Through the battle, it could be clearly seen that Adrian had also improved greatly over the past few months.
After obtaining the qualification for the World Championship, the League had truly invested enormous resources.
Thanks to that large amount of resources, the strength of his Pokémon had increased considerably.
Moreover, with the full support of the forces behind Adrian and the others, it was not too difficult to create several Quasi-Elite level Pokémon in a short time.
In this battle, besides his Alakazam becoming stronger, his Gastrodon and his Garchomp, which had previously been close to that level, had also managed to reach the Quasi-Elite level.
With three Pokémon at that level, Adrian was initially able to fight his opponent on equal terms.
But when his rival released his fourth Quasi-Elite Pokémon, the battle began to tilt completely to one side.
"Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp, and Hydreigon..."
"Now I remember... the champion of the last two editions of the Dragon Messenger Tournament was named Harvey."
"And that Harvey on the field is clearly that champion!"
In the stands, upon seeing the three pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon that Harvey had sent out, Lucien Foster's expression changed slightly.
In Dragon Valley, information about Dragon Messengers was very well protected, so at first Lucien had not connected Harvey with that title.
But now, after seeing four powerful Dragon-type Pokémon, he finally remembered the champion of the Harvey tournament, linking both identities.
"The champion of this edition's tournament, Ethan... and the champion of the previous edition, Harvey. Who would have thought that two champions from different generations would appear in the same world championship."
Lucien looked at Ethan, then at Harvey on the stage, and took a deep breath.
"So he's a champion of Dragon Valley..."
The others also showed serious expressions.
Every champion of Dragon Valley had always been one of the strongest of their generation.
For example, in the last World Championship, the Dragon Valley champion of the Tavaria League managed to reach the final almost by himself.
Although he ultimately lost to the strongest trainer of the Federal League, it was only by a very small margin.
The strength he displayed at that time left everyone completely astonished.
And Harvey, as the champion of his generation, after two years of training, had become even more terrifying.
"I'm sorry... I lost."
After finishing the battle, Adrian stepped down from the stage with a somewhat gloomy expression.
The others could only sigh.
That Harvey was truly strong.
Although he was only the second place of the Federal League, he was still among the strongest.
Adrian's luck had really been bad.
With three Quasi-Elite level Pokémon, he absolutely had the potential to reach the semifinals.
"Could it be that in the end the tournament will turn into an internal war of the Federal League?"
In the stadium, the spectators shouted excitedly.
As the first fighter, Harvey had completely demonstrated the power of the Federal League.
Then the battles continued.
In the third match, it was Jorge's turn.
This time his battle was relatively simple. His opponent was not very strong, roughly at the same level as that Johnson from before.
Both had two Quasi-Elite Pokémon, but thanks to the complicated illusions of Zoroark, Jorge managed to enter the top eight.
"Hmm... is it finally my turn?"
When the list for the fourth match appeared, Ethan was a little surprised.
His opponent was Barry, ranked fifth in the Federal League.
"From the Federal League, huh..."
Ethan's expression became serious.
Among the sixteen competitors, five belonged to the Federal League.
Running into one of them was quite likely.
"Barry, a specialist in Water-type Pokémon. The Water-type Pokémon he has used so far are Swampert and Ludicolo."
Seeing this, Lucas immediately pulled out Barry's information.
As for the competitors' data, the Federal League maintained an extremely high level of confidentiality, so even Lucas had not been able to investigate too much.
"Swampert and Ludicolo again?"
"These two Pokémon have very good resistances and great potential. They are undoubtedly some of the Water-type Pokémon with the most potential."
After reviewing the information, Ethan rubbed his forehead.
When trainers reached the Quasi-Elite level, Pokémon like Swampert and Ludicolo seemed to become the standard configuration for Water-type trainers.
Of course, at that level, the individual difference between species was no longer that important.
What truly mattered was the level of training and the foundation accumulated over time.
While thinking about it, Ethan stepped onto the battlefield.
Across from him, Barry seemed very relaxed, even constantly waving to the audience with a confident expression.
"Defeat him! Defeat him! Defeat him!"
The audience reacted with enormous enthusiasm, shouting non-stop.
Compared to that, the applause from the spectators of the Daleron League was completely drowned out.
"It seems I'll have to raise morale a bit. I can't disappoint the spectators supporting the Daleron League."
Ethan reflected for a moment as a Poké Ball appeared in his hand.
Soon, when both were ready, the battle officially began.
According to the draw shown on the giant screen, Ethan would have the first move.
"Against Water-type Pokémon... then it's your turn."
Ethan threw the Poké Ball.
Charizard's figure appeared in the air.
"It's Charizard! Just as we thought, it's a sunny weather team!"
Seeing Ethan's choice, Barry threw his own Poké Ball and sent out his main Pokémon: Swampert.
"The battle begins. Charizard, use Sunny Day Fire."
As soon as the battle started, Ethan ordered Charizard's body to ignite with flames.
After completing his Mega Evolution, thanks to the deep development of the Drought ability, Charizard could activate the Sunny Day move almost instantly.
"Swampert, use Ancient Power!"
With a roar from Swampert, a huge rock immediately formed.
Then it lifted the rock above its head.
Fighting-type energy concentrated in its arms, and using brutal strength, it hurled the gigantic rock toward the sky, straight at Charizard.
Just the whistling of the air already demonstrated the terrifying power of the attack.
"Charizard, Solar Beam."
At that moment, Ethan gave an order that left everyone completely stunned.
"Use Solar Beam now?"
"Solar Beam needs charging time! Does he plan to directly withstand that attack?"
The spectators were confused.
That was a Rock-type move with a four-times advantage against Charizard.
Could it really endure it just like that?
(End of chapter)