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The four trainers sat together on the small island in the middle of the lake, enjoying their afternoon tea. At the Elite Four level, all of them possessed spatial abilities that allowed them to store items in a special "storage space." They each brought out their favorite treats to share.
Roy contributed black tea, Chris brought mango mille-feuille cake, Victor offered mung bean cakes, and Tate provided beef jerky.
"Can you actually bite that thing?" Victor looked with disgust at Tate's beef jerky. He had already been fitted with dentures after years of martial arts training—people who practiced combat sports always ended up losing a few teeth along the way.
"I'm eating it now while I still can. When I'm old like you and can't bite hard food anymore, it'll be too late to enjoy mung bean cake," Tate replied, though even he found the beef jerky quite tough to chew.
"Who says I can't bite beef jerky?" Victor angrily grabbed a piece to prove his point.
"Be careful not to break your dentures, or I'll have to go shopping for new ones with you," Tate warned with a smirk.
The two older men continued their playful argument while the younger trainers stayed out of it. Chris sipped his black tea quietly, while Roy carefully administered medicine to his Pokémon.
From examining his Pokémon's injuries, Chris could see that Roy had been truthful earlier—his main team hadn't suffered any serious damage. This wasn't false modesty, since the Pokémon Roy had used in their previous battle weren't from his primary team, except for his ace Pokémon, Gengar.
Roy had defeated Tate using only his second-string team.
Of course, Chris had no way of knowing how many Pokémon from Roy's backup squad had been promoted to his main roster recently. He could only make educated guesses based on the information he had gathered, though even his most recent data was already somewhat outdated.
"I think afternoon tea time is over, don't you?" Roy recalled his Pokémon to their Poké Balls, stood up, and looked directly at Chris.
Tate and Victor also stopped their bickering.
"Then let's begin," Chris said, putting down his teacup and standing up to stretch.
Tate and Victor quickly cleared away the tea table and snacks, then mounted their Flying-type Pokémon and took to the air, giving Chris and Roy plenty of space for their battle.
Chris and Roy walked to opposite ends of the makeshift battlefield and took their positions.
"We both have the same goal—to become champion. I always knew we'd face each other someday, but I never imagined it would happen this soon," Roy said, his voice carrying a note of nostalgia.
"I didn't expect it either," Chris replied with a casual shrug.
When had he first met Roy? Chris had been just a freshman then, not long after officially becoming Vladimir's student. Because of his Haunter, he had gone to visit Roy, who was already a senior trainer.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed.
The timeframe seemed long, but it was actually incredibly short for any trainer to complete such a dramatic rise—jumping from ordinary freshman to Gym Leader and then to Elite Four member.
It was both brief and terrifying, almost unbelievable!
Roy was probably remembering that first meeting too, which explained his emotional tone.
"However, we'll definitely have many more opportunities to battle each other in the future," Roy said, taking a Poké Ball from his belt.
This battle was just the beginning. Regardless of who won or lost today, Chris and Roy would undoubtedly face each other again many times.
If Chris defeated Roy in this match and successfully challenged for the championship later, becoming the new champion, then Elite Four member Roy would eventually challenge him for the title, just as Chris was doing now.
Conversely, if Roy won and became champion, Chris would challenge Roy again.
Of course, there was also the possibility that either Chris or Roy might win the right to challenge for the championship but ultimately lose to the current champion, Marvin, in the final match.
When that annual time came around again, they would meet somewhere for another Elite Four gathering and battle once more.
"Yes, then I'd like to ask my senior to guide me," Chris said formally, also drawing a Poké Ball.
The mechanical referee system activated at that moment.
"The battle now beginning is between Trainer Chris and Trainer Roy. The rules are standard six-on-six, four-defeat battle format. Each trainer may use up to six Pokémon. There are no limits on Pokémon substitutions. The battle ends when four Pokémon on one side lose their ability to fight. Now, please send out your first Pokémon!"
Chris and Roy simultaneously threw their Poké Balls high into the air.
Both Poké Balls opened in mid-air, silver light flashing as the Pokémon materialized on the ground.
Roy's first Pokémon was a Dusknoir—and it was a Totem Pokémon at that.
Dusknoir was already naturally large, but as a Totem Pokémon, its body had grown even bigger, resembling a small hill. Its gray head looked like a tattered cloth sack, with no visible nose or mouth—only a single eye glowing red like a warning light, showing no trace of the emotional fluctuations that belonged to living creatures.
"At the Elite level, Totem Pokémon are pretty common," Chris muttered to himself.
His first Pokémon was—
"Gengar gengar gengar!"
Wild, cackling laughter echoed across the battlefield, accompanied by a round purple body and gleaming white teeth.
Chris's Gengar appeared on the field.
"Chris has guts," Victor said in amazement, puffing on his pipe. "Fighting against a Ghost-type Elite specialist, and he leads with a Ghost-type too. If I didn't know they were friends with a good relationship, I'd think Chris was trying to provoke Roy."
"Provocation can be a tactic too. Maybe Chris is playing psychological warfare," Tate speculated.
Roy frowned slightly when he saw Chris's Gengar.
He didn't think Chris was trying to provoke him by sending out Gengar. Rather, as a Ghost-type specialist, he could clearly sense the powerful aura emanating from this particular Gengar.
It was powerful—but not just powerful in the ordinary sense. From his Dusknoir's reaction, Roy realized that his Pokémon was actually somewhat intimidated by Gengar. It wasn't exactly fear, but more like an involuntary urge to submit.
"Does this Gengar hold a high rank in the spirit world?" Roy wondered, thinking it was quite possible.
When Chris's Gengar had still been a Haunter, Roy had examined it before. But at that time, Haunter had been bound by an ancient spell that even Roy couldn't identify, so nothing had seemed particularly special about it.
Thinking about it now, that spell might have originated from the spirit world itself, which would explain why he hadn't recognized it.
However, this level of intimidation wouldn't be enough to make Dusknoir surrender without a fight.
"Confirming both trainers are in position," the mechanical referee announced. "The battle... begins!"