The venue for the Lilycove Department Store Tag Battle event was the rooftop terrace, equipped with an open-air arena and fully protected by energy barriers.
And serving as the grand championship prize, the rug featuring the logo of the mega-star Redbiao, was proudly displayed on a massive billboard.
This yellow rat named Redbiao was the absolute hottest superstar in the entertainment industry right now, drawing countless stares of pure admiration.
The girls from the participating couples were practically all clinging to their boyfriends, either acting cute and spoiled or issuing serious ultimatums, demanding that their men win that rug no matter what it took.
Only Joy Jing maintained a faint, indifferent smile on her lips.
When she looked at the Redbiao logo rug, her gaze was as tranquil as if she were looking at the couch in her own living room.
Lorze strongly felt that even if she stepped onto that stage completely solo today, she could effortlessly sweep the floor with these young couples.
However, what the vast majority of the crowd didn’t realize was that somewhere on this very rooftop, a pair of eyes lurking deep in the shadows of a corner was intensely fixated on that exact championship rug.
Those eyes were filled with venomous resentment and an indescribable, obsessive stubbornness.
Relying on his spiritual sense, Lorze actually managed to detect a trace of ghost aura hiding somewhere on the rooftop.
It was highly likely a Ghost-type Pokémon concealed within a shadow.
But Lorze didn’t pay it too much mind.
After all, he himself possessed more than one Ghost-type Pokémon.
Furthermore, with a massive crowd gathered here, someone stashing their ghost partner inside a shadow was completely fucking normal.
Besides, this was the Lilycove Department Store, an absolute behemoth of a commercial conglomerate.
Who would have the balls to cause trouble here?
Once the tournament officially kicked off, the performances of the participating couples matched Lorze’s exact predictions—the overwhelming majority were strictly amateur Trainers with absolutely zero practical combat experience.
Calling the matches on the field a battle of gods would be a joke; it was more accurately described as a bunch of absolute scrubs violently pecking at each other.
“Next up on stage, we have the ‘Ice and Snow Combo’, Mr.
Lorze and Ms.
Joy~~”
Finally, it was Lorze and Joy Jing’s turn to step onto the arena.
The moment they made their appearance, a massive commotion rippled through the crowd.
“Wow~ That guy is…
so fucking handsome…”
“His partner’s body is absolutely unreal!
Are they a couple?”
“Obviously!
How else could they team up for this tournament?”
“I’m so fucking jealous!
So what if they look good?!
Coming out here just to flex on us single dogs, is there no goddamn justice in this world?!”
“……”
Their opponents were a young man and woman around the same age, but in terms of sheer looks and aura, they were several leagues below Lorze and Joy.
Being at an age of youthful arrogance, seeing Lorze and Joy Jing instantly steal all the cheers and admiration of the entire crowd made the opposing couple feel incredibly salty and humiliated.
The young girl looked visibly annoyed, while her boyfriend patted her on the shoulder and said:
In a battle, strength is the only thing that matters.
We’ll show them who’s boss once the match starts.”
The girl nodded confidently.
“I know my babe’s strength better than anyone.
We’ll definitely beat them so badly they won’t even know which way is up.”
Very quickly, both sides released their Pokémon.
The opposing couple sent out a Nidorino and a Nidoran!
The latter was only at the “Normal-tier” in strength, while the former had evolved one stage, barely scraping into the “Elite-tier.” No wonder they were so goddamn confident.
The young man tilted his chin up, shooting Lorze a highly provocative glare, practically saying: What good is a pretty face?
Real men speak with their fists.
But immediately after, his gaze uncontrollably drifted toward the heavily disguised Joy Jing, his eyes turning highly complex with naked lust.
Even though she had hidden her face, her general silhouette and that devastatingly perfect, hourglass figure couldn’t be concealed in the slightest.
If his girlfriend hadn’t been standing right next to him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to tear his eyes away from those massive curves.
“It’s one thing to have a pretty face, but a body this fucking incredible?
And even with that body, her aura is this breathtaking?
Compared to the girl standing next to me…
forget it, I shouldn’t compare.
It hurts my feelings too much.”
Looking back at Lorze, the young man grew increasingly pissed off, urging impatiently: “What the hell are you dragging your feet for?!
Bring out your Pokémon!”
It was blatantly obvious the young man couldn’t wait to assert his masculine dominance.
However, the very foundation of his confidence was violently pulverized into dust the absolute second Lorze and Joy released their Pokémon.
From the Ultra Ball Joy Jing tossed out, a blinding flash of white light erupted, manifesting the graceful, ethereal silhouette of an Alolan Ninetales.
Simultaneously, the ambient temperature of the entire arena plummeted violently, and a heavy snowstorm began falling out of thin air right over the stage.
Lorze reached out his hand, catching a snowflake, and calmly stated:
“Excellent snow!”
In the very next fraction of a second, a dark shadow shot out from beneath his boots, materializing into a breathtakingly elegant and otherworldly Froslass floating in front of him.
Being immersed in the falling snow instantly triggered the unique latent energy within Froslass’s bloodline.
Her physical form began to turn ethereal and ghostly, shifting in and out of reality.
Enveloped by the “Hail” weather condition, several identical, illusive phantom copies of Froslass actually materialized out of thin air.
This was the absolute power of Froslass’s “Snow Cloak” Ability.
While within a snowy environment, her evasion rate was massively, terrifyingly boosted.
“F-Froslass…
and a Ninetales!
That’s a breed I’ve never even seen before!
It looks like it’s from the Alola region!
Holy shit, just how obscenely wealthy is this couple?!”
Instantly, Lorze and Joy Jing became the absolute epicenter of the crowd’s attention, but the opposing couple didn’t have a single second to care about that anymore.
They looked ready to turn tail and flee, entirely stripped of even a shred of courage to fight back.
There was simply no fucking helping it.
The absolute disparity in energy tiers was astronomically huge.
Not to mention, Pokémon raised by ordinary civilians rarely underwent professional, lethal training, meaning their combat capabilities and psychological fortitude were utterly pathetic.
The young man’s face turned ash-green.
Remembering his arrogant boast about showing them what a real Trainer looked like, his cheeks burned with utter, stinging humiliation.
He was showing them, alright.
He was showing his whole fucking ass, and now he just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
But the arrow was already nocked; he had no choice but to fire.
“Nidorino, what the fuck are you standing there for?!
Hurry up and use ‘Venoshock’!”
Despite being terrified, Nidorino’s training kicked in.
It reflexively spat out a glob of dark purple, highly venomous energy, shooting it straight at Froslass.
“Not bad at all!
It actually mastered ‘Venoshock’.
It’s a damn shame you ran into us in the very first round, otherwise, you actually could have cleared a few brackets.”
Froslass flicked both of her hands simultaneously, instantly condensing a massive “Shadow Ball” right in front of her.
The pitch-black sphere of energy violently crashed into the dark purple “Venoshock”.
The poison attack managed to stall for a microscopic fraction of a second before being ruthlessly suppressed and pushed backward, ultimately slamming brutally into Nidorino’s body.
Bang~~
Nidorino was violently blasted away.
The moment it hit the floor, it was out cold, officially declaring their absolute defeat.
On the other side, having one-shot their opponents in a single exchange, Lorze and Joy Jing naturally advanced with zero fucking effort!
The opponents they encountered in the following rounds were even more pathetic.
The moment they saw Lorze and Joy step onto the stage, they immediately forfeited.
Not a single team had the balls to face them head-on.
It wasn’t until they stormed their way into the finals that they finally met a pair of opponents with actual, genuine strength.
This couple was dressed in heavy punk-rock attire, noticeably older than Lorze and Joy Jing, practically scraping the absolute maximum age limit for the tournament.
The guy was built like a goddamn brick shithouse, easily the size of two normal men.
The girl rocked an explosive perm.
Both were wearing tight tank tops, putting their complex, full-body tattoos on full display.
Standing side-by-side, they looked like the textbook definition of a heavy metal, punk-rock delinquent couple!
These attention-seeking thugs were naturally pissed off to see individuals like Lorze and Joy completely stealing the spotlight.
Intending to teach these pretty rich kids a brutal lesson, they aggressively hurled their Poké Balls.
The massive thug sent out a Camerupt, an orange-red camel with two miniature volcanos on its back.
The punk girl sent out a Pokémon resembling a tortoise, heavy steam continuously billowing from its shell.
They were the Fire/Ground-type Camerupt and the pure Fire-type Torkoal, respectively.