"Mega Venusaur, keep the Seed Bombs coming! At the same time, use Frenzy Plant!"
Mega Venusaur's body erupted with an incredibly intense, vibrant green light.
Instantly, countless massive trees burst from the stadium floor, twisting and weaving together until they coalesced into the shape of a colossal wooden Buddha.
"Go, Mega Venusaur!"
The colossal wooden deity raised a massive palm, slamming it down heavily toward Mega Lopunny.
Mega Lopunny gathered her remaining strength and hurled a volley of Seed Bombs at the incoming giant. The projectiles exploded across the wooden Buddha's chest, leaving blackened scorch marks, but the thermal feedback failed to halt the crushing descent of the massive palm.
"Mega Lopunny, Dig!" Ross bellowed, his teeth gritted.
The rabbit titan dived sharply into the earth, but the maneuver played directly into Mega Venusaur's tactical snare.
The topsoil buckled and swelled violently. Beneath the surface, Mega Lopunny found herself completely entangled in a dense labyrinth of reinforced, parasitic vines. The roots burrowed deeply into her hide, ruthlessly siphoning her remaining stamina to feed the starter's core.
After a few moments of desperate thrashing, her energy was completely depleted, and she collapsed into unconsciousness, unable to continue.
With the battle resolved, the wooden Buddha manifested by the Frenzy Plant dissolved into green particles, withdrawing back into Venusaur's frame. Exhausted and panting heavily, the starter reverted to its standard form.
As I thought, this 'Veritable 1000-Armed Kanon' technique can only be safely sustained while in the Mega-Evolved state, Feng Che mused, watching his partner slowly stabilize. Venusaur's baseline mastery is growing continuously.
He had personally guided the starter's growth, watching it advance step by step.
But this technique still requires rigorous refining. If we encounter a higher-order opponent, a single concentrated counter-strike could easily cause the wooden construct to shatter. Feng Che muttered to himself, analyzing the mechanical flaws.
The Sovereign's Eyes
High above the arena, inside a private VIP observation booth, Chief Sky watched Feng Che's presentation with intense focus.
"This Feng Che possesses an incredibly high order of combat capability; he warrants our highest priority attention. His Venusaur actually managed to completely dismantle Ross's Mega Lopunny while in its advanced state."
"You must remember that Ross's partner sits infinitely close to the true Champion threshold," Chief Sky murmured, deep in thought.
"Chief Sky, the wooden deity manifested by his Venusaur was exceptionally vivid," Julie added, leaning forward against the glass. "I harbor a distinct intuition that his partner has not yet displayed the absolute limits of its strength."
"The potential of that Venusaur is vast. When you factor in his Greninja and that atavistic Aerodactyl... where under heaven did the boy manage to harvest a roster of such monstrous pedigree?"
"He is a truly exceptional seed. I have a profound premonition—if he maintains his current trajectory, he will easily secure a Grandmaster seat. He might even shatter the historical bottleneck of the Grandmaster rank and ascend to a true Mythical-tier trainer."
"Elite-level and Champion-level trainers are no longer rare commodities in our world. I am growing old, and my own potential will likely remain permanently locked within the Grandmaster tier for the rest of my days."
"If I take him under my wing as a personal disciple and systematically cultivate his talents, he may one day stand as a genuine, living Mythical trainer." Chief Sky let out a long, contemplative sigh.
"Ross is aligned with our office," Julie noted softly. "But the next gatekeeper is a peak Elite combatant personally deployed by Deputy Chief Aula. This next engagement will likely be an exceptionally punishing war of attrition for Feng Che."
"The sharpest blades are forged in the bitterest fires; this is an indispensable segment of his journey," Chief Sky replied with a knowing smile. "If a prize is secured too easily, a warrior loses his hunger for advancement."
"Let's move. We shall proceed to the next sector to continue monitoring his circuit. I want to see if he can clear all four proctors in a single, uninterrupted sweep."
With a subtle shimmer of spatial energy, Chief Sky and Julie vanished from the booth.
Uninterrupted Execution
Down on the ruined turf, Ross recalled his unconscious partner and tossed a sleek, black metallic token across the gap.
"Leader Feng Che, your mechanical execution is flawless. This token serves as official verification of your victory over my gate."
"Once you accumulate four distinct tokens, your executive appointment to an overseas Elite Four seat will be permanently locked."
"Furthermore, remember that you are allotted a strict two-hour rest window after every match to restore your roster. If your team has sustained minimal attrition, you are permitted to systematically store these hours, banking the time to use as a cumulative reserve later when the pressure peaks."
"One final word—exercise absolute caution moving forward. The remaining three proctors are progressively more savage than the last."
With that parting advice, Ross offered a respectful nod, turned on his heel, and strode out of the stadium.
A mechanical hover-pod lowered from the rafters, the presiding referee leaning over the console as it settled near Feng Che's position. "Leader Feng Che, as the official proctor for this circuit, I must inquire—do you require your allocated rest window?"
"If you waive the adjustment period, we will immediately transit you to the secondary arena."
"There's no need for a break, Referee," Feng Che replied calmly. "Transit me directly to the next gate."
He possessed an unmatched array of restorative methodologies at his disposal; Venusaur's internal Viridian matrix alone could instantly top off his team's physical reserves. Combined with his exceptionally deep active roster, a simple three-versus-three skirmish required no recovery time whatsoever.
This framework is significantly less demanding than a traditional Champion challenge, Feng Che thought.
To claim a regional Champion seat, a challenger was required to clear four active Elites in continuous succession under full six-versus-six parameters, with a strict two-hour cap between matches to travel to the next dedicated battlefield. Compared to that gauntlet, this was a sprint.
"Very well, Leader Feng Che. Please step onto the secondary platform and follow my lead."
An escort officer guided the platform into the transit tunnels.
The Fractured Front
Meanwhile, inside the Deputy Chief's executive suite...
The massive digital monitors covering the wall were currently looping the high-resolution logs of Ross's defeat. The entire office was thick with a heavy, suffocating silence.
Deputy Chief Aula's face was thoroughly dark with anger.
"He cleanly dismantled Ross—one of Sky's finest operational combatants. His baseline capability has already thoroughly settled into the peak Elite tier."
"The moment his tactical comprehension hits the next inflection point, he will step into the rank of a true Champion."
"Doron... this is the type of nemesis your incompetence has drawn to our doorstep," Aula said, his tone dripping with cold venom.
"Chief Aula, how can the blame rest entirely on my shoulders?!" Doron stammered, frantically wiping a layer of cold sweat from his neck as he backed away. "When we initially initiated the operation to sabotage his tournament bracket, the strategic deployment was explicitly authorized by your office!"
"Furthermore, the asset we've stationed at the next gate is an exceptionally dangerous individual—specifically Zera, the man revered across the mercenary tracks as the absolute apex below the Champion rank."
"His roster has never sustained a definitive defeat on the circuit. It will be mathematically impossible for Feng Che to bypass him cleanly."
"For your own sake, you had better pray Zera breaks him," Aula sneered, turning his back on the scout. "An individual of his pedigree is like a dragon riding the storm. If he secures the League's primary resource allocations, his ascension to the Champion tier will happen at a terrifying velocity."
"Give him a few years of institutional seasoning, and he will transform into the next Chief Sky." Aula let out a sharp, irritated huff before striding out of the room, his mind already shifting to calculate how he might salvage his relationship with Feng Che and pull the young prodigy into his own political faction.
Hmph... Feng Che stands absolutely zero chance against Zera. My calculations are flawless, Doron thought, clenching his fists tightly as he desperately tried to reassure his own rising panic.
The Hidden Sanctuary
In Arena B, Sabrina stepped back as the opposing Ghost-type proctor recalled his final fainted partner. She calmly wiped a delicate layer of perspiration from her forehead.
She shifted her spatial focus, opening a micro-rift to transfer her wind-down Poké Balls into a concealed private pocket.
"Shaymin, I must trouble you to tend to their recovery," Sabrina murmured softly, a rare look of sheepishness coloring her features.
Advanced biological restoration had never been her specialty, which was why she relied on her hidden Mythical companion to maintain her team's peak operational efficiency between the gates.