Chapter 119: Angelic Songbird

"Monferno!!"

Ash cried out with a thunderous shout that echoed across the arena, loud enough to make Caleb roll his eyes.

Trying to bring it back with a Shonen scream? Not on my watch.

With a wave of his hand, Caleb commanded, "Haunter, use Round!"

Round: The user attacks with a melody. If allies use it in succession, the power increases.

Of course, this wasn't to attack Monferno—Caleb just wanted to drown out Ash's motivational shouting.

Haunter cleared its throat, clenched a fist as a makeshift mic, and closed its eyes like it was summoning divine emotion. Then, as if hitting a climax...

"KYAAAH KYAAAH KYAAAH! KYAAAH KYAAAH KYAAAH!"

A screech more akin to an ancient evil than a melody reverberated through the arena.

Hell descended.

"AAAGH! My eyes were already tortured, now it's my EARS too!"

"Why would you do this to me?! My poor, innocent eardrums!"

"I need Soundproof!! SOMEBODY GET ME SOUNDPROOF!"

"Great-grandma?! Is that you calling me?!"

The stands fell into chaos. Fighters clutched their heads, expressions twisted in pain as if enduring some horrific psychological torment.

Meanwhile, Caleb had preemptively slipped on noise-canceling headphones—rumored to be modeled after Soundproof Whismur tech. Totally blocked out the screaming... both from Haunter and the fans.

Even Ash—ever the stoic—winced under the sheer audio trauma.

As for Monferno, still lying on the ground?

He passed on... peacefully.

When the song mercifully ended, Haunter bowed gracefully, mimicking a concert violinist at a sold-out show.

"Gwaa~"

A musical genius, truly.

Wait...

Where's the ref?

Monferno's been lying there for ages—if someone doesn't call it soon, he might actually pass away.

Finally, the poor referee stumbled to his feet, pale-faced and shaking.

"Monferno... is unable to battle... Haunter wins... blargh—!"

He barely finished the sentence before doubling over and vomiting into the nearest wall.

He'd been spiritually dead for a while now.

Ash slowly returned Monferno to its ball, eyes clouded with disappointment.

He had expected a passionate, burning battle with Caleb... but instead, something felt off.

He couldn't put it into words. It just felt... weird.

In every other match, he'd never felt like this...

"Hey, Ash."

Caleb approached, catching Ash just as he was getting lost in thought.

Wow, Caleb mused, Ash, thinking? Now that's a rare sight.

"Huh? Oh, Caleb—uh, yeah?" Ash blinked, surprised.

"What's on your mind? You were spacing out."

Ash looked down, shame flooding his face.

Why did I... why did I want to punch Caleb in the face just now?

"I-It's nothing. I wasn't thinking about anything," Ash muttered.

"Uh-huh. Well, if you've got time later, swing by Solaceon Gym. I'll be there."

"O-Okay..." Ash replied, clearly distracted.

Weird kid... Caleb thought as they parted ways.

On the way out, Bea caught up to Caleb. "Master, congratulations."

Following behind her were Maylene and Korrina.

But—

"You all look kinda pale..." Caleb remarked, eyeing their white-as-sheets faces.

Do all fighters wear corpse makeup now? Some new trend I missed?

"You look worse than Haunter."

"What was that, Master?" Bea tilted her head. "I saw your lips move, but I didn't hear anything."

Maylene and Korrina had the same problem.

...Oh. Right. Deaf.

Caleb turned to glare at Haunter, who gave him the exact same look in return.

Both man and ghost shared a moment of mutual embarrassment.

After escorting the deafened trio to the Pokémon Center, Caleb ran into a familiar girl in a white beanie—Green.

Shouldn't she be selling her shady junk right now?

"Hey," Caleb greeted, raising a brow. "What are you doing here? Didn't you have a match?"

"Oh, I lost," Green said casually.

"You seem awfully cheerful for someone who just lost."

"Can't help it—the Masked Royal is just too strong," she sighed. Then, with a sly grin, "But something happened that made my day."

"Oh?" Caleb asked warily.

What could make someone like her this happy? She inherit a fortune? Find out she's secretly a trust fund baby?

"You remember that Anger Bun stall we passed by?"

Ah... Team Rocket.

Caleb vaguely remembered. The stall had gone viral after being visited by Bruno—business boomed.

Gotta hand it to Team Rocket. Useless at catching Pikachu, but marketing? Top-tier.

"What happened?"

Green's grin turned downright evil. "Turns out they were selling expired Anger Buns. Gave a bunch of fighters food poisoning. They missed their matches. The whole stall got flipped over."

Caleb: ...

Yep. Classic Team Rocket.

"Serves them right," Green said smugly. "Trying to compete with me? That's what you get for not being honest and trustworthy like me."

Caleb: ...

Trustworthy? You? You sold me a "legendary evolution stone" made of plastic.

Wait.

"Did you say multiple fighters missed their matches?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Does that mean someone advanced without even battling?!"

Green scratched her chin. "Oh, that guy? Yeah, super lucky."

She pointed at the screen behind him.

Caleb turned to look.

[Caleb VS Box]