Pokemon : The Master of Dragon-Types

Chapter 465 465: 465. Jacob versus Dawson

It was one in the morning. The sky was full of stars, and a light breeze moved through the trees lining the street.

Outside the Ghost Gym, the road was beginning to fill up. Luxury cars pulled in one after another, parking along the curb as more and more people arrived. The sound of engines, car doors, and overlapping voices created a steady, growing hum.

Only ten minutes had passed since Jacob issued his challenge, and already dozens of people had gathered inside the Gym — with more still coming.

It made sense, in a way. Since winning the High School Cup Championship over two months ago, Jacob had not fought in a single public match. He hadn't entered a single ranking battle at Capital University. No one had seen what he was actually capable of since that day.

Now, without any warning, his first public battle since then was this — a direct challenge against Dawson , a veteran King-level Trainer, issued by a first-year student in the middle of the night.

Most of the students who flooded in were simply there for the spectacle.

The older, more experienced figures who knew the full story between Jacob and Dawson, however, reacted differently. A few shook their heads with quiet, knowing smiles.

Youth and pride. The boy had been humiliated, and now he couldn't let it go. That was understandable. But no matter how you looked at it — no matter how average Dawso's standing was among King-level Trainers — he was still a King-level Trainer. A freshman simply had no business challenging someone like that.

Ambition without ability. Still too young to know the difference.

The crowd at the Ghost Gym continued to grow.

Kyle, refusing to miss a moment of it, had pulled both Nikolas and Chandler along with him. A number of other Capital University students were making their way over as well — Julia and Amira among them.

Julia had already been asleep when Amira shook her awake. The moment she heard what was happening, she was fully alert. She threw on some clothes, touched up her face quickly, and caught a taxi to the Gym without hesitation.

Ghost Gym. King-level Battle Arena.

The arena was enormous, and the overhead lights flooded the space with brightness, making it feel less like the middle of the night and more like midday. The crowd packed into the viewing areas, and the noise of conversation filled the hall from wall to wall.

Dawson stood at his end of the field, and as he looked out at the steadily growing audience, a flicker of unease passed through him. He hadn't fully thought it through when he accepted the challenge. Now, with this many people watching, he realized the position he was in.

No matter what happened, he was at a disadvantage.

If he won decisively, people would say he'd made a big deal out of fighting a freshman. If Jacob put up a strong showing — even in a loss — the crowd would call it a victory for the underdog. There was no outcome here that made Dawson look particularly good.

He had been backed into a corner the moment Jacob issued the challenge. Declining would have looked worse.

Dawson's gaze settled on Jacob, and his voice came out cold and measured, cutting through the noise of the arena.

"Jacob."

The crowd quieted almost immediately.

"I won't be going easy on you," Dawson said. "A battle is not a performance. The moment a Trainer steps onto the field, there's no taking it back." He paused. "I'll be using my full strength. You're welcome to use Mega Evolution if you have it. Show me whether the High School Cup Champion title actually means something."

Jacob listened without expression. Then, a calm smile crossed his face.

"Good," he said. "Make sure you do use your full strength." His eyes stayed on Dawson. "Let me see whether a King-level Trainer actually lives up to the title."

A sharp murmur ran through the crowd.

No one had expected that. The sheer nerve of it — a freshman, standing across from a King-level Trainer and questioning his credentials — set the audience buzzing all at once.

Dawson's expression darkened. His jaw tightened slightly, and when he spoke again, his tone was clipped. "Young Trainers these days. Short on ability, long on attitude. Fine — come on then. Let's see exactly what you're made of."

"This match is a 1v1, unrestricted format. Items are permitted. Pokémon may not be switched. The match begins!"

The referee's whistle cut through the noise, and both flags dropped simultaneously.

Jacob and Dawson reached for their Poké Balls at the same moment and threw them out together.

"Houndstone, let's go!"

Dawson had made his decision before the match even started: if he was going to beat Jacob, he was going to do it with his best. Houndstone materialized on the field — a towering Ghost-type Pokémon, its heavy frame belying the speed it was capable of. As a pure Ghost-type, Houndstone's raw bulk was formidable, and its ability, Sand Rush, more than made up for what it lacked in natural speed when conditions allowed.

Its signature move, Last Respects, was another matter. Under normal circumstances, it was devastating — starting at a base power of 50, it gained an additional 50 power for every fallen ally, making it one of the most fearsome cleanup moves in a full team battle. Dawson always saved Houndstone for last, letting Last Respects build to its full strength before unleashing it.

In a 1v1 format, though, Last Respects was essentially worthless — no allies meant no power boost. It was a wasted move slot, and Dawson knew it. Even so, he trusted Houndstone completely. Giving up Last Respects wasn't going to cost him this battle.

"Dragapult, go!"

Jacob released his Pokémon. Dragapult emerged into the light of the arena, its serpentine body drifting in the air with an eerie, effortless grace. The gold markings on its head caught the overhead lights sharply, and its eyes fixed on Houndstone with cold focus.

For a moment, the crowd simply stared.

Then the voices started.

"Is that — is that a Shiny Dragapult?!"

"Wait — his Drakloak evolved? It's already a Dragapult?"

"It's only been two months. Did he force the evolution? Overdraw its potential?"

"What are you talking about? Drakloak needs to reach the Quasi-King level to evolve into Dragapult naturally. If Jacob's Dragapult is standing there healthy, it evolved the right way."

The conversations rippled through the stands as the crowd worked through the implications. In the High School Cup finals two months ago, Jacob's Pokémon had still been a Drakloak. Under normal circumstances, a Drakloak had to accumulate Quasi-King level strength before it could evolve into its final form. Forcing an early evolution by burning through a Pokémon's potential was possible, but it was the kind of thing a Trainer did only in desperate circumstances — and Jacob had no reason to be desperate.

If Dragapult was healthy and fully evolved, then it had evolved naturally.

Which meant Jacob, a first-year student, was already fielding a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon at the Quasi-King level — fully evolved, at that.

The realization settled over the crowd in stages. With a Pokémon like that, Jacob could have dominated any student-level competition. He might even hold his own against Pokémon that had just crossed into King-level strength.

But Houndstone wasn't a Pokémon that had just crossed into King-level. Dawson's ace was operating at the peak of that tier — held back only by the limits of its own potential from pushing into Champion territory entirely.

The crowd's excitement dimmed slightly with that understanding. A Quasi-King-level Dragapult against a peak-King-level Houndstone. The gap between those two tiers was enormous, and crossing it was almost unheard of. Even exceptional Trainers like Westin and Maximus — both now Champions or members of the Elite Four — had only managed to defeat Pokémon at the entry level of King-tier during their youth, when their own Pokémon were at their peak Quasi-King best.

Defeating a Pokémon at the peak of King-level while below that tier — that kind of feat appeared perhaps once every few decades. The last time anyone had witnessed something like it was over thirty years ago, a prodigious young Trainer who had drawn the attention of Champions and top Trainers across the region. Everyone had wanted to take that Trainer as a disciple.

But that Trainer had died twenty years ago.

The crowd watched the two Pokémon face each other across the field. The arena was very quiet now.