Chapter 329 - 329: The Masters Eight Are Decided! The Final Lineup!

The sixth match was a showdown between two of the world's foremost Dragon-type specialists.

Representing Kanto was its Champion and heir to the Blackthorn dragon clan—

Lance!

His opening Pokémon was Kanto's signature pseudo-legendary, Dragonite!

Meanwhile, Galar's Dragon-type Gym Leader Raihan answered with a pseudo-legendary of his own—

Goodra!

And with that, a battle to determine the superior Dragon Master officially began!

After an intense exchange, Lance's ace Dragonite ultimately proved stronger.

Drawing upon the experience accumulated through countless battles, Dragonite forcibly overwhelmed Goodra and defeated Raihan's first Pokémon!

Seeing this, Raihan immediately sent out his second Pokémon—

Flygon!

This time, however, Dragonite was unable to continue its winning streak.

After a fierce battle, Dragonite and Flygon knocked each other out!

Seeing Lance's ace go down after defeating only two opponents, Aiden couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It seemed that Lance, who had once been hailed as one of the strongest Pokémon Trainers around, really did seem somewhat less overwhelming when placed on the world stage.

Raihan then sent out his own ace—

Duraludon!

And immediately activated Gigantamax!

Facing the gigantic Duraludon, Lance responded by sending out his Shiny Gyarados and activating Mega Evolution.

Mega Gyarados versus Gigantamax Duraludon!

The two exchanged devastating attacks before ultimately bringing each other down.

With that, Lance temporarily took the lead by one Pokémon.

Realizing he had gained the advantage, Lance finally relaxed slightly.

When the second half began, Raihan sent out Dragapult.

With the formidable strength of the pseudo-legendary, Dragapult quickly defeated Lance's Altaria!

Lance responded with—

Charizard!

His Charizard fought ferociously and successfully defeated Raihan's Dragapult.

That surprised quite a few people.

Lance actually had a Charizard too?

Sure enough, Lance, you're obviously not a Dragon-type specialist at all.

You're a Flying-type specialist!

Thinking about the original timeline, quite a few members of the Masters Eight had Charizard.

Lance, Alain, Ash, Leon—

And now Aiden had one as well!

Charizard truly deserved its reputation as one of the most popular starter Pokémon.

As the battle reached its climax, Lance activated the power of Viridian Forest, restoring Charizard's stamina and allowing it to continue fighting!

With that, Lance completely seized the advantage.

In the end, he successfully defeated Raihan!

Lance advanced to the Masters Eight!

And so, the sixth member of the Masters Eight was officially decided—

Kanto League Champion, Lance!

Considering Lorelei was strong enough to defeat Lance herself, though...

It probably wouldn't have been impossible for Kanto to send someone else into the Masters Eight instead.

Still, after the third day's matches concluded, the people of Kanto finally breathed sighs of relief.

No matter what, someone from their region had made it!

Otherwise, if the headquarters of the Pokémon League failed to send even a single Trainer into the Masters Eight, that would have been downright humiliating.

People online had constantly claimed that Kanto, as the home of the Pokémon League headquarters, naturally possessed the greatest overall strength.

Judging from the sheer number of Kanto Trainers who had originally reached the Ultra Class, that certainly seemed true.

But now that the competition had reached the Masters Eight qualifiers...

Hoenn appeared to be the strongest region instead!

...

On the morning of the fourth day, Kanto's spectators continued cheering for their Ice-type Elite Four member, Pryce.

Meanwhile, the people of Kalos placed their hopes on their beautiful regional Champion.

The seventh match was—

Kanto Elite Four Pryce versus Kalos Champion Diantha!

Pryce had once even been Lorelei's teacher.

After all, both were renowned specialists in Ice-type Pokémon.

Of course, Pryce's counterpart in the manga was absurdly powerful.

Perhaps some of that had carried over into this timeline as well, because the strength Pryce displayed here absolutely could not be underestimated.

Unfortunately, against Diantha, the difference between an Elite Four member and a regional Champion ultimately became apparent.

Pryce's two strongest Pokémon, Piloswine and Lapras, were both defeated with relative ease by Diantha's Mega Gardevoir.

More importantly, Pryce was the only Trainer remaining at this stage of the tournament who possessed none of the modern battle-enhancing techniques.

Mega Evolution.

Dynamax.

Z-Moves.

He had none of them!

And yet, he had still fought his way this far.

That alone was enough to demonstrate Pryce's strength.

Ultimately, Diantha defeated all six of Pryce's Pokémon while still having five Pokémon remaining.

She successfully advanced to the Masters Eight!

After the match, Pryce looked at the younger generation of Trainers standing proudly on the world stage.

A smile gradually appeared on the old man's face.

That very night, he left Sinnoh and returned to Kanto.

This era...

No longer needed an old man like him to stand guard.

...

And finally—

The last qualifying match arrived!

This battle would decide whether Paldea, the newest region to join the Pokémon League, possessed the stronger Champion...

Or whether Hoenn's veteran former Champion Wallace would prevail!

If Geeta won, then Alola would become the only region without a representative in the Masters Eight.

But if Wallace won—

Hoenn would occupy three of the eight seats!

Meanwhile, both Alola and Paldea would be completely shut out.

Soon, the highly anticipated final match officially began!

Paldea Champion Geeta versus Hoenn Vice Champion Wallace!

Right from the beginning, Wallace sent out Gyarados.

And immediately—

Mega Evolution!

Mega Gyarados appeared on the battlefield!

Geeta, as the Champion of Paldea, naturally possessed a special battle-enhancing technique unique to her own region as well.

Terastallization!

Terastallization was a phenomenon originating from the power of Terapagos.

In battle, it could alter a Pokémon's defensive typing while greatly enhancing its capabilities.

Facing Wallace's Dark- and Water-type Mega Gyarados, Geeta had already prepared accordingly.

She sent out her ace—

Kingambit!

And activated its Steel-type Terastallization!

Terastallization could also strengthen a Pokémon's offensive capabilities, making its attacks considerably more powerful.

Normally, Terastallization required energy to be recharged between uses, though as Champion, Geeta seemingly wasn't troubled by such restrictions.

After an intense battle—

Mega Gyarados and Terastallized Kingambit knocked each other out!

But for Wallace, Gyarados was merely his second-strongest Pokémon.

His true ace had always been—

Milotic!

What followed was a succession of fierce battles.

Relying on Milotic's tremendous strength, Wallace defeated Geeta's Avalugg and Glimmora one after another!

During the second half of the match, Milotic finally suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Dragapult.

However, the Dragon-type pseudo-legendary was then defeated by Wallace's Ludicolo!

At that point, Wallace had firmly seized control of the battle.

And ultimately—

At the cost of five of his own Pokémon, Wallace defeated Paldea Champion Geeta!

The final seat had been claimed!

Wallace successfully advanced to the Masters Eight!

With this result, the Hoenn Pokémon League instantly became the center of attention throughout the world.

Three Champion-level Trainers from the same region had all entered the Masters Eight!

The other regions could only marvel at Hoenn's extraordinary strength.

And with the conclusion of the final qualifying match—

The inaugural Masters Eight lineup was officially complete!

Galar League Champion — Leon!

Unova's Dark Horse Trainer — N!

Sinnoh League Champion — Cynthia!

Hoenn League Champion — Aiden!

Hoenn League Vice Champion — Steven Stone!

Kanto League Champion — Lance!

Kalos League Champion — Diantha!

Hoenn League Vice Champion — Wallace!

Eight Trainers.

Eight of the strongest competitors standing at the summit of the entire Pokémon world.

And among those eight—

Hoenn alone occupied three seats!

...

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