"Pseudo-Elite Four! Another Pseudo-Elite Four!" It was supposed to be a match between Peak Elite level Trainers, but stronger Pokémon kept appearing one after another.
And yet… none of them were breaking the rules.
A breakthrough mid-battle? Perfectly valid. Wasn't the whole point of battle to make Pokémon stronger?
Zen Mode? Still valid. It was the same Pokémon. It had just temporarily changed forms and gained Pseudo-Elite Four-level strength.
So what about Mega Evolution?
If it's evolution, then even less of a problem. No one is allowed to stop a Pokémon from evolving. That's absolutely forbidden.
Since nobody was breaking the rules, the battle had to continue.
Sato already had his hand on the Key Stone, but he didn't immediately plan to enhance Sharpedo with Dark Energy.
First, Gengar had shown surprising power, even managing to hold off Mienshao, which even Sato hadn't expected.
Second, both enemy Pokémon had only just touched Pseudo-Elite Four level. They didn't fully control their strength yet.
But Sharpedo was different. With power at Mid Pseudo-Elite Four and experience from multiple Mega Evolutions, it could adapt quickly to its surging strength.
"Sharpedo, Waterfall! Gengar, use Spite on Aura Sphere!"
Push the advantage. Even before Mega Evolution, Sharpedo's speed had already increased significantly. Now, its Waterfall looked like a supersized Aqua Jet, faster and more powerful.
Its target was still Darmanitan. In Zen Mode, Darmanitan's battle style had completely changed. It temporarily gained the Psychic type.
Its previously powerful physical strength was now converted into raw mental energy, but its speed had dropped sharply.
No way to dodge!
"Darmanitan, use Rock Tomb on yourself!"
Jona's command barely came out in time. Darmanitan didn't move, but massive stones suddenly rose around it, forming a defensive wall.
Meanwhile, Gengar's golden eyes flashed red. Mienshao suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion… but quickly recovered.
"Mienshao, Aura Sphere, target Sharpedo!"
"Gengar, Psychic. Sharpedo, Skull Bash!"
Psychic energy swept across again. Once more, Mienshao's Aura Sphere froze mid-air, just like before.
BOOM!
Rock Tomb was instantly shattered by Skull Bash. But when Darmanitan reappeared, its focus had shifted to Gengar.
"Darmanitan, Psychic!"
"Mienshao, Acrobatics!"
Two attacks struck simultaneously toward Gengar. Jona and Marshal clearly aimed to eliminate what they believed to be the weak link.
In a battle between Pseudo-Elite Four Pokémon, how could a mere Elite Pokémon get in the way?
"Crunch! Thunderbolt!" Sato didn't even have time to call their names, but both Sharpedo and Gengar instantly responded.
Sharpedo twisted midair and slashed toward Darmanitan, landing a brutal cut in the blink of an eye.
Mid Pseudo-Elite Four power: it was fully unleashed.
"DAAAR…!"
Darmanitan let out a horrifying scream. Its Psychic move failed completely.
Freed from suppression, Gengar launched a Thunderbolt immediately, lightning-fast.
But Acrobatics' evasion ability kicked in at just the right moment. It completely dodged Thunderbolt and struck Gengar hard.
"Gar~"
Gengar, usually silent, let out a faint cry before collapsing to the ground. Its golden eyes turned to spirals.
Gengar: KO'd by Mienshao in a single blow!
Surprising, but understandable. A Pseudo-Elite Four is still a Pseudo-Elite Four.
But the next second, the victorious Mienshao suddenly staggered, dropped to its knees, and began gasping for air.
"…A shame," Sato muttered quietly. The level difference made Destiny Bond's effect incomplete. Then he called out loudly, "SHARPEDO, Hydro Pump!"
BOOM!
A thick, barrel-sized stream of water slammed into the kneeling Mienshao. It was blasted straight off the field following in Gengar's footsteps.
Darmanitan wanted to help, but the intense pain from Crunch had overloaded its hyper-sensitive psychic mind. It couldn't react in time.
On the field, this Darmanitan -already half-exhausted before it entered Zen Mode- was barely hanging on.
Meanwhile, Sharpedo had been in a dominant position throughout the match. And this moment was no exception.
Two minutes later, the Darmanitan, completely countered by Sharpedo, reverted to its original fiery red form; clearly too drained to continue.
Honestly, in its base form, Darmanitan might have caused Sharpedo some trouble.
But seeking a power boost, it entered Zen Mode. And to Sharpedo, it had become nothing but a target.
Then again, if it had remained in Peak-level form, it probably wouldn't have caught Sharpedo's attention at all.
So it became a loop. In the end, it was simply a matter of not being strong enough and not having a cheat code like Mega Evolution.
Battle over. The result took Unova's leaders by surprise.
But in truth, the moment they witnessed Sato's Mega Evolution, they had already started bracing for it.
"I heard this kid also competed in the headquarters' Young Elite Tournament… didn't even make it past top 8," one of the executives suddenly said. The moment he mentioned "headquarters," he had essentially accepted the idea of returning to the Kanto League fold.
"So there are at least seven more geniuses his age? That's…" The executive fell silent. He'd assumed that the headquarters was still some underdeveloped backwater. Clearly, that wasn't the case.
Drake remained silent with a look that said, "Sure, whatever you say."
The subordinates behind him wore indifferent expressions… but it was likely that many of them were grinning on the inside.
There really weren't many like Sato. The Unova officials' logic wasn't wrong… they just forgot to ask one thing: when exactly had Sato participated?
If they counted his power with Mega Evolution, then Sato had already surpassed every participant from the last tournament.
Without Mega Evolution's boost, his growth was simply fast, but not yet at the level of a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
The match ended. The referee, though tempted to show favoritism, couldn't argue with such a clear result and reluctantly announced the outcome.
Sharpedo slowly withdrew from Mega Evolution, causing another stir. So it was a reversible transformation?
Afterward, Sato and the others regrouped with Drake and headed for the Pokémon Center to treat their wounded Pokémon.
Along the way, the bigshots couldn't stop talking about Mega Evolution. Every sentence started with "this kid," their voices dripping with friendliness.
So much so that it made Sato slightly uncomfortable.