At this moment, the giant screen finally displayed the sixteen world-class Trainers who had advanced to the Top 16 and earned the right to compete for a place in the Masters Eight!
They were—
Kanto Pokémon League: Champion Lance, Vice Champion Lorelei, Vice Champion Brandon, and Ice-type Elite Four Pryce!
Hoenn Pokémon League: Champion Aiden, Vice Champion Steven, and Vice Champion Wallace!
Sinnoh Pokémon League: Champion Cynthia and Legendary Pokémon Trainer Tobias!
Unova Pokémon League: Champion Alder and dark horse Trainer N!
Kalos Pokémon League: Champion Diantha and dark horse Trainer Alain!
Galar Pokémon League: Champion Leon and Dragon-type Gym Leader Raihan!
Paldea Pokémon League: Champion Geeta!
Unfortunately, not a single Trainer from the Alola region had managed to advance to the Top 16.
That meant the eight positions in the Masters Eight would be contested entirely by Trainers from the other seven regions!
Among these sixteen, Aiden was somewhat surprised that Pryce had managed to advance.
This veteran Elite Four member was currently the only Elite Four Trainer remaining in the Top 16!
Even powerful figures such as Agatha and Bruno had unfortunately been eliminated in the Top 32.
Agatha had encountered Galar's Dragon-type Gym Leader Raihan, while Bruno had run into the dark horse Trainer N.
There was nothing they could do about losses like those.
Those two were monsters!
Raihan himself had ranked eighth in the original Masters Eight, while N was an even greater monster—a Trainer capable of utterly overwhelming Alder.
His strength clearly surpassed that of an ordinary regional Champion!
Among the sixteen remaining Trainers, only a handful truly stood above the rest in terms of raw strength.
Aiden, Leon, Steven, Cynthia, N, and Lance!
As for the others—whether it was Diantha, Alder, or Raihan—there was always a chance that they could be knocked out by another contender!
Soon, the matchups for the final stage of the tournament—the battles that would determine the Masters Eight—were officially announced!
Match One: Tobias of Sinnoh vs. Leon, Champion of Galar!
Match Two: Brandon, Vice Champion of Kanto vs. N, dark horse Trainer of Unova!
Match Three: Lorelei, Vice Champion of Kanto vs. Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh!
Match Four: Alain, dark horse Trainer of Kalos vs. Aiden, Champion of Hoenn!
Match Five: Alder, Champion of Unova vs. Steven, Vice Champion of Hoenn!
Match Six: Raihan, Galar Gym Leader vs. Lance, Champion of Kanto!
Match Seven: Pryce, Ice-type Elite Four of Kanto vs. Diantha, Champion of Kalos!
Match Eight: Geeta, Champion of Paldea vs. Wallace, Vice Champion of Hoenn!
When the matchups appeared on the giant screen, Aiden glanced at his opponent.
Alain.
The so-called disgrace of the Masters Eight.
Not bad!
If Aiden could personally prevent this guy from entering the Masters Eight, he would be more than happy to do so!
However, among all eight matchups, the battle that truly excited the audience was undoubtedly the clash between two beautiful women—
Sinnoh Champion Cynthia and Kanto Vice Champion Lorelei!
This was not merely a battle for regional glory.
Privately, it was practically a battle between two women fighting for the position of the "official wife."
Or perhaps—
A battle of sizes!
Another match that drew enormous attention was naturally Leon versus Tobias.
In truth, what many spectators really wanted to see was a battle between the tournament's two famous users of Legendary Pokémon—
Tobias and Aiden!
Unfortunately, judging from the current bracket, there was a good chance they would never get to see it.
Meanwhile, the battles between Steven and Alder, as well as Wallace and Geeta, were equally exciting.
After all, every one of them had held the title of regional Champion.
When Trainers of this caliber fought, it was difficult to predict the winner beforehand!
...
After the matchups were finalized, the tournament schedule was announced.
Two battles would be held each day!
Naturally, the first match on the first morning would be—
Leon versus Tobias!
Curious about the outcome, Aiden made his way to the spectator stands to watch.
Cynthia and Lorelei sat on either side of him.
Although neither woman seemed particularly interested in Leon and Tobias's battle, there was another question they clearly cared about much more.
When the two of them fought—
Who exactly would Aiden support?
Faced with this fatal question, Aiden could only feel helpless.
No matter what he said, it felt like he was going to die!
What a nightmare of a love triangle!
"Ahem... How about we focus on their battle first? As for your match, the result will speak for itself once you're on the battlefield!"
Steven and Wallace, meanwhile, had deliberately chosen seats far away from the three of them.
They had absolutely no intention of getting dragged into someone else's domestic dispute and suffering an unexpected disaster!
But just then, Ash suddenly appeared.
"Aiden! Who do you think is going to win between those two?"
The moment he heard Ash's voice, Aiden's eyes lit up.
His savior had arrived!
"Ash! Your timing couldn't be better!"
...
Soon, the match officially began!
Leon took the initiative and immediately sent out one of his Galar starter Pokémon—
Rillaboom!
Seeing this, Tobias also threw out his first Poké Ball.
"Go!"
A burst of light flashed.
A majestic Legendary Pokémon appeared on the battlefield!
Entei!
The audience immediately erupted in surprise.
Unlike his previous habit of leading with Darkrai, Tobias had clearly changed the order of his Pokémon now that he was facing an opponent of Leon's caliber.
Entei's appearance also caused another wave of discussion.
After all, this proved that Tobias possessed more than just six Legendary or Mythical Pokémon!
Aside from Suicune, he also had Entei!
Under ordinary circumstances, the outcome of this matchup seemed obvious.
Fire was super effective against Grass.
And Entei was a Legendary Pokémon.
There was no reason Rillaboom should be able to defeat it!
Unfortunately for Tobias—
None of the Legendary Pokémon he had captured possessed divine authority!
And that was precisely why his defeat was inevitable.
Ordinary Legendary Pokémon were certainly powerful.
But when facing a truly elite Trainer and a Pokémon that had been trained to its absolute limit, being a Legendary alone was nowhere near enough to guarantee victory!
Against all expectations, Leon's Rillaboom defeated Entei despite the unfavorable type matchup!
And that was only the beginning.
Rillaboom continued its rampage!
One after another, it defeated Tobias's Latios and Latias!
A clean sweep of three consecutive Pokémon!
Leon had completely dominated the first half of the match!
Before long, the second half began.
This time, Leon sent out—
Inteleon!
And without hesitation, he immediately had Inteleon Gigantamax!
With the overwhelming power granted by Gigantamax, Inteleon successfully defeated two of Tobias's Mythical Pokémon in succession—
Darkrai!
And Cresselia!
Only when Tobias sent out Deoxys did Inteleon finally fall.
Facing this Mythical Pokémon whose strength was sufficient to contend with even the mightiest Legendary Pokémon, Leon once again sent Rillaboom onto the battlefield.
Unfortunately, Rillaboom had already fought several difficult battles.
This time, it was defeated.
Leon then sent out Cinderace!
The battle between Cinderace and Deoxys was fierce.
Both sides displayed extraordinary combat ability, and in the end, Deoxys barely managed to win with only a sliver of strength remaining!
But that was all it had left.
Because Leon's final Pokémon had already entered the battlefield.
His absolute ace—
Charizard!
Against the severely weakened Deoxys, Charizard ended the battle without giving Tobias any opportunity to turn things around!
Deoxys fell!
And with it, Tobias's sixth and final Pokémon was defeated!
The referee immediately raised his flag.
"Tobias has no Pokémon remaining!"
"The winner is—Champion Leon of the Galar region!"
Thunderous cheers exploded throughout the stadium!
In this six-on-six full battle, Leon had lost only three Pokémon before defeating Tobias!
And with that victory—
Leon officially advanced!
He became the very first Trainer to secure a position in the inaugural—
Masters Eight!
...
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/SorenSwiftTL (replace @ with a)