The final was scheduled for two days later.
After John and Harrison scored crushing victories, the third winner chose to forfeit. It wasn’t easy for him to come this far, his Pokemon’s physical strength and his own body simply couldn’t support continuing. After confirming his next opponent would be Harrison, he decisively chose discretion over valor.
Just like that, they fast-forwarded straight to the finals of the Gym Leaders qualifying round!
It was almost comical, originally the sixteen Gym Leaders had to battle through at least four rounds, but now they’d compressed everything into three rounds, skipping an entire round of battles.
John silently thanked that contestant. Otherwise, in a three-player semifinal, Harrison, as last year’s winner, would have played one less round than him.
"I’ll be able to challenge Harrison only after I’ve settled things with another Gym Leader," John had thought, but that hurdle had conveniently removed itself.
During the two days of preparation for the final, John and Harrison didn’t cross paths.
Both trainers were making their own preparations, strategies forming like storm clouds before a legendary battle.
On the second day, Craig called John with just one sentence: "Teach that hotshot a lesson. Let him know what it means that there are always stronger trainers out there, and there’s always a higher mountain to climb!"
John could only return a wry smile.
He suspected Harrison had already reflected deeply on the concept of "there are always stronger trainers." After all, facing a challenger nearly fifteen years his junior as his rival? Harrison surely recognized the talent gap between them.
Until they stepped onto the battlefield.
Only then did Harrison adopt his battle posture, his voice booming across the arena. "Student, this battle is nothing like our match at the Academy earlier this year. This senior will not hold back! Victory in the Gym qualification tournament is my destiny!"
John wasn’t intimidated. "Senior, you’ve challenged the Elite Four several times already. Such a rare opportunity, why not let me have a try?!"
In their race to reach Elite Four status, neither John nor Harrison would surrender this opportunity. Miss this chance, and they’d wait another full year!
It sounded almost like some discount store’s promotional slogan: "Elite Four Challenge! Limited time offer! Don’t miss out!"
Harrison especially felt the pressure mounting.
John’s momentum seemed unstoppable, his growth rate beyond imagination, his rise inevitable.
It was increasingly likely that in the coming years, the entire Tournament structure would face unprecedented pressure from John’s meteoric rise.
If Harrison couldn’t win this year, if he couldn’t secure the chance to battle the Elite Four, or if he lost to them again, then from next year onward, until John himself became Elite Four, Harrison might never get another opportunity!
Therefore, Harrison’s mission was clear: defeat John while he was still developing, before he fully matured as a trainer! Win the opportunity to challenge the Elite Four and achieve that coveted position this year!
The pressure might be crushing, but with or without John’s presence...wasn’t this always his goal?
This year, his target was Elite Four status!
Harrison’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit!
The arena owner and senior officials of the Trainer Association watched with intense focus.
This promised to be the strongest battle possible below Elite Four level.
Both trainers took their positions, and the referee immediately announced the rules.
"The match about to begin is the final of the Gym Leader Ranking Tournament. Harrison from the Icefall Gym will face John from the Grassmere Gym. The rules are standard wild battles. Six Pokemon available per trainer. The battle ends when one side surrenders, all Pokemon lose combat ability, or when a trainer himself becomes unable to continue!"
"Remember, gentlemen, no False Swipe to the trainer," the referee warned, then raised his hand. "The venue is random, and the battle begins!"
On the side of the battlefield, the icon below the stadium flickered rapidly, finally settling on a white symbol.
To be precise, it was an icon of a white floor, the standard battlefield.
No environmental advantages to exploit. The two trainers would have to rely solely on their Pokemon’s raw power.
The referee didn’t hesitate, raising his hand to announce, "Begin!"
John and Harrison simultaneously threw their Pokeballs.
John started with two Pokemon: Gardevoir and Greninja.
Against his senior, he had no intention of playing coy, he deployed his main force immediately for a serious battle!
Craig had already cracked his Spiral Aura Sphere technique, so there was no need to hide behind that strategy anymore.
Harrison also released two Pokemon.
One was an Ice-type figure, Jynx.
With her elegant yet eerie appearance, she floated onto the field with her arms gracefully extended, psychic energy swirling around her.
As an Ice and Psychic-type Pokémon, Jynx was Harrison’s trump card, the only Psychic Pokémon in his lineup, his life insurance policy.
The second Pokémon was Kommo-o, a Dragon-type Pokémon covered in golden scales, also possessing the Fighting type.
Unless Harrison had a second Kommo-o that could serve as his main force, John recalled that its Ability should be Bulletproof.
The effect of the Bulletproof Ability was simple: immunity to damage from ball and bullet moves.
In other words, the Aura Sphere attack of Hariyama would be completely ineffective against Kommo-o.
While Craig had used the combination of Parting Shot plus Z-moves to counter John’s Spiral Aura Sphere, Harrison, with his Bulletproof Ability Kommo-o, probably never even considered needing to crack that technique.
Because he didn’t need to at all!
Fortunately, John hadn’t sent out Hariyama either.
However, his Water/Dark-type Greninja would still be at a disadvantage against Kommo-o.
"Greninja, Evolution!" John suddenly commanded.
Out of nowhere, a stream of water emerged from the air and wrapped around Greninja, enveloping it completely.
When the water exploded outward, Greninja appeared in a form resembling John himself, with a massive Water Shuriken spinning on its back!
The audience rose to their feet in unison, eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
"Wait, what did he just say? Is that an MEGA evolution?" One Gym Leader couldn’t believe his eyes or ears.
"Does Greninja even have a MEGA evolution?" A high-ranking Trainer Association official hurriedly pulled out his phone to check the latest data on Greninja, but he scrolled through page after page without finding any information about Greninja’s MEGA evolution.
"He said Evolution, but where’s the Mega Stone?" Another Gym Leader spotted the inconsistency.