"Each generation surpasses the last..." Victor couldn’t help but sigh, feeling like an old wave being pushed back by the tide. There was no point denying it, age was catching up with him.
He remembered the last time he’d felt this humbled was during his battle against the current Champion, Magnus Vaelstrum.
Maybe... maybe it was time to retire. Let this be the era of the young. Better to step down gracefully than risk losing everything in his final years.
"Well fought," John said, offering Victor a respectful bow.
The two trainers began recalling their Pokemon. Then they mounted their flying partners and headed toward the island where Damian and Riley Lin were still locked in combat.
As they drew closer, John noticed something strange about the sky above.
Thick, dark clouds clustered like congealed sludge across the heavens, but directly above the island, a perfect gap had been torn through the overcast, bright sunlight streaming down like a spotlight.
Looking down at the battlefield from their aerial vantage point, John could see the entire island wrapped in a dense layer of black energy that made it impossible to see clearly. But crimson flames flickered ominously through the darkness, burning with unnatural persistence.
The forces of fire and ghost were clashing violently on the island below, generating energy fluctuations that made John’s chest tighten with their intensity.
While John and Victor’s wild battle had ended quickly, the contest between Riley Lin and Damian was clearly still raging at its peak.
John signaled for Gyarados not to fly any closer.
"Where did Riley Lin get Moltres’ flames?" Victor muttered, studying the persistent fires below.
"Moltres’ flames?" John asked curiously.
"Yeah, I spent several years working alongside Moltres, so I know something about its fire. Those flames that seem to burn forever, that can never be extinguished, those are Moltres’ flames," Victor explained, pointing to the relentless fires dancing through the darkness below.
"If your second battle is against Riley Lin, be careful of that fire. Once it touches you, even a little bit, it won’t go out until you lose consciousness."
John nodded, filing away this crucial intelligence. Moltres’ flames were apparently inextinguishable, good to know.
A thunderous cry echoed across the sky.
Immediately after, a massive black figure rose from within the dark energy shroud.
From their distant position in the sky, John and Victor could see clearly. The shadow resembled a mighty general wielding a massive guandao blade, slashing forward with devastating force.
The entire island shuddered under the impact.
"Has your senior developed Night Shade to this extent? Changing both the appearance and attack method of the move?" Victor marveled at what he was witnessing.
John had seen this technique in recordings of his senior’s previous battles.
The enhanced and advanced version of Night Shade, his senior called it "Phantom General."
To John, it looked like something straight out of an anime, summoning a giant spectral warrior to attack. Like a Stand user or Susanoo.
However, John had never seen it manifested at such enormous size or with such impressive combat choreography.
Once that ultimate technique was unleashed, it seemed the battle had reached its conclusion.
After a few minutes, the darkness collapsed, revealing the devastated island below.
The landmass was in complete ruins. Beyond the shattered ground, the confrontation between two Elite trainers had literally carved several meters off the island’s elevation.
Trees had been reduced to ash, and even after the battle’s end, the flames continued burning tirelessly, sending white smoke curling skyward.
In the center of the island, Riley and Damian stood facing each other. Before them, two Pokemon remained in their final standoff.
Damian’s Pokemon was the Mega Evolution form of his ace, Gengar, while Riley’s was an actual, living Moltres!
"Moltres? Riley captured a Moltres? When did that happen?" Victor’s voice cracked with disbelief.
John felt only mild curiosity. What was the big deal about Moltres? He’d already tamed Lugia, and if that Zapdos hadn’t fled so quickly, he probably would have captured it too.
With a soft landing sound, Moltres rolled its eyes and collapsed weakly to the ground, having lost its ability to fight.
A pitch-black but still functional robotic referee announced the result with mechanical precision.
"Moltres is unable to battle. Gengar wins. Trainer Riley Lin has no Pokemon remaining. The victor is—"
"Riley Lin’s own strength plus a Moltres, and he still lost to Damian. Just how much has Damian improved during this period?" Victor took a thoughtful puff from his pipe.
On the battlefield below, Riley Lin was already shaking hands with Damian. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on n0velfire.net
"Thank you for the excellent battle."
Damian looked up at John and Victor circling overhead.
"You guys finished already? So who won?"
"I managed to edge out a narrow victory," John replied modestly.
"Come on, John! That kind of face-saving modesty isn’t fooling anyone," Victor called down with a bearded scowl, descending from the sky to complain to Riley Lin and Damian about John’s "atrocities."
"I had a wild battle with John, and it turned into trainer versus trainer combat, but he didn’t tell me that his Pokemon were all six-on-six monsters. I got completely dominated. In the end, six Pokemon ganged up on me and forced me to surrender!"
Damian and Riley Lin suddenly looked surprised.
They weren’t shocked that John had been able to defeat Victor. Having secured an Elite Four position, John had already proven himself in the battle against Damon Drake. But if they were talking about human-versus-human combat defeating Victor...
Could twenty-year-old John already be a martial arts master?
"The future really does belong to you young people," Riley Lin said with feeling. He and Victor were in their fifties and seventies respectively, yet they’d both been thoroughly beaten by juniors in their twenties and thirties.
"Well then, let’s head to the central island to start the next battle," Damian said, clearly eager to face John himself.
"Brother, shouldn’t you rest first?" John suggested. "My battle with the old timer barely drained any resources."
The confrontation between himself and Victor had ended relatively quickly. John pulled out his Gameboy and checked, only two of his six Pokemon had lost some HP, and a basic Potion topped them right back up.
"It’s fine, my main Pokemon didn’t take too much damage. We can start the next duel immediately," Damian waved off the concern.
"Why do both of you brothers have to phrase things so irritatingly?" Riley Lin complained, feeling like neither he nor Victor had managed to force their opponents to show their true strength.
"Exactly right," Victor grumbled around his pipe stem, equally displeased.
Damian and John exchanged glances and couldn’t help but smile wryly.
They were just telling the truth.
"How about... we rest for thirty minutes? Have some afternoon tea before we start?" John suggested diplomatically.