"Alright, that's enough training for today. Tomorrow is the Regional Battle Tournament, so you all need to be ready."
As evening fell, Gu Yuan ceased his training to begin his rest.
After several days of practice, Gu Yuan had completely mastered the power and method of Mega Evolution. There would be no embarrassing incidents where he failed to trigger it.
However, Mega Evolution was prohibited in the Regional Battle Tournament.
Or rather, the League currently did not officially allow the appearance of Mega Evolution.
Ultimately, it was because the small circle of people at the top did not want to universalize the power of Mega Evolution so early.
Gu Yuan didn't mind this. Since he was one of the beneficiaries of this hidden power, he had no reason to subvert his own advantage.
The next day, the Regional Battle Tournament commenced as scheduled.
In the stadium, citizens of the Kalos region only accounted for half of the audience; the rest were essentially Gu Yuan's fans.
The largest group undoubtedly came from the Kanto region, followed by Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto.
Interestingly, quite a few people from the Unova region had also arrived.
Their goal was simple: they wanted to see if Gu Yuan could perform another "team sweep" so that their own region wouldn't look quite so bad by comparison.
Unfortunately, they were destined to return home disappointed.
Having only recently obtained the Mega Stones exchanged in the Kalos region, Gu Yuan really couldn't bring himself to perform a blatant team sweep.
Furthermore, if he encountered an assassination attempt later, he might need the assistance of the Kalos League. Gu Yuan couldn't afford to offend them too deeply.
Therefore, Dar's strategy was straightforward.
He let Aiko, Kurata, and Basque play freely while Gu Yuan acted as the anchor.
No matter how much of a disadvantage they fell into, Dar believed Gu Yuan could reverse the situation.
One could say that if the incident with Taishi Utsunomiya hadn't occurred, leading this team would have been a very enjoyable task for Dar.
While other team leaders were exhausting every method to gain a slight advantage, he alone could arrange his lineup at will while still being guaranteed victory.
Soon, the Regional Battle Tournament began.
Aiko was the first to take the stage.
After this period of tempering, Aiko's progress was undoubtedly the greatest in the team, and her strength was now approaching the Leader Rank.
She only needed a single opportunity to complete her breakthrough.
Thus, as soon as she stepped up, Aiko performed with extreme ferocity, eliminating her opponent using only two Pokémon.
Although she ultimately failed to defeat the second opponent, she forced out the opponent's final Pokémon.
Kurata, who replaced Aiko, performed rather unremarkably.
He was soon defeated by the opponent's third contestant. However, he did manage to trade for two of the opponent's Pokémon and exhausted the stamina of the third, creating an opening for Basque.
Unfortunately, facing the opponent's captain who possessed Leader Rank strength, Basque could not bridge the gap in power and was eliminated.
At this point, the final battle of the Regional Battle Tournament unfolded.
In the contestant area, Matsunaga couldn't help but smile.
Defeating three opponents undoubtedly placed Kalos's performance at the top among all the Leagues.
Yet, Matsunaga felt this thought was somewhat pathetic. Since when was merely forcing out the opponent's final contestant considered a victory?
"Annihilape!"
The Poké Ball opened, and Gu Yuan sent out Annihilape.
"Go, Barbaracle!"
Facing a Leader Rank Annihilape, Bowen also released his own Leader Rank Pokémon.
Compared to the opponents Gu Yuan had met previously, Bowen actually possessed two Pokémon with Leader Rank strength. Barbaracle was just one of them; his ace was a Hydreigon.
If not for Gu Yuan, Bowen would certainly have been a standout star in this Regional Battle Tournament.
But now, all the limelight had been stolen by Gu Yuan.
In the next instant, Annihilape and Barbaracle collided.
Bowen's Barbaracle had the Ability Tough Claws, which increased the power of contact moves by 30%.
In a single exchange, Barbaracle's Razor Shell clearly held the upper hand. However, an Annihilape that has taken damage is undoubtedly even more terrifying.
"Go, Annihilape! Rage Fist!"
Following the previous clash, the power of Annihilape's Rage Fist had already exceeded one hundred.
"Barbaracle, quadruple Razor Shell!"
With no intention of dodging or repositioning, Bowen chose to strike back with a head-on collision.
Water surged over Barbaracle's four sharp claws, and a second later, it collided with the charging Annihilape.
Barbaracle first used a pair of claws with Razor Shell to block Annihilape's offensive.
Immediately after, the two free claws lunged out, leaving two wounds on Annihilape.
Stimulated by the pain, Annihilape's fighting spirit surged more violently, and the pressure it exerted on Barbaracle became even more apparent.
"Annihilape, continue with Rage Fist!"
"Barbaracle, quadruple Razor Shell!"
Amidst the commands, Annihilape and Barbaracle clashed again.
This time, even though Barbaracle used all its Razor Shell claws to collide with Annihilape's Rage Fist, it was still slightly inferior.
"Is this Annihilape's Rage Fist really this strong?"
"In that case, we'll use Shell Smash!"
As Bowen's command rang out, Barbaracle activated Shell Smash.
Shell Smash lowered its own defenses by one stage, but increased its offensive stats and speed by two stages.
Seizing this opportunity, Gu Yuan had Annihilape use Swords Dance.
Bowen did not have Barbaracle attack immediately. Instead, he used Shell Smash to push its offenses and speed to the limit.
Relying on its proficiency with Shell Smash plus its speed advantage, Barbaracle successfully used Shell Smash three times by the time Annihilape had used Swords Dance twice.
"Go, Barbaracle! Stone Edge!"
Sharp rocks burst forth, bombarding toward Annihilape.
"Annihilape, Rage Fist!"
As if the word "dodge" had been erased from its dictionary, Annihilape charged straight into the Stone Edge, destroying every rock in its path.
Even so, Annihilape was hit by many sharp stones and took significant damage.
Correspondingly, Annihilape's Rage Fist had reached its maximum potential.
With Barbaracle's current defense, it would likely lose its ability to battle and collapse after taking a single Rage Fist.
"Go, Barbaracle, quadruple Razor Shell!"
Following Bowen's command, Barbaracle and Annihilape engaged in a melee.
At this moment, Barbaracle and Annihilape were like two gunslingers; whoever found the opportunity first would end the battle in an instant.
Four sharp claws swung, but Annihilape skillfully blocked or dodged them.
Conversely, Annihilape struggled to find an opening to land its Rage Fist.
Neither Gu Yuan nor Bowen issued vocal commands at this point. Instead, they carefully looked for the opponent's flaws and helped their Pokémon watch for counterattacks.
Influenced by the battle, the entire stadium gradually fell silent, waiting for the final victor to emerge.
Suddenly, the eyes of both Annihilape and Barbaracle lit up simultaneously.