"Champion Alder, my active rotation currently houses exactly six Dragon-type Pokémon," Feng Che stated calmly, his voice slicing through the high glass rotunda.
"To be programmatically precise, the metric should be seven. My stable includes an atavistic Charmander that has natively awakened a primary Dragon-type attribute code since its incubation phase."
"An asset that has successfully awakened the Dragon attribute naturally clears the definition of a Dragon-type Pokémon under standard league bylaws, does it not?"
Feng Che pivoted his sharp gaze directly toward the Unova Champion.
Alder's jovial posture froze instantly. His features twisted as if he had forcefully swallowed a blowfly, his rustic composure giving way to a thoroughly dark, displeased grimace.
"That is... technically accurate. An asset possessing an awakened Dragon chromosome maps precisely to the Dragon registry. Per the regulatory framework enforced by World League Headquarters, your interpretation clears the line," Alder managed, his voice tightening.
He was subtly hinting that while the global supreme command recognized this loophole, the localized Unova branch did not harbor any explicit precedent for it.
"Since World League Headquarters has hard-coded the regulation, the Unova League—as a localized subsidiary branch—is programmatically bound to honor the directive. An asset with an awakened Dragon attribute is a Dragon-type Pokémon, period," Grimsley intervened smoothly, his tone laced with razor-sharp legal cynicism as he openly backed Feng Che's position.
Feng Che cast a brief, subtly surprised look toward the sophisticated Dark-type Elite Master. He hadn't anticipated this notoriously aloof trainer would allocate personal processing power to defend his hand.
Alder's face turned an absolute, vein-bursting shade of crimson. He felt Grimsley's public counter was a direct, calculated challenge to his executive authority as Champion.
"I merely harbor immense disgust toward Alder's unrefined bureaucratic traps. Do not miscalculate this compliance as an endorsement of your personal status, newcomer," Grimsley's telepathic frequency sniped coldly across Feng Che's private neural channel, his pride unyielding.
Right at that tense inflection point, a sudden rushing column of wind disrupted the upper airspace of the rotunda.
An elite trainer dropped gracefully out of the high sky, a thick, leather-bound notebook clutched securely against her chest. It was the Ghost-type Elite Master, Shauntal.
She was comfortably seated atop a massive, drifting Drifblim.
[POKÉMON SPECIES ENTRY: DRIFBLIM] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Primary Attributes: Ghost / Flying Ecosystem Mechanics: High-Capacity Atmospheric Transit Vessel Drifblim meticulously mirrors a massive, purple hot-air balloon. Dead-center of its primary cranial chassis sits a large, yellow, interlocking "X" arrangement that functions as its facial seal. Extending from its lower hull are four independent, ribbon-like trailing tentacles engineered explicitly to allow a human trainer to maintain a firm manual grip during high-altitude transits. The internal lifting gas fueling its flotation metrics is systematically derived from recycled wandering human and Pokémon spirits. Field journals warn that should its purple skin layer become punctured or lose internal structural pressure, its system will violently self-detonate, dragging nearby entities straight into the underworld fields.
"My office executed a maximum-velocity transit loop back to headquarters the exact millisecond the data network flagged the arrival of our transferred foreign colleague," Shauntal briefed efficiently, adjusting her thick, square-rimmed glasses.
"Greetings, Elite Feng Che. I am Shauntal, anchoring the Ghost-type specialization of the Unova Elite Four."
"My stable requests an immediate initialization of a standard 3v3 exhibition match to definitively audit our parameters and lock down our respective rankings across the central tier."
Her tone carried an urgent, intense literary curiosity. Having occupied the lowest rank among the Unova Elite Four, she was eager to test her limits against the newcomer, refusing to remain the default anchor of the roster. She was entirely oblivious to the political tension that had just unraveled before her arrival.
Alder's eyes flashed with immense satisfaction. He had been quietly lamenting the fact that neither Caitlin nor Grimsley had taken his bait to challenge the newcomer.
Had he stepped onto the field personally to check Feng Che, the global media networks would have flagged the match as an unrefined display of a regional Champion aggressively bullying a newly transferred trainer. Furthermore, executing a full-power engagement at this juncture would risk exposing his own decaying combat metrics to the international scouts.
Shauntal's sudden arrival was the absolute, perfect tactical variable to salvage his play.
"Elite Shauntal, Elite Feng Che... navigate directly behind my stride. We shall relocate to the primary central battlefield of League Headquarters," Champion Alder announced smoothly. He had abstained from auditing the secret training logs forwarded from World League Headquarters, remaining completely blind to the fact that Feng Che had secured the absolute Rank 1 position across the entire global master camp.
"Concurrently, Elite Feng Che, your Dricantic inventory requires a formal diagnostic sweep to finalize your registry."
"The exact millisecond your match alongside Shauntal concludes, your station will report to the central Unova League Pokémon Center to complete the documentation."
"Nurse Joy will run a comprehensive genetic analysis to officially verify if your assets command an awakened Dragon chromosome, and confirm if their baseline power logs clear the Elite threshold," Alder added, his rustic smile rematerializing.
Naturally, the old politician had woven a secondary, deep-seated trap behind this administrative directive. Decades ago, the Unova League branch had brokered an unwritten, highly conservative treaty alongside the native Dragon Clan of Unova.
The core clause of that pact dictated that any trainer aspiring to claim the Dragon-type Elite Four seat within the region must explicitly demonstrate an active, high-purity Dragon-type Aura (Dragon Force).
The elders of the Unova Dragon Clan are a faction of incredibly rigid, stubborn old traditionalists. The exact millisecond they launch an insubordination campaign against a foreign intruder claiming their elemental seat, the administrative fallout will turn chaotic enough to bottleneck even my office, Alder calculated, visualizing Feng Che stepping blindly over the edge of a deep abyss.
What the Champion's data networks completely lacked, however, was the metric confirming that Feng Che already commanded an absolute, master-tier dominion over the authentic Dragon Force.
Even if the native dragon elders mobilized their forces to spark a political crisis, Feng Che possessed more than enough material leverage to violently smash their resistance.
The Frozen Vanguard
Upon arriving at the primary central arena, Alder systematically cleared all non-essential personnel and stadium staff from the sector, preserving a closed-gate environment containing only a singular certified referee, alongside Caitlin and Grimsley as official institutional witnesses.
"The ranking match between Elite Feng Che and Elite Shauntal is now initializing. The parameters are locked under a standard 3v3 format," the referee barked, his flag raised.
"Authorized stations, depress your console switches to determine the priority order of the offensive."
Feng Che and Shauntal simultaneously struck the digital randomized dials on their respective trainer podiums.
The display flashed. Shauntal logged a value of 5, while Feng Che's terminal registered a 4.
Per tournament bylaws, the station capturing the highest numeric metric secured the absolute right to initiate the first offensive cascade.
"Since destiny has granted my house the priority opening, my stable will show zero restraint. Freeze the stage, Froslass!"
Shauntal cast her capsule with an aggressive, theatrical flick of her wrist, deploying a high-tier Froslass specifically engineered to exploit an absolute typing advantage against traditional Dragon-type structures.
The exact millisecond the ice-phantom materialized over the arena, the local ambient temperature plummeted, causing a torrential blizzard of heavy, marble-sized snowflakes to cascade down from the stadium ceiling.
"Take the vanguard, Flygon!"
Feng Che didn't pause for a single second, smoothly executing a release command to deploy his mystic desert dragon onto the field.
"Froslass, blind their tracking arrays with a maximum-yield Blizzard, then immediately unseal your Snow Cloak sub-routine to dissolve your coordinates!" Shauntal instructed sharply, her eyes serious.
Parallels Across the Spheres
Meanwhile, across the high cliffs of the Hoenn Region...
Sabrina stood with her arms elegantly crossed over her leather harness, an immense flash of violet psychokinetic light unraveling as she smoothly executed a long-range Teleport to materialize directly within the grand plaza of the Hoenn Pokémon League Headquarters.
Standing in a rigid, disciplined reception line to receive her transfer papers was the legendary Dragon-type master Drake, flanked directly by the Dark-type specialist Sidney and the Ice-type Elite Glacia.
"Welcome to our jurisdiction, Elite Sabrina," Drake rumbled courteously, tipping his captain's hat.
"My office harbors immense hope that our synchronized stables will successfully coordinate their disciplines to preserve the absolute safety indices of the Hoenn mainland."
Glacia strode forward with sharp, military efficiency, her hand reaching out to lock smoothly around Sabrina's arm with an intense, unyielding grip.
"Greetings, sister. I am Elite Glacia. My monitoring terminals logged data indicating your console secured the absolute Rank 2 position across the global master camp. Your baseline combat torque is clearly magnificent—authorize an immediate exhibition match against my ice stable to verify your parameters!"
Glacia's eyes burned with the manic, unadulterated excitement of a battle-hardened traditionalist.
"A closed-quarter audit? My stable accepts your challenge without exception," Sabrina answered, her expression remaining deadpan and glacial as she smoothly unclipped a luxury ball from her harness.
The Return of the Patriarch
Concurrently, deep within the ancestral valley of the Sinnoh Region...
The main estate gates of the Yuan Clan swung open. The moment a powerfully built, square-jawed veteran warrior in his late forties stepped onto the pristine courtyard grass, a woman appearing to be in her mid-thirties was already anchored at the base of the grand steps, her frame completely rigid with anticipation.
"Mei Shenzi... I have cleared the dark zones. I am home."
Yuan Ba's eyes locked onto his wife, his core recognizing her instantly despite the decades of separation.
The exact millisecond his voice brushed her ears, the pristine composure Mei Shenzi had maintained completely collapsed.
She stared at the deep, battle-worn scar lines caking her husband's weathered face, massive tears violently welling within her irises to cascade down her cheeks and splash onto the stone flagstones.
"You've returned... the soldier has finally returned," she wept, her voice dropping into a ragged, broken whisper.
"Without our notice, our children have already grown to conquer their own tracks... Now, our absolute undivided focus must shift to systematically locating our beloved Yuan Jia."
Mei Shenzi flung her arms around his neck, burying her face into his traveling cloak as her tears soaked through the heavy fabric.
Yuan Ba tightly wrapped his powerful arms around his wife's shoulders, his sharp eyes trailing over her head to lock onto the silhouette of Yuan Xiong, whose facial structure meticulously mirrored his own ancestral lines.
"My son... your framework has reached full maturity," the old general rumbled softly.
The simple statement caused the stoic, iron-willed aura Yuan Xiong traditionally projected across Sinnoh to completely break, tears unchaining from his eyes as well.
The three direct anchors of the Yuan house held each other in a tight, unyielding embrace, their shared decades of grief and isolation completely melting away within the courtyard.
Once their neurological parameters re-stabilized and their emotions cooled, Yuan Xiong stepped back, clearing his throat to deliver a critical strategic brief to the Old Master.
"Father, administrative transparency dictates I log a critical organizational update regarding our internal hierarchy—the Yuan Clan is currently commanded by Feng Che, who functions as our supreme Sovereign Patriarch. My daughter, Yuan Na, operates as his primary executive deputy, managing the public face of the house as nominal head."
Yuan Xiong's brief was exceptionally direct and clear; he was thoroughly acquainted with his father's dominant, military-grade behavioral archetype.
As the old proverb dictated—A single mountain can never tolerate the co-existence of two apex tigers.
The unexpected materialization of a legendary historic Patriarch could easily introduce severe institutional friction, destabilizing the explosive expansion and clean growth curve Feng Che was currently forcing across the Yuan corporate empire.
"My console has already fully archived those parameters, son. Feng Che thoroughly briefed my office during our transit loop through the Ultra Space," Yuan Ba answered flatly, a relaxed, trace of a smile softening his features.
"To be entirely blunt—had your station still been occupying the Patriarch seat upon my return, my own hands would have forcefully stripped the rank from your belt tonight. Your decision-making loops have always retained a fatal trace of indecisiveness and hesitation; your psychology is fundamentally unsuited to anchor a paramount hegemony's executive layer."
"My frame narrowly survived an absolute, twenty-year frozen crucible inside that cosmic abyss. The singular, undivided directive guiding my remaining seasonal cycles is to quietly preserve the peace of your mother's days."
"I intend to systematically liquidate the decades of marital regret caking our registry."
"The clan commands an exceptional, peerless Sovereign Patriarch in Feng Che. Unless our house hits an absolute, existential crisis of total annihilation, my console will maintain zero interference across his administrative decrees," the old general finalized, his tone unyielding.