At the Sunyshore Gym's battlefield, Cynthia and Volkner stood on opposite sides as a 3V3 battle neared its end.
Sato sat quietly in the stands, silently processing the exceptionally intense match.
After his loss at the Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament, Volkner had finally recognized the gap between himself and Sato, Flint, and the others. During this period of time, he had also worked extremely hard to become stronger.
Unfortunately, the person standing opposite him was the future Sinnoh Champion. Although Volkner had caught up to the first batch, he still couldn't win against Cynthia.
After Luxray, Magnezone, and Electivire had all fallen, Cynthia had only lost a single Spiritomb. Gastrodon and Glaceon still retained plenty of stamina.
There was no way around it. The gap was too obvious. Cynthia had not even used her ace, Garchomp.
Up to this point, among Sinnoh Region's younger generation, only Flint could still put up some resistance against Cynthia.
But he probably would not last long either.
The match ended, and the three of them returned to the medical room to help their Pokémon recover their strength.
Fortunately, after battling, the awkward atmosphere between them finally eased. And for Trainers, the topic of conversation never strayed far from Pokémon.
Especially after Volkner learned that Cynthia had an Eelektross, he gradually became more talkative and even took the initiative to discuss methods for training Electric-type Pokémon.
That night, Sato and Cynthia stayed at the Sunyshore Gym, planning to return to the Sinnoh Alliance Headquarters the next day.
Late at night, Sato sat cross-legged beside the bed in meditation. Gengar sat nearby in the same posture, its body glowing with flickering golden Buddha's Light.
Suddenly, Gengar's aura surged without any warning, instantly jolting Sato out of his meditation.
"Is it... about to break through?"
Sato blinked, staring