Sinnoh Region, Battle Frontier
"Hey, did you hear? Paul's here to challenge Palmer at the Battle Tower."
"Paul? Who's that? Does he even have the right to challenge the Battle Tower?"
"You mean that Paul—the one who easily beat Barry? He's here?!"
"But wait, don't you have to climb the Tower floor by floor first? How's he going straight for the Tower Tycoon?"
"No idea. Word is he's on good terms with Palmer's son, Barry—you know, that blond kid who never stops talking about Paul."
"Barry? You mean the one Palmer stomped a few days ago?"
"Sounds like him!"
"…"
Across the Battle Frontier, the Pokémon Center and public lounges were buzzing with hundreds of Trainers trading the latest rumors.
"Quiet, everyone! The livestream's starting!"
A Trainer suddenly pointed to the massive display screen overhead.
Any high-profile or intense match at the Battle Frontier was always broadcasted. Today's battle was something special—this time, not a replay, but live.
The chatter died instantly. Every gaze turned toward the screen.
The image showed the pinnacle of the Battle Tower—a circular battlefield. On one side stood Palmer, dressed in his trademark green trench coat, waiting quietly for his challenger.
Moments later, the great doors opened, and a purple-haired teenager stepped inside, stopping opposite Palmer.
"You've come, Paul. I didn't expect you to make it this far in such a short time. I'm impressed." Palmer said with a smile.
"I never stop moving forward—never stop getting stronger." Paul replied.
Since returning to the main world, he'd been training relentlessly while climbing the ranked battle ladder against other Trainers. His current rank had already broken into the top 100—on the verge of becoming an Ace-ranked Trainer.
"Still, I didn't think you'd come all this way just to challenge me. That's giving me a bit of a headache." Palmer laughed, scratching his head. "Good thing Barry lost earlier—if I'd been the one to lose first, that would've been embarrassing."
"I ran into Barry not long ago. We talked about you… and I remembered the promise you made after the Twinleaf Festival. So here I am."
Palmer blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
He hadn't realized that the culprits for this sudden challenge were both his own son and himself. Back when he'd promised Paul a shot at him, he hadn't expected that day to come so soon.
"I see. In that case—let's begin!"
The Battle Tower's rules didn't require a referee. Adjusting his stance, Palmer immediately drew a Poké Ball and sent it spinning into the air.
"Mi~"
With an elegant cry, a dazzling Milotic materialized on the field, its glistening scales shimmering with droplets of light.
"Metagross—battle ready!"
Paul wasted no time in throwing out his chosen partner.
"Grrooo!"
The instant Metagross landed, its sensors locked onto Milotic, analyzing every movement. Without hesitation, it began boosting its Special Attack, Defense, and Special Defense through Cosmic Power, an enhanced variant evolved from its original Cosmic Meditation training method.
"Haze!"
Seeing Metagross start with a boost, Milotic opened its mouth, releasing a thick black mist to shroud the battlefield—both blocking vision and halting further stat gains.
Normally, in the limited space of the Tower's arena, Haze was unavoidable.
But this was no ordinary Pokémon—Metagross was Psychic-type.
"Psychic!"
At Paul's command, Metagross created a psychic barrier, keeping the haze at bay while gripping its already-targeted Milotic with telekinesis and hurling it into the air.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Mi~!"
Floating gracefully in midair, Milotic unleashed a raging torrent of water.
"Agility!"
Metagross darted aside, vanishing into the haze to conceal its position—then shot upward in a blinding Meteor Mash.
Milotic tried to counter, but found itself frozen in place by Metagross' psychic grip. By the time it broke free and fired its Hydro Pump, Metagross was already in its face, smashing through the water blast.
BOOM!
The explosion bloomed into white mist, and Milotic's long body plummeted to the floor.
"Return."
Palmer recalled it smoothly and sent out his next choice.
"Dragonite—Dragon Dance, then Fire Punch!"
"Fuwu~!"
The orange dragon's bulky frame spun in a graceful dance, surging with power as it closed in on Metagross, fists blazing.
"Gravity—Meteor Mash!"
The moment the gravitational field intensified, Metagross adjusted its angle, diving downward. The enhanced pull increased its own momentum while greatly slowing Dragonite's.
CRASH!
The two blows collided—despite Dragonite's boost from Dragon Dance, Metagross' Gravity-assisted strike had the edge.
After a brief stalemate, Metagross forced Dragonite downward, slamming it toward the arena floor.
"Aerial Ace!"
Mid-fall, Dragonite flared its wings and twisted into a precision strike, breaking free and looping around before charging Metagross again.
"Bullet Punch!"
Metagross' forelegs shot forward like pistons, meeting Dragonite's charge head-on.
Both Pokémon were blasted apart from the impact.
"Flash Cannon!"
"Flamethrower!"
They landed, pivoted, and fired—beams of steel and fire clashing at the center of the arena, neither giving way.
"Dragon Dance—Fire Punch!"
Grounded, Dragonite's speed was hindered, but with another Dragon Dance it still moved fast enough, closing the distance in a fiery rush.
"Agility—Hyper Beam!"
Metagross blinked out of range like a flash step, drawing cosmic energy into itself, boosting its Special Attack.
"Impressive speed… Hurricane—Flamethrower!"
"Fuwu~!"
Dragonite's wings whipped up a violent storm, the searing flames merging into a blistering fiery gale that roared across the field.
"Psychic—close in! Meteor Beam!"
Metagross shielded itself in psychic energy, pushing through the scorching winds to close in on Dragonite, then unleashed the full force of its gathered cosmic power in a brilliant white beam that tore through the flames and struck Dragonite squarely.
BOOM!
Smoke and dust billowed. Dragonite was flung backward, slamming into the wall outside the battlefield.
Before it could recover, Metagross' eyes glowed blue—Psychic grip locking it in place.
"Meteor Mash!"
With no chance to counter, Dragonite was slammed against the wall again in a comet-like impact that rattled the entire arena.
Metagross landed beside Paul in one smooth motion.
BANG!
Dragonite collapsed to the ground the moment it pried itself free from the wall.
"Come back and rest."
Already prepared for this outcome, Palmer tossed out another Poké Ball.
"Rhyperior—Rock Wrecker! Rock Polish!"
The moment Rhyperior emerged, it summoned a barrage of massive boulders that rained from above, sealing off Metagross' movement. At the same time, it stayed perfectly still, polishing its rocky armor to boost its speed while keeping alert for a sudden assault.
Under normal circumstances, Palmer's plan would have been flawless. But now, against a Metagross whose stats had been boosted multiple times with its Special Attack already doubled, this tactic was meaningless.
"Cancel Gravity. Psychic."
At Paul's calm command, Metagross' eyes flashed. The crushing Gravity field vanished in an instant, and the falling boulders froze in midair.
"What—?!"
"Rhya?!"
Under the stunned gaze of both Palmer and Rhyperior, every boulder under Metagross' psychic grip suddenly reversed course, hurtling straight toward Rhyperior in overwhelming numbers.
At this scale, even Protect wouldn't stop it from being buried alive.
"Giga Impact! Horn Drill!"
Palmer barked out the order immediately.
"Rhyargh!"
Slamming its fists together, Rhyperior charged full force into the air. The drill on its head spun at blinding speed, piercing through the incoming rocks and blasting toward where Metagross had been standing moments ago.
But when Rhyperior broke through the last of the debris, Metagross was nowhere to be seen.
"Grroooo—!"
A roar from above drew its attention. Rhyperior instinctively looked up to find Metagross hidden behind the curtain of falling stones, unleashing a devastating energy beam.
Flash Cannon!
With all its prior stat boosts, this strike would critically injure Rhyperior—if not outright knock it out.
"Protect!"
Rhyperior immediately threw up a shimmering green barrier.
BOOM!
The Flash Cannon detonated against the shield, the explosion obscuring Rhyperior's form, but the defense held.
Seizing the opening, Metagross adjusted its position and dove like a meteor from the sky.
Rhyperior couldn't tell what Metagross was doing, but Palmer watching from the sidelines, saw it clearly. Knowing his Pokémon's speed couldn't match Metagross', he abandoned any thought of dodging.
"Forty-five degrees up—Rock Blast!"
"Rhyaa!"
A huge boulder shot upward toward the incoming steel titan.
CRACK!
The projectile shattered on impact, useless against Metagross' sheer momentum. Its silver body slammed into Rhyperior like a comet.
It's super effective!
BOOM!
Dust exploded across the battlefield, hiding both Pokémon from view.
"Grab it! Horn Drill!"
In the swirling haze, the battered Rhyperior gritted its teeth, seized one of Metagross' forelegs and spun its drill at lethal speed toward its opponent's body.
The crowd held its breath, eyes locked on the dust cloud, waiting for the outcome.
When the haze cleared, the two Pokémon were locked in an almost frozen tableau—Rhyperior gripping Metagross, its drill spinning furiously just inches from its target, yet making no progress.
Metagross' eyes glowed, its psychic power locking the drill in place to prevent the finishing blow.
Look closely, though, and you'd see that despite appearing on the defensive, Metagross remained steady, while Rhyperior's body trembled violently.
Clearly, Metagross' earlier boosts had paid off. The only reason it hadn't broken free already was that Rhyperior was burning every last ounce of strength to hold it there.
From the outside, it might look like Metagross was moments from defeat—but in truth, Rhyperior was already at its limit.
"More power."
Paul's voice was calm, almost cold. Metagross' psychic energy surged again.
"RHYAAAH—!"
Unable to withstand the pressure any longer, Rhyperior was blasted backward, smashing into the arena wall.
When it hit the ground, it could no longer fight.
"Come back, Rhyperior. You did well."
Palmer recalled his Pokémon, though his sigh betrayed his disappointment. Against any other opponent, Horn Drill would have landed a one-hit KO.
But Metagross had reacted, something Palmer hadn't anticipated. That computer-like brain really was a nightmare to deal with at the critical moment.
"You're my last hope, Milotic."
Releasing his final Pokémon, Palmer called out, "Hydro Pump! Twister!"
"Mii~"
Milotic's tail whipped through the air, whipping up a twister that merged with its Hydro Pump into a raging waterspout that tore across the battlefield.
"Flash Cannon."
The attack was impressive, but against a Metagross that had boosted multiple times, it was nothing.
Metagross' Flash Cannon pierced straight through the watery cyclone, turning it into a misty spray before the beam slammed into Milotic.
"Miiiii—!"
Already injured from earlier, Milotic let out a pained cry before collapsing, and unable to battle.
With all three of Palmer's Pokémon down, Paul claimed victory.
"GRROOO—!"
Metagross roared in satisfaction.
"Not bad," Paul said evenly, "but there's still room to improve." He returned Metagross to its Poké Ball.
Palmer also recalled Milotic, glanced down at his Poké Balls, then walked toward Paul with a faint smirk.
"So… who's your next opponent?"
"The Elite Four. And the Champion."
Paul's grip tightened on his Poké Ball as he enunciated each word.
…
Outside the arena, viewers watching the live broadcast had already been stunned by Paul's dominant victory over Palmer.
But the moment he made that declaration, many were left speechless.
Some wanted to scoff, but when they remembered his track record, they held their tongues.
And then, both the Sinnoh League and the Champions League dropped an announcement simultaneously—
"Trainer Paul's application to challenge the Elite Four and Champion has been approved. The matches will take place one week from now on Lily of the Valley Island."
"The Elite Four Challenge will be held first. The challenger must battle Aaron, Bertha, Flint, and Lucian consecutively, and only with a perfect victory will they earn the right to face Sinnoh Champion Cynthia."
"The entire event will be livestreamed. Stay tuned."
The countdown to the battles had begun.
(To be continued...)
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