"The winner of this battle is Rex from the Hoenn region! With that, our top three competitors have all been decided!"
The referee in a black formal suit shouted excitedly after confirming that Gallade was completely unable to continue.
Next, Rex and the others would get some time to rest—because it was now time for the two losing semifinalists to compete for fourth place.
Sterling, naturally, did not participate in the fourth-place match. After all, he had only stepped in as a temporary contestant.
The fourth-place spot was claimed by Sabiel, who this time sent out a Charizard. Evidently, his Metagross was still too battered from its fight against Gardevoir and couldn't fight at full strength.
But Sabiel's Charizard was also formidable, and his opponent—a middle-aged man—was swiftly defeated.
The man could only sigh. In his last match, his Cryogonal lost to Marlin's Dragonite, and now his Magnezone was beaten by Charizard. Even though Charizard isn't a Dragon type, he still felt cursed by dragons and vowed to start training some Fairy-types from now on.
With the top four decided, all of them now had the right to challenge a Champion or a member of the Elite Four—but each person only got one challenge. So only the first-place winner would get the freedom to choose whom they challenged. Fourth-place Sabiel would have to challenge whoever was left.
If Rex wanted to challenge Cynthia, he would have to win first place to guarantee that opportunity.
After all, there were only two Champions present—Cynthia and Diantha—and the second-place winner would surely choose one of them first.
Challenging a Champion and challenging an Elite Four member were very different. Given the chance, any trainer would aim for a Champion—even if their chances of winning were slim. At the very least, it would be a chance to make a name for themselves.
Since only three competitors remained, Caitlin decided they would battle round-robin. Rankings would be determined based on the number of wins.
To ensure the Pokémon had time to recover, the matches would be held in the afternoon.
Rex didn't mind—his Pokémon were still in good condition. A few energy cubes and some rest were all they needed.
Marlin and Morane, on the other hand, weren't as fortunate. Their main battlers had used up a lot of stamina and needed proper recovery time to get back to full strength.
At least they hadn't taken any serious injuries—otherwise, it would have taken days to get back into fighting shape. Unless, of course, they had healing abilities like Rex's.
After a relaxed afternoon, the final battles were ready to begin.
Rex and Marlin would fight first. The winner would go on to face Morane.
Then, Morane would face the loser of the first match. After those three rounds, the final rankings would be determined.
"Go, Heracross!"
"Let's go, Dragonite!"
After a solid afternoon of rest, both Rex's Heracross and Marlin's Dragonite were back in peak condition.
Marlin was relieved that Rex didn't send out Machamp. Its terrifying power was well-known, and he had no confidence that his Dragonite could take it down.
But against Heracross, Marlin felt his odds had improved significantly.
"Dragonite, use Hurricane!"
Flying-type Hurricane was a devastating move against Heracross. If it landed, it would deal massive damage.
But Heracross remained calm. Just before the whirling wind could hit, it dug into the ground with its forearms and vanished.
Against a flying Pokémon like Dragonite, Heracross was at a clear disadvantage—but thanks to Dig, that disadvantage was significantly reduced.
Unless Dragonite came down and used Earthquake, it had no way of reaching Heracross underground. But if it did, it would leave itself open to ambush.
The rest of the match played out in simple but effective fashion. Heracross would periodically burst from the ground, strike, then retreat before Dragonite could counter.
"Damn it!"
Marlin was growing frustrated. He had no answer to Heracross's hit-and-run tactics.
Rex, meanwhile, wasn't even sure how Heracross had gotten so good at Dig. Something must have happened back on the farm.
"Screw it. Dragonite, Earthquake!"
Marlin knew he couldn't let Dragonite keep wasting energy. He gave the order.
With a flap of its small wings, Dragonite descended to the ground.
"Now's our chance—Heracross, Megahorn!"
Rex saw the opening and gave the call.
Heracross erupted from the ground just behind Dragonite. Its glowing horn charged straight at its target.
"Dragonite, Fire Punch!"
Marlin reacted quickly, hoping to counter.
But Heracross's Megahorn was too fast, too strong. Dragonite's hurried Fire Punch couldn't stop it—it was sent flying.
Not about to waste the opportunity, Heracross followed up with Aerial Ace, striking Dragonite's wings and grounding it for good.
Dragonite crashed hard and could not get up again.
With that win, Rex only needed to defeat Morane to claim the event's championship and secure his match against Cynthia.
Unlike their private battle, Cynthia would go all-out in this official capacity, defending her title as Champion.
That was exactly what Rex wanted—he needed to know just how far his boss Staraptor still had to go to catch up to Garchomp.
After a ten-minute break, Rex returned to the field—facing Morane, who looked completely focused.
Rex guessed she would use Gardevoir again. And so, to keep Staraptor fresh for Cynthia, he sent out Machamp—even knowing it was at a type disadvantage.
Sure enough, Morane's expression brightened the moment she saw Machamp.
Machamp was strong, yes—but against her Gardevoir's typing, Morane believed she had the edge.
She had no intention of letting Gardevoir get close. Her strategy was to use Teleport to constantly maintain distance and wear Machamp down with ranged attacks.