The Saffron Gym was a cathedral of psychic power.
One hundred thousand seats rose in tiers around an arena designed to amplify everything Psychic-types could achieve. The largest gym facility in Kanto, it had been constructed specifically to host challenges that other venues couldn't contain.
Mental pressure saturated the building itself.
Sasuke felt it the moment he entered, weight against consciousness that had nothing to do with physical force. The psychic environment Koichi had warned about wasn't metaphor. It was reality that pressed against thoughts, tested focus, demanded attention be maintained through sheer will.
"Home field advantage," Kiyomi observed from the challenger's box. "The building itself is weapon."
"He knows." Miyuki watched Sasuke navigate the entrance corridor. "He's been preparing for exactly this."
The crowd's energy was overwhelming.
Home city supporting home gym leader. One hundred thousand voices creating atmosphere that visiting challengers rarely experienced. The sound alone could have destabilized focus that wasn't properly anchored.
Hiashi Hyuga entered from the opposite corridor.
His presence commanded attention without demanding it. Pale eyes, the Byakugan that characterized his bloodline, observed everything simultaneously. The all-seeing gaze that had made the Hyuga family legendary assessed his challenger with thoroughness that nothing escaped.
"Welcome, Sasuke Uchiha."
His voice carried across the arena despite the crowd's volume.
"Your brother warned me about you."
Sasuke's expression didn't change.
"Said you'd be stronger than he was at your age." Hiashi's assessment continued. "Itachi doesn't offer praise lightly. When he spoke of you during his own challenge, his respect was... notable."
"I'll honor that comparison."
"See that you do." Hiashi assumed battle position with confidence that decades of experience had built. "I expect your best. Anything less insults both of us."
The arena revealed itself as both trainers took position.
Floating platforms hovered at various heights, telekinetically suspended without visible support. Obstacles moved through predictable patterns that Psychic-types could exploit. The entire battlefield had been designed to advantage those who could manipulate it mentally.
"Psychic terrain," Sasuke assessed. "Everything here responds to telekinetic force."
"My Alakazam has battled in this arena for thirty-seven years," Hiashi confirmed. "It knows every current, every pattern, every advantage this space provides."
"Then I'll have to take those advantages away."
"This is an official Pokémon League gym battle!" the referee announced. "Standard format applies! The Gym Leader will use one Pokémon; the challenger may use their full team! The battle concludes when either side's Pokémon are unable to continue!"
"Trainers, reveal your Pokémon!"
"Alakazam!"
The Psi Pokémon materialized with presence that exceeded any Alakazam Sasuke had faced. Decades of partnership with a Gym Leader, countless battles, the psychic environment's amplification, all of it concentrated into a single being whose power was immediately apparent.
"Galarian Moltres!"
The Dark/Flying type emerged with malevolent energy that created immediate contrast. Where Alakazam represented refined psychic mastery, Moltres represented primal darkness that defied mental manipulation.
Type advantage was absolute. Dark immunity to Psychic meant Alakazam's primary weapons couldn't touch its opponent.
But Hiashi showed no concern.
"Battle begin!"
"Trick Room!"
The opening move defied expectations.
Reality warped around the arena as Alakazam's technique inverted speed relationships. The dimension they battled in now operated by different rules, slower Pokémon moved first, faster ones were delayed.
"Speed negation," Kiyomi realized. "Moltres's aerial advantage just became disadvantage."
Galarian Moltres hesitated, its movements suddenly sluggish where they should have been swift. The Trick Room's effects made every action feel like fighting through resistance.
"Clever," Sasuke acknowledged.
"Standard opening against faster opponents." Hiashi's expression remained calm. "You can't outmaneuver what you can't outpace."
"Lash Out!"
Sasuke's counter relied on power rather than speed. Dark-type energy erupted from Moltres, anger-fueled attack that didn't require positioning to be effective.
Super effective. Alakazam couldn't resist what it couldn't psychically deflect.
The impact was visible, the Psi Pokémon staggered despite decades of battle conditioning. Dark-type damage struck with force that experience couldn't entirely absorb.
"Significant," Hiashi observed. "Your Moltres channels negative emotion effectively."
"Every psychic pressure this city produces becomes fuel for that attack."
"Ah. Turning environmental advantage against me." A slight smile crossed Hiashi's stern features. "Tactical adaptation. Your brother taught you well."
"Focus Blast!"
The counter came with precision that Trick Room's effects enhanced. Fighting-type energy, coverage specifically prepared for Dark-type opponents, struck Galarian Moltres before its slowed movements could evade.
Super effective in return.
Moltres recoiled, the Fighting-type damage cutting through defenses that Dark-typing couldn't supplement.
"Both playing coverage," Kasumi observed. "Dark hits Psychic. Fighting hits Dark. Neither can rely solely on primary typing."
"Mega Evolution!"
Hiashi's declaration triggered transformation that the arena had been designed to showcase.
Alakazam's form shifted, spoons multiplying, psychic presence expanding, power that had already exceeded normal parameters climbing toward levels that Legendary Pokémon would respect.
Mega Alakazam.
The Psi Pokémon's IQ, already beyond measurement, increased further. Its spoons rotated in patterns that suggested calculations no human mind could follow. The arena's floating platforms began responding to its mere presence.
"The full power of Saffron Gym," Hiashi announced. "What you've faced until now was restraint."
"Primal Reversion!"
Sasuke's response matched escalation with ancient power.
Galarian Moltres transformed into what it had been before modern existence, a phoenix of primordial darkness whose presence predated the psychic disciplines Alakazam represented. Malevolent energy radiated with force that made observers instinctively step back.
Primal Galarian Moltres.
The Dark/Flying type's aura pressed against the psychic environment itself, corruption that challenged the mental energy saturating the arena. Where Alakazam's evolution amplified existing power, Moltres's reversion accessed something older, rawer, more fundamental.
"Mega versus Primal," the announcer said, voice carrying awe. "Psychic refinement against Dark antiquity!"
The crowd's noise reached new heights as they recognized what they were witnessing.
Two of the most powerful trainers either had ever faced.
Two transformations that pushed Pokémon beyond normal limitations.
One arena that would determine whose power proved greater.
Hiashi assessed the transformed Moltres with the thoroughness his Byakugan provided.
"Impressive," he acknowledged. "Your Primal form corrupts the psychic field itself. The environmental advantage I've maintained is weakening."
"Your arena serves whoever proves stronger," Sasuke replied. "Right now, that's undetermined."
"Then let's determine it."
Mega Alakazam floated higher, its enhanced presence beginning to assert control over the floating platforms that would become weapons in the exchanges to come.
Primal Moltres rose to meet it, dark flames trailing from wings that spread wide enough to cast shadows across the entire arena.