"Next."
In the vast arena only Luke's calm voice carried through the silence. Inside the Goldenspire Sports Center, nobody made a sound.
Curtis's eye twitched, genuinely struggling to process what he'd just watched. Metro City's rookie champion is already this strong? And Eevee hasn't even evolved yet — whatever breeding produced this is genuinely remarkable.
"Stay sharp out there," Curtis said, coughing. "That Eevee has to be near its physical limit by now."
Quinn nodded, though unease kept building underneath. Watching Eevee dominate the arena with total confidence, she managed only a wry smile. Nothing about that Pokémon looks like it's running low on energy.
Goldenspire's fourth competitor stepped up. Quinn took a steadying breath and threw her Poké Ball. "Go, Braixen!"
Braixen, resembling a young girl with flowing red hair framing her ears, waved her twig, sending a scorching stream of fire toward Eevee.
"Fire Spin!"
As Eevee dodged, Quinn's voice sharpened. "Ring the field!"
Braixen traced a circle in the air with her twig. Stray sparks scattered outward, forming a ring of flame around the entire arena. Eevee's Quick Attack ground to a halt as the fire steadily closed in toward the center.
"Since landing a direct hit is difficult, they're forcing a war of attrition instead," Whitman said, frowning. "Smart use of the terrain."
"Quick Attack," Luke called. "Then Substitute."
Eevee understood instantly, baring her teeth and charging forward without hesitation.
"Target Eevee — Psybeam!" Quinn commanded.
Braixen's twig snapped toward the incoming Eevee, a brilliant blue beam bursting out. At that range Psybeam had essentially no chance of missing.
Except the instant the beam fired, Eevee split cleanly in two, dodging with impossible precision. The ring of fire surged inward at that exact moment, engulfing the Substitute in flame from every direction — right as the soot-covered original leapt clear of the blast.
Amid the towering flames Eevee landed on Braixen's shoulder and sank her teeth in with a vicious Bite.
Quinn's face went pale. Direct hit on a critical point — that's devastating damage.
Using Braixen's own head as a springboard, Eevee vaulted clean out of the fire without a backward glance.
"Gah—!" Braixen cried out in pain, consumed a moment later by her own surrounding flames.
The fire died down. Braixen had gone down for the count.
Dead silence swept the field. Then the referee's whistle broke it.
"Braixen is unable to battle! Winner: Luke!"
The stands erupted into chaos.
"One Eevee against FOUR opponents?"
"You're kidding, it still has energy left after all that?"
Four straight matches, including two separate Substitute deployments. Did this thing grow up on some kind of miracle fertilizer? Its stamina's outpacing a Snorlax at this point.
"Coach, Coach!" Hannah shouted, thrilled. "Teacher Luke's actually going to carry the whole match!"
Whitman said nothing, simply watching Luke on the field with quiet satisfaction. Metro City's Breeding House should have some movesets suited to Eevee. I'll let him pick whatever he wants — call it a reward.
Quinn walked off the field visibly deflated, Goldenspire's morale sinking with her.
Luke, meanwhile, checked in with Eevee. "You good?"
"Vee! o(^｀)o" Eevee licked her own paw and lifted her head with obvious disdain at the question.
Seeing how genuinely energized and thrilled she looked, Luke nodded, thoughtful. Then, without warning, he raised his hand.
A wave of tension swept the crowd, everyone bracing for whatever devastating line was coming next.
Instead Luke just smiled. "Requesting a one-minute pause — I need to remove Eevee's held item."
Whispers immediately spread through the arena.
"Wait, Eevee's carrying gear too?"
"Is it a Berry? I never saw her actually use anything!"
"Removing it now? Isn't that just handicapping herself?"
The referee blinked, glanced toward Director Warren, who gave a complicated nod of approval.
Goldenspire's final competitor stepped up — the "mole," so to speak (only half joking). Zane, one of Luke's own fans, felt a flicker of relief at the pause.
Guess Teacher Luke's about to take it easy on me.
Then everyone watched what Luke actually did next, and every expression in the crowd shifted.
In full view of the arena, Luke grabbed Eevee by the scruff of the neck. The formidable little war god blushed instantly, then began thrashing.
"Vee! (〃＞皿＜)"
One by one, Luke pulled the pink ankle braces off all four of her legs and weighed them in his hand.
"These are genuinely heavy," Luke muttered, expression strange. "So the whole 'proper force application' pitch was really just... preventing her from moving at full output this entire time?"
Eevee's held item functioned similarly to a Power Anklet — heavily protective, but with real weight behind it.
[Power Anklet: Reduces the holder's Speed while equipped, but sharply boosts Speed growth over time compared to normal.]
Luke tossed the brace onto the court deliberately, and it landed with a heavy thud that echoed clearly across the entire venue.
The whole arena went dead silent again.
"...Hiss." Luke suddenly looked worried. That thing's worth over $140,000. Did I seriously just chuck it onto hard ground like that?
Goldenspire's players stared, wide-eyed. That Eevee's been fighting all four of us wearing THAT much extra weight this whole time?
Zane, in that moment, looked exactly like a certain green-clad ninja mid-exam arc, and everyone around him looked like they'd seen a ghost.
This is what "taking it easy" looks like? Teacher Luke, are you seriously this ruthless toward your own fans?
Luke coughed lightly, smiling calmly. "Next."
To Zane, that smile looked nothing short of demonic. Still — getting to actually learn from Teacher Luke directly made the whole ordeal worth it regardless.
Zane took a breath and shouted, "Go, Electabuzz!"
Electabuzz, striped in warning yellow and black, roared with a faint current crackling visibly across its body.
Luke checked the Pokédex entry, confirmed Static as its ability, and called out, "Eevee — Yawn."
Zane's expression shifted instantly. There it is. Teacher Luke's signature move.
Curtis blinked, caught off guard. Even without the Power Anklet, Eevee's baseline speed already rivals a full Quick Attack. With that kind of speed advantage, why is Luke choosing to harass from range instead of closing in? Sure, Static made physical contact genuinely risky, but this still read as unusually cautious.
Electabuzz's Thunderbolt missed. Its eyelids grew heavy, drowsiness setting in — and still Eevee made no move to close the distance.
A chill ran through the Goldenspire side.
"Luke's playstyle is just relentlessly cautious," Felix said through gritted teeth.
Curtis let out a half-amused, half-exasperated laugh. "Not giving them a single opening to turn things around. Genuinely impressive control."
Teacher Luke never left loose ends if he could help it. With Static in play, ranged pressure was simply the objectively correct call.
"Eevee — Swift!"
Electabuzz, deep in a forced sleep, took the full brunt of a star-shaped barrage and crumpled before it even had a chance to wake up. Eevee kept flicking sand over its head until it was fully buried, then sat back and licked her paws, thoroughly pleased with herself.
"Winner: Luke!"
As the referee's whistle sounded, Eevee lifted her head, gazing down over the entire arena with unmistakable pride.
"Vee ([▼皿▼)!"