Shhh, shhh, shhh~!
The dark clouds that covered the sky above Coral City's lake had yet to dissipate.
Moreover, as time passed, those clouds began to slowly spread toward the surrounding areas.
At that moment, a light drizzle had already begun to fall outside Coral City, causing the expressions of the citizens to grow increasingly serious.
"Charrzz!"
Suddenly, a dragon's roar was heard from the distant sky.
Immediately after, two Charizard were seen streaking through the sky at high speed from afar, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived in the air above Coral City's lake.
"It's the Champion, Champion Leo Cross! We're saved!"
Upon seeing the Charizard and the figure standing atop them, the entire city immediately erupted into cheers.
"The Champion... Leo Cross?"
"And those two Charizard?"
Ethan's gaze grew serious as he watched the two silhouettes in the distant sky.
Pop!
At the same time, a Poké Ball opened behind Ethan, and the figure of his own Charizard appeared, floating in the air.
Ethan's Charizard also turned its gaze toward the distance. Vaguely, it could sense an aura that made it feel extremely comfortable—a blood bond that allowed it to immediately recognize the identities of those two Charizard.
"Charrzz!"
At that moment, in the air, one of the Charizard let out a deep roar.
Then, that Charizard rapidly ascended into the sky.
During its flight, flames began to continuously erupt around its body, and within a matter of seconds, it transformed into a gigantic ball of fire that slammed directly into the dark clouds.
Boom!
When the fireball collided with the clouds, a deafening explosion rang out. Flames burst forth violently, forming a sea of fire that instantly dispersed a vast expanse of black clouds.
Through the enormous hole opened in the clouds, the long-absent sunlight once again poured down upon the land.
At that moment, that Charizard seemed to have turned into a second sun suspended high in the sky.
Under the sunlight, the dark clouds gradually dissipated, and the rain stopped, restoring the sky to its usual clarity.
"The rain... stopped?"
"Could that move have been Sunny Day?"
"To think it could directly disperse such a powerful rainy weather! Could it be that this Charizard also possesses the ability to control temperature?"
"With that level of power, the Sunny Day it used must be comparable to the Drought ability of Mega Charizard Y!"
Ethan gazed at the Charizard that had become a second sun in the sky, and a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
"Charrzz!"
Beside him, his own Charizard also released a burst of flames from its mouth, as if declaring that one day it too would reach such a formidable level of power.
"Don't worry, Charizard. In the future, you'll only become even stronger!" Ethan said confidently, a smile forming on his face.
With both a Mega Stone and a Key Stone in his possession, Charizard had more than enough reason to believe in its future.
"Charrzz!"
Charizard nodded firmly, and in its gaze burned a flame of fighting spirit.
Boom, boom, boom!
At that moment, the ground trembled once again.
This time, Ethan was standing atop the city wall, so the sensation of the vibrations was even clearer.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel astonished inside—what kind of Pokémon could shake the earth like that?
Shhh, shhh, shhh!
After the violent tremor, another attack signal rang out.
However, this time, with Champion Leo present, all the Pokémon were suppressed with absolute force.
Shhh, shhh, shhh~!
Once the battle ended, the surface of the lake regained its calm.
Without the rain from the sky serving as a constant supply, the water level of the lake began to slowly drop.
Little by little, the water that had nearly flooded Coral City started to recede, and everything returned to its usual tranquility.
"Is it already over?"
Everyone stood on tiptoe, looking in the direction of the lake.
At the same time, reinforcements from the Pokémon Hunters Guild continued to arrive without pause.
Finally, after releasing Water-type Pokémon to investigate the lake, they confirmed that the entrance to the Secret Kingdom had already closed.
"So strong... a Champion-level trainer doesn't seem to fear even legendary Pokémon at all."
Ethan watched the two Charizard still flying in the air. His gaze shimmered faintly as, deep inside, he gained a deeper understanding of the strength of the trainers in this world.
...
After the crisis at the lake was resolved, Coral City regained its calm.
Once the emergency was over, Champion Leo left the city together with his two Charizard.
"What a pity..."
Ethan watched the Charizard disappear into the sky and gently shook his head.
If he had had the chance to exchange a few words with the Champion, he was certain he would have gained great benefits.
Moreover, he could have handed over the method for Magmortar's evolution in advance.
Unfortunately, Champion Leo left in too much of a hurry, so Ethan could only reserve that opportunity for the future Cross Cup.
Very soon, Coral City returned to normal, and the lives of the citizens went back to their usual course.
However, an unexpected situation occurred on the fishing tournament side.
In order to prevent accidents from happening again and to study the sudden situation of the Secret Kingdom, Coral City Lake was sealed off by the Pokémon Hunters Guild, making it impossible to continue the fishing tournament.
Furthermore, due to the events of that day, even whether the fishing tournament could be held in the future became an open question.
Faced with this situation, the tournament's organizing committee held an emergency meeting and decided to skip the first round of the competition, moving directly to the second round. At the same time, they changed the rules: this round would become a Water-type Pokémon competition, in which trainers could send other Water-type Pokémon they possessed into battle, without being limited to the Pokémon obtained in the fishing round.
As for the rewards, the tournament organizers also offered new prizes to replace the original rewards intended for the top ten places.
"The champion of the tournament can obtain a starter Pokémon egg?"
Upon hearing this news, Ethan was truly shocked. This reward was far more generous than the original one!
It seemed that the tournament organizers were planning to take advantage of this opportunity to try to reform the fishing tournament.
If it could no longer be held in the future, perhaps transforming it directly into a type-specialized tournament, similar to the Cross Cup, would be a fairly good option.
"A starter Pokémon egg..."
"Under normal circumstances, there would surely be a huge number of Water-type trainers fighting for it, right?"
"But this time, the participants are still the same ones from the fishing tournament... maybe it's worth giving it a try!"
Ethan was pondering internally when, all of a sudden, his expression froze.
He had just realized that his two Water-type Pokémon, Slowking and Kingdra, were not with him.
With not a single Water-type Pokémon on his team... did that mean he was eliminated directly?
(End of chapter)