The day after the Spring Festival marked the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
At the top of the Trainer Association headquarters, the Elite Four meeting commenced as scheduled.
Damian, Victor Stone,Riley Lin, and John.
The four Elites sat positioned at the cardinal points around the conference table.
This time, Lillian Grant, vice president of the Trainer Association, presided over the meeting. However, unlike her absolute authority during the previous gym leader gathering, here she served more as a liaison, discussing matters with the four Elites on behalf of the Association.
The topics at hand concerned territorial disputes between nations.
In many cases, to avoid escalation at the national level, the Elite Four would intervene first, engaging opposing countries’ Elites in battles. The outcomes of these high-stakes duels could heavily influence diplomatic leverage in such disputes. Since conflict could erupt at any moment, the four Elites took turns being stationed in the capital year-round, always on standby.
Other responsibilities included top-level events requiring Elite supervision, international competitions demanding Elite presence, and routine exhibitions or demonstrations. All such matters needed mutual agreement between the Elite Four and the Trainer Association.
"Please sign this document, and the first half of today’s meeting will conclude here."
Roughly an hour later, Lillian Grant handed the document to Damian.
Once all four Elites had reviewed and signed it, the contents were considered unanimously approved.
After collecting the file, Lillian Grant added, "We’ve arranged the required battle venues. Coordinates have been sent to your phones. Elites, you may travel there independently or use the Association’s helicopter for transport."
With that, she departed, leaving the four Elites to begin the second half of their gathering: the battles to determine who would earn the right to challenge for the championship.
All four immediately checked their phones.
The coordinates had indeed arrived. John opened his map app and saw that the location wasn’t nearby, but rather on the ocean, over a hundred kilometers from the capital. Zooming in, he spotted several small islands scattered across the sea.
"I’ll go first," Damian said, standing up. He released a Pokeball, and a Dragapult materialized behind him.
In the next instant, Damian and Dragapult vanished, clearly using a move outside the standard Dragapult movepool.
"Damian is always in a hurry," Riley Lin chuckled. "Looks like he’s serious about getting a good ranking this time."
"Young people, always eager," Victor Stone replied with a warm smile.
"Well then, I’ll take my leave too." John gestured and snapped his fingers. Gardevoir appeared behind him instantly.
A flicker of purple light, and John and Gardevoir disappeared from the top floor of the Trainer Association.
"What do you say we let the youngsters go first and give them some space?" Riley Lin suggested.
"A good thought," Victor agreed, "but if I know them, they’ll be aiming to knock us out first, so they can have their grand finale showdown in peace."
With a small shake of his head and a smile, Victor began walking slowly toward the stairs. "No point keeping the kids waiting too long. I’ll be off as well."
Riley Lin nodded. Victor was right. Students trained under the same master rarely fought each other first.
"Then let’s head out."
A firebird descended from the clouds. The rightful source is novel·fire·net
After teleporting to the city outskirts, John mounted his Totem Salamence. Using Lugia in public would’ve been too conspicuous, he’d make front-page news before nightfall.
That trump card remained his secret.
Totem Salamence was fast. With Agility activated, it flew like a jet, and its terrifying stamina let it maintain high-speed flight for long periods.
Fifteen minutes later, John reached the target island.
It wasn’t a lone landmass, two other similar-sized islands lay nearby, each sporting a rough battle arena in the center. Ten robotic referees were already stationed there.
For Elite-level battles, normal fields weren’t enough, and human referees would be at serious risk. Hence, the Trainer Association used mechanical referees.
When John arrived, Damian was already waiting on one of the islands. John landed beside him. Neither spoke. No words were needed.
Soon after, Victor Stone and Riley Lin arrived as well.
"How do we want to match up?" Riley asked. " Victor and I against you two?"
"No. Let’s stick to the old rules," Damian said firmly.
Victor plucked a branch from a tree, snapped it into four pieces, two long, two short, then shuffled them behind his back. "Draw lots. Matching lengths fight each other."
"You three draw. I’ll take the last one."
Ah, so this was an old Elite Four tradition?
While John was still processing this, Damian and Riley had already stepped up and drawn their branches.
Before John even moved, the result was obvious, Damian and Riley both drew the long ones. Two short sticks remained. No need to keep drawing.
The matchups were set: Damian vs. Riley Lin, and John vs. Victor Stone.
"This island will be the final battlefield for the winners," Victor said, gesturing to the ground beneath them. Then he pointed eastward. "Young John, let’s head over there for our match."
"Understood." John mounted Salamence again and flew east toward the designated island.
Damian and Riley exchanged a glance before flying westward.
These Elite Four duels had no audience, and they happened simultaneously.
They were far more intense than gym leader ranking matches. Gym battles gave participants a few days to rest. Not here. The winner of the first duel would return immediately for the next.
Two Elite-level battles, back to back.
This wasn’t just a test of raw power, it was a test of team depth and endurance.