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Dark clouds loomed over the capital's sky, and the air grew heavy with the promise of a storm.
Pedestrians hurrying along the streets scrambled to find shelter from the approaching rain, pulling out their phones to check the day's weather forecast.
The forecast hadn't predicted rain today!
Looking up at the sky again, those who didn't know better might have thought this year's typhoon had arrived ahead of schedule. But wait—there were no typhoons in the League. Only sandstorms plagued this region.
"BOOM!"
A deafening crack of thunder split the sky.
The sound was so intense it made people's scalps tingle.
An elderly woman watching the storm through her window flinched at the noise.
"Is the sun coming out?" a pedestrian muttered, looking up once more in confusion.
The dark clouds remained, stretching for hundreds of kilometers across the sky. But now they were illuminated by brilliant white lightning so bright it was almost blinding. The electric discharge seemed almost alive, writhing and twisting through the clouds like a living creature.
In the next moment, an enormous dragon's head emerged from the churning black sea of clouds, descending with earth-shaking power!
"BOOM! BOOM!"
The ground beneath the entire capital trembled under the impact of this thunder dragon's attack.
Back at the National Arena, the situation was equally dramatic.
The energy barrier—designed to easily withstand continuous full-power attacks from over a dozen Champion-level Pokémon—was now covered in a spiderweb of cracks that spread across the entire auditorium. It looked so fragile that even the slightest pressure might shatter it completely.
The spectators sat frozen in their seats, unable to move.
It wasn't fear of the cracking energy shield that paralyzed them. Rather, the massive thunder dragon's attack had covered such a wide area that everyone felt as if they themselves were the target. They were petrified with shock.
On the battlefield below, the scene was equally devastating.
The abyss created earlier in the battle still remained, but the azure water that had filled it was completely gone. In its place was a pool of plasma—solidified white lightning so bright and concentrated it appeared almost tangible.
The Gigantamax Mega Blastoise had vanished as well.
What remained was a charred turtle that looked only slightly larger than a normal Blastoise, its body smoking from the intense electrical discharge.
Marvin's Blastoise had reverted from both its Gigantamax and Mega Evolution forms. It now floated in the plasma-filled abyss, its entire body blackened and burned, eyes rolled back and showing only whites.
Just moments ago, this same Blastoise had been launching attacks on Zeraora with apparent confidence, as if it held the upper hand in the battle.
Now, in the blink of an eye, it had been reduced to this tragic state.
Blastoise's current condition went far beyond simply losing its ability to battle. If not for the protective laws governing Pokémon battles, it would have been completely obliterated by that thunder attack.
Such a magnificent display of power, such a grand spectacle, combined with such a shocking result left everyone speechless.
The audience sat in complete silence, as if watching a movie reach its climax only to have someone hit the pause button.
After what felt like an eternity, Marvin—Blastoise's trainer—was the first to react. He quickly retrieved his Pokémon into its Poké Ball and immediately summoned the medical team standing by to provide emergency treatment.
The referee finally recovered from his stupor and announced the result in a loud, clear voice.
"Blastoise is unable to battle! Zeraora wins!"
The announcement seemed to flip a switch, and the audience roared back to life.
"I don't even know how to describe what I'm feeling right now," one spectator said to his friend, his voice shaking with emotion. "When Chris won the first round, I thought he had a bright future ahead of him."
"After winning the second round, I figured it would take him maybe two or three more years at most to reach the top."
"But now he's won three battles in a row, and he just defeated Champion Marvin's Trump Card Blastoise..."
"Damn!"
His friend's face was flushed with excitement as well. Unable to express the thousand thoughts racing through his mind, he finally managed to condense them into a single sentence.
"When will Chris become the Champion? It should be today!"
What had originally seemed like a joke or wishful thinking now felt like the collective voice of everyone present.
There was a saying in the World Pokémon Contest: "You cannot claim to have truly defeated Marvin until his famous Blastoise has fallen!"
But now, Champion Marvin's Trump Card Pokémon Blastoise had indeed fallen. So how far away could Chris's complete victory be? How long until he defeated Marvin entirely and became the new Champion of China?
Countless spectators rose from their seats, realizing they were about to witness a historic moment—the old king of China removing his crown as the new king ascended the throne!
In the Elite Four's VIP room, the atmosphere was tense.
Roy, Victor, and Tate stood in front of the large French windows in silence, processing what they had just witnessed.
After a long pause, Victor was the first to break the uncomfortable quiet.
"Damn it, can any of us actually beat this kid?" Victor cursed under his breath. As a veteran member of the Elite Four, he had often battled against Marvin's famous Blastoise and understood its true strength better than most.
Even after Chris had won the first two battles, Victor hadn't truly believed that Chris could claim the Championship title.
But now...
"The last time he battled me, he didn't even use Zeraora," Victor said, his voice tinged with frustration and disbelief.
Roy's mind flashed back to his own battle against Chris.
So it turned out Chris had been hiding his true strength all along.
When Chris had fought against him, he'd only used Gengar. That wasn't just holding back—that was hiding an entire arsenal of power!
Only Tate seemed somewhat relieved for reasons he couldn't quite explain. "I'm glad I didn't have to fight Chris during the Elite meetings," he admitted quietly.
Down on the battlefield, the two trainers stood facing each other.
Chris and Marvin couldn't hear the audience's excited discussions. They simply stared at each other with intense focus, though they allowed themselves a brief moment to catch their breath.
Chris studied Marvin carefully, curious about what he saw in the Champion's eyes.
In Marvin's gaze, Chris couldn't detect any sense of hopelessness or acceptance of defeat. Instead, he saw aggression—like a cornered lion preparing for a desperate, final counterattack.
Did Marvin still have another ace up his sleeve? Another hidden card to play? Was Blastoise not actually his strongest Pokémon?
Marvin raised his head slightly and spoke in a cold, measured voice. "Originally, I intended to save this trump card for the World Pokémon Contest, to give some old rivals a surprise they wouldn't forget."
He paused, his eyes never leaving Chris's face.
"I never imagined you would force me to reveal it here, in this battle."
"However," Marvin continued, a slight smile crossing his lips, "you've more than earned the right to see it."
With those words, Marvin pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it high into the air.
The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, and a sphere of brilliant light began to descend slowly toward the battlefield.
This light was different from Zeraora's sharp, bright lightning. Instead, it was more golden—brilliant and pure, radiating an almost divine quality.
"ROAR!" The moment it touched the ground, a powerful roar shook the entire battlefield.
The golden-yellow thunder light scattered like breaking glass, revealing the Pokémon's true form.
It had the shape of a great tiger, with a black helmet-like structure covering its face and cloud-like fur along its back. Sparks flickered with each step it took. Its very presence embodied images of justice, judgment, and divine retribution.
It was one of the three Legendary Beasts—Raikou!