The remaining matches pyed out without any surprises.

  Electabuzz, weakened by Toxic, quickly lost momentum, and within two minutes, it was knocked out.

  Sneasel fared even worse—after being hit by Xatu's Miracle Eye, it was pletely dominated by Psychic attacks.

  Then, with a single Fmethrower from Houndoom, it was instantly eliminated.

  With that—Sato aer officially advao the semifinals!

  Uhe previous day, Sato didn't leave the venue. He had already finished his iigations, so he decided to stay and watch the other battles.

  Winning the Tour came with a signifit cash prize—but the real reward was the oraining session with ae Four member.

  Even if its actual value was questionable, just being personally guided by a member of the Elite Four portunity most trainers could only dream of.

  If possible, Sato also wao pete for the championship—but the hree matches left him stunned.

  Every battle featured Pokémon at Elite Peak level—fwless coordination—advanced battle strategies—Sato couldn't help but feel that his team's pt in the semifinals… was a bit unearned.

  His gaze shifted to Wester.

  Ten to ohis was his doing. Even a tour like this had been tampered with…

  Sato figured it was best to keep things simple for himself....With only four matches scheduled today, the anizers didn't waste any time—all battles were finished by noon.

  Afterward, Sato aer left the veogether, heading out to find something to eat.

  "Tomorrow, there's no easy matchup. Are you finally going to use Zoroark? Otherwise, winning will be tough."

  Wester spoke openly, showing no about Sato knowing that he had rigged the tour.

  So direct.

  As an oppo, this kind of behavior was despicable—like when they had intercepted Sato's Pokémon data before.

  But as his teammate, Sato had nht to pin—after all, he was enjoying the bes.

  Double standards were uable.

  "No need. Even if I use Zoroark, we'll still have a hard time winning."

  pared to his past life, Sato's growth rate in this life was staggering. Because of that, he often worried that his Pokémon hadn't built a solid base.

  That's why Zoroark had remai Elite Intermediate sis evolution—and Sato wasn't rushing it at all.

  The daily blood feeding was still ongoing—and Sato could clearly sehat Zoroark, Houndoom, and Carvanha were gaining deeper reserves of strength.

  "Be careful for the few days,"

  Sato warned after a brief hesitation.

  "Hmm? Alright."

  Wester was momentarily surprised, but he didn't press for details—he simply kept Sato's words in mind.

  As Wester lowered his head in thought, Sato felt relieved—but also annoyed.

  Handsome, rich, and now uanding too? How were other people supposed to pete?

  Suddenly, Sato grabbed Wester's arm and pulled him into a side alley.

  A few moments ter—two ordinary-looking men walked to the er where Sato had turhey gnced briefly down the alley before tinuing forward.

  The entire sequeook less than three seds.

  Across the street, Sato aer stood at another interse, silently watg the two men.

  To passersby, their as seemed pletely normal—people naturally gnced down alleys when passing by. But anyone paying close attention would immediately notiething was off.

  "We're being followed?"

  "Yeah. Don't alert them, let's deal with it after the tour ends."

  Wester's fusion deepened, but seeing that Sato wasn't expining, he chose not to ask.

  Obvious attacks are easy to dodge—but hidden threats are much harder to deal with.

  Then again—now that the hidden threat had been exposed, it was no longer a real danger.

  …

  In the semifinals, Sato aer finally suffered defeat.

  Ariados and Houndoom experienced a rare loss—but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Even with fourth pce, the prize money was substantial—though Wester didn't care about it at all.

  Still, Sato transferred half of it to him immediately.

  her of them left the tour immediately—they still o attend the award ceremony after the finals tomorrow.

  Wester had no shame in stig around fnition, and Sato had his own reasons for staying.

  Sato soon realized that all four semifinalists were being followed and monitored. Sen had already received the warning message, and there was nothing more Sato could do for him.

  With his anonymous alerts bei daily, it was only a matter of time before Sen took them seriously—a oime warning could be seen as a prank, but after multiple times, he wouldn't be able to ig.

  As for the targets of the Blue Badge assassins, Sato had already figured it out—they were after the four semifinalists.

  Meanwhile, Green Badge assassins were assigo eliminating weak or non-batant League officials.

  As for his master's target, Sato still wasn't sure.

  The only small advantage was that, aside from Wester staying in a luxury hotel, all the other trainers were staying at the Pokémoer.

  --------------

  Time passed at a steady, unhurried pace.

  Sato had memorized the entire yout of the Pokémoer, eveuring into staff-only areas uhe guise of helping Nurse Joy.

  Finally, the st day arrived—the finals cluded amidst thunderous cheers, and the award ceremony took pce.

  Sato held onto the certificate given by the anizers, but his mind was entirely preoccupied with the impending assassination attempt.

  Sen and Yanagi (Pryce) sat just as they had on the first day, their expressions unged—as if they weren't ed at all.

  Ohe ceremony ended, a wave of interviews followed—by the time everything ed up, it was already afternoon.

  Then, the Top 32 trainers, including Sato, were invited back by the anizers fra at a reserved hotel—a fi to officially clude the tour.

  Sato, being a kid, naturally didn't drink, keeping himself fully alert. Throughout the night, he subtly used his Dark Energy to sense his surroundings, staying on guard.

  When it was finally time to leave, he boarded one of the anizer's transport vehicles along with the other trainers, returning to the Pokémoer.

  Several of the older trainers had gotten pletely drunk, staggering out of the vehicle.

  Sato, however, remained silent, his eyes cast downward, deep in thought.

  As he approached the Pokémoer, its red neon lights glowing overhead, his body began to tremble slightly.

  Every time he found himself in a situation like this—it wasn't fear that took over.

  It was excitement.

  After exging casual goodnights, the trainers dispersed, each heading to their rooms.

  Sato returo his luxury suite.

  Through the narro in the curtains, he could sehe activity outside—tonight, the area around the Pokémoer articurly lively.

  How many of them were pinclothes officers? How many were disguised assassins?

  Even random passersby might just be pretending—each silently , secretly wary of one another.

  Sato remained calm, took a quick shower, and theo help Nurse Joy.

  The night deepened—Joy had tried several times to vince him to rest, but after failing to ge his mind, she let him be.

  Having someoo talk t a te-night shift wasn't so bad, after all.

  Crash!

  Suddenly—the sound of shattering gss echoed through the building.

  Sato immediately stood up, turning toward the source of the he dormitory area.

  "Sato, go back to your room! I'll check it out!"

  pletely unaware of the situation, Nurse Joy quickly grabbed sey and rushed off.

  Sato followed closely behind.

  Gengar was already hiding in his shadow—and Zoroark moved silently at his side.