichu cried out as Ground-type energy ripped through the area beneath it.
Earthquake already carried a base power of 100, and against an Electric-type like Raichu, the attack was super effective. The damage was brutal.
Raichu dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
If it had not been a peak-stage Elite—two substages above Ricky's mid-stage Elite Blastoise—that single Earthquake might have ended the match right there.
Ricky's eyes lit up.
"Beautiful, Blastoise! Finish it with Dragon Pulse!"
"Blas!"
Blastoise roared and opened its mouth as draconic energy gathered between its jaws. A spiraling blast shot forward, racing straight toward the badly injured Raichu.
"Raichu, don't give up! Thunderbolt!"
Darren's voice was noticeably more urgent this time.
"Rai!"
Panting heavily, Raichu forced itself back upright. Electricity surged through its body before erupting forward in a brilliant bolt.
Thunderbolt collided head-on with Dragon Pulse.
"Boom!"
The two attacks exploded in midair, sending a violent gust rolling across the battlefield as smoke swallowed both Pokémon.
Everyone waited.
A few seconds later, the smoke began to clear.
Raichu was down.
The last of its strength had been spent in the collision, leaving it sprawled motionless across the battlefield.
The referee frowned slightly before raising his flag.
"Raichu is unable to battle! Darren, send out your second Pokémon!"
He did not look particularly happy about it.
Watching his friend lose was bad enough. Watching him lose his first Pokémon to a freshman—despite having both the level advantage and what should have been a favorable matchup—was downright embarrassing.
...
The spectator area immediately erupted.
"Holy shit! He actually won!"
"And Blastoise was fighting into a bad matchup!"
"So he wasn't just showing off. This guy's actually good."
"Wait... are the freshmen seriously going to turn this around on the sophomores this year?"
"Hahaha! Imagine if we're the ones beating them up this time!"
"Okay, he's hot and strong. Is he single?"
"Girl, you're pushing a hundred and eighty pounds. Be serious."
"Shut up!"
"Come on, Ricky! Win this for the freshmen!"
"Kick his ass!"
Most of the spectators were freshmen themselves, and Ricky's victory immediately gave them something to rally behind.
Last year's class might have been slaughtered by the older students, but that did not mean this year's freshmen had to suffer the same fate.
The cheers quickly grew louder.
Ricky soaked up every second of it.
His grin had become impossible to hide. Standing in the middle of the battlefield with students chanting his name, he looked like a man who had already reached the peak of his life.
Beside Aaron, the cat-eared volunteer covered her mouth in surprise.
"Wow. Your friend's actually pretty good. He really took down Darren's Raichu."
Aaron's mouth twitched.
He had to admit she was right.
Ricky's command had been solid. He had recognized his opportunity, used Earthquake to completely flip what should have been a bad matchup, then immediately pressed the advantage before Raichu could recover.
Of course, having enough money to buy an Earthquake TM certainly helped.
"He's pretty good," Aaron admitted.
That felt slightly awkward to say considering he had been expecting Ricky to lose only a few minutes ago.
The volunteer glanced sideways at him.
"Only pretty good?"
Aaron looked at her.
"That was impressive. Don't tell me you think you're better than him."
Aaron considered the question.
"Maybe a little."
She stared at him for half a second before bursting out laughing.
"Sure you are."
Aaron fell silent.
Figures. The one time I tell the truth, nobody believes me.
...
Back on the battlefield, Darren recalled Raichu and pulled out his second Poké Ball.
Despite losing the opening round, there was no frustration on his face anymore. If anything, he looked more interested than before.
"Not bad, Ricky. I'll admit it—you surprised me."
He rolled the Poké Ball between his fingers.
"But now I'm actually going to take this seriously."
Ricky chuckled.
"Go right ahead. Struggle all you want."
Darren raised an eyebrow.
"You're pretty confident after one win."
"One win?" Ricky spread his arms toward the cheering crowd. "Listen to them. I'm practically undefeated already."
The freshmen immediately cheered even louder.
Darren stared at him.
Ricky grinned.
"Save yourself the trouble and surrender now."
At this point, the applause had completely gone to his head.
Between winning despite the matchup disadvantage and having half the freshman crowd cheering for him, Ricky might as well have activated Moxie.
...