Pokémon: Above the Top-Chapter 294: The Flashiest One

And judging by Juan's wording, he had several students. But the others didn't seem very well-known.

"In that case, thank you, Leader Juan." Sato nodded. What better way for young Trainers to connect than through a battle?

However, since it was already quite late, the three of them scheduled the visit with Juan for the following day and returned straight to the Pokémon Center.

The night passed uneventfully...

The next morning, Sato and the others woke up early. Juan had already arranged for a car to pick them up.

Yes, Juan was very wealthy. That he had incorporated the Gym into his own mansion, completely foregoing the League-funded facilities, said it all.

Moreover, the Gym's battle facilities were fully equipped. Each official Gym Match required an enormous sum just to restore the arena.

And in the Gym's training zone, Sato finally saw Juan's students: three girls and one boy. Wallace was clearly among them.

Sato quickly scanned the other three. After thinking carefully, he realized he didn't recognize any of their faces.

Still, Wallace alone had achieved enough to make Juan proud for a lifetime.

Thanks to Juan's introduction, Sato and Wallace's group got to know each other. Since they were all young, the conversation quickly became lively.

Seeing how well they were getting along, Juan instructed his butler to stand by and excused himself to go attend to work.

Once Juan left, his students became like birds let out of their cages, bombarding Sato and the others with all sorts of questions.

That was when Sato and the others learned that the four of them had never traveled before; they were textbook academy-style Trainers.

Even during holidays, they stayed with Juan to continue learning. So naturally, they were extremely curious about the experiences of Sato's group.

Among them, it was Mark who answered the most enthusiastically. Still buzzing from his tournament win the day before, his excitement hadn't worn off.

So his storytelling came with plenty of self-praise. As long as it wasn't too over-the-top, Sato and Joseph didn't bother calling him out.

Juan's students were also quite eager to express themselves, but Wallace, the only boy in the group, was the shyest of them all.

Whenever Sato thought about Wallace's future, outrageously flamboyant Champion attire, he couldn't help but feel a bit thrown off.

What could cause such a drastic transformation in a boy who still seemed a bit shy?

"I'm Wallace. I watched the match yesterday... your Sharpedo was amazing!"

While Mark was locked in a heated exchange of words with the three girls, Wallace finally found the opportunity to speak with Sato.

"Thanks. If you're interested, we could have a battle," Sato offered directly. That had always been his goal for this visit.

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"Ah, with me? I... I don't think I can."

But what surprised Sato a little was that Wallace didn't seem as excited as expected. Instead, he looked hesitant and evasive.

"You don't like battling?"

"It's not that... It's just that... my battle style doesn't really get much recognition." At that moment, Wallace looked like a child still new to the world, visibly disappointed.

"I think I heard something about a battle... count me in! Count me in!" Mark suddenly ran over, his face showing signs of irritation.

Sato turned to glance at Wallace's three fellow students. Their expressions were full of confidence and pride.

No need to guess. Mark had surely tried to boast in front of the three and failed miserably, maybe even got mocked for it.

"Fine, let's go. We're curious to see what makes the Trainer our mentor holds in such high regard so amazing."

The eldest student, with wavy orange hair, was the first to step up, already holding a Poké Ball in her hand.

The butler, who had been standing off to the side with a constant smile, immediately led everyone to the battle arena upon hearing about the match, as if it had all been prepared in advance.

"There are three of you, so we'll also send three of us to battle. That's fair, right?" the orange-haired girl spoke up again.

Sato and Mark glanced at Joseph, who casually nodded in agreement. He was willing to participate too.

Truth be told, the two of them had never seen Joseph seriously battle before, so they were actually a bit excited.

What surprised Sato next was that Wallace wasn't chosen to participate. His battle style really was that underappreciated.

The first to step out was the youngest of the students. Mark rushed out eagerly and sent out Arbok.

Facing one of Juan's students, Mark was angry, sure; but that didn't mean he underestimated his opponent. If anything, he was even more serious, knowing that losing would be even more embarrassing.

The battlefield had a unique setup. At first glance, it looked like a standard grassy field, but it had a small river running through the center.

A layout like this allowed both Water-type and non-Water-type Pokémon to perform without terrain disadvantages and show their full potential.

With this kind of battlefield, Mark was even more determined not to lose.

On the other side, Wallace's junior student sent out her Pokémon as well; a very well-trained Crawdaunt.

A girl using a Pokémon like that... pretty fierce, honestly.

The battle was intense. Both sides cared a lot about the outcome, but in the end, Mark took a bold gamble and ordered Arbok to fight in the water.

Crawdaunt clearly didn't expect Arbok to dive into the river, much less that Arbok could swim so well.

The sudden underwater assault left both Crawdaunt and the girl completely unprepared, and the tide of the battle quickly turned.

They lost.

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¹.Here's a tricky one: when it comes to Gym Leaders, do you guys prefer calling all of them "Leader [Name]", or should it depend on their age and gender? Like in this case: Mr. Juan or Leader Juan?