"One hit… it was over…"
"Kidding me? That was Arceus. It's even scarier than Ultra Necrozma last time."
"LEON!! You're a real man!!"
"I keep saying Leon is the bravest Champion—any objections? Every time he fights Dylan it turns into a top-tier match!"
"He's unbelievable… no words."
The stadium was bursting with excitement, and the internet had already exploded.
Arceus—the Creator itself—had appeared. And Leon had attacked it head-on.
"Dylan is getting more outrageous by the day."
In the stands, Wallace couldn't help clicking his tongue. It was one thing to bring out powerful legends before—but Arceus?
He actually pitied Leon.
"Good lord, that's brutal." Leaf's companion Blue whistled in disbelief.
"No wonder he kept it in a Master Ball—too strong."
Giovanni nodded in admiration. A Pokémon like Arceus truly deserved nothing less than a Master Ball.
Red: "…"
"Is our Gym Leader really this busted? He can even befriend that kind of Pokémon?" Selene's little face scrunched up. She was proud—very proud—but also deeply conflicted.
Damn it! If Gym Leader Dylan is that strong, wasn't her dream of surpassing him going to be delayed for a lifetime?
"Arceus isn't exactly Dylan's Pokémon," Leaf said casually, watching the footage she had just recorded. Right—she had filmed everything.
This was a once-in-thousands-of-years moment. Arceus had personally battled on a human field!
"Champion Leon is extraordinary. To face Arceus directly—and even attack—that's incredible," Lillie said admiringly.
To stand before Arceus and still summon the will to fight… that was true courage.
"There are always mortals brave enough to face the radiance of a god," Leaf murmured, already thinking of a video title. Perfect.
"In a way, Leon truly is lucky," Giovanni joked lightly. "People will talk about this for decades—maybe centuries."
The first World Championship was already massively popular.
Now add Dylan battling Leon, and the appearance of Arceus.
This match was guaranteed to be remembered.
Whenever people thought of Arceus, the noble Creator—
They would think of Dylan and Leon. Dylan for using Arceus…And Leon—
Well, he was the unfortunate backdrop. But a backdrop worthy of respect—because he had faced Arceus head-on, without surrender, and even breathed fire at the Creator.
"Charizard is unable to battle. Arceus wins."
The referee glanced nervously at Arceus—now reverted to its normal Plate—and announced the result.
"Since all six of Leon's Pokémon are unable to battle, the winner is Dylan! Dylan advances!"
The arena erupted.
"Champion Dylan is unbeatable! No—invincible in heaven and on earth!"
"Poor Leon—haha! But still, this time he did better. At least he took down two of Dylan's powerhouses."
"I've heard the myths about the Creator… but seeing Arceus with my own eyes? Unreal."
"Hahaha! This ticket was worth EVERYTHING! I'm printing my photo of Arceus and framing it!"
"Um… does anyone else feel like Arceus looks strangely familiar?"
"Arceus, please bless me! Turn my Sylveon into a human girl! I'll do ANYTHING!!"
Arceus—who had sharp ears despite pretending otherwise—heard several "Please bless me, Arceus" pleas.
It had originally intended to bestow blessings on a few genuinely devout humans.
But—
"Turn my Sylveon into a human girl"…left Arceus tilting its head in utter confusion.
What was the point of that? What did this human even want?
"What an exhilarating battle!" Dylan sighed happily.
Leon, who had just walked over, felt his eyelids twitch hard.
But Dylan honestly meant it. Mostly because battling with Arceus was exhilarating.
"Leon, how was it?" Dylan asked.
"A good battle."
Leon glanced at Arceus hovering behind Dylan. Up close, he could feel its overwhelming divinity even more clearly.
It was breathtaking.
Arceus wasn't even large—but its presence was overwhelming.
And truthfully, before Arceus appeared, Leon had enjoyed the match. No despair, no bottomless gap—just intense, exciting combat. It was the kind of match he had expected from fighting Dylan.
And beating a few of Dylan's Pokémon after giving everything he had—that part felt great.
"When you have time, we can fight again. I still have several Pokémon I didn't use."
Dylan offered his hand with a smile.
"No need. You can go find someone else," Leon said seriously, shaking his hand.
There was no doubt Dylan's remaining Pokémon were all abnormal.
Leon had suffered enough. No one else suffered like he did.
"Haha, just kidding. I hope you win your revival match. Maybe we can meet again later."
Dylan wished him well.
Since Leon was in the Master Tier, he had one immunity from elimination. But he still needed to win a revival match to reach the Top 8.
And a revival match was never easy.
Still, with Leon's strength, it wasn't impossible—same for Lance, who had lost to Giovanni.
"Don't worry. If we battle again, I won't use Arceus. It only agreed to help me this one time."
Dylan promised.
Arceus's "trial card" was over—and Dylan genuinely regretted losing it.
Arceus shot him a sideways glance, amused.
Leon: "…"
Leon was silent.
You think I believe you?
Last time Dylan told him he wouldn't use broken Dragon-type legends.And then he sent out the Creator Alpaca.
Maybe he technically didn't lie…But who knew what else Dylan had hidden???
On the battlefield, Leon absolutely did NOT want to meet Dylan again.
The match ended, and discussions soared.
Next up was the final match of the Top 16: Gloria vs Nemona!
These two had history.
At the end of the ranking phase, Gloria had challenged Nemona—who held the last Master Tier seat—and defeated her, taking her place.
Now they faced each other again.
Truly fated rivals.
One was Galar's "prodigy." The other was Paldea's rising star.
The hype was enormous.
Dylan watched with interest—Galar's protagonist vs Paldea's protagonist. Another matchup of "broken builds."
"I wonder if Gloria can win Nemona again this time."
Leon looked worried. He dearly hoped Gloria could reach Top 8.
Gloria had won last time, but barely. Their strength was extremely close—one mistake and everything could collapse.
Soon, Gloria and Nemona entered the field, both girls' eyes burning with fighting spirit.
No words needed—just battle.
They already knew each other's teams well. Victory would depend entirely on adaptation and new tactics.
The match was fierce and brilliant.
But in the end, as before, it came down to Hop's Urshifu vs Nemona's Meowscarada.
And once again, Meowscarada fell.
"Meowscarada is unable to battle! Urshifu wins!"
"The winner is Hop! Gloria advances!"
Nemona stared at her fallen Meowscarada, bit her lip, and lowered her head.
She had lost again.
"…Sigh."
In the stands, Rika exhaled helplessly.
Nemona was very strong—but so was her opponent.
"I win! Hmph! I inherited Leon's will! I refuse to fall here!"
Gloria cheered proudly, punching the air.
The camera immediately cut to Leon.
Leon could only smile awkwardly.
Inheriting his will??He just lost a match—he didn't die.He still had a revival match!!
"Ahaha—Gloria is certainly amusing," the announcer laughed, smoothing things over.
"And now, we have our eight official Top 8 qualifiers!"
Red, Giovanni, Selene, May, Dawn, Yellow, Dylan, Leon.
Eight portraits filled the big screen.
"But it's not set in stone yet! Two more trainers can still challenge these spots!"
"That's right—Lance and Leon!"
Their portraits also lit up.
"As Master-Tier trainers, they each have one immunity from elimination. They will be randomly paired against one of the eight qualifiers. If they win, they will replace their opponent and enter the Top 8!"
The announcement caused quite a stir, though no complaints—after all, they earned this privilege.
The real issue was…
"Challenging the current Top 8? Honestly… that's not easy."
"Lance and Leon are still extremely strong. They can win their revival matches."
"It depends entirely on the random matchups. And the randomizer is truly random."
"Exactly. And among the Top 8… is Champion Dylan."
"Which means they could be matched against Dylan."
"If Leon's revival match pairs him with Dylan…"
"…Are you trying to kill him?"
(End of chapter)