Chapter 328 Advancing to the Masters Eight!

"How is that possible?"

Alain's expression changed drastically when he saw that even in a head-on clash, his Charizard had been overpowered by Aiden's Charizard.

Up in the stands, Leon narrowed his eyes as he evaluated the two Charizard battling below.

"If that's all they've got, then the one who wins will still be us, Charizard."

As if responding to Leon's words, the Poké Ball containing his Charizard trembled faintly.

...

"Charizard, use Blast Burn!"

At Aiden's command, Mega Charizard Y immediately let out a mighty roar.

An enormous sphere of blazing fire rapidly gathered in front of it!

Then, under Mega Charizard Y's control, the massive fireball shot straight toward Alain's Mega Charizard X.

The instant it drew close—

BOOM!

The fireball exploded!

Flames swept across the entire battlefield.

With two Charizard fighting at full power, wave after wave of scorching heat rolled through the stadium.

It was clearly the middle of winter, yet the temperature had risen so much that spectators could have worn short sleeves and still complained about the heat!

After taking the devastating attack head-on, Alain's Charizard could no longer maintain its altitude and began falling from the sky.

"Now!"

"Finish it, Charizard!"

"Use Dragon Rush!"

A gigantic dragon-shaped aura manifested around Mega Charizard Y.

Wrapped in overwhelming Dragon-type energy, it plunged toward Mega Charizard X!

Seeing this, Alain clenched his teeth.

"Charizard, hang in there!"

"We'll use Dragon Rush too!"

Mega Charizard X roared and forced itself forward.

The two Mega-Evolved Charizard collided head-on!

BOOM!

This time, however, there was no stalemate.

Mega Charizard X was sent flying by Mega Charizard Y!

Its body crashed across the battlefield before slamming violently into the reinforced barrier surrounding the arena.

Mega Charizard X struggled to rise.

But no matter how hard it tried, its body refused to respond.

A few moments later, the light of Mega Evolution faded.

It reverted to its normal form and completely lost consciousness.

Ding! Charizard defeated Charizard.

Experience gained: 17,635.

Level unchanged!

Hearing the system notification, Aiden understood.

Crossing the threshold into the Champion Master level truly wasn't easy.

His Pokémon would still need time to accumulate strength.

It made him wonder—

Just how had Leon's Charizard managed to take that final step?

While Aiden was thinking, the referee raised his flag and announced the victor of the fourth match.

"Mega Charizard X is unable to battle!"

"Mega Charizard Y wins!"

"All six of Alain's Pokémon are unable to continue!"

"Therefore, the winner of this World Coronation Tournament match, and the Trainer advancing to the Masters Eight, is—Champion Aiden!"

The moment the result was announced, the fourth seat among the Masters Eight was officially decided!

The Champion of the Hoenn Pokémon League—

Aiden!

He had successfully entered the Masters Eight!

The entire stadium erupted.

"Aiden!"

"Aiden!"

"Aiden!"

As for the defeated Alain, hardly anyone paid him much attention anymore.

After all—

This was a world that remembered the victor.

At present, the four Trainers who had secured places in the Masters Eight were:

Leon, Champion of Galar.

N, the dark horse from Unova.

Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh.

And Aiden, Champion of Hoenn!

Four matches still remained before the complete Masters Eight roster could be determined.

Kanto, which had originally received tremendous expectations from fans around the world, was now in a precarious position.

Brandon had been eliminated decisively.

Lorelei had narrowly lost to Cynthia.

Although her defeat had been regrettable, the fact remained—

Only one Kanto representative still had a chance of entering the Masters Eight.

Lance!

And Lance's opponent was none other than Galar's Dragon-type specialist, the Dragon Gym Leader Raihan.

If even Lance lost...

That would be truly embarrassing for Kanto.

...

After winning his match, Aiden took some time to relax.

With Lorelei, Cynthia, Joy, and the others accompanying him, he spent a very pleasant evening.

On the third day, the next round of battles began.

The morning match featured the Champion of the Unova Pokémon League, Alder—

Against the Vice Champion of the Hoenn Pokémon League, Steven!

This was another highly anticipated matchup.

Both had served as regional Champions.

One had begun to decline from his prime.

The other remained at his peak, though he had once been defeated easily by Aiden.

Therefore, the outcome between the two wasn't entirely obvious.

As soon as the first battle began, Steven took the initiative.

He immediately sent out his ace—

Shiny Metagross!

And without the slightest hesitation, he activated Mega Evolution!

Seeing Steven open with such overwhelming force, Alder could only smile helplessly.

"You really aren't planning to give this old man any room to breathe, are you?"

Alder had held the position of Unova Champion for decades.

There was no question about how powerful he had once been.

Unfortunately, he was no longer at his peak.

Otherwise, there would almost certainly have been a place for him among the Masters Eight.

Alder's first Pokémon was Bouffalant, one of his signature partners.

But against Steven's Shiny Mega Metagross—

It didn't even last three exchanges!

Bouffalant was swiftly defeated.

Steven's ace then continued its rampage.

One against three!

After Bouffalant, both Accelgor and Braviary were defeated in succession.

With that, the first half of the battle ended astonishingly quickly.

When the second half began, Steven chose not to send Mega Metagross back out.

Instead, he sent out Aggron.

Its opponent was Alder's Escavalier.

After an intense exchange, Aggron successfully defeated Escavalier!

Alder's fifth Pokémon was Conkeldurr.

With its Fighting-type advantage, Conkeldurr finally brought Aggron down.

Steven responded by sending out Skarmory.

Skarmory successfully defeated Conkeldurr.

And just like that—

Alder was down to his final Pokémon.

His ace.

Druddigon!

There was no questioning Druddigon's strength.

Although Alder himself had declined from his prime, his ace Druddigon had lost virtually none of its former power.

Dragon-type Pokémon possessed exceptionally long lifespans.

Time was something they had in abundance.

And Druddigon proved exactly why it was Alder's ace.

It defeated Steven's Skarmory.

Then it defeated Armaldo as well!

Unfortunately for Alder, that was as far as it could go.

Steven sent his Shiny Metagross back onto the battlefield.

And in the end—

Druddigon fell before it.

Alder's final Pokémon was defeated!

The fifth seat of the Masters Eight had now been claimed.

Its owner was none other than—

Steven Stone, Vice Champion of the Hoenn Pokémon League!

Although Alder had unfortunately been eliminated, Unova still had N among the Masters Eight.

At the very least, the region had secured one seat and preserved its pride.

Then came the afternoon match.

For Kanto, this was the final battle that could determine whether the region would have any representation among the Masters Eight at all.

Naturally, Lance was under tremendous pressure.

His opponent, Galar Gym Leader Raihan, had been ranked eighth among the Masters Eight in the original competition.

Aiden also remembered that Lance had only lost to Leon back then.

In other words, Lance should have been around second place.

Second versus eighth?

This should be a safe win!

And so—

A battle between two of the strongest Dragon-type specialists in the world officially began!

The moment the battle started, Lance sent out his ace Pokémon.

Kanto's representative pseudo-legendary—

Dragonite!

Facing Lance's opening move, Raihan responded by sending out his own ace.

"Go, Goodra!"

With a flash of light, the powerful Dragon-type Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.

Dragonite and Goodra stared each other down.

The battle of the Dragons—

Had begun!

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