"How did you come all the way from the Galar region?"
Seeing Leon's bewildered expression, Johan couldn't help but ask.
Leon looked at the massive Giratina, then at Johan sitting on Giratina's back with Gengar, marveling at Johan's powerful "network" - truly worthy of being the legendary "Legendary Pokémon Man."
Just getting lost once had summoned a legendary Pokémon - this was...
Too enthusiastic, too much attention!
After hearing Johan's question, Leon gradually came to his senses:
"Last time I couldn't make it to your 'Champion's Road' and watched it with my master. This time for Miss Cynthia's 'Champion's Road,' I wanted to experience it on-site..."
The Galar region didn't have a "Champion's Road" system, because unlike other regions, Galar didn't have Elite Four positions - Chairman Rose could be said to hold all the power.
However, this didn't prevent Leon from wanting to strive for the championship.
To become Galar League Champion, one needed to win the "Champion Cup" and earn the right to challenge the current Champion.
So Leon was not only preparing for the "Pokémon World Championships" but also for Galar region's "Champion Cup."
Thus, he came to Sinnoh to learn.
On one hand, to observe how Cynthia challenged the Elite Four, and on the other, hoping to battle her once after Cynthia's "Champion's Road" ended.
Johan said with some realization:
"Your 'Champion Cup' is about to start too, right?"
Leon had become famous at a young age, making his mark in the Galar region early on. At just ten years old, he had won the Galar League championship.
He received focused training from Rose.
He rarely had any defeats.
Even the genius "Weather Boy" Raihan was completely suppressed when facing Leon.
The "Pokémon World Championships" and "Champion Cup" actually didn't conflict.
Because the Galar League's Champion position was currently vacant - former Champion Peony had already stepped down.
So if one could win the "Champion Cup," they could directly become Galar League Champion.
And as a League Champion, one would directly receive "Master Ball Tier" ranking in the "Pokémon World Championships"!
This was also why so many people recently started challenging for championships and "Champion's Roads."
Of course, even getting "Master Ball Tier" ranking didn't mean direct entry to the final rounds of the "Pokémon World Championships" - those who fought their way up from below could still challenge "Master Ball Tier" members in so-called "Master Replacement Battles."
Leon nodded, "They're all very strong opponents."
Although the Galar League didn't have Elite Four, that didn't mean there weren't Elite Four-level strong trainers.
Actually, quite a few Gym Leaders had Elite Four or near-Elite Four strength.
For example, Leon's rival Raihan, plus Circhester Gym Leader Melony, and Spikemuth Gym Leader Piers.
Even Ballonlea Gym Leader Opal.
This was a veteran strong trainer who had competed with Leon's master Mustard for the championship when young. Although she lost, like Kanto League's Elite Four Agatha... the older they got, the more formidable they became, and her strength hadn't declined.
"You can do it."
Johan was quite confident in Leon's strength.
After all, he was called the "strongest Champion" - this wasn't just from Rose's boasting, but required real hard strength.
Hearing this, Leon smiled. Actually, he was also full of confidence in himself.
"Let's go." Johan waved his hand, "We'll take you there."
Leon looked at the "fierce" Giratina and laughed awkwardly: "Jo-Johan, we can just follow behind..."
He didn't dare ride on Giratina's back - couldn't he see Giratina's man-eating glare?
"That works too. Let's go."
Cynthia's "Champion's Road" was proceeding quite smoothly.
With Garchomp protecting her all the way, the oppressive aura it released - that domineering, tyrannical, fierce presence typical of Dragon-type Pokémon - meant there really weren't many wild Pokémon on the "Champion's Road" who dared to cause trouble.
But this didn't mean it would be completely smooth sailing.
Among the wild Pokémon on the "Champion's Road," there were always some with very powerful strength. Garchomp's behavior was intimidating to weaker wild Pokémon, but to those with considerable strength, it was provocation.
So either there were no battles, or when battles occurred, they were mostly against powerful wild Pokémon that could cause Cynthia some trouble.
Fortunately, Cynthia's own strength was sufficient.
Moreover, she had Pokémon like Milotic and Roserade that could serve as "medics," so her condition was maintained fairly well.
Two days.
She successfully reached the "Elite Four Fortress."
Although it took a bit longer than Johan, in the history of many "Champion's Roads," this could still be considered very fast.
And today, under everyone's attention, she would challenge the four Sinnoh League Elite Four members in the "Elite Four Fortress." They were—
Bug-type Elite Four, Aaron.
Psychic-type Elite Four, Lucian.
Fire-type Elite Four, Flint.
Ground-type Elite Four, Bertha.
The first to accept the challenge was Aaron.
Bug-type Pokémon, although could be considered the most used type by trainers throughout the Pokémon world, few could train Bug-type Pokémon to extremely high levels.
To become an Elite Four member specializing in Bug-type alone, Aaron was unique even in the entire Pokémon world.
This alone showed Aaron's capabilities.
Don't look at his usual absent-minded, slow-to-react appearance - when it came to actual battles, he wouldn't be careless, and moreover...
His demeanor actually made him more appealing to Bug-type Pokémon.
You could often see Aaron standing alone in forests, not battling or exploring, but Bug-type Pokémon like Butterfree and Beautifly would land on him when he extended his hand.
Even more exaggerated.
Beedrill swarms, the "forest tyrants," wouldn't attack Aaron either.
Flint even said Aaron could obtain honey from Beedrill without getting hurt!
As friends, he, Lucian, and Cynthia could often get some precious Beedrill honey from Aaron.
With such Bug-type affinity, Johan suspected he possessed a special ability similar to Phoebe's affinity with Ghost-type Pokémon.
"It's starting."
Lance, sitting in the VIP room watching the livestream with Johan, Steven, Leon, Caitlin, Diantha and others, said.
On the big screen, Cynthia and Aaron were already standing on opposite sides of the battle field under the spotlights. Johan even felt familiar background music playing.
Cynthia VS Aaron!
Just like Johan's time, it was a 6-choose-4 battle.
Aaron's Pokémon were Scizor, Vespiquen, Beautifly, and Heracross.
Among them, Scizor and Heracross could Mega Evolve.
Facing Cynthia, Aaron chose Scizor as his Mega Evolution, because Steel and Bug-type Scizor was only 4x weak to Fire, and among Cynthia's Pokémon... there were no Fire-types.
This was one of Cynthia's shortcomings.
Actually, Johan, Cynthia, Leon, and Diantha all belonged to trainers who didn't specialize in a single type, already having much broader coverage than single-type specialists.
If Aaron faced Flint, he'd be completely countered. Not to mention similar strength - even if Aaron's raw power was stronger, as long as it wasn't too much stronger, he couldn't possibly beat Flint.
But when facing Psychic-specialist Lucian, Lucian would be at a considerable disadvantage.
And when Lucian faced Flint, unless Flint had an explosive performance, Lucian could easily suppress Flint most of the time.
So the three formed a strange circle where Lucian countered Flint, Flint countered Aaron, and Aaron countered Lucian.
Back to the battle on screen.
Bug-types were weak to Fire, Flying, and Rock. Cynthia had no Fire or Rock-types, but she did have Flying-types.
This was quite a pleasant surprise for Johan.
Togekiss!
Nicknamed "Little Airplane."
Cynthia's Togepi had evolved into Togekiss, which was somewhat beyond his expectations, and this Togekiss's strength was already considerable. Combined with its "Serene Grace" ability...
It became Cynthia's "trump card" for suppressing Aaron.
[Serene Grace: Doubles the chance of additional effects when using moves!]
This was an extremely powerful ability. When combined with the move "Air Slash," it presented the true form of the "Air Airplane."
Especially in the hands of someone with good luck - whoever used it knew.
Anyway, when Johan played games before, his "Air Airplane" missing seven consecutive Air Slashes had happened.
But when facing opponents, their six consecutive flinches tortured him to "heavenly bliss."
Simply put, Togekiss with "Serene Grace" was a Pokémon that depended on luck from above.
Coincidentally.
Cynthia plus Togekiss belonged to the type that luck actively fed.
Then everyone saw...
Aaron's Scizor being hard-controlled by Cynthia's Togekiss for six consecutive "Air Slash" flinches.
"Did Johan teach you this move?" Lance's eyes lit up slightly.
You get excited just seeing Flying-types, huh?
Johan said irritably: "Hey, in broad daylight, how can you falsely accuse people, Lance?"
Steven nearby nodded thoughtfully.
"It fits our teacher's tactical style."
Johan: "..."
What kind of impression have I left on you people as a great people's teacher?
But back to the point.
"Togekiss greatly relieved Cynthia's pressure." Leon commented.
Precisely because of Togekiss's presence, Cynthia only paid the "price" of Togekiss's stamina in her duel with Aaron, which greatly reduced pressure for Cynthia's subsequent challenges.
Of course, "losing" Togekiss didn't mean Cynthia's other Pokémon had no stamina consumption.
It's just that such consumption was within acceptable range, and the medicine Cynthia could carry hadn't been used yet, so recovery to full strength would be quick.
Mainly, it was because they were too familiar with each other.
After defeating Aaron, with Aaron's blessing, Cynthia rested briefly before entering the second battle room.
Cynthia VS Lucian!
Lucian's most famous tactic was undoubtedly his "Trick Room tactics," using Bronzong with Slowbro to decent effect.
But for Cynthia, she had a move that could completely counter Lucian's "Trick Room tactics" - Spiritomb!
Ghost and Dark-type Spiritomb was simply Lucian's greatest nemesis, an insurmountable obstacle for him.
In the end, he relied on Mr. Mime's Dazzling Gleam to barely take down Spiritomb.
And in the final phase, it became a duel between Lucian's Mega Gallade and Cynthia's Lucario, with both sides tacitly choosing to clash head-on.
"Lucian is still too focused on tactics." Lance shook his head with some "regret."
Success through tactics, failure through tactics.
Too much like those academic types.
Tactics were certainly good. When facing opponents weaker than oneself or of similar strength, excellent tactics and coordination often had very good effects.
But when facing someone whose tactical understanding wasn't inferior to one's own, or was even better, it was hard to have much effect.
Just like the current Mega Gallade VS Lucario battle.
Clearly Lucian and Gallade were the ones Mega Evolving, but in terms of displayed momentum, the tacit understanding and coordination between trainer and Pokémon, plus some indescribable bonds, they were obviously inferior to Cynthia and Lucario.
Lance, who also emphasized "emotional power," felt Lucian was somewhat like Lorelei.
"Indeed." Leon also agreed.
He was also someone whose battle passion exceeded tactics, who would make on-the-spot decisions and ignore tactics due to battle passion.
In this regard, Steven and Johan were more balanced.
They had the tactics they should have, and the battle passion they should have wasn't lacking either.
Steven spoke: "But you have to admit, Lucian did well in terms of consumption as one of the challenges."
No one denied this.
Because Lucian had "consumed" Cynthia's Spiritomb and Lucario.
Although Lucario hadn't lost its fighting ability, after this battle, given its physical and mental exhaustion, it couldn't be recovered with just medicine.
Most likely, it couldn't participate in subsequent battles.
Having defeated two Elite Four members, Cynthia's Pokémon were nearly half "depleted."
This definitely wasn't good news.
"Lucian needs more responsibility..." Johan half-closed his eyes, rubbing his chin and muttering softly, his eyes showing some "dangerous" light.
However, he still had full confidence in Cynthia.
After all, Cynthia's true ace and strongest Pokémon, Garchomp, hadn't made its move yet.
But about to face Flint, Johan felt somewhat anxious.
Don't look at Flint's usual carefree appearance, or how Johan liked to tease Flint, but regarding Flint's strength, whether Johan or Cynthia, both recognized it greatly.
No exaggeration - if the Sinnoh region didn't have Cynthia, the championship would most likely belong to Flint.
He had such ability and potential.
Moreover.
Flint in casual battles versus Flint in crucial battles were completely different people.
Casual battles: 10% explosive rate.
Crucial battles: 99% explosive rate!
"Miss Cynthia has reached the third room. The opponent she's about to face is - Fire-type Elite Four Flint!!" The host's voice was passionate and energetic.
Cynthia VS Flint!
In Johan's view, this was the most suspenseful battle.
Not that Cynthia would lose, but the suspense was how many of Cynthia's Pokémon Flint could take down, and to what extent he could push Cynthia.
After all, in terms of type matchups, among Cynthia's Pokémon, the advantage against Flint was most severe.
Water and Ground-type Gastrodon, Water-type Milotic, and "Little Land Dragon" Garchomp all heavily countered Flint's Fire-type specialty.
But neither Johan nor most of the audience expected that knowing Flint would probably explode, they didn't expect him to explode right from the start.
"Magmortar, let big sister see our progress - Fire Blast!!"
On screen, Flint excitedly clenched his fist, his fiery red explosive hair like burning flames, his eyes full of desire for battle.
Boom!!!
Starting directly with full-power but low-accuracy Fire Blast, showing Flint's burning heart to the fullest.
At this moment, what Johan, what Creation Trio - none could affect him at all.
He just wanted to battle Cynthia with everything he had.
This was respect for Cynthia!
"Flint really is full of passion." Lance quite approved of Flint.
If Lucian was a representative of calm, tactical thinking, then Flint was a typical emotional, hot-blooded type.
If we had to compare, Flint was actually the same type as Ash.
When hot-blooded and excited, even facing legendary Pokémon, he could battle.
But when lacking passion and battle desire... Pokémon that had fought legendaries could lose to level-five Pokémon fresh from professor labs.
Extremely high ceiling, extremely low floor.
"This guy Flint..." A cold smile appeared on Johan's face.
Decided!
The Galar region's Eternatus incident must be resolved, and Flint would be the "vanguard"!
"Gastrodon, Rain Dance, Muddy Water!" Cynthia appeared much calmer than Johan, her black coat flowing as she gave commands.
Regarding how to battle Flint, if Cynthia claimed second place, not many in the entire Pokémon world would dare claim first.
After all...
Flint and Cynthia's battle record was - 208:0.
"Rain Dance prevents Flint from using Solar Beam and Solar Blade, removing Gastrodon's biggest threat." Steven said.
Water and Ground-type Gastrodon's biggest threat was Grass-type moves.
You had to say Cynthia had experience.
Flint's Magmortar ultimately couldn't avoid defeat.
But Flint wasn't discouraged - instead, his enthusiasm grew even higher.
"Go, Ninetales!"
Flint's second Pokémon was actually a Ninetales, and one with "Drought" ability!
"Drought" directly overrode Gastrodon's "Rain Dance" effect, returning the weather to clear skies.
"Ninetales, Solar Beam!!"
Flint shouted loudly.
Oh no.
This thick-browed, big-eyed guy Flint had actually learned "Sun Team" tactics?
What was the difference between this and hooligans becoming educated?
They'd never seen Flint's Ninetales before...
And Cynthia's response...
"Gastrodon, Protect!"
Used one Protect to withstand Solar Beam.
This showed Cynthia had some preparation for Flint's "Drought" Ninetales and Solar Beam.
"Gastrodon, Toxic!"
After blocking Solar Beam, Cynthia changed tactics.
Then...
Then Lance, Leon, Steven, Diantha, Caitlin and others all looked at Johan with strange expressions.
"Toxic stalling" tactics!
"Hey, the most basic 'toxic stalling' tactics don't need you all looking at me, right?" Johan couldn't stand it.
Diantha smiled sweetly: "Little Cynthia never used these tactics before."
Caitlin muttered: "Birds of a feather flock together."
Johan: "..."
If Flint's "Drought" Ninetales gave people a feeling of... hooligans becoming educated.
Then Cynthia using "toxic stalling" tactics gave the impression that you had to be more ruthless than hooligans to defeat hooligans.
Of course, Cynthia's Gastrodon wasn't just ordinary 'toxic stalling' - it also included Recover for healing, Muddy Water to lower accuracy, highlighting one word... dirty!
"Am I hallucinating? Why do I feel like I'm watching Johan battle?"
"Don't doubt it, I have the same illusion."
"It's over, our Miss Cynthia has been completely corrupted by Johan!"
"Evil Johan, so hateful!!"
"..."
With just "toxic stalling," Johan still had a chance to argue, but with the other supplementary moves plus the earlier "Serene Grace airplane," even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't wash him clean.
"Whatever."
Johan expressed "giving up."
Anyway, she was his girlfriend - if he taught her, so what?
He was planning to teach much more, not limited to Pokémon knowledge!
Gastrodon with tactics did heavily counter Flint.
But Gastrodon ultimately fell to Flint and his Infernape's iron fists, without even a chance to be recalled and switched.
Because one second Gastrodon had the advantage, the next... it was instantly KO'd by an explosive Infernape's Focus Energy Close Combat combo.
And facing Flint's Infernape, Cynthia sent out her Garchomp for the first time.
She was very clear.
If she let Flint's Infernape continue performing, all her Pokémon except Garchomp might fall.
Rather than let him consume more Pokémon, better to... let Garchomp handle it.
And when Cynthia sent out Garchomp, she also "switched" to "hot-blooded mode."
Head-on clashes!
No tactics whatsoever, but battles that made everyone, all spectators, boil with excitement!
Blade against blade, fist against fist!
And Flint's biggest shortcoming might be that Infernape couldn't Mega Evolve.
Otherwise, with Flint and Infernape's compatibility, their understanding and bonds, plus Mega Evolution, who knows how much stronger they could become.
So.
Infernape and Flint ultimately lost.
But they could also be considered successful.
They greatly consumed Garchomp's stamina and left Cynthia with only her last two Pokémon, one being Garchomp with nearly half its stamina consumed.
And Cynthia still had one more, also the final Elite Four member Bertha to defeat.
In this situation, no one didn't worry for Cynthia.
Even Johan felt a bit concerned.
Bang!!
The cup on the table suddenly exploded, drawing everyone's attention.
Caitlin clenched her small fists, gritting her teeth: "Fire-playing explosive head... you wait for me!"
Bang!!
Looking again at the sound, a huge crack appeared on the table.
Everyone: "..."
This was... trouble.
The VIP room staff quickly called to notify colleagues to come replace things.
"The teacup and table mysteriously broke, come replace them quickly - no need, the ceiling's gone too..."
Under Ninetales' protection, Johan remained relatively "calm." He chuckled coldly: "Calm down, Caitlin. You need to actually get a chance to act."
Cynthia VS Bertha!
They changed to another VIP room.
"Water-type Milotic... against Ground-type Elite Four Bertha should regain some advantage, right?" Lance said somewhat uncertainly.
"Not necessarily." Steven shook his head, "Elite Four Bertha has Quagsire and Whiscash."
Water and Ground-type Quagsire and Whiscash weren't afraid of Milotic.
Johan suddenly said: "So Cynthia's last one definitely won't be Milotic, but Roserade."
Roserade?
Several people were stunned.
Grass-type Roserade did counter Ground-types, but obviously Roserade's resistance wasn't as good as Milotic's, and its body was more fragile.
Moreover...
Caitlin frowned: "I remember Elite Four Bertha has a Mamoswine, right?"
Ice-type was one of Roserade's weaknesses.
Johan nodded, "Right, the goal is to make Elite Four Bertha bring out Mamoswine."
Leon understood, realizing: "Clear obstacles for Garchomp?"
Garchomp was 4x weak to Ice. As long as they could lure out the Ice-type Mamoswine that most countered Garchomp first, then find a way to defeat or weaken it, they could create more opportunities for Garchomp.
And this was an open strategy.
If Bertha didn't bring out Mamoswine, then Roserade might consume more of her other Ground-type Pokémon. Pokémon like Quagsire and Whiscash that were 4x weak to Grass couldn't appear.
But if she brought out Mamoswine...
"This is betting on Garchomp." Diantha sighed.
That's right.
This was betting - betting on whether Garchomp could help Cynthia complete the final victory!
Facts proved.
Johan's judgment was correct. Cynthia's last remaining Pokémon was indeed Roserade!
And after Bertha summoned Quagsire, she had to frown and recall it, replacing it with Mamoswine.
In the end.
Roserade lost its fighting ability, but Mamoswine was also nearly exhausted.
"This is the most crucial moment."
Everyone's expressions became serious.
The final 1V3 - could Garchomp do it?
And next.
Was Cynthia's most representative battle before becoming Champion!
"Garchomp, Mega Evolution!!"
In games, Garchomp's Mega Evolution was a weakening, but in reality, Garchomp's Mega Evolution, especially Cynthia's Garchomp, was a massive strengthening!
As everyone knew, the strength of gains from Mega Evolution depended on the bond between trainer and Pokémon.
This was what many trainers proudly considered "proof."
Johan was among them.
Anyway, so far, Johan hadn't seen any Mega Evolution with stronger gains than his and Gengar's.
And the bond between Cynthia and her Garchomp wasn't inferior to that between Johan and Gengar.
They had lived and grown together since childhood.
Garchomp would never disappoint Cynthia.
"Garrr—!!!"
Mega Garchomp made its powerful entrance!
That terrifying aura was clearly...
Legendary level!
"Ka-kaah~!"
Gengar understood Garchomp too well. It mimicked and transformed into Garchomp's appearance, lowering its voice to a hoarse, deep imitation of Garchomp's tone.
Next, it's my hunting time!
One Dragon Rush, instantly defeating Bertha's weakened Mamoswine!
Another identical Dragon Rush, instantly defeating Bertha's Whiscash!
Then, trading an Earthquake with Bertha's Quagsire before finishing it with another Dragon Rush.
The final Rhyperior caused Cynthia and Mega Garchomp considerable trouble.
But Bertha's loss was in not having a Mega Evolution.
So it was smashed into the battle field by Mega Garchomp's unreasonable Dragon Claw, losing its fighting ability!
Mega Garchomp powerfully swept nearly 1v4!
Helping Cynthia dominantly claim the championship with overwhelming momentum that set hearts racing and blood boiling.
"New monarch crowned! New monarch crowned!"
"Champion Cynthia!!!"
"Miss Cynthia is Champion! We're all Champions!!!"
"Oh no! Oh no! Johan and Miss Cynthia, dual Champions?! One family, two Champions? Invincible..."
"I suggest writing a book now, with their child as protagonist. I've even thought of the title - My Champion Parents!"
"..."
The entire venue, the entire internet erupted and boiled over.
It had to be said, watching a "Champion's Road" was truly exciting.
Compared to Johan's run, while Cynthia's was equally passionate, it lacked that heart-stopping, all-or-nothing, life-hanging-by-a-thread feeling.
"Phew—"
Johan breathed out lightly.
Although he had great confidence in Cynthia, watching until the end, he really sweated for her.
It felt harder than going through the "Champion's Road" himself.
Fortunately, Garchomp was truly fierce.
Champion!
From now on.
Hoenn and Sinnoh could be expensed freely!
"Vii~!"
Victini held its head high proudly.
This time, I made great contributions!
"Ka-kaah!"
Gengar crossed its arms with a "praise me" expression.
This time, I was the one who contributed most. Without my opening cheering, hmph~
The main characters hadn't even returned, and the little ones were already claiming credit.
After Cynthia defeated Bertha and registered her and her Pokémon's information, she officially became Sinnoh League Champion!
"That really was spectacular..." Lance and others all felt this way.
One person consecutively challenging and defeating four Elite Four members - this difficulty was truly enormous.
But now Cynthia had "made it to shore." It was their turn now.
Lance, Leon, and Diantha looked at each other and said nothing more.
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Powerstones?
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