Every citizen in Shalour City stood frozen, staring blankly toward the enormous mushroom cloud rising from the city center.
The violent shockwave had knocked countless people flat onto the ground before they even had time to react.
Inside the Pokémon Center’s public battle arena—
The hundreds of spectators watching the battle had likewise been thrown off their feet.
Yet once the tremors finally subsided—
No one’s first instinct was to stand back up.
Instead—
Every pair of eyes immediately focused on the battlefield.
The smoke slowly began to clear.
Seeing this, Serena didn’t even bother picking up the beret that had fallen from her head.
She hurriedly grabbed the phone streaming the battle and aimed the camera toward the field.
Finally—
The dust completely settled.
There stood Gardevoir—
The signature Pokémon representing Champion Diantha.
The elegant Psychic queen staggered before collapsing to one knee.
Her once-pristine white gown had become stained with dirt and scorch marks.
She gasped heavily for breath, desperately struggling to remain conscious.
Even so—
She stubbornly lifted her eyes to face her opponent.
Standing opposite her—
The three-story-tall MetalGreymon raised its head ever so slightly.
Its gaze looked down upon Gardevoir from above.
The entire scene resembled something straight out of an adult fantasy anime—
Like a defeated princess from a fallen kingdom kneeling before the victorious general of an invading empire.
“Hm…”
“So Protect managed to block part of the impact.”
“But you still didn’t collapse after taking a Giga Destroyer?”
Noah looked at Gardevoir with genuine surprise.
“Well… That’s because I still haven’t completely mastered the power of the Ultimate level…”
After all—
Agumon had only learned how to evolve into its Ultimate form a couple of days ago.
“Then, MetalGreymon…”
“Use Nova—”
Thud!
Before Noah could finish issuing his second command—
The Psychic queen could no longer hold on.
After stumbling one final step—
Both knees slammed heavily against the ground.
Her eyes rolled back.
She immediately lost consciousness.
“Gardevoir!”
Diantha cried out in alarm as she rushed over to check on her partner.
Fortunately—
The Pokémon Center was literally right next door.
Less than thirty seconds later, Nurse Joy arrived together with Chansey to examine Gardevoir.
After confirming there were no life-threatening injuries—
Diantha finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Um…”
“I-I guess that’s the end of today’s battle.”
“Goodbye, everyone.”
Serena wasn’t a professional streamer like Iono.
Somewhat awkwardly, she waved toward the camera before ending the livestream.
However—
Even before the broadcast officially ended—
News about the battle had already exploded across every major website.
A Champion battle naturally attracted enormous attention.
A Champion losing?
That was an entirely different level.
Within moments—
Topics such as:
[Champion Diantha Defeated]
[Champion-Level Pokémon Professor]
[MetalGreymon]
rose straight to the top of search engines, battle forums, and online chat groups.
…
Meanwhile—
Inside the Elite Four offices at Indigo Plateau, headquarters of the Pokémon League—
Lorelei held the latest Rotom Phone in her hand as Rotom cheerfully read aloud.
“MetalGreymon.”
“Dragon and Steel-type Pokémon.”
“The Ultimate form of Agumon.”
“It possesses a brave and steadfast personality and admires courageous Trainers.”
“Fighting alongside it fills people with confidence.”
“Its Ability is Brave Charge.”
“Upon entering battle, the power of its Fire-type moves automatically increases by fifty percent.”
“Its signature moves are Giga Destroyer, launched from the missile ports in its chest…”
“Trident Arm, performed using its enormous mechanical left arm…”
“And the high-temperature energy attack…”
“Nova Flame.”
“The first recorded discoverer is Professor Noah of the Alola region.”
…
After listening to Rotom’s explanation—
Lorelei blinked thoughtfully behind her rimless glasses.
“Alola has certainly been lively lately.”
“They just keep discovering one brand-new Pokémon after another.”
Then—
Unable to resist stirring the pot—
She turned toward the usually stoic Lance and smiled.
“So…”
“As the man known as the Dragon Master…”
“What do you think of this completely new Dragon Pokémon?”
Although she and Lance had known each other for years—
And generally stood on the same side—
The situation was simply too amusing.
She couldn’t resist teasing him.
“Hmph.”
“It doesn’t compare to my Dragonite.”
The greatest show-off in the Pokémon World absolutely refused to admit that MetalGreymon looked incredibly cool.
No Dragon can ever look cooler than his Dragonite.
Dragonite is number one.
“When Noah visited Kanto with Professor Kukui three months ago…”
“He declared he would make Alola surpass Kanto.”
Lorelei continued.
“It seems he wasn’t simply making empty boasts.”
“Youth should certainly have dreams.”
Agatha spoke up.
“But when dreams become completely detached from reality…”
“That’s another matter.”
Even she had to admit—
The potential displayed by MetalGreymon was terrifying.
Without using her ace Gengar—
She wasn’t particularly confident she could defeat it.
But surpass Kanto?
If Noah had come from Sinnoh…
Or Hoenn…
Or even Galar…
Then perhaps there might have been a slim possibility.
But Alola?
That little backwater region?
Forget about producing one Champion and four Elite Four members—
They probably couldn’t even gather eight Gym Leaders.
And they wanted to surpass Kanto?
The idea was about as ridiculous as China’s men’s national soccer team winning the FIFA World Cup.