In response to Sato's question, Venusaur's gaze dimmed, falling into silence.
Breaking through to Champion level was no easy task. Mega Evolution had allowed it to touch that limit, but only just.
The phrase "your own path" had stumped countless gifted Pokémon and outstanding Trainers.
Be bolder!
But bolder… how?
Venusaur still didn't understand, but Sen did.
Looking at the silent Gengar, he knew the opponent was waiting for him to act.
"VENUSAUR, GO ALL OUT! Use that move…"
"Venu... Ven… Venusaar!"
As if inspiration had arrived, Mega Venusaur understood its Trainer's intent.
It first retracted all its petals, then raised its head and let out a roar, wildly channeling the energy of the earth within its body.
The next second, its vibrant red petals rapidly withered and turned yellow, falling away piece by piece.
The flower stalk and green leaves also began to shrivel and dry out, becoming withered and dull.
From top to bottom, Venusaur's entire plant portion had withered, but its eyes only grew brighter and more focused.
Now!
A small seed broke through the shriveled flower stalk and rapidly sprouted, growing visibly in real time.
In that moment, the crowd seemed to witness Venusaur's growth from Bulbasaur step by step to what it had become now…
The seed sprouting… green leaves unfurling… the flower blooming!
Winter ends, spring begins. Renewal of all things!
Venusaur rose anew from destruction, blooming an even larger and more vibrant flower.
Move: Growth… [Ultimate Form: Rebirth!]
At this point, Venusaur had undeniably changed. Its presence had firmly reached Champion level.
It had truly crossed the threshold!
The next moment, five enormous petals detached from Venusaur once again, slicing toward Gengar with even greater speed than before.
[Petal Dance: Petal Blade Form]!
Facing a Champion level Venusaur…
Gengar finally took things more seriously!
With a wave of its chubby hand, a barrage of Shadow Balls launched straight at the Petal Blades.
Explosions rang out nonstop. Each Shadow Ball detonated in sequence, significantly reducing the speed and force of the Petal Blades.
But one of the petals broke through all the Shadow Balls and slammed into Gengar's Spatial Barrier.
Instantly, the Spatial Barrier was torn apart, revealing a mysterious black rift that pulled at everything around it with a powerful suction.
Terrifying!
Gengar's eyes gleamed with silver light before it suddenly vanished from its position.
When it reappeared, it was already beside the spatial rift.
Gengar grabbed both sides of the rift and used it like a "fishing net" to ensnare the Petal Blade.
Then it pulled tight, and the spatial rift closed entirely, vanishing without a trace.
Gengar turned to look at the newly Venusaur, then crossed its arms in a slashing motion…
Two transparent blades of warped space instantly formed and appeared in front of Venusaur as if teleporting.
[Spatial move: Spatial Rend]!
Shhh~ Shhh~
"V-VENUUUUU!!"
[Spatial Rend] was unnervingly bizarre and impossible to guard against. Venusaur let out a scream of agony, the damage completely beyond that of Shadow Ball.
As it turned out, even with its breakthrough to Champion level, Venusaur had only gained the potential to hurt Gengar.
But defeating it? Still far from enough!
Gengar gently stepped forward, and in the next instant, it appeared behind Venusaur.
[Domain ability: Spatial Shift]!
With its mastery of appearing and disappearing unpredictably, Gengar left Venusaur completely unable to track its movements.
And each [Spatial Rend] brought massive damage to Venusaur.
Finally, when the vitality/stamina it recovered fell far short of the damage it was taking, Venusaur could no longer hold on, its fatigue clearly showing!
Ten minutes later, Gengar returned to Sato's side, offering a silent nod.
Across from him, Venusaur still stood tall, but its eyes had already lost focus.
Even in defeat, Venusaur refused to let go of its pride.
["Venusaur has lost the ability to battle. Gengar wins. Since all six of Elite Four Sen's Pokémon have lost the ability to battle, the winner of this match is… ELITE FOUR SATO!"]
Second round of the Champion Challenge…
Success!
On the opposite side, Sen had already recalled Venusaur, but there wasn't a hint of disappointment on his face. Instead, he smiled and nodded toward Sato.
"Sato! Just… thanks!"
The crowd continued cheering. Sato couldn't hear what Sen had said, but reading his lips, he still understood.
A gentle nod. No words needed.
Sen exited the arena, leaving all the cheers to Sato.
At last, only Mark remained…
---◓---
Sato wasn't given much time to rest, as Mark was already running excitedly onto the stage.
"Finally, it's my turn~!" Mark complained loudly, tossing his "Elite Four composure" out the window in an instant.
Sato shook his head helplessly and gently held back the Gengar who had been preparing to step back onto the field.
"Come on, let me see how much you've improved these past few years." Sato raised his hand, gesturing toward Mark.
At the same time, the referee shouted at just the right moment, "Battle… BEGIN!"
"Here we go, Arbok~!"
Mark excitedly sent out his first Pokémon; his Starter Pokémon, the one he shared a bond of life with.
Seeing Arbok take the field, Sato paused with the Poké Ball in his hand…
With a faint smile, he switched to a different Poké Ball.
"Heh… I'll leave it to you, Zoroark!"
Sato also sent out his own Starter Pokémon.
Both sides entered the field but didn't attack right away. Instead, they nodded to each other as if reminiscing.
But very quickly, Arbok, knowing it was no match for Zoroark in raw power, took the initiative and charged forward, its deep purple Poison Tail lashing fiercely toward Zoroark.
"Zoroar~"
With its extremely high autonomous combat ability, Zoroark didn't even need a command from Sato. It had already retreated smartly while hurling a Dark Pulse at Arbok.
"Kyaa~ Dodge it!"
"Chaaa!"
Seeing the Dark Pulse flying in, Arbok instinctively ducked, easily avoiding the tricky-angled attack.
But when the Dark Pulse hit the ground, the resulting explosion blew Arbok aside…
It proved that even with good luck, damage couldn't be avoided completely.
Meanwhile, Zoroark had already placed its hands on the ground.
Night Daze… activated!
"ARBOK, EARTHQUAKE!"
Mark reacted quickly. As someone who had been Sato's friend for years, he knew better than most how to counter some of Sato's "signature" moves.
Arbok swung its tail, slamming it hard against the ground.
Though its body wasn't particularly heavy, it still managed to create a ground-shaking effect.
Earthquake and Night Daze collided on the battlefield, both moves corroding the terrain without giving an inch.
Earthquake, of course, had the advantage of terrain, but Night Daze's energy was stronger and more aggressive.
After a brief stalemate, Night Daze forced back the tremors of Earthquake, though it failed to achieve full-field dominance as originally intended.
For a moment, the crowd even felt that Mark's strength might be comparable to Sato's!
"Hn… Just barely enough."
At the same time, Sato muttered softly, and Zoroark had already rushed toward Arbok again.
"Confide!"