Metagross drove both iron arms into the ground, Ground-type energy surging through them. The entire arena shook.
It was fortunate they were inside a dedicated battle arena at the Battle Center. If this had been outdoors, an Earthquake of that magnitude would have brought the surrounding structure down.
The shockwaves from the Earthquake were still rolling across the floor when Shelgon's fully charged Hyper Beam fired. A thick beam of purple-black energy shot straight at Metagross, and in that same instant, both attacks reached their targets simultaneously.
There had been no realistic way for Shelgon to avoid a ground-wide attack like Earthquake without the ability to fly. David had known that from the start. Trading hits had been the only option.
The dust thrown up by the Earthquake and the blast from the Hyper Beam's impact rolled together, swallowing the arena in a dense cloud. Neither outcome was visible from outside. The field fell into a brief, tense silence.
The spectators craned forward.
David frowned at the smoke. Then he closed his eyes for a moment and reached out with his Aura.
Since inheriting the ability from his grandfather and spending the past several days in deliberate practice, his control over Aura had grown considerably more refined. Sensing through solid matter and obscuring conditions was becoming second nature.
A moment later, a quiet smile crossed his face.
Shelgon had won.
"Roar!"
The roar came first, rumbling out from somewhere inside the smoke. Then a Twister swept outward from the same point, scattering the dust and clearing the air in every direction. The protective barrier around the arena kept most of the debris from reaching the audience — though the trainers standing on the command platform had no such barrier to shelter them.
David released a controlled pulse of Aura and redirected the incoming dust before it reached him. Clean.
"Cough — cough, cough!"
Luke, on the other side, was not so fortunate. The dispersing cloud caught him full in the face, and he spent the next several seconds unable to open his eyes properly.
As the air settled, the full picture of the arena came into view.
It was not in good shape. The floor showed a network of cracks from the Earthquake, and the earlier clash of Giga Impact against Giga Impact had already done its share of damage to the surface. Battles at this level — technically still within the Superior tier, but with two Pokémon whose strength already matched or exceeded most Professional-level opponents — were not well-suited to standard battle arenas. The reinforced arenas on the second floor existed precisely for this kind of match. David's earlier opponents had been dealt with too quickly for the environment to matter. This one had shown why the distinction existed.
They were probably going to owe a repair fee.
The result on the field was clear.
Shelgon lay on the ground, covered in scrapes and burns, visibly exhausted. The Twister had been its final act — a last burst of energy that had cleared the smoke and then left it with nothing more to give.
Metagross had fainted entirely. On top of the injuries it had accumulated over the course of the battle, its body now bore a fresh, scorched mark — a burn scar left squarely by Shelgon's Hyper Beam.
"Metagross is unable to battle. Shelgon is the winner. The victor of this match is — Trainer David!"
The announcement came promptly.
And with it, a notification: David's ranking had advanced to Great Ball IV.
The logic was straightforward. When levels were comparable, defeating an opponent with a strong win rate yielded bonus points. Luke wasn't weak — his win rate reflected that — and the points from this single match had covered the last gap David needed.
Name: David Ranked Battle ID: 128328648 Trainer Class: Novice Trainer Ranked Level: Great Ball IV (Promoted)Consecutive Wins: 31 (Ongoing)Total Wins: 31
Since his initial ten-win run when he first registered, David hadn't played ranked battles with any consistency. Over the course of the semester he had queued occasionally — just enough to prevent his rank from slipping, and no more. Including today's nine-win streak, his total came to thirty-one matches. The number was modest. His win rate was not: a perfect one hundred percent.
At his current level of strength, opponents in the Great Ball tier were unlikely to challenge him. Standard Professional-rank trainers wouldn't put him under real pressure either. The honest limiting factor was team size — without a full roster, pursuing a Superior Trainer certification wasn't yet on the table. To find opponents who could genuinely push him, he would need to be looking at the Ultra Ball tier, where Gym-level trainers competed.
Both trainers recalled their Pokémon and stepped off the arena together.
"You're getting harder to read every time."
"Come on — your Metagross is nothing to dismiss either."
"That's different," Luke said, his tone shading into something between impressed and irritated. "Metagross has been with me since the start. Your Shelgon hasn't even been caught for half a month."
David had nothing to say to that, so he just smiled.
"Anyway — weren't you back home? When did you get back?"
"I came back when I was done. I was planning to break in Metagross against a few newer trainers, but I ran into you two battles after arriving and that was that."
It was getting late by the time they finished talking. The Pokémon, sent for treatment immediately after the match, had recovered well enough by the time they were ready to leave. David and Luke settled the arena repair fee at the front desk — a modest amount, all things considered — and parted ways outside.
During the first days of the new year, staying out late every night wasn't the same as it had been during the holidays. David said his goodbye and headed straight home.
There was one piece of good news waiting for him on the way back.
The promotion to Great Ball IV had triggered a system reward. It was a minor tier reward, nothing remarkable — but it still came with two thousand system points. Adding that to what he had accumulated over the previous semester and through the winter break, David's total system points had crossed thirty thousand.
And counting.