Blaziken—a Pokémon famous for its fierce, power-based assault style.
But when it came to speed, it was slightly inferior to some other Pokémon.
With the Blaze ability and its overwhelming power, Blaziken could still go toe-to-toe with a monster like Aggron.
But if that Blaziken had the Speed Boost ability…
[Speed Boost: Increases the user's Speed every turn during battle.]
That would mean the longer the fight dragged on, the greater the advantage Blaziken would gain.
Once Speed Boost stacked high enough, the opponent would be facing a boss with both top-tier Attack and Speed.
Even though Kawaki wasn't a Trainer himself, he could immediately see what that young boy was planning.
But… his opponent was a Slaking!
The battle officially began.
The boy ordered a Flame Kick to test the waters.
But Slaking simply lay lazily on the ground, propping up its head with one hand and yawning, letting Blaziken's attack hit it without any reaction.
The girl on the opposing side didn't panic at all. She watched the battlefield closely. After the attack landed, Blaziken swiftly retreated, trying to keep its distance and avoid getting caught in close range.
Although Slaking looked lazy, lying there unmoving like it posed no threat…
In reality, it was an incredibly powerful Pokémon. A direct hit from it could deal devastating damage.
Unfortunately, during its retreat, Blaziken left an opening.
The girl seized the opportunity and shouted, "Slaking, Giga Impact!"
In the next moment, Slaking, who had been lying still, suddenly sprang into action.
Its massive, heavy body leaped into the air with shocking speed and came crashing down toward Blaziken.
What an agile fat guy!
"Blaziken, dodge it!" the boy shouted—but it was already too late.
Blaziken was slammed into the ground by Slaking, flattened like a pancake.
One-hit KO!
"Wh-What?!" The boy's face was full of disbelief. "How can Giga Impact be that powerful?!"
The girl smirked. "You lost the first match."
In truth, what Slaking had used wasn't just a normal Giga Impact.
It was a Giga Impact fused with Counter.
People often underestimated Slaking, thinking it was just lying around doing nothing—but in fact, it was building up for a massive counterattack.
The girl had trained Slaking specifically around this behavior, always keeping it in a state ready to unleash Counter.
So whenever someone attacked first, they were bound to face Slaking's full wrath.
"That was incredible!"
Kawaki led the applause. At the same time, he noticed the lights on Growlithe's Exp. Share device flashing rapidly.
And then, above Growlithe's head, a line of glowing text appeared:
EXP +2681!
Huh? That's… experience points from watching the battle?
Kawaki immediately pulled up Growlithe's profile.
[Pokémon: Growlithe]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Intimidate]
[Moves: Tackle, Sleep Powder, Baby-Doll Eyes, Swords Dance, Leer, Ember, Morning Sun, Howl, Flame Wheel, Bite]
[Status: Healthy]
[Mood: 🐶 Happy]
[Joy: 30]
[Friendship: 100 – It sees you as its most beloved family member.]
[Bio: Woof woof woof! — Growlithe]
Compared to before, it had learned three new moves!
Which meant this high-level battle directly boosted Growlithe's strength—a clear "level up," in game terms.
One battle gave over 2,600 EXP… and from what Kawaki knew, it took over a million EXP to hit max level in the games.
That meant, theoretically, Growlithe could reach level 100 after just 500 battles of this caliber?
No… it wasn't that simple.
Growlithe was still a newly hatched Pokémon, not even a month old—basically a beginner.
The reason it gained so much EXP was because the gap between its level and the strength of Pokémon like Blaziken and Slaking was enormous.
As Growlithe's strength rose, the EXP it gained from watching battles of similar level would drop dramatically.
In other words, the stronger it got, the harder it would be to grow further.
To test this theory, Kawaki took the Exp. Share off Growlithe and placed it on Bewear.
The boy sent out a Beautifly for round two.
But against the trained Slaking, the Beautifly was swiftly defeated.
Kawaki kept a close eye on Bewear's head.
Sure enough, the moment Beautifly fainted—
EXP +69!
For a powerful Pokémon like Bewear, elite-level battles like this offered almost no growth.
To keep improving, it would need to observe fights between Elite Four-level, Champion-level, or even Legendary Pokémon.
Kawaki returned the Exp. Share to Growlithe and kept watching the matches.
As time passed, more experience points floated above Growlithe's head:
EXP +2961!
EXP +1565!
EXP +1186!
…
Eventually, each battle was only yielding a couple hundred EXP.
By sunset, the tournament finally came to a close.
The winner was a young boy, about Ash's age.
He wasn't the strongest, nor the weakest, but it was clear he shared a deep bond with his Pokémon.
Several times, he was on the verge of losing, but his Pokémon pulled through at the last second, turning the tide.
With his victory in the final round, the boy beamed, flashing a bright smile.
"We did it! Beautifly, Azumarill, Pelipper—we won!" he shouted to his Pokémon.
They responded cheerfully in return.
Although the tournament was over, the other Trainers didn't leave—they were all curious about what the grand prize would be.
Kawaki didn't keep them in suspense.
He had Bewear bring out the final Pokémon egg—a Trapinch egg—and handed it to the champion.
The boy held the egg in his arms, his face lit with joy.
"Congratulations on becoming the champion. This egg is your reward!" Kawaki said with a smile.
"Boss, what kind of Pokémon is in this egg?!" the boy asked eagerly.
"This one? It's a Trapinch," Kawaki replied with a grin.
The Hoenn League had originally sent him two Trapinch eggs—one had already been sold.
The one remaining came from a pair of Flygon at Gym Leader level.
To an average Trainer, that was an exceptional prize.
Especially since Trapinch could only be found deep in dangerous desert terrain—it was a rare find.