"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 sa Pokémon. It had just temporarily changed forms and gained Pseudo-Elite Four-level strength.
So what about ga 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 imdiately 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 ga Evolutions, it could adapt quickly to its surging strength.
"Sharpedo, Waterfall! Gengar, use Spite on Aura Sphere!"
Push the advantage. Even before ga 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 ntal energy, but its speed had dropped sharply.
No way to dodge!
"Darmanitan, use Rock Tomb on yourself!"
Jona's command barely ca out in ti. Darmanitan didn't move, but massive stones suddenly rose around it, forming a defensive wall.
anwhile, 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 aid to eliminate what they believed to be the weak link.
In a battle between Pseudo-Elite Four Pokémon, how could a re Elite Pokémon get in the way?
"Crunch! Thunderbolt!" Sato didn't even have ti to call their nas, 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 imdiately, lightning-fast.
But Acrobatics' evasion ability kicked in at just the right mont. 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 sha," 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 slamd 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 ti.
On the field, this Darmanitan -already half-exhausted before it entered Zen Mode- was barely hanging on.
anwhile, Sharpedo had been in a dominant position throughout the match. And this mont 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 so trouble.
But seeking a power boost, it entered Zen Mode. And to Sharpedo, it had beco 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 beca a loop. In the end, it was simply a matter of not being strong enough and not having a cheat code like ga Evolution.
Battle over. The result took Unova's leaders by surprise.
But in truth, the mont they witnessed Sato's ga Evolution, they had already started bracing for it.
"I heard this kid also competed in the headquarters' Young Elite Tournant… didn't even make it past top 8," one of the executives suddenly said. The mont he ntioned "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 assud that the headquarters was still so 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 ga Evolution, then Sato had already surpassed every participant from the last tournant.
Without ga 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 outco.
Sharpedo slowly withdrew from ga 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 ga Evolution. Every sentence started with "this kid," their voices dripping with friendliness.
So much so that it made Sato slightly uncomfortable.
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