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In the VIP lounge, three of the most influential figures in China were deep in discussion about Roy's performance.
"Shattered Psyche..." Carter murmured thoughtfully, his brow furrowed in concentration. "What exactly is the structure of that special Psychic energy?"
The Psychic Elite had been wrestling with this question ever since the match had ended. He couldn't help himself—it was simply his professional nature calling to him.
For someone who specialized in Psychic-type Pokémon, Shattered Psyche held an irresistible appeal. He had never witnessed Psychic energy mixed with such mysterious power before. The realization made him feel as though he had been living like a Growlithe his entire life—always chasing after something just out of reach.
"There are talented people in every generation..." Carter said with genuine admiration, though he shook his head and smiled with a mixture of relief and wonder. "It's absolutely incredible that someone could create such an advanced technique before even becoming a professional trainer."
Sebastian felt the same way and nodded in agreement. "The Aura Boxing technique that I've always been so proud of seems like nothing compared to this. True genius cannot be measured by ordinary standards."
The three men couldn't help but think of a particular person from the past—Frances, from ten years ago.
Back then, Frances had also been a genius who made history and defied all conventional wisdom. He had dominated two consecutive global championships, and until recently, his legendary status had only been ended by his retirement from active competition.
Over the years, as the Trainer community had grown and prospered, various countries had produced exceptional talents who broke through common expectations, shattering numerous world records in the process. Avi from the island nation was one such example—he had even managed to become a Champion two years earlier than Frances had.
It wasn't that Avi's natural talent surpassed Frances's abilities. Rather, it was simply the natural progression of time—pioneers are eventually surpassed by those who come after them, and this is an inevitable part of how progress works.
When people possess similar levels of talent, it becomes much easier for newcomers standing on the shoulders of giants to achieve what their predecessors accomplished.
In recent years, China had been showing concerning signs of stagnation. There was a noticeable generation gap among the Trainer ranks. Aside from Sebastian, the other three Elite trainers had reached advanced age without any worthy successors emerging to take their place.
If Champion Frances hadn't appeared when she did, Elder Benjamin would still be carrying the burden of the championship position even now.
China's leadership had discussed this troubling issue countless times. They had reformed the educational system repeatedly, invested enormous amounts of funding into universities across the nation, and provided continuous support to grassroots Trainers at every level.
Judging by the emergence of talented individuals like Henry, Caroline, and Roy in the new generation, their hard work was finally beginning to pay off.
Roy, in particular, stood out even more prominently because he lacked the privileged family background that the other two possessed. His natural talent shone through purely on its own merit.
"Whether that technique can be taught to others remains to be confirmed," Elder Benjamin said suddenly, his voice carrying the weight of years of experience. "However, that special energy field should definitely originate from the power of Alola's spiritual realm."
Sebastian and Carter weren't surprised by this observation and nodded in understanding.
As top-level trainers, information about Alola's spiritual domain wasn't a secret to them. Totem Pokémon and their unique auras had long been the subject of heated discussions within professional circles.
Many experts in the research field had attempted to analyze the underlying principles behind the Totem aura phenomenon.
Unfortunately, none had achieved any meaningful results thus far.
Who could have predicted that a Trainer who had never even visited Alola's spiritual realm would be the one to successfully apply the Totem aura's power?
When they considered Roy's Ninetales and Mimikyu, it seemed he had always shared some kind of special connection with Alola's mysteries.
"Should we send him there?" Sebastian asked suddenly, voicing the question that all three had been hesitating to discuss.
"The trial proposed by Alola's guardian deities..." Elder Benjamin said quietly.
"The Island Challenge trials."
Six o'clock in the evening arrived, and the team battles were about to begin.
The morale of the Capital University team, fresh from their victory in the individual competition, was absolutely extraordinary. In contrast, the Stonecrest University team, whose captain Jaxon had suffered an unexpected defeat, appeared somewhat demoralized.
The audience, sensing the possibility of another upset victory, began cheering enthusiastically for Capital University.
With the advantages of both morale and crowd support, Capital University managed to force the match into a decisive final game with an impressive 3-4 score.
Capital University still had their captain Elon and Roy available to compete, while Stonecrest University had only Jaxon remaining.
"Amazing work out there," Roy said to his teammates, genuinely impressed.
He hadn't expected Avery to perform so exceptionally after finding her rhythm in the competition.
Philip and Patrick, the two brothers who had struggled significantly during the individual battles, had performed remarkably well in the team format. Together, they had eliminated three opposing Pokémon and made crucial contributions to their team's success.
With such a significant advantage in their favor, Elon relaxed and suggested with a confident smile, "I should play it safe and go first, right?"
Jaxon possessed a professional-level Swampert, and while Elon didn't expect to achieve victory, he was confident he could exhaust the opponent's Pokémon's stamina and create an advantageous situation for Roy to capitalize on.
"That won't be necessary," Roy replied, shaking his head and declining the offer.
He spoke with complete honesty: "Before the match began, I wasn't entirely certain whether I could win the individual battle."
If Electabuzz hadn't exceeded expectations during the execution of their strategy and met all the victory conditions, Ninetales might never have had the opportunity to unleash Shattered Psyche.
Despite knowing this uncertainty, Roy had still boasted to Elon before the competition, confidently declaring that he could win.
The reason for his confidence was straightforward and simple.
"We've already won the team battle," Roy announced as he stood up, adjusted his baseball cap, and made his declaration.
As his teammates watched him walk toward the battlefield, Elon, Anya, and the others exchanged glances, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.
Clearly, Roy possessed absolute confidence in his ability to succeed in team battles.
The moment Roy stepped onto the stage, the cheering erupted with such intensity that it seemed capable of bringing down the arena's ceiling.
"Go, go, go!" voices shouted from every direction.
"Ninetales! Let me see Ninetales again!"
"Roy, you're amazing! I'll always support you!"
"Use that move again, please!"
"Take the victory! Make history for Capital University!"
All kinds of voices surrounded him from every angle, and they were almost entirely cheers of support. Roy could only make out a few specific words clearly through the overwhelming noise.
One particularly enthusiastic voice declaring eternal support rang out so loudly that it made his scalp tingle with secondhand embarrassment.
The commentator laughed and observed, "Roy's popularity is truly phenomenal. I've rarely witnessed such one-sided support during a finals match. Perhaps this is the treatment reserved for someone who represents hope for an entire division?"
After his brief commentary, the announcer returned to his duty of analyzing the current situation:
"I'm very optimistic about Roy's chances of winning this match. Unlike individual battles, team battles allow for more strategic flexibility. As long as Roy can buy sufficient time for Ninetales to prepare and execute Shattered Psyche... well, the name of this technique is quite lengthy, but in essence, as long as he can successfully use this move, victory should be well within reach."
On the opposite side of the field, hearing such overwhelming support for his opponent, Jaxon felt deeply frustrated, though he couldn't argue with the crowd's enthusiasm.
The feeling was incredibly aggravating.
Following the referee's reminder, both trainers released all their Pokémon simultaneously.
Jaxon revealed a completely new Pokémon lineup.
His ace Pokémon, Swampert, took the field alongside his Ludicolo, which possessed the Swift Swim ability, and his Politoed, which had the Drizzle ability.
This was clearly a Rain Team strategy.
Roy wasn't surprised by this revelation—Jaxon's team battle tactics were well-documented and hardly secret.
The Politoed possessed incredibly deep knowledge of the Rain Dance, making it extremely difficult for ordinary weather-controlling Pokémon to wrestle control of the battlefield conditions away from it.
Ludicolo's Swift Swim ability provided significant speed improvements during rainy weather, making it remarkably agile and dangerous. Additionally, this particular Ludicolo had mastered Hidden Power Electric type, and through Jaxon's intensive training and development, it had learned to use the Thunder move despite the apparent contradiction in type matchups.
Thunder was one of the most powerful Electric-type ultimate moves available.
Its only significant weakness was its notoriously unreliable accuracy rate.
As long as a Pokémon wasn't as slow as Torkoal, it could usually dodge the attack if it had functional mobility.
However, the humid environment created by rainy weather perfectly compensated for Thunder's shortcomings. Through the principle of electrical conduction in water, Thunder became essentially a guaranteed hit.
Rain Team strategies represented a classic tactical approach—simple, clear, and devastatingly effective. Any team that employed rainy day tactics would inevitably incorporate Thunder's application into their strategy.
The Pokémon that Roy sent onto the battlefield were:
Electabuzz.
Ninetales.
Blastoise.
The moment the first two appeared on stage, the cheering volume throughout the entire arena suddenly increased to an even higher level of intensity.
The popularity of Electabuzz and Ninetales rivaled that of Roy himself, their trainer.
Blastoise scratched its head, feeling somewhat envious of its companions' popularity with the crowd.
But that was perfectly fine! In this particular battle, the spotlight would finally be its time to shine!
Recalling all the intensive training it had endured during this period, Blastoise's eyes flashed with eager anticipation and determination.
Finally, it was its turn to make a difference!