"Machamp, use Mega Punch!"
Seeing Zeraora appear, Seth immediately tried to seize the initiative without any hesitation.
"Machamp!"
With a roar, Machamp's massive, pot-sized fists glowed white as it aimed straight at Zeraora!
"Dodge to six o'clock."
"Don't rush to counterattack. His strategy is to bait a counter — the opening attack is just a feint."
"Good, spin around and use Chidori!"
Casually seeing through Seth's stiff tactics, Nathan calmly gave his orders.
Machamp's Mega Punch — along with a backward Mega Kick — were both easily dodged by Zeraora.
Finally, under the dazzling lightning of Chidori, Machamp could only fall helplessly to the ground, looking like a fool the entire time.
"H-How is that possible?"
Seth muttered in shock as he watched his Machamp get one-shot.
"This strategy... it wasn't made by you, was it? It's too stiff — it's obvious after just one glance."
Sighing, Nathan commented a little boredly.
Even among the top 32 contestants, the opponent lacked real skill.
Looks like if he wanted an exciting, high-level match, he'd have to wait for the division semifinals at least!
"Don't act so cocky! You're just a brat — quit pretending to be mature!"
Instead of appreciating Nathan's kind analysis, Seth grew even angrier.
Far from the calm and stern image he tried to show, he was more like a spoiled, self-centered brat.
"I was planning to save this to deal with your Volcarona — if it's even still around — but since you don't know your place, I'll let you taste despair early!"
"Come out, Rhydon!"
With a nasty look on his face, Seth threw out another Pokéball.
"Rhy!"
With a mighty roar, an Elite-level aura burst out without the slightest restraint!
However, seeing Rhydon, Nathan only felt speechless.
He remembered that the first Pokémon he encountered in the secret realm was also a Rhydon, which he'd even overestimated at the time.
Who would have thought Seth had one too?
"Wait — this Rhydon wasn't raised by you."
Noticing the wild brutality in Rhydon's eyes, Nathan frowned slightly.
If it had been raised or properly trained, a Pokémon's eyes wouldn't show such savage violence.
The only possibility was that this Rhydon wasn't originally Seth's Pokémon — and it hadn't been raised by any good trainer either.
"Level 51, and still carrying scars? Looks like it fell into some scumbag's hands."
"Sigh..."
Carefully observing the Rhydon, Nathan sighed, then returned Zeraora to its Pokéball.
"Zeraora, come back for now. This next battle isn't something you can handle."
Not to mention the massive gap between Elite-level and Gym-level Pokémon — it was practically a watershed.
Zeraora was only Level 44 after all.
But Seth mistook Nathan's move as fear and taunted with a triumphant tone:
"Finally scared? It's useless. Today, you'll understand that people without power or connections should just obediently go to school!"
"Hmn, what an annoying tone. But you seem to have misunderstood something."
"I never said I was going to use Volcarona."
Yawning lazily, Nathan pulled out another Pokéball.
"Perfect timing — I've been wanting to test a new idea. I'll leave it to you, Pangoro!"
"Roar!"
The moment Pangoro appeared, it let out an impatient roar.
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Pangoro's aura was unmistakably... Elite-level!
"E-Elite-level? How is that possible!"
"That's definitely not the same Pangoro he started with! It must've been switched out!"
"I don't believe it! It's impossible to raise it to Elite-level that fast. This guy's cheating!"
...
Many spectators leapt to their feet, feeling like their entire understanding of the world had just been shattered.
A high schooler who hadn't even entered university — raising a Elite-level Pokémon once could be chalked up to luck.
After all, no one knew exactly how young Nathan was when he got Volcarona.
But this situation with Pangoro was genuinely terrifying!
In just a few months?
In such a short time, Nathan had already raised his second Elite-level Pokémon!
Even the commentators' voices rose dramatically:
"Look, everyone! A miracle! A miracle has appeared!"
"After Volcarona, contestant Nathan has once again trained another Elite-level Pokémon — Pangoro — in a very short time!"
"Let's look forward to Pangoro's performance and give them our full cheers!"
No matter how noisy the outside world got, Nathan paid it no mind.
As soon as Pangoro stepped onto the battlefield, Nathan immediately activated Viridian Power and his psychic abilities!
"Pangoro, are you ready? Let's synchronize!"
Synchronization — this was an ability Nathan conceived by combining his Viridian Power and psychic powers.
Psychics could amplify Psychic-type Pokémon through their abilities — this was a verified iron rule in this world.
But Nathan was different.
With both psychic powers and Viridian power , it was as if he could fully "inhabit" his Pokémon!
Through rigorous training with Metagross, he had become extremely familiar with this technique.
However, using it on a non-Psychic type Pokémon was his first time.
"Let's hope our combined strength can fully unleash the Energy Mode's power!"
Though Nathan didn't move his lips, his voice echoed clearly in Pangoro's mind.
…
"Pangoro, use Energy Ball!"
With their minds completely linked, Nathan only needed a thought to issue commands.
Immediately, Pangoro condensed an Energy Ball and swallowed it down, releasing a powerful force from within!
"So full..."
Feeling Pangoro's state, Nathan felt his own body swelling with discomfort —
as if he had overeaten, then stuffed down three extra bowls of rice, with the pain magnified across his whole body.
Only now did Nathan realize why Pangoro couldn't precisely use skills in this state.
Even using pure body techniques like the Navy Six Styles was already Pangoro's limit.
"You're doing great, Pangoro."
Feeling an even deeper bond between himself and Pangoro, Nathan spoke warmly.
"Roar!"
Pangoro shook its head, indicating it wasn't suffering at all.
It had seen on hotel TVs that most trainers and Pokémon relationships were unequal.
The slightly better ones are those who keep them as pets, that is, the Pokémon lovers in this world.
But Nathan was different.
Even simple-minded Pokémon could tell: Nathan never treated them as tools or stepping stones.
Delicious and nutritious Pokéblocks, miraculous equipment, incredible, targeted training methods...
Given all this, what else could they do except repay him with everything they had?
'So, this is nothing!'
Surging waves of greenish-cyan energy enveloped Pangoro's body.
When the referee's flag dropped —
"Pangoro, let's use Shave (Soru)!"
"Roar!"
In an instant, Pangoro vanished from its spot, leaving only a faint, beautiful trail of scattered energy.
"What the hell? Where did that Pangoro go?"
Facing Nathan, Seth was completely dumbfounded.
But seeing Pangoro disappear, Seth — still barely qualified as a trainer — quickly shouted:
"Not good! Rhydon, watch your back!"
Maybe because Rhydon wasn't truly Seth's Pokémon, it didn't listen at all.
Instead, it let out a sky-shaking roar.
The entire rocky battlefield began to tremble!
"Earthquake? Useless. Pangoro, Finger Pistol Technique — Air Cannon version!"
Watching the shaking ground, Nathan stayed completely calm.
With the mental link, his commands reached Pangoro instantly — almost without delay.
"Roar!"
Receiving Nathan's order, Pangoro reappeared behind Rhydon.
Its massive, iron-hard fist smashed straight into Rhydon's body!
Even with Rhydon's huge and solid frame, under Pangoro's Energy Mode-boosted punch, it could only helplessly soar into the sky!
And then...
"Now! Channel energy into your feet — step on the air itself! Don't give it a chance to breathe!"
With a glint in his eyes, Nathan roared into Pangoro's mind.
Since this was called synchronization, he wasn't just mentally linked to Pangoro.
After giving the command, Nathan also directly helped Pangoro control the portion of power from the Energy Ball inside!
Through constant refining and compression, this energy had become extremely powerful.
Even if it abandoned traditional techniques, it was a guaranteed win!
After trying to form an energy compression that does not diffuse at all points on the soles of its feet, Pangoro continued using Shave even in mid-air!