Jason didn't give it time to think.
"Dragon Claw!"
His massive body shot forward at high speed, swinging a vicious physical Dragon-type strike.
The wild Baxcalibur roared and countered with the same move.
The two Dragon-types collided.
The impact shook the nearby trees, sending showers of snow from the branches.
First exchange: evenly matched.
"Not bad," Jason muttered, stepping back two paces.
He could feel it—this wild pseudo-legendary was strong.
Baxcalibur charged again, this time using Icicle Spear.
Jason didn't dodge. He raised his claws and met it with another Dragon Claw. The spear of ice was smashed apart by brute force.
He slipped inside its guard and, taking advantage of Baxcalibur's follow-through, clamped down with Crunch on its neck.
The dragon roared in pain. It hadn't expected this opponent to surpass it in both speed and strength.
It struggled to break free, but Jason's bite was iron.
"It's over. Stone Edge."
He released its throat; a huge jagged rock formed above Baxcalibur's head—then slammed down.
With a heavy crash, the dragon dropped to the ground, unable to battle.
Jason dropped the form, reverting to a small pink blob.
[Baxcalibur Pokédex entry complete. +1 allocatable base stat point obtained!]
"Shift's over," Jason said, hopping back onto Miraidon's head and lying down again.
After they wound through the last stretch of mountain road, a warm Pokémon Center came into view at the foot of the slope.
They headed in.
Inside, it was toasty. Only Nurse Joy and her Chansey were present.
"Welcome to—huh?" Joy looked up, saw Miraidon, Gengar, Iron Valiant… and finally the Ditto sprawled on Miraidon's head.
"Hello, Nurse Joy," Jason said.
Her eyes widened, but years of training kept her smiling. "H-hello. Do you… need your Pokémon healed?"
"Of course."
He hopped down from Miraidon and up onto the counter.
While their Poké Balls were being restored, he pulled out his Rotom Phone. It floated in front of him, unlocking on its own, then dialed a number. Jason turned the volume up to max.
Beep—beep—beep—
The call connected.
A calm, dignified woman's voice with a hint of warmth came through.
"Hello."
"Champion Geeta, long time no see," Jason said.
On the other end of the line was Paldea's reigning Champion—Geeta.
Silence.
A few seconds later, her voice came back. "Jason? Is that you?"
"It's me," he replied easily. "I just came down from Frostpoint Mountain. Got the eighth badge."
Another pause.
He could even hear the faint clink of a cup being set on a table through the speaker.
She was processing that.
Frostpoint Gym was widely considered the toughest in Paldea.
And he'd cleared it already, this quickly.
"Impressive," Geeta said—and this time there was clear emotion there. Admiration.
"You're even faster than I expected. Much faster."
"I remember your first gym challenge was not that long ago. And in less than a month you've collected all eight badges. Jason, you've set a new record for Paldea."
"I'm just in a bit of a hurry," he said.
"In that case," she said, voice settling back into business mode, "calling me now means you intend to follow League protocol and challenge the Elite Four—and myself?"
"Of course," he answered.
"Alright. I'll set up the schedule. When do you plan to arrive at League HQ? Tomorrow? The day after? Do you need time to rest your team?" Geeta asked, all official.
"No," Jason cut in.
"…Oh?"
"I am here to challenge you," his tone hardened, "but I have a small proposal."
"A proposal?" She sounded mildly surprised.
"The traditional format is too slow," he said. "Fighting one by one, all four Elite, then you—takes too long. I want something a little more exciting."
Geeta waited.
"The details can wait until I get there," Jason said. "It's just a small rule tweak."
"Just get the biggest arena ready for us."
"Jason," Geeta said, now with real curiosity in her voice, "what exactly are you planning? When will you arrive?"
"We?" He smiled, glancing at the screen—and hit "End Call."
"Right away."
The line went dead.
The Rotom Phone drifted back into his body.
The Pokémon Center went quiet.
Nurse Joy stood there with her mouth open, unable to speak.
She was pretty sure she had just heard the Champion's voice.
Jason turned to his teammates.
Gast was trembling with excitement. "That was Geeta! Jason, we were just talking to Geeta, weren't we? We're going to challenge her?!"
Miraidon straightened up, engine-like rumble building in its throat. It knew—the final sprint was here.
Jason leaped back atop Miraidon's head.
"Last stop—Paldea League!" he shouted.
"Let's go bring home a championship!"
Miraidon answered with an earth-shaking roar. It didn't trot out the front door—it turned into a streak of lightning and blasted straight through the entrance at top speed.
The wind it kicked up sent posters and flyers whipping around the Center.
"Wait for me!" Gast screamed, shooting after them.
Iron Valiant sprinted along the ground, speed matching the flying Gengar.
Nurse Joy watched them vanish in a line of light toward the League center.
"…Good luck," she whispered.
From the Frostpoint Pokémon Center to League HQ was no short hop on the map.
Miraidon was fast—but Jason didn't let it go full throttle.
"Don't rush," he said, still sprawled across its head, pink body flapping in the wind. "We'll warm up on the way."
"Rrn?" Miraidon throttled back some, not fully understanding.
"What Jason means is, he wants to train while we travel," Gast said, floating alongside, cutting to the truth.
By now, she was used to it.
She didn't know why he was so obsessed with fighting—but she clearly remembered how he would practically never pass up any Pokémon on the road. Especially ones he hadn't seen before.
Iron Valiant ran on, not concerned with that—only with when the next fight would be.
They left the cold behind and entered the wide central plains. The climate mellowed; wild Pokémon were everywhere.
They hadn't gone far when metallic scraping came from a sparse grove ahead.
A troop of Bisharp marched out.
They formed a neat line—over a dozen of them—with a larger one at the front, its head-blade sharper than the rest, clearly a former Pawniard turned captain.
They spotted Jason's group and halted, drawing attack stances with every blade pointed forward.
"Oh, look at that. First course delivered right to us," Jason said, hopping off Miraidon.
Gast had just opened her mouth to say "I'll take this one," when his body was already changing.
He didn't pick the obvious type advantage. His pink mass stretched and hardened into a green exoskeleton—four arms, two powerful legs.
He'd turned into Lokix.
The Bisharp leader barked a command; a dozen Bisharp charged as one, speed high, metal flashing.
Jason didn't move.
He waited.
Waited until they crossed an invisible threshold.
Now.
"Axe Kick."
Lokix vanished. The next instant, he appeared right in front of the leader. His powerful hind leg, cloaked in dark energy, smashed into its chest.
Crack.
The leader's chestplate shattered; the blow launched it backward into several of its own ranks.
One-shot.
That was Axe Kick—his signature move—guaranteed priority and huge power the first time he attacks after entering battle.
The remaining Bisharp didn't falter at the loss of their chief—if anything, they grew fiercer, swarming in with Night Slashes and Psycho Cuts.
Jason's four arms moved at once.
"Block."
All their strikes were knocked aside, and with a flex of his hind legs he blurred through their ranks.
"Double Kick."
"Submission."
"Lunge."
No flashy moves—just pure Fighting technique. With strength and speed far above theirs, every blow took one Bisharp out of the fight.
In under a minute, the whole squad was down.
Jason dropped out of the stance and reverted to a pink blob.
[Defeated: Bisharp. Pokédex unlocked. +1 HP base stat!]
"Done. Feels good," he said, hopping back up onto Miraidon's head.
Gast floated circles around him. "Jason, you've never transformed into Lokix before—how are you this strong with it already?"
"Train more and you can be too," he said.
[Allocatable base stats: 1]
He opened the panel and dropped the point into HP without a second thought.
They pushed on.
Miraidon carried him down the road; Iron Valiant and Gast flanked him in a textbook advance formation.
"Where's the next one…" Jason's eyes scanned the horizon.
"Jason, I insist the next one's mine!" Gast protested.
"We'll see. If it's your favorable matchup, it's yours."
They passed a damp area near a huge cave mouth. Wind gusted from inside, carrying a rank earthy smell.
"Rooaar—!"
A deep roar came from within. A massive shadow burst out.
Hydreigon.
Three heads, six wings, the air around it thick with Dark and Dragon energy.
It had clearly been disturbed by their passing and was in a foul mood. All three heads opened their jaws—three Dragon Pulses combined into one gigantic blast.
"I got this one!" Gast shouted happily.
"Hold up—you stay put," Jason called.
Miraidon leapt, dodging the Dragon Pulse. Iron Valiant dove aside.
Gast met it head-on, Fairy light blooming. "Watch this! Dazzling Gleam—eh?"
She found she couldn't move.
Jason was holding her in place with Psychic.
"Jason! What are you doing?!" she shouted, struggling.
"You're too slow. I got it."
He jumped off Miraidon and headed straight for Hydreigon.
The dragon, readying a second shot after the first missed, watched the pink blob in midair shift form again.
This time, he turned into… a mushroom?
Thick legs, a huge cap dotted with green spots—a Paradox Pokémon.
He'd become Brute Bonnet.
"Rrr?" All three Hydreigon heads tilted in confusion—they'd never seen this one before.
"Over here," Jason said, voice low and muffled.
The cap above his head began to glow.
"Confuse Ray."
Purple light splashed across Hydreigon. Its motion hitched; all three sets of eyes went wild. The left head tried biting the right; the right head slammed into the middle.
It fell into confusion.
"We're not done," Jason said, trudging forward.
"Spore."
Thick clouds of sleep spores drifted from his cap toward Hydreigon. Even confused, instinct drove it to flap to blow them away—but too late.
It inhaled a lungful.
The chaotic thrashing stopped. Its huge body wobbled twice; each head sagged in turn—and it fell asleep on its feet.
"Shift's over," Jason said.
He stepped in, lifted Brute Bonnet's tree-trunk leg, and delivered a stomping Stomping Tantrum straight to Hydreigon's belly.
Sleeping or not, a blow like that flipped it onto its back and put it out cold.
[Defeated: Hydreigon. Pokédex unlocked. +1 HP base stat!]
Dropping the form broke his Psychic hold as well.
"Jason!" Gast fumed, flying over and shaking his gelatinous body hard.
"You stole another one! That Hydreigon—I had my eye on it! One Dazzling Gleam and it'd be done! You even froze me with Psychic!"
"Relax," he said, letting her shake him. "I was just testing the new form in real combat. Look—Brute Bonnet's control chain is rock-solid. Confuse Ray into Spore gives them no chance to fight back."
"I don't care! You stole my kill!" she puffed her cheeks in anger.
Beside them, Iron Valiant silently drew his right blade. Shing—the cold edge sang through the air.
Both Jason and Gast stopped and looked over.
Iron Valiant raised the blade, swung it once through empty air—then slowly sheathed it again.
He said nothing—but the message was clear enough.
"Rrnn…" Miraidon rumbled.
It watched Jason with a touch of resignation in its eyes.
There he goes again—bullying wild Pokémon, it thought.