Unfinished

"Really?"

Upon hearing Yuga's words, Arata Sena ran excitedly to the side of the Camerupt. He looked left and right, touched here and there, thoroughly inspecting the Pokémon.

The Camerupt seemed to find him annoying and let out a dissatisfied snort, eyeing Arata Sena warily.

Seeing Arata Sena's behavior, Yuga couldn't help but say, "Alright, alright. You haven't forgotten that I mentioned there's a test, have you?"

"Oh, right, the test! Tell me, I can handle any test with confidence," Arata Sena said confidently.

Upon hearing these words, Yuga couldn't shake the feeling that Arata Sena had set some kind of grand expectation.

"Okay, as you're confident, your test is to defeat the Camerupt in front of you and make it submit to you."

After Yuga explained the test, Arata Sena stared firmly at the Camerupt before him.

He believed that after all the hard work and time he had put into training himself and his Flygon, they could surely defeat this Camerupt.

And so, Arata Sena, with his Flygon and the Camerupt, positioned themselves on opposite sides of the open area, ready for battle.

On the other side, Akihito secretly released his Shroomish, eager to learn and improve.

"Both sides are ready, then the battle officially begins!"

With Yuga's signal, Arata Sena immediately initiated an attack.

"Flygon, charge in and use Crunch!"

The Flygon, floating in mid-air, suddenly formed a black, energy fang in its mouth and dove rapidly toward the Camerupt.

The Camerupt remained calm and composed, showing no signs of panic.

As the Flygon approached it, the Camerupt swiftly summoned a large ring of giant rocks around itself, enclosing it. The Flygon's Crunch landed on one of these rocks, shattering it.

This move was Rock Tomb, originally meant to trap an opponent but successfully used by the Camerupt for defense.

As the Flygon bit into and shattered the rock, the Camerupt remained unscathed and escaped the entrapment.

In the moment when the Flygon bit into the rock, the Camerupt launched a powerful Rock Slide due to the sudden and unsuspecting attack. The Flygon was thrown about and fell to the ground, utterly defeated.

"How could this happen?" Arata Sena exclaimed in shock.

He hadn't expected that in just one round, he and his Flygon would be at such a disadvantage.

In its panic after being hit by the Rock Slide, Arata Sena's Flygon retaliated with an Iron Tail against the Camerupt.

Unfortunately, Steel-type Iron Tail only dealt half damage to the Fire-type Camerupt, and it appeared to be unharmed.

The Flygon, which had landed a hit on the Camerupt, flew back into the air in a fluster, looking dazed from the Camerupt's previous Rock Slide.

However, the Camerupt had no intention of letting the Flygon go.

Suddenly, flames and molten lava erupted from the humps on its back, accompanied by thick smoke and fiery glows.

Just when Arata Sena was still uncertain about what was happening, the Camerupt's humps spewed forth two massive pillars of fire, seemingly mixed with scorching magma.

These two fire pillars shot high into the sky, their speed extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they charged toward the Flygon.

This was the signature move of Camerupt—Eruption!

The Camerupt had sustained minimal damage and, as a result, the power of Eruption was devastating. It completely overwhelmed the Flygon in mid-air.

Once the fire pillars transformed into embers and gradually dissipated, the Flygon fell to the ground with no combat capability remaining.

Even though Flygon was a Dragon-type Pokémon, its resistance to Fire-type moves couldn't withstand a powerful attack like Eruption, especially after taking a solid hit from Rock Slide.

"Flygon!"

Seeing his Flygon lying on the ground, Arata Sena hurriedly rushed over. His confident expression from earlier had completely disappeared, replaced by genuine concern for his Pokémon.

Yuga shook his head. It seemed Arata Sena had set an unwinnable flag for himself.

Arata Sena and his Flygon were clearly outmatched by the Camerupt.

In fact, the difference in strength between Camerupt and Flygon was quite minimal. Arata Sena's loss came down to his lack of battle experience.

Camerupt, having lived in the wild, clearly had extensive battle experience, making it more than capable of handling a relatively inexperienced trainer like Arata Sena.

"Alright, don't wear such a gloomy face! Flygon is fine now."

With that, Yuga released Chimecho, and after a Heal Pulse, Flygon was back in good shape.

"Boss, I'm sorry!"

Putting Flygon back into its Poké Ball, Arata Sena, with a flushed face, apologized to Yuga.

"Your commands were rigid, your reactions were slow, and your improvisational skills weren't enough..." Yuga pointed out the flaws Arata Sena had shown during the battle. However, he wasn't overly disappointed, as he had expected this outcome.

Arata Sena lowered his head and didn't utter a word.

"Beidou, in the future, make sure to arrange more practical combat training for him. Teaching knowledge alone won't suffice," Yuga turned to Beidou and said.

Beidou nodded and replied, "Understood, I'll take care of it."

"Alright, let's head back."

With that, Yuga took the Poké Ball that Audino had handed over and recalled Camerupt.

Seeing Camerupt being recalled, Arata Sena looked reluctant. Such an outstanding Camerupt, and it felt so close, yet so far!

However, as Arata Sena and Akihito walked ahead, Yuga discreetly signaled Beidou, handing over the Camerupt's Poké Ball to him.

Beidou looked at Yuga with confusion, wondering what he meant.

In a low voice, Yuga said, "Use this Camerupt to provide him with practical combat training in the future. Once he can defeat Camerupt on his own, you can give it to him."

Since he had already decided to give Camerupt to Arata Sena, Yuga had no intention of taking it back. It would be more convenient to leave it with Beidou than to keep it himself.

Who knows when he might forget about this matter, and then Arata Sena's reward would be lost.

Akihito, who was in the front talking to Arata Sena, spoke with an admiring tone, "I wonder when I'll have a second Pokémon."

Yuga, with his excellent hearing, heard this and chuckled. "When your Shroomish evolves into Breloom, I'll give you a chance too!"

The evolution of Shroomish into Breloom was much easier than Trapinch evolving into Flygon, so a test would certainly be part of the deal.

"Really?" Akihito turned around immediately, looking at Yuga with excitement.

Yuga replied, "Of course, it's true, but there will be a test, of course!"

"Don't worry, I'll work hard!" Akihito said confidently.

Yuga teased, "Oh, don't set your expectations too high, just like Arata Sena!"

Yuga's words successfully turned Arata Sena beet red with embarrassment.

"I'll definitely work hard to surpass Arata Sena and won't let you down!" Akihito said confidently.

Arata Sena quickly chimed in, "You little rascal, don't talk so big. I won't let you surpass me that easily."

And so, the four of them chatted and laughed as they returned to the Day Care. Arata Sena's gloomy mood due to failing the test had lightened considerably.