"Go, Medicham! Fake Out!"
"Cha!"
The instant Medicham appeared on the field, her eyes sharpened. She instantly closed in on Mega Charizard Y and struck him with a palm strike.
"Mega Charizard has flinched! Medicham presses the advantage—Thunder Punch strikes Mega Charizard Y repeatedly!"
Mega Charizard Y winced in pain. The flinch status wore off quickly. Mega Charizard Y suddenly caught Medicham's fist, and at the same time, expelled a torrent of flames from his mouth, engulfing Medicham completely.
"Medicham!"
After one Flamethrower, Medicham—whose fist was still caught in Mega Charizard Y's grip—went swirly-eyed and collapsed into Mega Charizard Y's arms.
Charizard: (ಠ_ಠ)
Mega Charizard Y turned helplessly toward Jace.
Jace had no solution either. He shrugged and spread his hands, indicating Charizard should handle it himself.
Mega Charizard Y released Medicham's fist, scratched his head awkwardly, then scooped Medicham up in a princess carry and gently set her down in front of her trainer.
The referee suppressed his laughter and raised the small flag. "Medicham has lost the ability to battle. Mega Charizard wins. The victor of this match is Jace Rowan."
"Nice!"
Jace pumped his fist excitedly, recalled Mega Charizard Y, and cheerfully headed back down toward Auron and the others.
"How was that? Pretty awesome, right?"
"Tch!"
Tim turned his head away dismissively, refusing to look at Jace. Jealousy has me chomping on lemons.
"We don't have any more matches. Should we keep watching?"
Tim rubbed his face. "Let's stick around a bit longer. Scout out any strong opponents."
"Okay~"
Before long, the first round of the main tournament wrapped up. Three days had passed, and round one was complete.
Auron, Jace, Serena, and Simon had all advanced.
Tim, on the other hand, had been extremely unlucky—he'd been matched against Serena, and then Cloyster had cheerfully swept both his Pokémon with a smile.
Day four. Only thirty-eight contestants remained now. It was safe to say that everyone left standing represented the cream of the crop among freshmen—those with both luck and skill.
"My turn—I'm heading up."
After saying goodbye to the group, Auron scooped up Dratini and headed toward the field.
By now, basically every student and teacher at the school recognized Auron—especially his signature shiny Dratini.
And because of Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y, both Auron and Jace had become minor sensations worldwide.
Of course, it was only the two Charizard that had gone viral. Shiny Charizard aside, there was also the still-unexplained fourth-stage evolution.
Supposedly, some overseas groups had already gone a bit crazy, offering huge bounties for the secret behind the fourth evolution.
Not only that—there were even bounties out on the two Charizard themselves. Absolutely wild.
"Hurry up and go. Just don't come back having lost."
Jace sat cross-legged off to the side, grinning at Auron.
Auron curled his lip and ignored him, heading onto the field on his own.
"Hm? A familiar aura?"
The moment Auron stepped onto the field, he sensed his opponent's aura. It felt very familiar—and not from recently either.
Auron's opponent also froze when he saw Auron. Of course he recognized him—and not from recently, either.
Auron's steps slowed slightly as his mind raced, searching through his memories for the owner of this familiar aura.
Unfortunately, though Auron had slowed his pace, by the time he reached his position, he still hadn't pinpointed it in his mind.
After all, Auron had sensed the auras of a great many people. There were quite a few familiar ones. Though there were fewer among his own year, it still wasn't something he could sort through in a matter of moments.
"Both contestants, release your Pokémon."
"Go, Charizard!"
"Go, Blastoise!"
"Blastoise!!!"
The moment he sensed the equally familiar aura from Blastoise, Auron finally remembered who his opponent was.
Auron stared at his opponent with clear vigilance, completely ignoring the cries of surprise from below.
"Charizard? Did it de-evolve?"
"Right—didn't they say it was a fourth-stage evolution? Why is it still Charizard?"
The commentator also sounded confused. "Contestant Auron's Charizard seems to have... mm, something appears to have happened. It seems to have reverted from its Mega Charizard state."
The commentator didn't understand either—after all, he was just a commentator.
Unlike the professors in the audience, most of whom had received information over the past few days from Elite Four Dax or from other Elite Four members who'd participated in the Mega Evolution experiments.
Though they'd signed confidentiality agreements when they first participated in the experiments, that was no longer necessary. The moment Auron's and Jace's Mega Charizard had been revealed to the world, the confidentiality agreement had ended.
"Team Aqua's young master? Why would he appear at this school?" Auron's brow furrowed as he stared at his opponent, unable to understand why Team Aqua's heir—who was supposed to be active in the island nations—would come to a Dragon Nation school. And not just any school, but Skyspire University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the nation.
At that moment, Zhong Lixing's heart was also somewhat uneasy. He didn't figure out my real identity, did he? That shouldn't be possible—I was wearing a mask last time. Could it be Blastoise?
"Swish!"
The flag dropped. The battle began!
The referee had no idea what either contestant was thinking. He only knew—it was time to start.
"Charizard, Mega Evolution!"
Auron's mind was racing with thoughts, but his hands moved without hesitation. The instant the referee's flag fell, Auron pressed his hand against the Key Stone on his wrist.
"Charizard? Again? It evolved again!"
The commentator shouted in confusion from the booth. The audience below reacted much the same as they had three days prior.
"Why—why did Charizard evolve again?"
"Holy crap! I want to know too!"
"What the hell is going on?! If I don't get an answer soon, I'm gonna lose it!"
At that moment, neither Auron nor Zhong Lixing had any interest in listening to the commotion below. Both stared at each other with complete seriousness.
"Charizard! Flamethrower!"
"Blastoise, Hydro Cannon!"
A moment later, both sides simultaneously launched probing attacks.
The pillar of fire and the pillar of water collided mid-air. With a hissing sound, steam instantly billowed upward.
"Heat Wave!"
Auron's eyes lit up. Mega Charizard X reacted instantly. With a powerful beat of his wings, Heat Wave swept the steam along with it, pushing toward Blastoise.
"Blastoise, Surf!"
Once again, both sides' moves canceled each other out. The field fell silent once more.
"As you can see, Mega Charizard and Blastoise on the field are evenly matched. Neither can overcome the other. You attack, I counter. It doesn't even feel like a Pokémon battle—it's more like a Coordinator battle."
Down below, hearing the commentator's words, Serena murmured to herself: "Please don't say that. I'm a Coordinator and I've never fought like this."