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When Roy returned to the hall and announced the news, the atmosphere became incredibly silent. Everyone secretly observed Electabuzz with cautious glances.
Electabuzz froze completely.
It hadn't expected that its position as the strongest would be taken away by Mimikyu after only sitting on that throne for a few days.
Seeing this unfold, Lucario felt secretly delighted. Finally, Electabuzz was experiencing the same feelings it had endured back then. At least Lucario had held the position of "strongest in the team" for half a year.
But then a troubling thought crossed its mind... Did that mean it was now third strongest?
In an instant, Lucario's self-esteem crumbled, and its tail drooped dejectedly.
Metang watched the scene unfold with calculating eyes: "→_→"
Don't get too comfortable, it thought. I just joined the team last, but the future belongs to me!
Among Roy's Pokemon, the ones most obsessed with "becoming stronger" were undoubtedly Lucario, Metang, and Electabuzz.
Blastoise, Ninetales, and Cosmog were relatively indifferent to such competitive rankings.
Blastoise was more concerned with a different question than whether it was the strongest... When would its Z-Crystal arrive? It had been coveting that impressive Z-Move for far too long.
Feeling Blastoise's pleading gaze that seemed to say "give me one too," Roy responded apologetically, "Next time, I promise."
Even if Mimikyu could understand how to produce Z-Crystals, it would likely first comprehend Ghostium Z and Fairium Z. Other type-specific crystals would still be far off in the future.
"Blast!" Blastoise suspected that Roy was just stalling, wondering how many times he'd heard "next time" before.
"Blastoise, you're disappointing me," Roy said with genuine sadness in his voice. "If you want a Z-Crystal, you need to work harder. Why do you always think about relying on Mimikyu? You're the one who resonates best with Totem Aura among the entire group, but after practicing for so long, you still haven't mastered the ability to generate a Totem Aura independently."
"If you could generate a Totem Aura by yourself, wouldn't having Z-Crystals be simple? Mimikyu wouldn't have to exhaust itself every single day..."
Blastoise stood frozen in place.
So that was it... Had it become too complacent?
Thinking carefully, Mimikyu dedicated time every day to generate Totem Auras for everyone and assist with their training. If Blastoise were in that position, it wouldn't be willing to do such tedious work.
In that case, it made perfect sense that Mimikyu had become the strongest member of the team...
Blastoise hung its head in shame, silently determining to work much harder from now on.
Electabuzz felt the same resonance and turned to look at the small Mimikyu with newfound respect. "Elec!"
It declared that it would also focus seriously on mastering Totem Aura, hoping to relieve some of Mimikyu's burden as soon as possible.
'Forget about it,' Roy thought to himself. Anyone else on the team might become the second to permanently master Totem Aura, but Electabuzz had very little hope of achieving that goal.
It simply wasn't suited for such delicate, precise work.
Too rough and reckless by nature.
"Speaking of which, I need to give all of you physical examinations."
Roy picked up the measuring equipment he had prepared earlier.
Mimikyu provided Totem Auras to all its teammates every day. Besides helping them attempt to master independent generation, the more important goal was promoting secondary physical development in the Pokemon.
The larger their body size became, the more Totem Aura they could contain, and the stronger defensive barriers they could raise.
Fighting Elite Sebastian had explained that higher ability values made it easier to break through racial limits—and the Totem Aura's effect was precisely to increase ability values. Among wild Totem Pokemon, the proportion reaching professional levels was significantly higher than ordinary wild Pokemon.
All evidence proved that Totem Aura provided tremendous help in breaking through the 'accumulation period.'
Using video game logic as an analogy, breaking through racial limits required jumping from level 100 to level 150 in one decisive leap, while Totem Aura provided a 'level +5' or 'level +10' buff effect.
Totem Aura could dramatically shorten the "accumulation period" needed for Pokemon to surpass their racial limitations.
This was also the source of Roy's confidence that he could advance to professional level before summer arrived.
Mimikyu was his lucky star that had fallen from the heavens.
Soon, the physical examinations were completed.
Roy learned each Pokemon's physical statistics as well as their current strength conditions.
The strongest was Mimikyu, ranking A under normal circumstances and A+ in Totem condition. Its ability values weren't actually the highest and couldn't even enter the top three, but it possessed the strongest combat effectiveness because it had comprehended the "sage technique."
Its body size remained largely unchanged.
Since Mimikyu had reached its racial limits many years before joining the team, it was beginning to sense the 'limiter' that locked its upper potential.
It would likely become Roy's first professional-level Pokemon.
Second was Electabuzz, whose potential rivaled that of pseudo-legendary Pokemon, earning it a strong A+ evaluation under normal circumstances. Once its various transformation conditions stacked together, its ability values would instantly break through established limits.
It now stood over 1.7 meters tall.
With ability values far exceeding others at the same level, it wouldn't take long to break through its racial limitations.
Lucario ranked third. It had entered the "accumulation period" in terms of strength and hadn't changed much recently. After secondary development, its height had also exceeded 1.7 meters.
Blastoise, which resonated best with Totem Aura, showed the most dramatic physical development, reaching nearly three meters in height. Considering that the average height for its species was only 1.6 meters, it had almost doubled in size.
Roy was already considering renovating the villa's entrance.
Every time Blastoise returned home now, it had to retract its head into its shell and enter like a 'headless knight.'
These four Pokemon had all reached their racial limits and entered the accumulation period.
Ninetales was still one step away from that threshold, while Metang still had considerable progress to make.
Little Cosmog... Well, honestly, Roy wasn't familiar enough with its development patterns yet.
In terms of physical changes, Ninetales showed the strangest transformation. It had also undergone secondary development, but not in its torso or limbs—rather in its tails.
The nine fluffy tails were growing longer and longer, now reaching a full 1.5 meters in length. Because the tails could curl up naturally, there was usually no obvious change visible. Roy had only discovered this sudden development during the physical examination.
He found himself wondering what it would feel like to be embraced by those nine magnificent tails...
Roy felt slightly curious about the possibility.
With the Pokemon officially returning to their training routines, Roy went back to the lobby, took out his phone, and made an appointment for 'passport processing' through the official government application.
These days, it was quite easy for ordinary citizens to travel abroad.
However, when trainers wanted to leave the country, the process became considerably more complicated. They needed to pass through multiple layers of security, and officials would only permit departure after confirming that the trainer wouldn't defect to other nations.
Then Roy turned on the television.
There was no need to change channels, because every station was broadcasting the same program.
The Elite Challenge.
A prestigious event that determined a country's Elite Four status.
The only event more significant than this was the legendary 'Championship Challenge.' However, that competition wasn't open to public viewing. People still didn't understand what format the 'Championship Challenge' actually followed.
Elite trainers served as a country's generals, and events related to them concerned the entire nation, naturally drawing tremendous attention. All television stations provided live coverage.
The two people on screen were very familiar to Roy.
The Challenger: Caroline.
The Defender: Psychic Elite Carter.
A father-daughter showdown.
The competition format consisted of a 6v6 full-team individual battle, as well as a team battle component.
As long as the defending Elite didn't lose in either category, they were considered to have successfully defended their position.
Conversely, the challenger needed to win both battles to successfully claim the Elite position.
Not everyone was eligible to challenge an Elite trainer.
Only the top four finishers in each year's 'Elite Qualifying Tournament' earned the right to issue such a challenge.
The match began.
Based on Ho-Oh's assessment, Caroline undoubtedly possessed Elite-level strength.
This was a duel between Elite trainers.
Roy had watched many Elite Challenge videos before, but now things were different. With his current level of understanding, he suddenly noticed many details that had escaped him previously.
For example, the power behind their moves.
During the competition, the Pokemon belonging to both Caroline and Carter displayed surprisingly high-powered attacks for reasons Roy couldn't initially understand.
This reminded Roy of a highly-rated post he had seen on the Trainer forum.
The post was titled 'Why is an Elite Pokemon's Shadow Ball different from my Shadow Ball?'
Roy's first reaction had been, 'Obviously it's different—if it weren't, you'd be an Elite trainer too.'
He had initially assumed it was nonsense, but after clicking through to read it, he discovered it contained serious analysis.
The 'difference' the poster mentioned didn't refer to simple variations in energy intensity.
Rather, it referred to the actual structure of the energy itself.
The poster had been fortunate enough to battle against an Elite trainer once, and discovered that under identical energy expenditure, an Elite-level Pokemon's Shadow Ball was significantly stronger than his own Pokemon's version.
Therefore, he theorized that Elite-level Pokemon's energy was infused with their trainer's personal understanding and had been optimized to a certain degree.
This was also why renowned trainers often specialized in one type, or at most two types.
Human energy and lifespan were limited, and within a single lifetime, thoroughly understanding one attribute and optimizing that attribute's energy structure was already remarkably impressive.
Roy had found this analysis very reasonable and had saved the post, though he hadn't taken it too seriously at the time.
After all, the internet was filled with in-depth analyses that sounded rhetorically impressive, logically rigorous, and internally consistent, making it difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.
Many of the trainers being analyzed would look completely bewildered when they encountered such reasoning, thinking, 'Damn, is that really what I was thinking? Am I actually that sophisticated?'
But now, Roy was beginning to agree with that poster's analysis.
It wasn't just because he felt something unusual while watching the current match.
The more important reason was that Mimikyu had completed its "sage technique" today—incorporating Ghost-type energy from natural power sources. Wasn't that exactly a form of energy structure optimization and sublimation?
In Mimikyu's case, could it be considered that it had already begun walking the path toward Elite mastery ahead of schedule?
While Roy pondered these questions, the Elite Challenge had already entered its final stage.
Caroline's ace Pokemon, Gardevoir, faced off against Carter's strongest Pokemon, Alakazam.
The terrifying psychic power radiating from both Pokemon caused visible space distortion around them. The cameras in the arena temporarily lost their signals, and the television screen filled with static interference.
Finally, Caroline emerged victorious by a narrow margin and successfully claimed her father's position.
The twenty-four-year-old new Psychic Elite was also a strikingly beautiful woman.
The entire country erupted in celebration.