The sky above the capital was shrouded in dark storm clouds, overwhelmed by the tempest.
Pedestrians walking the streets hurriedly sought shelter from the rain, pulling out their phones to check the day's weather forecast.
The weather report hadn't predicted rain today!
Looking up at the ominous sky, those who didn't know better might think this year's typhoon season had arrived early. Though there were no typhoons in this region, only the occasional sandstorm.
CRACK!
A earth-shattering thunderclap pierced the heavens.
The sound was so intense it made people's scalps tingle.
An elderly woman watching the storm from her window shuddered involuntarily.
"Is the sun breaking through?" A hurried pedestrian glanced skyward again.
The dark clouds remained, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, but now brilliant white lightning blazed so intensely it was blinding. The thunder seemed to come alive, writhing and coiling through the storm clouds.
In the next second, a massive dragon head emerged from the churning black sea of clouds, descending with boundless power!
BOOM! BOOM!
The ground throughout the entire capital trembled under the impact of this Thunder Dragon.
Back at the National Stadium, the energy barriers that could easily withstand continuous full-power attacks from dozens of Champion-level Pokemon were now showing extensive cracks. Spider-web patterns covered the protective dome over the entire auditorium, looking as if the slightest pressure would shatter this fragile shield completely.
The audience sat frozen in their seats, not daring to move.
It wasn't fear of the nearly-broken energy shield that paralyzed them, but the massive Thunder Dragon's descent. Its wide-ranging attack made them feel like they were the target of this divine assault.
They were all petrified.
On the battlefield, the abyss remained, but the azure water that had filled it was gone. In its place was only plasma, brilliant white lightning condensed into solid form.
The Dynamax Mega Blastoise had also vanished.
What remained was just a charred turtle, slightly larger than a normal Blastoise.
Magnus's Blastoise had canceled both its Dynamax transformation and MEGA Evolution, floating on the plasma-filled crater with its entire body blackened and eyes rolled back to show only white.
Just moments before, it had launched an attack against Zeraora, as if it held the advantage.
In the blink of an eye, it had been reduced to this tragic state.
Blastoise's current condition went far beyond simply losing battle capability. Without the world's protective laws for Pokemon battles, it would have been completely annihilated under that thunder!
Such a magnificent attack, such a grand spectacle, coupled with such an overwhelming result.
The audience fell into complete silence, like a movie reaching its climax only for someone to hit the pause button.
After a long moment, Magnus, as the trainer, was first to react. He pulled out a Pokeball to recall his Blastoise and immediately called for the standby medical team to provide treatment.
The referee snapped back to reality and announced the match results loudly.
"Blastoise is unable to battle! Zeraora wins!"
The stadium audience came alive once more.
"I don't know how to describe my feelings anymore," one spectator complained to his friend. "When John won the first round, I just thought he had a bright future."
"When he won the second round, I figured it would take maybe two or three more years for him to reach the top."
"But now it's three victories in a row, and he just defeated Champion Magnus's trump card Blastoise!"
"Damn..."
His friend's face was also flushed with excitement. Unable to find adequate words, everything finally condensed into a single sentence:
"John's going to become Champion today! It's really happening!"
What had originally seemed like jokes and wishful thinking now felt like everyone's genuine belief.
There was a saying in World Pokemon Championships: "If Magnus's famous Blastoise hasn't fallen, how can you claim to have truly defeated him?"
But Magnus's trump card Blastoise had indeed fallen, so how much further could it be before defeating Magnus entirely and becoming the new Champion?
Countless spectators rose from their seats. They knew they were about to witness the historic moment when the old king of Draconia would remove his crown and a new king would ascend the throne!
Elite Four VIP Lounge
Damian, Victor, and Riley stood silently before the large windows.
After a long pause, Victor was first to break the calm.
"Holy crap, this kid really can't be stopped," Victor cursed. As a veteran Elite Four member, he'd often battled against Magnus's famous Blastoise and knew its true power.
Even after John had won the first two battles, Victor hadn't truly believed John could ascend to the Championship.
But now...
"The last time he fought me, he didn't even use his Zeraora," Victor said indignantly.
Damian's mind flashed back to his own battle with John.
It turned out John was incredibly deep at hiding his true strength.
When fighting him, John had only used Gengar. This wasn't just holding back, this was holding back an entire ocean!
Only Riley seemed somewhat pleased. "Thank goodness I didn't fight John at the Elite Four Tournament."
On the battlefield, the two trainers faced each other across the arena.
John and Magnus couldn't hear the audience discussions, they simply locked eyes intensely, taking a moment to catch their breath.
John studied Magnus carefully, curious about his expression.
In Magnus's eyes, John couldn't see the hopelessness of someone facing inevitable defeat. Instead, he saw aggression, like a cornered lion preparing its desperate counterattack.
Still had trump cards? Still had hidden masters? Wasn't Blastoise his strongest Pokemon after all?
Magnus raised his head slightly and spoke in a cold voice "Originally, I wanted to save this ace for the World Pokemon Championship, to give those old rivals a surprise."
"I never thought you would force it out here."
"However, you truly have earned the right!"
With that declaration, Magnus had already pulled out a Pokeball and hurled it skyward.
Mid-air, the Pokeball opened, and a sphere of golden lightning descended slowly.
This lightning was different from Zeraora's sharp, brilliant white electricity, this was more golden, radiant, and pure.
ROAR!
The moment it landed, a roar shook the entire battlefield.
The saffron-colored lightning scattered, revealing its true form.
Tiger-shaped, with a black face-mask and cloud-like mane flowing along its back, sparks flickering with each step. Its very presence embodied concepts of justice, judgment, and power.
It was one of the three Legendary Beasts...Raikou!