So that was it. Enbunun's lineup had weaknesses covering almost every type. Since Murkrow and Gyarados shared types with Charizard and Piplup, she had left them out.
"Come on, Mr. Yuto! Bring out your Pokémon too!"
Her eyes shone. She looked full of enthusiasm, as though losing had never even crossed her mind. I was really looking forward to this.
"Dawn, let me tell you something first. Every Pokémon I bring out here is one I caught or started raising after coming to the New King Region."
That made the conditions fifty-fifty. A Pokémon's level alone wouldn't decide the outcome; the trainer's reads and strategies mattered too. I could never forget the thrill of the moment I read my opponent correctly.
"Dawn, take a good look at my Pokémon! Figure out what sort of strategy I have in mind, and try to read me!"
Ah, I was really looking forward to this.
And so were the Pokémon taking the field.
"Yuto is sending his Pokémon onto the field! They are Hawlucha, Chatot, Glacia, Clobbopus, Ampharos, and-wh-what is that Pokémon?!"
It was the last Pokémon I sent out. The whole venue erupted into a stir.
-What in the world was that Pokémon?
-I'd never seen a Pokémon like that before.
-Did a Pokémon like that really exist?
That was roughly what the voices sounded like. Still, the conditions for obtaining this Pokémon were quite unusual, so plenty of people probably didn't know about it. After all, nobody had known about it before I found it in the Hoenn Pokédex.
But there were people in this venue who knew about it. They were Baina, Fifth, and Green, who worked at headquarters.
And then there was one more person-
"Wh-why?"
It was Dawn, my opponent standing right before me. The timer had already