As the match between Kuraki and Aruta Kitamura concluded, the Elite Four Tournament preliminaries officially came to an end.
Including the currently serving Johto Elite Four, a total of sixteen Trainers would compete in the finals.
The current Johto Elite Four are:
「First Elite Four ❄️ Pryce, Ice-type specialist.」
「Second Elite Four 🌀 Kōmei, Psychic-type specialist.」
「Third Elite Four 🌿 Sen, Grass-type specialist」
「Fourth Elite Four 🐲 Lance, Flying- uh… Dragon-type specialist.」
As for Lorelei, Agatha, Lily[1]¹, and Bruno, they are the current Elite Four in the Kanto Region.
In the original timeline, Sen had been assassinated, which led to Bruno serving in Johto as a temporary Elite Four member for quite a long time.
Now, thanks to Sato's Butterfree flapping the wings of destiny early on and preventing the tragedy, Bruno was transferred to the Kanto Region much sooner.
While Kanto and Johto have a close relationship and are almost inseparable, the Headquarters is still the Headquarters, Kanto's Elite Four must be even more exceptional in every aspect.
Aside from the Johto Elite Four, Sato secured first place in the preliminaries with overwhelming dominance, achieving a perfect 39 wins and 0 losses[2]².
Silent for many years, Sato once again stunned everyone with his terrifying record.
Nearly 99% of people believed that Sato was destined to rise and become one of Johto's new Elite Four.
But Sato himself remained low-key, often relying on Gardevoir's Teleport and Gengar's Spatial Barrier to avoid wave after wave of reporters. It wasn't that he didn't want interviews, but that he understood exactly how the Media operated…
Taking things out of context, exaggeration, and attention-seeking were all just rhetorical techniques in their eyes!
So until he officially… became an Elite Four, Sato was determined to keep a low profile!
◓--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for the rest of the rankings after Sato, they were also clearly laid out.
Second place, Shuto.
A high-ranking League Investigator, no type preference, an all-around Trainer who voluntarily gave up facing Sato in the preliminaries to hide his true strength.
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Third place, Edward.
Younger brother of the Chairman of the Steelhead Group in Johto. A classic data-driven Trainer who despises low-probability outcomes and is a lifelong victim of Murphy's Law.
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…Skip…
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Fifth place, Siegfried.
Cousin of the current head of the Dragon Tamer clan, third uncle of Lance, a calculating veteran Elite Four Trainer.
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…Skip…
…Skip…
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Eighth place, Kuraki.
An independent Trainer with exceptional talent but average emotional intelligence… often used by others without realizing it.
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…Skip…
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Tenth place, Sasaki Eri.
Younger sister of the head of the Sasaki Family in Johto. Her behavior in battle is completely different from daily life, and there are rumors of a split personality.
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Eleventh place, Charlotte.
Formerly one of the eight Gym Leaders in Unova. She came to Johto alone in pursuit of greater strength, only to be "stolen away" by her now-husband. They settled down in the idyllic Mahogany Town.
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Twelfth place, Aruta Kitamura.
Illegitimate son of Riku Kitamura, branch President of the Johto League. It's said he owns three Elite Four level pseudo-legendary Pokémon, with his true strength deeply hidden.
Yes, whether it was Will, Agatha's junior Arata, or many other astonishing talents, they ultimately failed to qualify for the finals.
While many found this regretful, it also showed just how high the overall quality of this year's Elite Four Tournament truly was!
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After over a month of preliminaries, the vast majority of competitors were thoroughly exhausted.
The organizers understood this well, so they immediately announced a three-day break. The rules and format would be revealed after the rest period.
Three days wasn't a long time, but it was enough for Sato to adjust his state of mind.
And once Joseph arrived, he had even less to worry about.
Diet planning for his partners, healing hidden injuries, prepping for battle… Joseph had everything organized down to the last detail.
So Sato took advantage of these three precious days to go over the full profiles of all his battle partners from beginning to end.
Base six stats, special abilities, tactical systems, combo moves, held items, autonomous combat styles, survival ability in the wild…
Each Pokémon had a record nearly thick enough to fill a notebook.
And Sato knew every single one by heart!
---◓---
The three days passed in a flash, and the finalists finally welcomed the Elite Four Tournament finals.
At the grand and solemn opening ceremony, Pokémon League Headquarters President Goodshow made a public appearance, with Johto branch President Kitamura trailing half a step behind him.
Then came a swarm of high-level League executives, veteran Elite Four members, Family and Clan heads, corporate chairmen… one by one they filed in, quickly filling every special seat to capacity.
At the center of the battlefield, the sixteen finalists including Elite Four members Pryce and Sen were already lined up silently, waiting for the rules to be announced.
Soon, to the sound of stirring background music, President Goodshow stepped up to the platform.
["Let's not waste any time. I'll keep it short! Ahem, Elite Four members are the highest level of our combat strength…"]
Half an hour later… President Goodshow finally wrapped up his speech with great reluctance.
And just as he stepped down, branch President Kitamura walked up with a beaming smile.
His big, friendly grin radiated charm, but it still made everyone present feel a sense of unease.
["Oho-oho-ho~ I won't take up your time either, just one sentence…"]
That "one sentence" lasted another half hour…
At last, there was no one left who had the authority to speak after the President and branch President.
…Except the referee.
Soon, the head referee walked up with a serious expression, holding a thick folder in hand.
The competition rules were finally about to be announced!
["The rules for the 36th Johto League Elite Four Tournament Finals are as follows:
This round will use a four-person round-robin format!
The current four Elite Four members will each be assigned to Groups A, B, C, and D. The twelve finalists will select their group placement in order of their ranking.
After grouping, each group will compete in 4-on-4 Double Battle round-robin matches. A win earns 3 points, a draw gives each side 1 point, and a loss earns 0 points.
When the round-robin ends, the top two from each group will advance to the Top 8 and enter the next stage.
Rules for subsequent rounds will be announced later!"]
"WOAAAAAAAAAH~!!!"
As soon as the rules were announced, an uproar erupted both inside and outside the venue.
Prelims had been round-robin, and now the finals were still round-robin.
The only difference was that this time there were just four matches per group, and the format had changed to Double Battles.
At first glance, Singles and Doubles only differ by the number of Pokémon, but the battle logic and strategies are entirely different.
The Elite Four Tournament really left no room for error, every aspect of a Trainer's ability had to be exceptional.
Soon, the referee's voice resumed, and everyone's attention turned to…
Sato!
As the top-ranked competitor, he would be the first to choose which Elite Four to group with.
All eyes were on him, but Sato remained as calm as ever.
He glanced across the four current Elite Four members from left to right: Pryce, Kōmei, Sen, and Lance…
There wasn't a single easy opponent!
After taking a deep breath, Sato finally locked his eyes onto one of them.
•
¹. Back on ch80 I think
².Sheeeeeeesh~
🅿️🅰️✝️🆁 🅴🅾️🅽 /Romeloff
[1] ch80
[2] Sheeeeeeeeesh~