Zeraora's figure vanished instantly!
It swung its attack toward Arcanine at a speed like a bullet or cannonball!
"Whoa whoa whoa! That was absolutely incredible—and this is only the quarterfinals!"
"This is just Jenny's third Pokémon, and yet it already feels like the match has reached a fever pitch!"
Lee shouted excitedly, eyes wide with amazement.
Although the Draven and Kat both felt like complaining a little, they didn't know where to start.
After all, despite his theatrics, Lee's passionate commentary was extremely effective.
It even made Kat and the veteran question whether they should start rooting for Zeraora too.
Under the gaze of the entire audience, Zeraora and Arcanine clashed and quickly separated.
Zeraora dropped to one knee in an instant.
"Did we win?!"
Jenny's pretty face lit up with joy, while Nathan remained utterly calm.
When in sync with a Pokémon, no one understood their state better than he did.
In the very next second, Arcanine collapsed to the ground, its flames extinguished.
Zeraora, on the other hand, stood up—completely unscathed.
It had merely used too much force just now, causing its legs to be a little unsteady.
"Lost again?!"
Seeing this, Jenny's joyful expression froze in dramatic fashion.
The emotional roller coaster came too fast for the girl to keep up.
"Damn it! Arcanine, get up! There's no way just one hit could defeat you! Arcanine!!"
Jenny shouted toward Arcanine, eyes burning as she glared at Nathan.
And she wasn't wrong.
The gap between Gym-level and Elite-level was a major threshold.
It wasn't just about power—it extended to the very physiology of Pokémon.
In simple terms, even for Elite-level Pokémon, a one-hit knockout was extremely rare.
Suppression or even a total beatdown might be possible,
but a clean one-shot? That was exceedingly difficult.
In response to Jenny's call, Arcanine quickly rose again,
though the wariness in its eyes toward Zeraora had clearly intensified.
"Interesting. It took Thunderbolt Flash and still looks mostly fine,"
Nathan muttered, rubbing his chin, a slight smirk appearing.
"Looks like I'll need to go harder."
Truthfully, Nathan was a little disappointed.
He had expected a championship contender to at least push him hard,
or even force him to bring out Volcarona.
Yet he had gained the upper hand so easily that he began to question
whether she truly belonged in the national quarterfinals.
But this Arcanine confirmed her rank.
Not to mention that her Magmortar had already touched the threshold of mastering battlefield tactics,
this Arcanine was no pushover either!
"Zeraora, seize the opportunity to attack with a combination of Shave and Discharge!"
Though he couldn't see through his opponent's full hand, Nathan didn't hesitate.
If he backed down simply because of intangible doubts,
then he wasn't a true Trainer!
"Zoar!!"
Receiving the order, Zeraora launched into a flurry of rapid normal punches.
With its Thunder Beast Battle Form, Zeraora could easily pull off techniques similar to the Navy Six Styles in its bond evolution form.
Especially with repeated use of Shave, it practically looked like teleportation!
Even its most basic attacks were enough to put Arcanine on the defensive.
"Hmph! Arcanine, Fire Spin!"
Seeing this, Jenny quickly gave the command.
The flames on Arcanine's body began to condense, growing hotter and more intense than before.
Seeing this, Nathan's eyes lit up.
"As expected, this girl excels at manipulating flame-based formations."
"If I'm not mistaken, that lava pool Magmortar used earlier likely originated from a modified Fire Spin."
"Fascinating… She's mixed in Flare Blitz and even Swords Dance?"
Analyzing Arcanine's condition, Nathan's eyes sparkled brighter and brighter.
Originally, he was having trouble finding a direction for Volcarona's growth.
But he hadn't expected the national tournament to deliver an experience booster straight to his door!
Of course, the battle wasn't without its challenges.
Even though Arcanine lost the opening clash, it quickly evened the playing field,
matching Zeraora blow for blow!
"You, Jenny—you still have stronger cards to play, right? Show me everything you've got!"
Nathan's eyes burned with passion as he looked at Jenny.
"Zeraora, Thunder Beast Battle Form: Grim Reaper!"
Electric-blue and white energy condensed further on Zeraora's body.
Not only did it form the shape of a battle robe,
but a massive white scythe also took shape around Zeraora's fingers!
This wasn't some edgy aesthetic choice by Nathan and Zeraora.
After thousands of battle simulations, this form consistently delivered the best offense with the lowest energy consumption.
"Tch… Don't look down on me, you annoying brat!"
With a cold snort, Jenny knew it was time to go all out.
If Arcanine fell here, the rest of her team would stand no chance.
"Arcanine, Flare Blitz!!"
At her command, Arcanine transformed.
What was once just a vortex of fire now wrapped around its body like a blazing exoskeleton!
It mirrored Zeraora's lightning armor in a way that showed both combatants were now fighting at full power.
…
Golden-blue lightning. Crimson red flames.
The two Pokémon surged across the battlefield like living elements, clashing in brilliant arcs!
To the average person, the blinding flashes and thunderous impacts were impossible to follow with the naked eye.
But with the passionate narration from the professional commentators,
spectators both in the stadium and watching online or on TV were riveted.
To outsiders, it was pure spectacle.
But for Trainers like Jenny, even she could barely keep up with the battle's pace.
At this point, she was running purely on instinct.
Nathan, on the other hand—
his sharp golden eyes never left the field.
He remained in perfect sync with Zeraora, their thoughts as one.
In this state, it wouldn't be wrong to say Nathan was simply bullying his opponent.
"Arcanine, dodge it!"
Seeing Zeraora's speed suddenly spike again, Jenny cried out in warning.
But it was already too late.
"This is the moment! Zeraora!"
Spotting Arcanine's undefended flank, Nathan's eyes gleamed with the certainty of victory.
Zeraora struck with Chidori—and Arcanine fell, without question.
"S-So… we lost that badly?"
Jenny stared blankly, her voice tinged with despair.
She had made it all the way to the quarterfinals,
yet she couldn't even take a single match from this kid?
No matter how you looked at it, the gap was too overwhelming.
But what Jenny—and most others—overlooked was a crucial detail:
the absurd speed at which Nathan's Pokémon grew stronger.
Forget Zeraora and Pangoro for a second—
even Volcarona's level progression was practically a bug in the system!
There were many reasons for this.
Nathan had spent months grinding to give Larvesta a solid foundation.
Volcarona and his other Pokémon had top-tier potential to begin with.
His relentless training and battles maximized the effects of his custom Pokeblocks.
And beyond that, the system store seemed to partially "datafy" his Pokémon,
allowing them to level up and grow stronger the moment their experience thresholds were met.
No matter the reason, one thing was clear:
Nathan's Pokémon leveled up at an unnatural speed.
But instead of recognizing that,
his opponents focused on his age and apparent lack of experience.
So when they lost, despair and self-doubt were inevitable.
"Return, Zeraora!"
Recalling Zeraora into its Poké Ball, Nathan exited his synced state and immediately began to gasp for breath.
Though Zeraora, now at the Elite level, could maintain its bond evolution form for much longer,
and syncing no longer drained him as much as before—
Nathan still felt like he had just run a marathon.
Sweat beaded on his body.
Fortunately, his physical fitness was excellent,
and he had long since trained his body to handle synchronization.
Otherwise, he wouldn't just be panting—he'd be too exhausted to even shout.
"Hey, are you giving up already? This is only the third match, and you're calling it quits?"
Seeing Jenny still hadn't recalled Arcanine, Nathan couldn't help but speak up.
Though he was cold and ruthless, willing to crush opponents without remorse—
seeing a relatively kind rival fall into despair stirred a bit of compassion in him.
(End of Chapter)