"The final match of the Masters Eight group is about to begin!"
"The two sides facing off in this match are two powerhouses hailing from Paldea!"
By the time the closing battle for the Masters Eight title began, the sky was already approaching dusk.
However, even though they had already witnessed the stunning performances of multiple contestants earlier, the audience was still brimming with anticipation for this final match.
Even the commentator seemed exceptionally passionate when introducing the two players.
"They are—"
"The Top Champion of the Paldea League, ranked 6th in the world points standings—Geeta!"
"And the Paldea region's Elite Four member and Gym Leader, the professional master streamer known to everyone on the internet—"
"Azure Wings—Aiden Swift!"
As the commentator's forceful introduction concluded, two figures simultaneously stepped out from the shadows of the contestant tunnels on opposite sides.
"Teacher Azure!!! You've got to do your best!"
"Teacher Azure, when are you going to become the League Champion?"
"Right today!"
"Wait a sec? Why does it feel like Chairwoman Geeta profits no matter if she wins or loses—"
The audience from Paldea waved and shouted enthusiastically, even drawing spectators from other regions into the frenzy.
People from other regions might not know much about Geeta, a rather low-key Champion. But to Aiden and the Paldeans, she was all too familiar!
Facing the tidal wave of people above, Aiden also waved enthusiastically at the audience, triggering another round of thunderous cheers.
Only on the competitive stage could one truly feel just how astronomical their popularity was.
Aiden shook his head. After stepping onto the battlefield, he looked up and locked eyes with Chairwoman Geeta, who was smiling at him.
He felt like she was trying her hardest not to laugh—
"You keep exceeding my expectations, Aiden." Geeta spoke first, her tone seemingly filled with emotion.
"To stand on the stage of the Masters Tournament in just one year; this kind of talent no longer needs any words to explain it."
"And now—"
"Today's battle will be the last lesson I teach you."
"Defeat me, and then become the new Champion."
Aiden: ???
Although he knew Geeta was probably just teasing, Aiden was still startled by her final sentence.
Wait, isn't this the Masters Tournament? I don't think this is the Paldean Championship path!
"Being Champion and whatnot really doesn't suit me after all."
"I'm still too young to bear such an important responsibility that carries the future of an entire region. So, Chairwoman Geeta, the capable should take on more work!"
After speaking, without waiting for Geeta to reply, Aiden took the initiative to turn around and walk toward his half of the field.
Geeta maintained her smile. Those squinted eyes stared at Aiden's back for a while longer before she returned to her half of the field a beat late.
The capable should take on more work... That indeed makes sense.
But when it comes to who is the most capable in Paldea, I think everyone would think of your name first.
As for the title of Champion, apart from Aiden, there probably wasn't a more suitable successor.
So, let's wait a little longer. In another two years, when Aiden becomes more mature, he will definitely take up this responsibility.
And what she needed to do was to clear all obstacles for him first, and also—
Before taking her stance, Geeta glanced again at the contestant lounge beneath the stands.
She absolutely couldn't let him get tricked back to Sinnoh by that bad woman! Aiden is the glory of Paldea!
"Players, ready!"
"Battle begin!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Rotom Referee waved its flag, and a whistle echoed throughout the venue.
On the large screen above the arena, Aiden and Geeta's avatars appeared simultaneously, with three red-and-white Poké Ball icons beneath each of them.
At the exact moment the avatars clashed, both sides simultaneously threw out their lead Pokémon.
"Bring us victory, Glimmora!"
"I choose you, Lucario!"
A rock-like, blue bud-awaiting-bloom appeared on Geeta's side. Within the bud, which opened and closed with its breath, a faint purple toxic mist could be observed.
"Luca—"
On Aiden's side, Lucario, holding a Sacred Sword, appeared on the field, already taking its sword-stance starting posture, its expression incomparably solemn.
With its appearance, an invisible aura immediately formed on the field. The Glimmora on the opponent's side subconsciously shrank its bud, seemingly affected by this aura.
"As expected, Glimmora is the lead—" Aiden nodded. The opponent's choice was completely within his expectations.
After all, against different opponents, Chairwoman Geeta often used two entirely different starting strategies.
If her "ace" Kingambit was the lead, it meant she was definitely going to go easy today. When battling juniors most of the time, Chairwoman Geeta would appropriately hold back, often giving people the illusion of "I could do that too if it were me."
But if she used Glimmora as her lead, like right now— it meant Chairwoman Geeta was getting serious, which was rare!
"Glimmora, Stealth Rock."
Beating Aiden to the command, Geeta, who had put away her smile and put on a stern face, launched a surprise attack.
Glimmora immediately spewed many sharp rocks toward Lucario's half of the field. They hung suspended in the air for a moment before turning invisible, bringing a hidden threat to Aiden's future rotations.
"Lucario, Earthquake!"
"Luca!"
Aiden immediately followed up, completely ignoring the Stealth Rocks floating on his side of the field, focusing entirely on taking down the opponent.
If it were a 6v6, Stealth Rock might indeed bring a lot of trouble. But in a 3v3 situation, there was only one thing he needed to prioritize—
Take down this annoying little guy before Glimmora turned his side of the field into a complete mess!
Chairwoman Geeta's team was generally defensively oriented. Before her final ace took the stage, she relied entirely on Glimmora and her other Pokémon to continuously wear down the opponent, creating an opportunity for Kingambit to sweep.
So, even though Earthquake would immediately trigger Glimmora's Toxic Debris ability, adding another layer of Toxic Spikes to his own field, he couldn't worry about that right now.
"I knew you'd do that." Geeta wasn't surprised by Aiden's command.
After all, he was an ace player she had watched grow up; she knew Aiden's tactical style better than anyone.
Of course, even if she really did want to see how Aiden would defeat her, she couldn't just do nothing in a Masters Tournament match and abruptly sacrifice her highly valuable Glimmora.
Her solution was— "Terastallization?"
Before Lucario could strike, Aiden keenly noticed the black orb Geeta took out.
A very reasonable choice, using Terastallization to avoid Glimmora's most fatal weakness, allowing it to perfectly weather Lucario's offensive.
And once it levitated into the air, Lucario indeed didn't have many options against it; under normal circumstances, it could only try its luck with Rock Slide.
But Aiden's Lucario— was it normal?
"Lucario, prepare to use Sacred Sword!"
While Lucario was unleashing Earthquake and Geeta was throwing the Tera Orb to preserve Glimmora's HP, Aiden immediately added a command.
"Luca!"
The roaring of the earth came to an abrupt halt. The Glimmora, floating due to its Tera Shield, hadn't even reacted yet when a piercingly cold sword aura breaking through the air immediately struck it.
Boom!
When the sword aura collided with Glimmora, the erupting power instantly pushed it flying, causing it to fall heavily to the ground.
The heavily damaged Glimmora instinctively spat out countless poison clouds in front of it. The Toxic Spikes hidden within quickly took root in the ground, dyeing the field a deep purple.
"Tsk—" Glancing at Glimmora, which hadn't directly lost its ability to battle, Aiden shook his head.
It still managed to spit out the Toxic Spikes.
Although Toxic Spikes were useless against the Steel-type Lucario, once he switched Pokémon later, if the battle dragged into a war of attrition, his side would definitely suffer a major disadvantage.
He had to make this a quick battle.
"Use Sacred Sword again!"
"Glimmora, Spiky Shield!"
Aiden's offensive was barely blocked by Glimmora's shrinking defensive strategy.
At the same time, because the sword aura from Sacred Sword touched its body again, Glimmora's second layer of Toxic Spikes also seemed ready to be triggered.
"Lucario, rush in and finish it!"
"Luca!"
Lucario exerted force suddenly, fiercely throwing a punch forward almost at the exact moment Glimmora spewed the poison mist, hitting Glimmora's body right on target.
But the effect of the Toxic Debris ability still played its role; the ground on Aiden's half of the field was now completely covered by Toxic Spikes.
"Glimmora is unable to battle!"
After the Rotom Referee blew its whistle, the first Poké Ball on Geeta's side on the big screen immediately lost its glow.
The score subsequently reached 1:0.
It seemed like Aiden hadn't spent much effort to take down one of Chairwoman Geeta's main forces, also making the opponent waste a precious Terastallization.
But in reality, for Aiden, the trouble was just beginning.
"Two layers of Toxic Spikes and a layer of Stealth Rock; Teacher Azure's best rotation tactics don't seem like they can be played anymore!"
In the spectator stands, Gold held his head, looking shocked.
"So there's actually someone even more underhanded than Teacher Azure. This Paldea region definitely has something going on."
"What is Teacher Azure going to do now? Could he be planning to rely on a single Lucario to sweep the opponent's entire team—"
"The other Pokémon switched in will likely be dragged down by the opponent stalling for time!"
"For the strong, nothing is impossible." Silver beside him glanced at him, left behind a Jedi Master-esque line, and continued to enjoy the match.
"For real?" Gold scratched his head.
Even though he knew Aiden was strong, the opponent was a Champion whose strength wasn't lacking at all. Sweeping 3-0 was too difficult, wasn't it?
But, if he actually pulled off this feat— just thinking about it was ridiculously cool! I want to see that!
"Go for it, Teacher Azure!" Gold quickly changed his mindset and began looking forward to Aiden's upcoming performance.
On the battlefield.
After recalling the exhausted Glimmora, Geeta's expression remained calm and composed.
Glimmora had already completed the tactical layout set before the match; now it was up to her other Pokémon to stabilize the situation.
"The one I'm sending out next is—"
"Avalugg, I choose you!"
"Use Iron Defense!"
The moment the Poké Ball burst open, a "heavyweight" Pokémon made entirely of ice blocks, which shook the ground when it landed, made its grand debut. The moment it landed, it quietly gathered its strength, focusing all its attention on bolstering its own defense.
"Avalugg?" Aiden blinked, seemingly a bit surprised by Geeta's choice.
After all, Avalugg was completely countered by Lucario in every aspect. Even if its defense was absolutely ridiculous, Lucario could still rely on Aura Sphere to continuously wear it down—
Regardless, whittling down its stamina first was definitely the right move.
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
"Luca!"
The pure energy condensed from the power of aura instantly blasted out, striking Avalugg's hard, frozen body and immediately causing several cracks to appear on its surface.
However— the effect of this Aura Sphere didn't seem as good as he had imagined; at the very least, Avalugg gritted its teeth and tanked it with its body.
"Avalugg, Body Press!"
Geeta's command followed closely. Taking advantage of Avalugg's soaring physical hardness after Iron Defense, she had it use its body like a cannonball to launch a full-power offensive at Lucario!
"Detect!"
"Luca!"
Relying on its speed advantage, Lucario anticipated the opponent's intent a step ahead and slid forward to dodge Avalugg's pounce.
"Then use Roar!"
Aiden narrowed his eyes, easily seeing through Geeta's plan.
Avalugg was actually aiming for a mutual destruction with Lucario. The goal was to force out the only main force on his side that could step on the entry hazards with almost no cost, while also posing an extreme threat to her final Kingambit.
This way, using Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock, Kingambit would only need to stall for time while waiting for a chance to secure the kill, making a full sweep highly possible—
It had to be said; although Chairwoman Geeta didn't usually play tactics, when it came time to be underhanded, her strikes were truly ruthless.
Unfortunately, he had already thought of a solution, catching her off guard instead.
"Avalugg, Recover!"
Evidently, Aiden's Roar was completely outside Geeta's expectations.
So, in her haste, she could only command Avalugg to recover its health, completely unable to organize a second Body Press attack in time.
After Avalugg barely restored its health, it was immediately forced off the field by Lucario's imposing Roar.
According to the battle rules, Geeta had to temporarily recall it into its Poké Ball, and it couldn't immediately return to the field.
With that, her only choice was— "It seems my plan has already been seen through."
Having been outplayed by Aiden instead, Geeta actually revealed a smile, seemingly very satisfied with his performance.
"As expected, your strength has long been qualified to become Champion, Aiden."
"However, even so, I won't go easy on you."
"Next, try to defeat my most trusted partner!"
"Go, Kingambit!"
After the red-and-white Poké Ball was thrown into the field, Kingambit, wearing heavy armor and bearing a giant horn as sharp as a blade on its head, set foot on the ground.
The moment it appeared, an astonishing imposing aura immediately swept across the field.
Aiden narrowed his eyes, carefully observing this special opponent.
It was said that only the Bisharp at the very pinnacle of a colony could possess a king's demeanor, having the qualification to evolve into Kingambit.
And Geeta's specimen naturally displayed the demeanor of a powerhouse in its aura.
It was just a pity—
Right now, he was the stronger one!
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
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