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"I object!"
A pair of heavy hands slammed the wooden conference table, water splashing out of the glass.
"This mission ties directly into decades of planning! How can we allow outsiders to interfere? Who'll take responsibility if it all goes wrong?!"
The burly man shot to his feet, voice booming with rage.
"Calm yourself," said another, a sharp-featured young man with a disarmingly gentle tone.
"Tch. Lord Burke, such authority!" a third voice sneered from the corner, thin and mocking. "Conquer one little island and now you think you matter?"
"Soth!" Burke roared, eyes bulging. "I still haven't settled the debt from Sinnoh, and you dare mouth off to me?!"
He raised a massive arm, ready to lunge across the table—
Tap, tap.
A withered hand knocked lightly on the table. The sound was small, yet carried to every ear in the chamber with eerie clarity.
"Enough."
The voice rasped like sandpaper, old, brittle, and cold.
At once Burke froze, rage strangled into obedience. Even Soth lowered his head into the shadows, hiding the glint of spite in his reptilian eyes.
Silence pressed down on the chamber.
A dry cough broke it.
All heads turned to the figure at the head seat: a middle-aged man with long crimson hair combed straight back, glasses reflecting fire-red eyes.
"This is settled," he said evenly. Fingers laced, voice iron. "Darkstar's reach has gone too far. A lesson is needed so they remember their place."
Then, faintly, he smiled.
"And besides… the Earth Lord doesn't take kindly to being disturbed."
Outside, under the night sky, a steel giant lay coiled in shadow.
----
Back in the Stadium—
The clash between Kael and Mega Scizor had reached its breaking point.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions of power rippled the air, shockwaves rolling across the battlefield. To the crowd it was only flashes: a golden blur and a crimson streak colliding again and again, tearing apart the arena floor.
Gold lightning tangled with red metal, thunder clashing with molten sparks.
Finally, both fighters staggered back to their trainers' sides, heaving for breath.
Kael's body was laced with crackling arcs, chest heaving, white fleece singed and bleeding in places. He bared his teeth, refusing to yield.
Scizor wasn't faring much better. Its crimson armor leaked molten rivulets, wings half-burned away, vents spewing hot steam to keep its core from melting down.
Nolan's eyes tightened.
'Why?' he thought grimly. 'Why is this Ampharos so strong? It just evolved yet it's pushing a Mega Evolution to the brink.'
He glanced at Scizor, trembling, wings struggling. Ten minutes… that's its limit, isn't it?
Resolve hardened in his gaze.
"No more stalling. Scizor—we finish this!"
"SCIIIII!"
The mantis roared, legs stabbing the ground as it launched forward, every ounce of power burning. Red light flared, gathering for its deadliest strike.
"Giga Impact!"
The arena shook as Scizor became a living meteor.
Kael's black eyes narrowed. Lightning bled from his body like liquid gold, wrapping him in an armored shell of pure current.
At last—his true trump card.
"Thunder Armor," he whispered.
The battlefield screamed as the magnetic field compressed, spinning, sharpening into a bullet of light. Kael's muscles surged, his entire body drawn tight with deadly precision.
Lanny's voice echoed in his heart.
"Ampharos—go!"
He launched.
"Wild Charge!!"
ZZZZZAAAAAAAAP!
Gold thunder met crimson steel.
Impact exploded across the stadium like dawn breaking light searing, ground quaking, air shattering.
Red and gold twisted together, storm and flame colliding in a single, earth-splitting blast.
And in that radiant storm, the League Finals reached their ultimate crescendo.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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