"Three dragon messengers who each possess three pseudo-legendary Pokémon?"
Ethan's expression turned serious. In the final battle of the tournament, the match would be a 3 vs 3.
Under those circumstances, his advantage was enormous. After all, pseudo-legendary Pokémon were the best guarantee of power.
"I lost the first match..."
After the battle ended, Naira looked somewhat discouraged.
"This battle was truly spectacular. I'm sure Arcanine has already seen your true strength."
Ethan smiled slightly and looked toward the group of Pokémon, discovering that the Arcanine was indeed watching Naira with a burning gaze.
This Arcanine, which possessed blood from the dragon clan, loved close combat. When it recalled the terrifying power of Charizard in its overheated state, it couldn't help but feel a sense of longing inside.
"You're right. I think Arcanine has sensed it too."
Naira smiled upon hearing this, then patted Ethan on the shoulder and said, "I'll leave that Kevin to you. You have to avenge me!"
Ethan smiled and nodded.
Very soon, the battle between dragon messengers number 31 and 32 also concluded.
In total, sixteen battles finished in a single morning. In the afternoon, the matches of the top sixteen would begin.
"It seems the level of the dragon messengers in this edition is quite good."
At that moment, the four Masters of Dragon Valley gathered together.
"Indeed, especially Kevin, Marcus, and Thomas."
"They are the heirs to the peak power of the Tavaria League, the Daleron League, and the Federal League. I believe the strongest dragon messenger of this edition will come from among these three."
One of the Valley Masters spoke with a smile on his face. The other three nodded, because judging from the battles of the day, the performance of those three had truly been brilliant.
"Actually, that Ethan isn't bad either. His Charizard is a descendant of Champion Leo Cross's Charizard, right? It has been very well trained."
Another Valley Lord spoke up, mentioning Ethan's performance, causing the others to direct their attention toward him.
"It's a pity that in his team only Charizard and Tyranitar have decent strength. The other two Pokémon are clearly inferior. If it comes to competing for a place among the top four, he has a chance."
"But if he wants to fight for the final championship, relying only on Charizard and Tyranitar is far from enough."
One of the Valley Masters sighed. Ever since Ethan had released Kingdra, he had already begun paying attention to him.
With his experience, he could clearly see that both Gyarados and Kingdra were several levels below Charizard and Tyranitar.
As for Vibrava, a Pokémon that had not yet reached its final form, they naturally ignored it without observing it carefully.
"Let's see how things develop."
"As the Secret Kingdoms continue to merge with the real world... traces of Pokémon have already appeared in places as distant as the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and even the North and South Poles."
"We need these dragon messengers to keep growing stronger, so they can help us explore the unknown Dragon Kingdom."
Gradually, the conversation of the four Valley Masters shifted from the dragon messengers to the so-called Dragon Kingdom, making the atmosphere increasingly solemn.
...
In the afternoon, the battles of the dragon messengers continued.
In the round of sixteen, Marcus once again was the first to step onto the stage.
The Pokémon he sent out was still Salamence, while his opponent sent out a Dragonite.
In this battle, Salamence completely changed its previous style, facing Dragonite through flying techniques and long-range attacks.
Ever since the Shelgon stage, Ethan had noticed that Marcus's training direction focused on long-range moves, and the facts confirmed it. In this battle, Salamence displayed all its strength, finally defeating the opposing Dragonite thanks to the terrifying power of the move Draco Meteor.
"As expected, when strength reaches a certain level... Pokémon eventually explore and discover the combat style that suits them best."
Watching the battles that continued on the field, Ethan realized this point.
When everyone was still a novice trainer, most of them were in a stage of exploration.
According to each Pokémon's situation and characteristics, they had to find their own path.
This was an obstacle every trainer had to overcome on the road to strength; anyone who failed to cross it would never become a powerful trainer.
And Ethan, thanks to the advantage of being a transmigrator, had started planning the path of his Pokémon from a very early stage.
Because of this, in the initial phase, his Pokémon had already displayed extremely strong combat capabilities. Even if their race had disadvantages, they could compensate with other abilities and defeat stronger enemies.
It could be said that his Pokémon had already won at the starting line, allowing him to now possess strength far superior to that of his peers.
However, in this world there were also many shortcuts, and fortuitous opportunities were one of them.
Moreover, a family's foundation and inheritance could also save them many detours, allowing them to find their own path at the fastest speed.
In this aspect, Ethan was deeply grateful to the Pokémon Researchers Guild, Professor Harris, and President Beckett. Although he was a transmigrator with Pokémon knowledge and experience far superior to those of this world, to turn that into real power he still needed the support of a solid theoretical system from the real world.
...
The battles continued to unfold.
During that time, Ethan also stepped onto the stage.
After sending out Charizard, he obtained victory with relative ease.
Originally, he had planned to give battle opportunities to each of his Pokémon, but after watching so many matches, he abandoned that idea without hesitation.
Every dragon messenger present had an enormous force behind them, so none of them were easy opponents.
After comparing the strength of Gyarados and Kingdra side by side, Ethan was able to accurately judge the difference between them.
Under those circumstances, he decisively released both Pokémon, giving up on having them fight and instead making them focus on learning.
Observing the battles between other Pokémon could also bring them many insights, helping them constantly improve.
At the end of a full day of competition, Gyarados and Kingdra seemed to have received a heavy blow.
Although they had not fought, just by feeling the shockwaves from the battles on the field, they understood that if they had gone out to fight, they might not have been able to withstand even a single attack.
Ethan did not have an immediate solution for this. He could only try to obtain more resources for them and help them refine their training plans. If they managed to find their own path, they would also have many chances to accumulate strength and eventually achieve a qualitative transformation in their power.
After explaining his training plans to both Pokémon, Ethan mounted Charizard and headed toward the Dragon Desert.
(End of Chapter)