"..."
After watching Clair's entire performance in the player's lounge, Lance sighed.
The rhythm was completely disrupted; the loss was not unjustified.
Was it because the pressure on herself was too great, severely affecting her performance?
Lance had always been aware of his cousin's obsession.
But having too much pride isn't necessarily a good thing. He only learned this lesson after hitting a few walls at the Indigo Plateau.
In this battle, if Clair had learned to utilize Duraludon's clumsiness and employed tactics like using Thunder Wave as Cynthia did in the previous match, she could have created opportunities for counterattacks.
However, due to her pride in the title "Dragon Envoy," Clair disdained using such "underhanded tactics."
For the proud Dragon Masters, only defeating opponents with Dragon-type Pokémon counts as a proper victory.
He once held the same belief as her.
If not for the repeated entanglements with the three Kanto Elite Four members, he might still hold onto that belief.
"Sigh..."
Lance quietly sighed, unsure how to correct Clair's mistaken thinking.
However, as long as she bumps into enough setbacks, she will eventually understand this principle.
Aside from absolute strength, reasonably utilizing the unique characteristics of Pokémon is also an important aspect of achieving victory.
In this regard, perhaps she should really learn from the young gym leader Aiden.
Even though countless viewers criticize him for using "cheap tactics," it doesn't change the fact that Aiden's theories are genuinely powerful, potentially even overturning most people's current understanding of Pokémon battles.
If one doesn't keep up with the times, they will eventually be left behind by other trainers.
With these thoughts, Lance soon stopped dwelling on Clair's failure and confidently walked towards the battlefield.
Next, he would convey what he had learned through actual combat to Clair.
...
Compared to the overwhelming victories in the first two matches, the next two matches were all heavyweight battles.
Apart from Raihan, who is nominally a gym leader but actually belongs in the Elite Four category, the other three were all genuine Elite Four members.
Lance vs. Raihan; Drasna vs. Drake.
Two incredibly exciting matches unfolded one after another, with scores being extremely close.
In the end, Lance barely withstood Draco Meteor thanks to Dragonite's strong willpower and won the match with a score of 3:2, a victory decided by the smallest margin.
[Although people often call him the Flying-type Elite Four, his strength is undeniable. Even among champions, his strength isn't lacking, right?]
[To be fair, wasn't it his Gyarados' well-executed Thunder Wave that essentially disabled Raihan's Duraludon?!]
[Without Dynamax, Raihan couldn't unleash his full potential. But Lance's Dragonite scared away his fully Dragon Danced Flygon back into its ball with a Roar lmao]
[As fellow students defeated by Teacher Azure, obviously Lance, the diligent student, has learned more from the dirty tricks seen in the live stream LOL]
As for the final match, the duel between the two Elite Four members was equally intense.
However, due to the unified restrictions on battle methods such as Mega Evolution and Terastallization imposed by this Master Tournament, Drasna's Altaria didn't perform particularly well.
Without Mega Evolution, remaining a Dragon/Flying type, it wasn't a traitor to the Dragon type but was often jokingly referred to as the "Shame of the Dragons."
Of course, even if Mega Evolution was allowed, Drake, being from Hoenn likely also had a Salamecite...
The final score was 3:1, with Drake emerging victorious.
Thus, the results of the quarterfinals were determined.
Rarely broadcasting for an entire afternoon, Aiden could finally employ his signature skill—speedy sign-off.
...
Upon returning to Sunlight Gym, it was already evening.
Since he needed to watch the Master Tournament during this period, Aiden had long hung a sign outside announcing the temporary closure of the gym, and had the students spread the word.
After all, following the Master Tournament would be Christmas and New Year.
Since he had already promised Cynthia to spend the holidays in Sinnoh, he might as well close the gym until the students returned after the New Year, resting until the Victory Road opened, and he could welcome challenges as the starting gym.
Therefore, during this time, there were no challengers at Sunlight Gym, and even Nemona and Arven were busy with their own affairs.
However, upon Aiden's return, he noticed that the living room lights were on.
"Did we forget to turn off the lights when we left?"
Cynthia similarly noticed this and asked in confusion.
"That's impossible... And even if the lights weren't turned off, the TV shouldn't be on either."
Upon noticing the voices coming from the TV inside, Aiden immediately twitched his lips.
He thought he knew who was inside.
So, Aiden decisively pushed open the door and indeed quickly discovered a little pink cat sleeping soundly on the sofa in the living room.
"Mew...?"
Being picked up by the scruff of its neck by Aiden, Mew quickly woke up, emitting confused meows.
"What is this...?"
Upon seeing this unfamiliar Pokémon, Cynthia unexpectedly felt it looked somewhat familiar and subconsciously furrowed her brows to recall.
Soon, an answer appeared in her mind—
"Mew?!"
A Pokémon considered extinct in academic circles but reappeared in human sight in recent years.
Though that's what they say, sightings of Mew are extremely rare, and its image can almost only be found in ancient documents.
In a sense, it's even rarer than legendary Pokémon.
Because no one knows its appearance pattern, it seems to appear before humans purely on a whim.
If not for the fact that its existence is an unavoidable topic in Pokémon theoretical research, Cynthia might not have realized that before her was such a living fossil Pokémon born in ancient times.
And now, this Pokémon, which could drive all scholars mad...
Had casually showed up in Sunlight Gym and was even being held up single-handedly by Aiden?
Noticing Cynthia's puzzled gaze, Aiden quickly shook the dissatisfied Mew, who was kicking his waist with its tiny feet.
"I'm not sure exactly how it found its way here, but this Mew gets along well with Eevee. Just treat it as a guest of the gym."
After saying that, Aiden let go.
"Mew!"
Mew immediately emitted a disgruntled sound.
Human, you've gone too far!
I hate humans who lack boundaries the most!
After flipping in the air, it then looked at Cynthia, who was seriously observing it.
However, after several unsuccessful attempts to interact with her, Mew quickly showed a bored expression.
Finally calming down, Mew sat back on the sofa and watched TV obediently with Eevee released by Aiden.
Humans may be annoying, but their entertainment methods are quite interesting!
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