"Damn it! Why is it so strong?"
Seeing Magmortar radiating a terrifying presence, Victor's face darkened.
"No, I can't lose!"
"Beartic, don't give up!"
Hearing the words of its Trainer, Beartic stood up again.
"Well done! Use Icicle Crash!"
Seeing Beartic get up, Victor immediately gave the order.
"Bearrttcc!"
Beartic nodded, and a fierce glow appeared in its eyes.
Immediately afterward, it struck the ground hard and, wrapped in a current of water, launched itself toward the sky.
Right after that, cold began to spread over its body, once again transforming the icy Aqua Jet move.
But this time, Beartic's icy Aqua Jet move did not head directly toward Magmortar, but instead rose toward the sky.
In the next instant, the ice continued condensing over Beartic's body, making the icicle become thicker and thicker.
When its figure dove down, it crashed toward Magmortar with terrifying momentum, and on the basis of the icy Aqua Jet move, it directly unleashed the move Icicle Crash!
"Magmortar, use the final move: Explosive Punch!"
Seeing Beartic rise up, Ethan's face remained completely calm.
"Magmortt!"
Magmortar's gaze tightened, and its figure flickered before also disappearing from its place.
Boom!
In an instant, a terrifying collision erupted in the air.
Ice and fire seemed to divide the sky into two opposing worlds. The violent waves of energy expanded, and the entire battlefield was enveloped in white mist.
"What was the final result?"
Seeing that, all the spectators felt their hearts rise into their throats.
What originally seemed like a battle without suspense had now become completely unpredictable.
And, for some reason, deep in their hearts, everyone began to feel that Magmortar was going to win.
Really, the presence Magmortar had shown before was too terrifying and had left an extremely deep impression on everyone.
"But that is Mr. Victor... If Ethan wins, wouldn't that mean he already has the ability to compete for the Elite title?"
When that thought appeared in their heads, the Elite Tournament participants present were completely shaken.
In reality, even if Ethan had lost, the strength he had shown was already enough to leave everyone astonished.
Until then, Ethan's fame within his generation had been great, yes, but it was still limited to the young.
For veterans like them, who competed for the Elite title, they had never bothered to pay attention to that new generation. But after this battle, the name Ethan Black had already entered their field of vision.
He was a Trainer strong enough to aspire to the position of Elite! He could no longer be looked at as someone from the younger generation.
In the Pokémon world, strength was everything. And an Ethan like this was already on the same level as them.
The white mist began to slowly dissipate...
Including Victor, everyone fell silent.
Beartic was lying on the ground, unconscious, while Magmortar's figure remained standing tall.
Terrifying flames enveloped Magmortar's entire body, making it look like an authentic demonic god of fire.
In a situation like that, victory left no room for doubt.
Victor's Beartic had been defeated by Magmortar with absolutely overwhelming superiority!
"That technique... what is it called?"
Victor opened his mouth, and in the end, his words turned into a helpless sigh.
He could tell that, in reality, Magmortar's base strength was still somewhat inferior to Beartic's. But once Magmortar had erupted into that state, its power had surpassed Beartic's by far!
"That technique...? Hmm... for now, I call it Nuclear Power."
Ethan smiled broadly, pride in his eyes.
Without any doubt, that technique was among the highest level, and it was in no way inferior to Champion Leo Cross's famous Sunny Day Dragon.
Just as its name indicated, Nuclear Power used flames compressed to the extreme as its driving force, somewhat similar to how a nuclear bomb uses the immense energy released by an explosive reaction.
Of course, that name was only a slightly mischievous idea of Ethan's; naturally, that technique could not truly compare with a real nuclear bomb.
"Nuclear Power..."
Victor murmured that name before saying, "You won this battle. It was a magnificent battle."
He could clearly see that the technique had been developed by Ethan himself. With such youth and such talent, there was really no choice but to acknowledge him.
"Thank you."
Ethan smiled slightly.
Just as he had thought, only battles of this level could fully draw out the potential of Pokémon and allow them to break through their limits.
Before, Magmortar was still missing a small step to complete that technique called Nuclear Power. But under Beartic's pressure, it had finally taken the last step.
"With your achievements, I suppose you have one of those qualifications to compete for a World Championship spot, right?"
Victor remained silent for a moment before suddenly asking.
"Yes, I have that qualification to compete for a World Championship spot."
Hearing that, Ethan answered directly, with an expression full of confidence.
"There is still around one year left until the final competition for the World Championship spots. I'm certain that one of those spots will be yours."
Victor smiled slightly, then turned around, stepped down from the stage, and walked directly toward the outside.
At that moment, watching Victor's back as he left, the entire stadium fell silent for a few moments before erupting into a great commotion.
One had to know that the Daleron League was one of the five great Leagues, and that the Trainers capable of participating in the World Championship generally had Elite-level strength.
And now Victor had just said outright that Ethan could enter the World Championship! Didn't that mean that, before the World Championship began, Ethan's strength could reach the Elite level?
My God, how was that possible!
It had to be remembered that Ethan was only 20 years old!
Reaching the Elite level at 21? Even in the entire history of the Daleron League, wouldn't that be something unprecedented?
...
Time passed.
And, as the challenges continued, the competition for Gym spots came to an end.
Although, after defeating Beartic, Magmortar must also have suffered enormous exhaustion and, in theory, should no longer have had the strength to continue battling, because of the terrifying strength it had displayed, during all the time afterward not a single person appeared to challenge Ethan again.
Until the end, Ethan did not receive even one additional challenge, allowing him to remain in the first arena until the end and successfully obtain one of the Gym spots.
"Ethan, you are too strong. Now that we have obtained this Gym spot, the development of Solaria Town is assured. Once the Pokémon nursery of our Solar Farm opens, the income will be guaranteed."
On the way back, Alex felt happy inside as he spoke nonstop on the phone.
"Then I'll leave it to you. What comes next are the Gym matters. And in addition, everything that has to be prepared after the official opening of the Gym must also be set in motion as soon as possible."
Ethan nodded while continuing to think about his future plans.
Besides the Gym matters, the Life Transition Research Institute could now also officially begin operating.
(End of chapter)