Seeing Raihan fuss over him like an old mother, Dande felt somewhat helpless.
Only after Dande assured him that he would definitely bring Charizard's Poké Ball whenever he went out did Raihan finally let him off.
The two then began discussing the battle from not long ago.
"Did you see the video of that battle?"
Raihan paused his scrolling and looked up at Dande.
"Ah... that one?"
Dande was slightly taken aback as he recalled the crushing victory in the video.
When he had first watched it, he had not been particularly surprised. If it had been him, he and Charizard could have done the same thing. He simply had more things to consider in ordinary battles and would not win quite so overwhelmingly.
He had only paid special attention because the Trainer in the video was an acquaintance.
Raihan said with some displeasure, "That old man really has gotten old, to lose that badly."
"And because the battle was such a one-sided stomp, the committee directly moved that Su Hao up three places to sixth! That forced me down to eighth!"
"Once the Elimination Tournament begins, I'll ruthlessly defeat him first, then defeat you!"
"Hahaha, then I'll be waiting for you!"
Dande laughed heartily before asking in passing.
"How confident are you about tomorrow's battle? Ash is a very talented kid."
"Hmph." Raihan snorted and curled his lip. "He's just a junior you think highly of, while my goal has always been to surpass you!"
"So what if he's the first Champion of the Alola region? I lost to that little girl Champion from the Unova League—does that mean I can't beat him?"
"I'll win that final ranking battle, then defeat Su Hao, and finally defeat you, Dande!"
Raihan confidently left behind his declaration of certain victory.
Two