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"Rai... Raikou?"
"Raikou? One of the three Legendary Beasts?"
The entire audience stared at the mighty, imposing figure with fascination.
When had Champion Marvin captured this Legendary Pokémon—one of the three sacred beasts that served as Ho-Oh's guardians?
No one had heard anything about it!
"Damn, that's why his Trump Card Blastoise came out in the third battle instead of being saved for last!"
"I take back what I said earlier. Chris, if you want to become Champion, you'll have to wait a few more years."
"Ten-year fan of Champion Marvin reporting for duty!"
"Let's go, Marvin! You're the best!"
"Wait, wait—so what if it's Raikou? Zeraora is also a Legendary Pokémon! This is a battle between Legendary Pokémon. The match isn't over yet!"
Raikou's appearance caused an uproar throughout the arena.
At the very least, many of Marvin's fans had gone from feeling disheartened to having their hopes reignited!
Could this be the beginning of a wonderful comeback story? A one-versus-four turnaround from the brink of defeat?
"Where did Marvin capture a Legendary Pokémon?" Victor's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Is it impossible to become Champion in the future without having a Legendary Pokémon?"
Tate and Roy remained silent, watching Zeraora and Raikou on the battlefield. However, both of them were now wondering where they could possibly capture a Legendary Pokémon for themselves.
The power of Legendary Pokémon was simply too irresistible!
"Raikou?" Chris studied the golden tiger standing in the center of the battlefield.
It was handsome—there was no denying that.
However, personally, he preferred Entei.
As for Suicune... Chris would have thought more highly of it if not for the embarrassing scene in the anime where it got caught in a net. But seriously, who writes stuff like that?
Though, when he thought about it, Kyogre being caught with a fishing rod and Suicune being caught in a net didn't seem quite so hard to accept.
"Ora!" Zeraora looked at Raikou with obvious excitement.
Its opponent was also an Electric-type, and a Legendary Pokémon at that! This was simply the most suitable rival imaginable!
"Zeraora, it's time to come back," Chris reminded gently. He didn't want to dampen Zeraora's enthusiasm, but before the battle had even begun, he'd already promised another Pokémon it would get to battle.
"Ora!" Zeraora responded reluctantly.
Chris shrugged helplessly. There was nothing he could do about it. Who could have predicted that Champion Marvin would save Raikou for the finale? If he'd known, he would have saved Zeraora for last as well.
Zeraora actually had an advantage against Raikou.
Zeraora's Volt Absorb Ability made it essentially the ultimate counter to Electric-type Pokémon. Unfortunately, Raikou didn't possess any ability that granted immunity to Electric-type moves like Volt Absorb did.
Against Zeraora, Raikou's combat effectiveness would be reduced by at least half.
"If the next Pokémon loses, how about I send you back out to battle?" Chris offered, trying to comfort Zeraora with what was essentially an impossible promise.
But Zeraora seemed to take it seriously.
Turning around, it called out "Ora!" at Raikou—as if cheering it on—before obediently returning to its Poké Ball.
This left Raikou completely confused.
What was that about?
Had its opponent just wished it luck before leaving?
While Raikou stood there bewildered, Chris sent out his fourth Pokémon.
"ROAR!"
The moment the Poké Ball opened, a deafening roar filled the entire arena.
A curtain of pitch-black water suddenly materialized in the sky above the battlefield, only to shatter in the blink of an eye.
"BOOM!"
Black rain fell across the entire field. A massive beast with midnight-dark coloring spread its wings and looked down at Raikou from high above. The sense of oppression it radiated felt like a mountain floating in the sky.
"Lugia? That's Lugia!" Someone in the crowd recognized the Pokémon Chris had just sent out, their voice nearly breaking with excitement.
"Is that Lugia? Wait, why is it black?"
"Holy crap—it's black! It's Shiny again!"
"Huh?"
"Wait—Lugia is Shiny too?!"
The audience was shocked at first, then fell into a strange, stunned silence.
All eyes focused on Chris with an intensity that could have burned holes through steel.
Another Shiny Pokémon. Another Legendary Pokémon. Another Shiny Legendary Pokémon!
"Lugia! My Lugia! Ahhhhh!"
"Chris, you absolute monster! Why do you have everything?!"
Many trainers who considered Lugia their lifelong dream Pokémon burst into tears on the spot.
While the surrounding audience members didn't cry, they completely understood the reaction.
It was like watching the goddess you'd admired for years—someone you could only see in videos—suddenly appear before you in person, looking absolutely stunning, only to throw herself into someone else's arms.
This wasn't just about one Legendary Pokémon anymore.
If murder weren't illegal... well, actually, even if it were legal, they'd still need to be able to beat Chris first.
There was no doubt that if it were possible, Chris would have been killed or seriously injured at least tens of thousands of times by now based on sheer envy alone.
"Another one!" In the Elite Four's VIP room, Victor dropped his pipe without realizing it, his face turning red with frustration.
Indeed, even Victor wanted to strangle Chris right now.
For the first time, emotion flickered across Roy's normally calm face—a bitter, helpless smile.
His junior colleague was like a packrat from a previous life—how much more could he possibly be hiding?
Lugia's ultimate trump card was only being revealed now, and judging from the battle situation, this guy was purely showing off.
Roy had thought that being just one rank below his junior colleague meant Chris had gone easy on him when they'd battled, holding back like releasing water from a dam.
Only now did he realize that he and Chris weren't even living in the same world.
Chris hadn't released water—he'd released an entire ocean of stars.
This was too damn frustrating!
Even Roy, with his good temper, now felt a twinge of jealousy and an urge to punch Chris in the face.
However, the person in question—Chris himself—didn't seem to notice everyone's murderous glares. He thought everyone was simply envious of him.
Very awkwardly, he pulled out his phone, turned around slowly, and took photos of everyone's extremely surprised expressions.
This included his opponent, Marvin.
Marvin stared at the black Lugia in complete astonishment.
The flames of battle in his heart, the momentum and determination to achieve a one-versus-four comeback from the brink of defeat—all of it felt like someone had dumped a basin of ice-cold water directly over his head.
One-versus-four? A comeback from certain defeat?
Victory?
How was he supposed to win this?
There were gaps even among Legendary Pokémon.
If the gods were divided into tiers, then Raikou was a third-tier deity, while Lugia was at minimum a second-tier god—possibly even among the strongest first-tier gods!
Each tier among the divine Pokémon represented an absolute gap in power!
Raikou fighting Lugia one-on-one? There was simply no way to win that battle.
Just as Marvin was hesitating over whether to concede defeat directly, he heard Chris's cheerful, almost teasing voice.
"Should we continue the battle? If we don't, I'll become the Champion."
Marvin's eyebrow twitched. He gritted his teeth and forced out a single word: "Fight!"
Then the auditorium erupted with cheers that shook the heavens. "Let's go!"