Persian, the evolved form of Meowth, had pale cream-colored fur, stood on four legs, and looked tall and imposing.
As a large feline Pokémon, Persian's body was massive—comparable in size to the big dogs Yozora had seen in his previous life.
"Mid-tier Elite level… With a Pokémon of this caliber, even Ash could probably crush it without much trouble…" Yozora shook his head and smiled.
After a full month of grueling training, his own Pokémon had improved at an astonishing pace.
Among his six main team members, the lowest-leveled, Graveler, had already reached the peak of the Elite tier.
As for Machoke, it had advanced even further after evolving once—breaking into Commander-tier.
Once a Pokémon reached Commander level, it stood among the elites of the Elite tier—like an elite captain, far stronger than ordinary Elites.
Elites were still Elites.Commanders were elite captains.And Lords were the rulers of entire clans of Elites—beings capable of ruling a forest, a valley, or even a stretch of ocean.
As for higher levels than that… those were exceedingly rare among wild Pokémon.
The last time Yozora had encountered Dragonair, it was at the Elite Four tier. But that was because that particular Dragonair had endless potential and had already lived for decades.
And besides, Yozora had known its location thanks to the original storyline.
Otherwise, any ordinary trainer wouldn't even have been able to find it.
"Go, Graveler!" Yozora sent his Pokémon onto the field.
"Hm? A golden Graveler—a Shiny Pokémon?"
Elder Chang'an was stunned. Even at his advanced age, he had rarely seen a Shiny Pokémon in person.
He himself had never owned one, and yet this young man he had underestimated actually had one already!
"And judging from its aura, that Graveler's level is extremely high. It's beyond Persian—it's at the very peak of the Elite tier… Could this kid really have only five badges?" Elder Chang'an couldn't help but take the battle seriously.
Yozora's Graveler gleamed with golden light, a menacing grin spread across its rocky face. Its aura radiated overwhelming strength.
But strangely, its body was smaller than the average Graveler.
Yet Elder Chang'an's vision far surpassed someone like Brock.
He knew that a Graveler's strength had nothing to do with its size.
In fact, the smaller a Graveler was, the stronger it might actually be!
And Yozora's Graveler was precisely like that—smaller than average, but far more powerful.
Because—
It had trained Defense Curl relentlessly, day and night, expelling every impurity and excess fluid from its body. Naturally, its volume had shrunk.
But in exchange, its body density and the quality of its rock composition had increased dramatically…
To use a crude metaphor: an ordinary Graveler might be hollow inside, with flaws and gaps. But Yozora's Graveler was solid through and through—its hardness comparable to steel.
Even though it was smaller—
Its weight was actually far greater than that of an average Graveler.
That was the uniqueness of a solid Graveler.
"Wow… a Shiny Graveler…"
The disciples standing behind Elder Chang'an all stared wide-eyed at the golden Pokémon.
Several of the female disciples, smitten by extension, couldn't help glancing at Yozora. In their eyes, he suddenly appeared taller, more handsome, and radiated an aura of coolness.
Before long, their eyes sparkled with pink hearts as they squealed in delight, while the male disciples all frowned in annoyance.
At that moment, Yozora took the initiative:
"Graveler—Defense Curl, then use Rollout!"
Golden light flickered across Graveler's body. Its frame bulged once, then tightened again.
In that brief instant, it seemed to grow even rounder.
With a deafening boom, Graveler slammed down onto the ground, rolling forward like a bulldozer. The dojo floor split apart beneath its weight, a deep trench left behind as it barreled straight toward Persian.
"Attacking without even sizing up the opponent… isn't that a bit reckless?"
Elder Chang'an smiled faintly, instructing in a calm, guiding tone:
"Persian, use Water Pulse!"
Suddenly—
A massive sphere of water burst from Persian's mouth, hurtling straight toward Graveler.
Water Pulse!
While Persian was a highly versatile Pokémon with strong coverage, learning Water Pulse was no simple feat.
Aside from inheriting the move, at the very least, it required consuming a mid-grade Water Stone.
And Persian's potential was only average—merely Elite-tier. Yet Elder Chang'an had been willing to invest so much?
In truth—
Yozora didn't understand the mindset of Gym Leaders.
Often, they deliberately chose Pokémon with average potential to train.
That way, their levels were easier to control.
As Gym Leaders, they faced challengers of all kinds—from super-Elites who had traveled for years to complete rookies just starting out.
Some Gym Leaders didn't care.
But others, out of a stronger sense of responsibility, carefully prepared Pokémon of varying levels to match their challengers.
Elder Chang'an was clearly one of the latter. On that point alone, he was worthy of great respect.
…
The lower the potential, the easier the level was to control.
On that foundation, they still trained diligently, investing mid-grade stones to broaden movepools.
However—
When Persian's Water Pulse exploded against Graveler's body, Elder Chang'an was stunned…
Because despite the quadruple weakness, it hadn't dealt the slightest damage.
He had expected the Water Pulse to knock Graveler unconscious instantly.
But far from being knocked out, the Graveler kept rolling forward, as if completely unharmed.
Its Rollout attack continued!
Finally—with a thunderous bang—Graveler smashed into Persian, launching it high into the air.
A shrill cry rang out from above before Persian crashed heavily to the ground, its eyes rolling white as it fainted completely.
"Persian is unable to battle. Graveler wins!"
The referee remained calm and professional, announcing the result clearly.
But Elder Chang'an was far more shocked than the referee.
"Remarkable… truly remarkable. A Shiny Pokémon indeed…"
He nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself:
"That Graveler may only be at the peak of the Elite tier, but its defense has completely surpassed the bounds of Elite. It's already reached Commander level!"
"Return, Persian!"
Elder Chang'an recalled his Pokémon, placing the Poké Ball back into its original slot—first position on the third row.
Then—
He reached one row higher. His dry, calloused hand skipped past the first two Poké Balls of the fourth row and grasped directly at the third Ultra Ball.
"Young man, you were right. Your strength is far, far beyond…"
(to be continued)