"I now declare the Battle Club's "Endless Mode" officially open. All Trainers present with Peak Elite-level Pokémon may register. Subsequent opponents will be randomly selected by the system."
As Don George spoke, he extended his right hand toward the point scanner beside the command platform.
At some point, a staff member had appeared beside the scanner. He nodded lightly at Don George, indicating that the equipment was fully set up.
"I want to participate!" A middle-aged man closest to the scanner was the first to step forward, swipe his card, and complete the registration.
Soon after, every eligible Trainer surged forward. This was their chance to witness a miracle, or even be part of creating one.
Winning didn't matter anymore…
Just getting to be seen was already a success!
At the same time, a large number of Trainers who heard the news rushed over. After all, many applied to challenge in the defense format, but few ever succeeded.
What's more, none of them had ever heard of someone named Sato, and now he had already won five straight battles: it sparked endless curiosity.
Originally, there had only been a few dozen participants, but by the end of registration, it totaled a full hundred!
Registering took about half an hour, and during that time, no one disturbed Sato.
As long as you didn't use medicine, items, food, healing moves, or other external means to accelerate your Pokémon's recovery, everything else was fair game.
If the defending Pokémon was one that could use Recover on its own, it wouldn't count as cheating either.
Unfortunately, Zoroark was purely a battle specialist, it had zero talent for healing.
But not knowing how to heal didn't matter. Sato came with a bug: a single use of "Dark Energy: Energy Amplification" was enough to accelerate Zoroark's stamina recovery.
So from Don George's and everyone else's point of view, all Sato was doing was walking over to Zoroark, massaging its legs or squeezing its shoulders, nothing that qualified as an "external factor."
But unbeknownst to them, Zoroark's stamina was recovering at an unimaginable rate…
Once all "Endless Mode" challengers had registered, the big screen automatically switched to a roulette interface. Sato was to call "Stop" to determine his opponent.
"Stop!"
The scrolling names began to slow, and a name -Pan- gradually stopped beneath the pointer.
Amid cheers and shouts of envy, a somewhat shy young man hesitantly stepped forward.
"I-I-I…" Pan anxiously tried to explain something, but was helplessly pushed onto the platform.
"You're not saying you don't have a Pokémon fit for battle, are you?" a voice of suspicion came from the crowd, and all eyes turned to look.
"I do! It's just… just that…"
"Then hurry up already. What a great chance. If you won't go, let us go for you!"
"Exactly, exactly…"
"If you're too scared to fight, just get off the stage!"
"…"
"SILENCE!" Don George's deep, booming voice instantly silenced the entire venue. Everyone gradually quieted down.
Don't be fooled by Don George's big, rough appearance, he was the one who built the Battle Club into something even more popular than Gyms. Of course, he had real strength.
"Trainer Pan, please proceed to the stage immediately. Failure to do so will be considered forfeiture."
"I…" Pan seemed to realize there was no more room to explain. He hurriedly climbed onto the stage.
"Please send out your Pokémon." Don George continued.
"A-alright, Klinklang, get ready for battle!" In the end, Pan stopped hesitating and released a Pokémon made entirely of interlocking gears.
"Wait a second, something's off…" The spectators closest to the stage immediately noticed something unusual.
The aura from this Klinklang was completely unstable. One moment it was at normal Peak Elite-level, the next at Pseudo-Elite Four, fluctuating constantly.
"That's a Klinklang about to break through!" someone exclaimed, and the crowd finally understood.
"My Klinklang is the only one that meets the battle requirements. I was just trying to join for fun, but my luck is just…" Pan gave a bitter smile. "If you think it's unfair, I can request a redraw…"
"Hasn't evolved yet, right? Even if it breaks through mid-match, Zoroark and I aren't afraid." Sato interrupted Pan, making it clear he accepted the challenge.
Don George didn't say anything either. Since the defender, Sato, had no objections, he certainly wouldn't have any.
"In that case, the sixth match of the Battle Club endless defense begins!"
"Zoroark, Nasty Plot."
"Klinklang, Autotomize!"
The battle opened with both sides using boosting moves. Sato was clearly prepping for the fight ahead, especially to maximize the power of Flamethrower and Focus Blast.
It had been half an hour since the last use of Nasty Plot, so its previous effect had long faded and needed to be reapplied.
Autotomize significantly raised speed while also reducing body weight; it was a signature move for Steel-types to boost mobility, its effect was no weaker than Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, or Agility.
And despite how Klinklang looked, it wasn't slow to begin with.
"Zoroark, Flamethrower!" Sato gave the next command. Intense flames surged toward Klinklang, seemingly hot enough to melt steel.
"Klinklaaaang, Wild Charge!" Unlike his earlier hesitation, Pan's battle style was now passionate and forceful.
Klinklang spun its gears rapidly. Blue electric sparks burst from its body and wrapped it entirely before it charged straight into the flames.
Then, using its strong defense and Wild Charge's offense-as-defense nature, Klinklang managed to deflect the Flamethrower from its body.
"Agility, fall back!"
As the flames dispersed, Klinklang's wild strike missed its mark. Zoroark had already darted to the other side of the battlefield with Agility.
"Klinklang, Shift Gear!"
Klinklang may have looked like a bundle of gears, but its reaction time was sharp. All its gears suddenly halted, then rotated in a new direction, its aura spiking dramatically.
Another past-signature boost move: it sharply increased both Speed and Attack.
After several exchanges, Klinklang now had the edge in stat boosts, just slightly ahead of Zoroark.
"Zoroark, close in." Suddenly, Sato gave a vague command, not specifying any particular move.
"Nice! Klinklang, Gear Grind!"
Yet another signature move.
Klinklang's uniqueness was making Sato's scalp tingle.
Like dismantling machine parts, Klinklang rapidly detached two small gears from its body and launched them at Sato.
"Aerial Ace to dodge, then use Grass Knot!"
Zoroark dodged the Gear Grind assault. Just as it landed, it slammed a front paw into the ground.
A strand of green light crept forward from the ground. As it reached beneath Klinklang, it erupted into wild vines, tightly entangling the completely unprepared Pokémon.
And then Klinklang realized in panic: it was stuck!