Brilliant crystals shattered into glittering fragments with a crisp sound, as the earthy monarch's body surface became translucent and crystalline.
Atop its head, a crown-like Terastal gem towered, displaying a structure resembling a cross-section of the planet Earth—plains, mountains, inner and outer cores, mantle, crust… all the layers of the earth materialized on this Terastal crown.
There could be no doubt now — the Clodsire's Terastal attribute was Ground type!
In Iono's livestream room, the barrage of comments paused for a moment, then erupted once more with even greater frenzy.
It was nothing unusual for residents of the Paldea region, who occasionally encountered Pokémon Terastalized by crystallization in the wild.
But for viewers from other regions, what they saw was simply astonishing.
Was this evolution, a form change, or some kind of power-up?
They had never seen anything like this before!
…
Pallet Town, Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Recently, thanks to Tracey's teaching, Professor Oak had gotten increasingly skilled at surfing the net, enthusiastically using his expertise to share science in every way he could.
He even managed multiple accounts: some uploaded Pokémon-themed haikus he had written, others had videos with Oak himself explaining Pokémon knowledge, and yet another was a sockpuppet account that blended in with major livestream platforms.
Oak's open-mindedness made him highly receptive to new things; he was now a true "internet-savvy elder."
He'd even heard of a way to livestream as a virtual avatar using facial motion-capture, and was considering giving it a try.
But when he saw Rika perform Terastalization, Professor Oak was, for once, stumped.
He'd heard of this unique phenomenon from the Paldea region, but never actually studied it, so he couldn't provide a specialized explanation.
On the livestream, Iono, who had clearly been holding back for a while, now unleashed her expertise and explained the Terastalization phenomenon non-stop.
She occasionally cast a triumphant glance at the camera, as if showing off to someone in the ether.
Truthfully, Iono was feeling pretty great.
That guy who always acted like a know-it-all in the comment section was finally silent; not only had she taken back her spotlight, but maybe that person had been using her traffic to get popular, too!
Talking away, Iono opened that person's profile and realized he'd actually been blocked by her once.
She'd blocked a lot of people, but this guy's ID was unforgettable—especially with their past private messages.
That fake Professor Oak!
Iono's eyes flashed even more provocatively at the memory.
…
Los Platos Farm.
While deeply focused on the match, Lucas glanced at the screen and saw Iono's twitching expression, falling silent.
What's wrong with her now?
…
Meanwhile, at the Paldea Pokémon League HQ, the fierce battle raged on.
After Terastalizing, the Clodsire's ground-type moves became even more powerful.
But its real threat wasn't from the ground moves or its decent dual defenses.
It was the huge spikes that erupted from its body when attacked. Getting stabbed not only caused heavy damage, but could also inject poison.
For Nemona, avoiding excessive stamina and energy use before the final battle was key; more than anything else, she wanted to avoid her Pokémon getting poisoned.
Despite the fact that her Ribombee, knew Aromatherapy—using such healing moves would also lower its battle prowess. Unless necessary, Nemona avoided relying on them.
That's why her commands for Goodra kept it out of direct contact with Clodsire as much as possible.
Luckily, Goodra was both offensively skilled and resilient. Even lacking the Hydration ability, after she summoned rain to blank out the sandstorm, her water attacks remained formidable.
Ultimately, Goodra's sheer size let it survive a Terastalized earthquake from the Clodsire, and repay that damage with a towering wave, washing away the last of Clodsire's strength.
The dominance of this late-bloomer Pokémon, after meticulous training, was fully unleashed.
"Decidueye, Goodra, and Ursaluna are all fine. Taurus's energy looks a bit depleted from the triggered ability boost, so he'll need extra rest—it'll be tough to field him in round two…"
Using the first-aid techniques learned from Lucas, Nemona gave her Pokémon preliminary care, before trotting over to where Rika gazed at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
"Elite Four Rika, thank you for your guidance!"
"What guidance? I was completely swept by you!"
Rika waved her hand offhandedly, using a much warmer tone now.
"No need to call me Elite Four Rika so stiffly. I'm older, so let me take advantage and just call me Sister Rika."
Even though she'd lost, Rika actually felt thrilled. Trainers able to pass her test were rare enough—let alone someone as promising as Nemona.
If it was Nemona, maybe she could really pull off something like Lucas did a year or two ago—a meteoric rise.
"The second Elite Four is even tougher. You better give it your all, okay?"
Rika pointed to the back door and, with a single hand in her pocket, looked every bit the model of flair.
She was also reminding Nemona—the post-battle short break was almost over.
"Go now—I want to see just how far you can go, with my own eyes."
"Got it… Sister Rika!"
Nemona's cheeks flushed—perhaps swept up by Rika's coolness. Gathering her teammates, she headed step by step to the next room.
Rika whistled, and only when Nemona was out of sight did she follow at an unhurried pace, hands in pockets.
Being an Elite Four member of the Paldea League, she had full authority to move and spectate any Elite Four match—as long as she didn't interfere.
As she entered the room, she overheard Nemona muttering:
"So it really is Uncle Larry… Is this the Normal-type room?"
…
On the far side of the room—a man in a suit, sky-blue tie knotted immaculately, with dark circles under his eyes and an all-too-familiar salaryman vibe—Larry overheard Nemona's muttering as well.
Tugging his tie slightly, Larry responded listlessly, "I use Normal-types at my gym because they match me—pretty plain. But here, management asked me to use Flying-types instead."
"Got an issue? Complain to the boss. For now, I'll be battling you with Flying-types."
"Fine then, let's get to work. Looking forward to it."
Sounding exhausted, Larry wasted no breath, simply taking out a Poké Ball from his briefcase and aiming it at Nemona.
His whole demeanor screamed "get this over with so I can finish today's real work"—and a whole lot of office worker ennui.
Many corporate drones sneaking a peek at the livestream in their own jobs couldn't help but resonate deeply with Larry's pure salaryman energy.
All of this… just putting on a brave front.
"Braviary."
Larry tossed his Poké Ball with minimal effort. Out sprang a huge raptor, with white feathered crest, thick legs, and giant talons.
The valiant and proud sky warrior, dual Normal/Flying type.
And Nemona's choice was intriguing.
She didn't send out Ursaluna (a disadvantage), nor did she pick Decidueye, knowing it would be at a type disadvantage to Flying.
In fact, other than Goodra, she only had one choice un-checked by Flying types.
"What is she thinking?"
Standing in a corner of the room carefully off-camera, Rika's eyebrows rose, and she even took her hands out of her pockets in surprise.
"It's up to you, Pawmot!"
"Pawmo!"
Nemona tossed out her Poké Ball—and a nearly one-meter tall, upright electric mouse materialized in a flash of red.
Her ace: Pawmot enters the field!
With confident dexterity, Pawmot caught the Poké Ball midair and lightly tossed it back to Nemona.
In Iono's broadcast, she was briefly stunned, nearly losing her composure.
She knew better than anyone that Pawmot was Nemona's star Pokémon. Out of all her Pokémon, the one who most diligently studied under Lucas's Luxray—who else but Pawmot?
Did Nemona plan to use Pawmot's sheer power to take an early advantage?
Iono unconsciously began to narrate her analysis.
Back in the Elite Four Room 2, Larry's weary eyes flickered a moment when he saw Pawmot.
"You Electric duo…"
Larry felt his tie choke a bit again.
He thought back—how, back in Medali, he kindly took in Lucas, only for his life to thereafter be plagued by that guy's utter madness.
The very next day, he'd ended up frying in Lucas's gym challenge—literally, thanks to Luxray.
Even in the champion test, Lucas had fielded Luxray right away, targeting Larry's aerial squad.
Actually, this tactic was something Nemona had clearly picked up from Lucas!
Only months ago, Larry had lost to Nemona's Pawmot at Medali Gym, and now…
Bad memories soured Larry's face even paler, but professional instinct had him first command Braviary to take off and attack.
"Crush Claw."
"Kraa!!"
A blood-red light wrapped around Braviary's talons as it dove, aiming its curved claws directly at Pawmot.
For a close-combat expert like Pawmot, ranged moves would be a smarter counter.
But Larry insisted on close combat for two reasons. Firstly, Geeta had asked him to keep the matches entertaining for the livestream; secondly, Braviary's nature wasn't suited to cheap shots. Even if Larry himself was bland, he always, always respected his Pokémon's personalities and hopes.
A valiant sky warrior like Braviary? Brawling was the only way to go.
…
Alola region. At Pokémon School, Kukui (watching the stream because of Lucas) decided to let his students watch the match live.
Gazing at Larry and Braviary's fierce fighting style, Kukui couldn't help but respect them.
This Mr. Larry sure knew how to train Pokémon.
He called out, "This is a battle starring the student personally taught by Mr. Lucas! Champion challenges like this are rare—everyone, watch closely!"
"Okay!"
The class replied in unison—most of all, Kiawe, eyes burning with excitement.
Gladion, who had planned to leave after dropping Lillie at school, stopped outright at Kukui's words and fixed his gaze on the stream.
So… that's Lucas's pupil?
Gladion couldn't tear his eyes away—he wanted to see just how strong this trainee really was, and also, what he himself still lacked by comparison.
…
Paldea League headquarters, Room Two.
Braviary swooped down on Pawmot like a hunting eagle; from above, looking every bit the natural predator of a field mouse.
But is that really true?
Once, Pawmot might have cowered. But after all the growth shared with Nemona, and the pressure-cooker training from Luxray, it was no longer that weakling of old.
As Braviary lunged, Pawmot's eyes sharpened, sparks crackling from its fists, as it fearlessly met Braviary head on.
A Thunder Punch crashed down on Crush Claw—Braviary froze, muscles jolted by the numbing force.
This power isn't good!
Braviary beat its wings, trying to blast Pawmot away, but Nemona called:
"Thunderbolt!"
Crackling lightning burst from Pawmot, surging through Braviary's massive body!
Just like that, most of Braviary's strength was lost.
It wasn't about command quality—Larry made no mistakes.
But Pawmot—Nemona's ace—completely overshadowed Braviary in raw stats.
As Braviary seized up, Pawmot followed up with another Thunder Punch, scoring its first KO in under 30 seconds.
Rika couldn't hear Iono's excited commentary, but she drew a deep breath anyway. "So this is what a champion-caliber seedling looks like."
"Lucas, just how did you discover this supergenius?"
…