"Vee! (╬￣皿￣)"
Eevee bared her teeth, fierce. Nobody gets to beat up Torkoal except me. How dare this Scyther.
She tapped the battered Torkoal twice, signaling she'd take it from here. Torkoal, face bruised and swollen, managed a sheepish grin back.
"Individual Match 3: Luke versus Sasha!"
Down two matches in a row, especially on the road, Metro City University's momentum was clearly slipping. Whitman simply gave Gordon's shoulder a pat and smiled.
"No guilt necessary. Go get Torkoal patched up."
"Oh, and here — Teacher Luke left this Pokéblock for you."
Hannah laughed. "Word is this is Teacher Luke's secret recipe!"
Gordon accepted the Oran Berry block wordlessly, stared at it for a long moment, then nodded firmly.
As Luke walked onto the field, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"What's with that Eevee, seriously? Still not evolved?"
"Sasha's fierce, though — is she seriously taking on three straight opponents?"
"Who knows, might go for all five at this rate."
Director Warren frowned. "This Luke — how have I never heard of him before?"
"Finance Department student, from what I understand," Curtis said, smiling. "Though clearly not an ordinary one."
"Wait, he's not even a Pokémon major?!" Zane blurted, startled. "I genuinely assumed Teacher Luke was at least a certified professional."
Quinn glanced at him. "You seem to know a suspicious amount about him."
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Zane's forehead. Right, because I happen to hold a level-10+ fan badge on his stream. Not that anyone needs to know that.
"Genuinely impressive that a Finance student made the school roster at all," Warren said, nodding. "Still — Sasha's the rising star of Riverside Province. Her level is—"
He froze mid-sentence, eyes going wide.
A collective gasp swept the crowd.
"Wait, it's already charging an attack from inside the Poké Ball?!"
"Is that even legal? Quick Attack immediately on release?!"
Luke simply gave Sasha a calm nod.
The instant the referee's whistle sounded, he threw the ball. A sharp streak of white light shot out and slammed straight into Scyther's midsection, its eyes bulging from the impact.
Crack! Scyther let out a strangled cry and swung its scythe down at Eevee — slicing clean through nothing but a Substitute.
Sasha's eyelid twitched. "Behind you!"
The call landed a half-second too late. Eevee flipped in midair, Iron Tail glowing fierce white, and connected straight to the head.
"Hiss—"
The impact alone was brutal. Scyther let out a piercing shriek and dropped instantly, unconscious.
"Vee!" Eevee flicked a handful of dirt toward it, dismissive.
Dead silence swept the field. Every Goldenspire player stood frozen, staring like they'd witnessed a ghost. They'd braced themselves for Luke being strong. Nobody had prepared for him ending Sasha's Scyther in the opening exchange.
It's been three seconds. How does a match end in three seconds?
Sasha stood there, mouth open, mentally replaying the sequence. He read Scyther's exact movement the instant the ball left his hand. And the coordination with Eevee was seamless.This guy's not even a Pokémon major?
What is even happening.
"I know what you're about to say," Luke said, a faint smile forming, eyes sharpening. "Next."
Sasha froze, words caught in her throat, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
The crowd went quiet again. Did he seriously mean that? Is he actually planning to take down all five with just that one Eevee?
That's an insane claim to make.
On the Goldenspire bench, Felix spoke up, cold. "Coach, I'll go next."
Curtis frowned and nodded. "Stay careful out there."
Years of coaching had sharpened his instincts. Luke's actual ceiling might be well past what any of us assumed. Still, this was Goldenspire's home turf, and Curtis shook his head with a small laugh.
"There's no realistic way one Eevee takes down five opponents solo."
Zane murmured under his breath, "Knowing Teacher Luke's actual ability, it's not exactly impossible either."
______________________________
Felix stepped onto the field, tone icy. "Carrying the whole match on one Eevee? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think."
"That's the thing about honesty," Luke said, sighing. "Nobody ever believes it these days."
Luke's words, as always, were entirely sincere. Some people just refused to take them at face value — which left facts as the only remaining argument.
Felix released his Poké Ball, and a heavily muscled Primeape landed on the field. The referee's whistle sounded.
"Primeape, Karate Chop!" Felix roared.
Primeape's face twisted with rage as it screeched and charged, which only irritated Eevee further.
"Vee! (▼皿▼#)"I wasn't even yelling at you. Why are you yelling at me?
Her ears twitched, fur bristling. Danger sense pushed her focus to its absolute peak.
Luke raised an eyebrow, scanning Primeape's move list with real interest. Counter. That's a genuine threat to Eevee here.
"Eevee, Quick Attack — into the air!"
Eevee bounded rapidly across the field before launching skyward.
Felix laughed coldly. Predictable. Same mindless charge-in approach as always. Did you really think my Primeape would just barrel forward blindly like your Eevee does?
"Prime, Counter!"
"Eevee — Swift!"
Primeape swung upward at Eevee as she dropped — only to get caught by a spray of star-shaped light instead. Wave after wave of Swift slammed into it as Eevee landed lightly and finished with a booming Iron Tail.
Thump!
Felix stood frozen, staring at his fainted Primeape in visible shock. That wasn't Quick Attack's follow-up. How did they read my exact call?
Primeape was carried off the field in rough shape, Felix's face draining of color.
The whole arena sat in silence, broken only by Luke's quiet voice.
"Next."
Hannah trembled with barely contained excitement, desperate to cheer Luke's name outright. Except this only put them at two wins. Get overturned from here and all that would remain was a dent in Metro City University's reputation.
Whitman's frown deepened, expression turning genuinely serious. The Sasha-versus-Gordon exchange had already been tense enough on its own. But Whitman carried a temper of his own too. Goldenspire wanted Sasha to make a statement, build a reputation on our backs? Did they really think Metro City was an easy target?
"Tristan, if Luke somehow loses, you're stepping in," Whitman said, voice cold. "We are not losing this friendly."
Tristan nodded blankly, then let out a bitter laugh. "Coach... I don't think I'm getting a turn."
Whitman blinked, caught off guard.
A dark blur shot past — a heavily armored Rhydon sent flying by Eevee's Iron Tail, crashing straight through an advertising billboard outside the arena.
Barely ten seconds into the exchange, and Luke had already taken down another player.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Wait — did that Eevee just launch a full Rhydon?"
"That size difference is absurd, and it went down in one hit..."
"This Eevee is unreasonably violent."
"Vee!" Eevee stood beside the handsome young man, small and adorable, teeth bared in open menace.
Luke glanced toward the bench, then at the visibly shaken Sasha, and offered a calm smile.
"Next."