The Fastest-Kneeling Elite Four and the Fastest-Toppled Champion! (This Chapter Is Seriously Fun~)
Red's entire journey had always been laid bare before the audience.
Yet it was only during his battle with Giovanni of the Viridian Gym that everyone suddenly realized—
Red was already a Champion-level Trainer.
And in the subsequent Elite Four battles, his overwhelming strength made one thing crystal clear:
This was what it meant to be the Man of Battle.
Decisive judgment.
Calm, ruthless combat sense.
Pokémon of terrifying strength.
He had even trained a Butterfree to Champion level!
And what was even more outrageous—
That Butterfree hadn't even appeared much in Red's previous battles!
Of course, that had something to do with how few of Red's battles were actually shown…
But regardless, the conclusion everyone reached was the same.
Two words.
A monster.
A complete and utter monster.
The projection continued—
After defeating Bruno, Red's next opponent was the Ghost-type Elite Four—
Agatha.
This time, Red sent out his true ace—
Charizard.
(In the games and the manga, Red often relies heavily on Pikachu.
Here, the setting places Charizard as his first ace, Pikachu as the second.)
(After all, Ash has already made Pikachu his undisputed number one~)
Blazing flames surged forth, burning away all shadows and gloom.
Agatha's ghostly army fell one by one beneath Charizard's inferno.
Compared to Lorelei and Bruno, Agatha was clearly more experienced, more dangerous.
But the Pokémon she faced this time—
Was different.
This was Red's very first partner.
His original ace.
Charizard.
And so, once again, Agatha demonstrated to the audience—
What it looked like to be swept six-to-zero.
Agatha herself, however, took it in stride.
At her age, honor and pride no longer weighed so heavily.
Besides, before her, two younger people had already been swept.
Well… one of them was technically swept twice.
And more importantly—
The one being swept was her parallel-world counterpart, not her actual self.
So Agatha watched with an open mind.
After defeating Agatha, Red finally reached the last—and strongest—of the Elite Four.
The Dragon Tamer—
Lance.
Even in a parallel world, Lance stood at the pinnacle of the Elite Four,
Known as their commander.
[Lance: Watch closely! I'll only perform once!]
[Lance: Even if the me in the projection loses, the battle will absolutely be a clash of dragons and titans! Red will definitely struggle before defeating me! After all… I am the Dragon Master!]
[Red: ...]
Seeing that familiar ellipsis again, Lance's heart skipped a beat.
What was that supposed to mean?!
Last time Red used that "..."—
Bruno got swept six-to-zero!
This time—
No way, right?!
You wouldn't, would you?!
I'm the strongest of the Elite Four!
The Dragon Master with an entire dragon legion!
Sweeping me would be crossing the line!
In the projection—
Red stepped forward to face Lance.
Lance flicked his cape dramatically and declared with gusto:
"So you've made it this far! Let me see your true strength, Red!"
"Show me whether you're capable of defeating my dragon legion!"
"I'm coming, Mr. Lance!"
Red lowered the brim of his cap and hurled his Poké Ball.
Lance released his Pokémon at the same time.
Lance's choice was, naturally, his signature Pokémon—
Dragonite.
And Red's response was—
Lapras.
This time, it wasn't three minutes.
After five full minutes—
Lance collapsed to his knees in disbelief.
His second—and final—Dragonite had been struck down by Lapras's icy Blizzard-cold Ice Beam.
"How… how could this be… my dragon legion…"
At that moment, not only was the Lance in the projection devastated—
The real Lance was devastated as well.
Just earlier that same day, he had been defeated by Cynthia in the Masters Tournament.
That alone would've been bad enough.
But now—
In the projection, he was swept six-to-zero by a teenage boy using Lapras!
Sure, it was the longest sweep so far—
But a sweep was still a sweep!
And by that nightmare of a Pokémon—
Lapras!
[Lorelei: Hahahaha! Lance, why don't you perform that speech again?!]
[Diantha: "This will definitely be a dragon-clashing battle!" "He'll struggle to beat me!" "I am the Dragon Master!"]
[Blaine: Seeing Dragon Master Lance kneeling was not on my bingo card.]
[Leon: Hahaha! I never thought Lance would have such a legendary moment—did anyone record this?]
[Alder: Me! I was trying to record Red's legend—never expected this! Hahaha!]
[Lance: !!! Delete it! Delete it right now!]
Alder ignored him completely.
Last time, Diantha had threatened him with Mega Gardevoir into deleting her Dark history.
This time?
Saved. Backed up. Uploaded.
Lance's threats were utterly ineffective.
[Cynthia: Hehe… this is quite interesting, Lance~]
[Lorelei: As expected of the strongest Elite Four—five whole minutes!]
[Bruno: I'm jealous… I only lasted three minutes!]
Lance was on the verge of tears.
Born into the Dragon Clan, he had been the strongest his entire life.
Invincible. Unyielding.
Even after making a name for himself in the outside world, he had rarely tasted defeat.
But ever since this Heavenly Ranking appeared—
He wasn't just losing.
He was losing on repeat.
And the worst part?
He got absolutely nothing in return!
Diantha at least got Mega Stones and a Key Stone!
What did Lance get?
Nothing!
While the real Lance wallowed in despair, the Lance in the projection had already composed himself.
His expression was calm—
As if the one who had just lost wasn't him at all.
He placed a hand on Red's shoulder and spoke with a congratulatory tone.
"Red, congratulations. You are now the Pokémon League Champion…"
"…Or at least, I'd like to say that."
Red froze.
Wasn't Lance the final Elite Four member?
Were there actually five Elite Four?
"Actually," Lance continued,
"Not long ago, someone already defeated the Elite Four and entered the Champion's chamber."
"About half an hour before you."
"We only had time to restore our Pokémon after receiving notice of your challenge."
"So… if you want to be the true Champion—"
"You'll have to defeat the current League Champion."
The entire audience was stunned.
Someone had beaten the Elite Four before Red?!
Who could possibly be that strong?!
And—
Did that mean Lance lost twice within half an hour?!
Good grief.
The once-invincible Dragon Master, crushed twice in a single day.
No wonder he recovered so quickly after losing—
Turns out he'd already lost once earlier.
He was mentally prepared.
…Probably.
In the projection—
After bidding Lance farewell, Red looked toward the open doorway ahead.
From beyond it, he sensed a powerful—and very familiar—aura.
If he wasn't mistaken—
The one who defeated the Elite Four had to be that person.
Red walked down the long, shadowed corridor.
At the end lay the final chamber.
Beyond it—
The Champion's Hall.
Red pushed open the massive doors and stepped inside.
In the dimly lit room, a figure sat atop a throne, casually tossing a Poké Ball in his hand.
When he saw Red enter—
The lights blazed on.
Sitting there, legs crossed, wearing an arrogant grin—
Was Blue.
"Yo, Red! You finally made it! I've been waiting for you!"
"B-Blue?! Why are you—"
Before Red could finish, the answer had already formed in his mind.
"So… the one who defeated Mr. Lance was you, right?"
"Heh! Obviously! Who else but me could beat the Elite Four?"
"Well—guess I should include you too."
"I knew you'd make it here, Red! I've been waiting!"
Blue stood up from the throne, covered one eye dramatically, and struck an absurdly theatrical pose.
"Come on, Red! Let's see who becomes the King of the League!"
"I didn't even register in the Champion's Hall just to wait for you!"
"Only by defeating you… Can I be the real Champion!"
"Show me whether you're still as weak as before!"
Red: ...
"…That chair," Red said slowly,
"Did you bring it yourself?"
Blue: ???
I've delivered this epic declaration, and that's what you focus on?!
[Flint: I can't—this is too much! Red is ruthless! Hahaha!]
[Caitlin: Heehee~ The Red in the projection is so lively. Where's the quiet '...' Red we know now?]
[Red: ...]
First, Marowak's old thoughts attacked Marowak.
Now, Red's own past was attacking him.
Did he really talk that much back then?
When did he start responding with just "..."?
…Probably after reaching Mt. Silver.
Maybe he really should come down and socialize more.
"Blue," Professor Oak said with a strange expression,
"I don't recall teaching you… that."
Blue's face turned beet red.
Those lines had sounded cool back then—
But being broadcast to the entire world?
This was pure social death.
"I-I'd never say that!" Blue protested.
"That's not me! Just someone who looks like me!"
Ash, surprisingly, didn't laugh.
Because—
He thought Blue looked really cool.
The pose. The tone.
Awesome!
Though in the end, his alternate self was still better—
One sentence was all it took to shatter Blue's dramatic aura.
"Ash, you mustn't learn from Blue~."
Delia said earnestly.
She feared that if Ash ever saw footage like this when he grew up—
He might actually jump into a river.
Back in the projection—
Blue skipped the idle chatter.
Naturally, there were no chairs in the Champion's Hall—
Which meant that the chair really was something he brought himself.
In his imagination, this was supposed to be a tense, majestic showdown.
The Champion accepts the Challenger.
Instead, one sentence nearly broke him.
"So, Blue, you beat the Elite Four pretty fast, huh?"
"Hah! I've been faster than you at everything!"
"Badges. Cities. Becoming Champion!"
"I'm the born king!"
"Really? How long have you been Champion?"
"…About half an hour."
Red slowly took out a Poké Ball, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Half an hour?"
"Then you might become the fastest Champion in history to step down."
Blue froze.
Then he pulled out his own Poké Ball.
"Let's see if you're all talk!"
Bang!
Both sides released their first Pokémon.
Red sent out Snorlax.
Blue opened with Pidgeot.
The battle erupted!
Unlike Red's previous crushing victories—
Blue was a true equal.
Back and forth. No concessions.
Only now did everyone realize—
Blue had reached the pinnacle as well.
He and Red had begun their journeys at the same time.
Meaning—
There were two monsters like this?!
At the current level, only Leon might suppress them.
Against any of the other Masters—
Their chances wouldn't even reach fifty percent!
This wasn't just talent anymore.
This was unprecedented.
From starting their journeys to Champion—
Less than two years.
A miracle bordering on madness.
The battle raged on.
Second-to-last Pokémon.
Red's round-faced Pikachu vs. Blue's Arcanine.
Volt Tackle!
Flare Blitz!
Lightning and flames collided in a massive explosion!
Both Pokémon fell.
Final Pokémon.
"Red, yours is that one, right?"
"And yours must be him too."
Both smiled and threw their Poké Balls.
Charizard roared into the sky.
Blastoise bellowed as cannons rose.
Their very first partners.
"Red, remember when my Squirtle destroyed your Charmander?"
"This time's different!"
"Sure—evolved Pokémon are always tougher!"
"Hydro Pump!"
"Fire Blast!"
Water and fire collided—
The chamber shook.
"Dragon Claw!"
"ROAR!"
Green light coated Charizard's claws as it lunged—
"Withdraw!"
Blastoise pulled its head into its shell—
And the final battle reached its peak.
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