On the battlefield of Sunyshore Gym, Cynthia and Volkner stood on opposite ends. A 3v3 battle had already reached its final stage.
Sato sat quietly in the audience stands, silently digesting the intense match.
Since his defeat at the Ace Tournament, Volkner had finally realized the gap between himself and Trainers like Sato and Flint. He had been training hard ever since.
Unfortunately, the opponent in front of him was the future Champion of Sinnoh. Even though Volkner had caught up to the very best, he still couldn't defeat Cynthia.
After Luxray, Magnezone, and Electivire were all taken down, Cynthia had only lost a single Spiritomb. Both Gastrodon and Glaceon still had plenty of stamina left.
There was no helping it, the gap was too big. Cynthia hadn't even needed to use her ace, Garchomp.
At this point, among the younger generation in Sinnoh, only Flint could still pose a challenge to Cynthia.
'But probably not for long…'
With the battle over, the three of them returned to the medical room to help their Pokémon recover.
Fortunately, the tension between the three had eased a bit after the match. For Trainers, the topic of conversation always returned to Pokémon.
Especially after Volkner found out Cynthia had an Eelektross, he started talking more and even initiated a discussion about training Electric-types.
That night, Sato and Cynthia stayed overnight at Sunyshore Gym, planning to head back to the Sinnoh League Headquarters the following day.
Late at night, Sato sat cross-legged at the edge of the bed, meditating. Gengar mirrored his posture beside him, its body flickering with golden Sage light.
Suddenly, a surge of pressure burst from Gengar without warning, instantly pulling Sato out of his meditation.
"Is it… about to advance?"
Sato blinked at the fluctuating aura surrounding Gengar, filled with disbelief.
Gengar's natural potential wasn't "top-tier". But what potential lacked, opportunity made up for. Whether it was the Gem fragment from Palkia or the Sage Intent from the Bell Tower, both were chances most Pokémon could only dream of…
Yet Gengar had both!
So using the standards for ordinary Gengar no longer accurately reflected its true strength and potential.
Just like now. Gengar was actually about to advance on its own...
'Wait a second!'
Sato suddenly frowned. Something didn't feel right…
Gengar's aura was still rising, but the speed had slowed significantly. It seemed just a sliver away from truly reaching Elite Four level.
"Gengengen…"
Still seated in meditation, Gengar also furrowed its brow, its body beginning to tremble slightly.
Clearly, Gengar knew it was at a critical moment. Success or failure depended on this last shake.
But as Gengar trembled more violently, its aura growth slowed even further. The final threshold into Elite Four remained unbroken.
There was no more time!
Sato made a snap decision, turning to his backpack and pulling out a Comet Shard.
Then, without hesitation, he sliced open his arm, letting blood infused with the essence of Dark Energy drip slowly onto the Comet Shard.
As Sato's blood flowed down his arm and fell onto the Comet Shard, the shard began to emit a silvery-white glow, illuminating the blood until it shimmered like crystal.
"Gardevoir, come out and help. Feed the blood on the shard to Gengar!"
A flash of red light, and the expressionless Gardevoir appeared beside Sato.
Gardevoir glanced at Sato's continuously bleeding arm, a flicker of concern flashing in its eyes. But then it looked at Gengar, who was trembling intensely with furrowed brows, and understood the gravity of the situation.
With a barely audible sigh, Gardevoir waved a hand and suspended the Comet Shard in the air.
While controlling the flow of Sato's blood -timed and measured- into the Comet Shard, it simultaneously directed the "purified" blood straight into Gengar's body.
Gengar's body was incorporeal, and its mouth was merely symbolic. When it came to energy absorption, it could simply be inserted directly.
[Dark Energy: Blood Nourishment] maximum power output!
Whether due to the Comet Shard or not, the effects of Sato's blood became dramatically pronounced.
Gengar's aura began to rise again. Since it had been just a breath away, it only took a moment before it successfully broke through to Elite Four level.
And the moment Gengar completed its breakthrough, Gardevoir immediately sent all the purified and unpurified blood straight back into Sato's body without hesitation.
A surge of energy ran through him, and Sato found even the wound on his arm had been sealed shut by Gardevoir's psychic power.
Then, without even glancing at Sato, Gardevoir vanished back into its Poké Ball with a swoosh… clearly showing no interest in dealing with the reckless Trainer and Pokémon duo.
Sato could only smile helplessly. He knew Gardevoir was just worried, so he didn't dare -or care- to say anything.
But with Gengar on the verge of a breakthrough, there was no way he could just stand by when he had the means to help.
Fortunately, they had succeeded!
Watching Gengar stabilize its newly reached Elite Four aura, a look of satisfaction spread across Sato's face.
"Didn't think I'd need it so soon…"
He glanced down at the Comet Shard in his hand, now half white and half gray. There was not a trace of regret in his heart, only relief.
Without this discovery, he would've had no choice but to watch Gengar fail to break through, completely powerless to stop it.
For Pokémon, the further they progressed, the more a breakthrough required deep reserves of energy, emotional readiness, a strong will to grow stronger…
And sometimes, even external stimuli. Only then could they succeed.
Each failed attempt to level up not only dealt a heavy blow to a Pokémon's mindset, but also erased all the effort they had built up during that time.
Too many failures, and even if they still wanted to keep growing, their potential would eventually be depleted.
If you can pass an exam the first time, why take a retake?
After all, no matter how high you score on a retake, the GPA still only counts as 1.0.
---◓---
Half an hour later, Gengar finally opened his glowing golden eyes, having fully stabilized his aura.
Golden light burst forth, making Sato reflexively shut his eyes.
But he quickly noticed that the golden light wasn't harsh at all. In fact, it radiated a sense of balance, peace, and inner calm…
Finally, the golden light faded, and Sato could clearly see Gengar, still sitting cross-legged. Its appearance had changed once again.
Its body remained the same round, chubby shape, but its eyes, back spikes, ears, and tail had all turned golden…
And the usual cold, eerie aura of a Ghost-type Pokémon could no longer be sensed at all from Gengar. Instead, it radiated warmth, sunshine, calm, and harmony.
Seeing this, Sato couldn't help but wonder… was Gengar really going to transform from a purple chubby blob… into a golden chubby blob?
'Hmm… maybe it wasn't that… ugly?'