Jason's team—Gast was the first to react.
She floated up to his ear and whispered, "Jason, about that proposal… I think you scared them stupid."
In Miraidon's throat, a low rumble built.
It didn't care about rules. All it'd heard was the phrase "start the fight."
Its eyes were already locked on Geeta standing in the center.
From what Jason had said, you only earned the right to fight Geeta after beating the Elite Four.
Meaning this woman was the strongest in Paldea.
The five top Trainers of the region all wore different expressions.
Poppy moved first. She finally stopped kneading Jason and tilted her head, big eyes full of confusion.
Jason looked really strong.
Hassel's gentlemanly smile vanished completely. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.
Larry's glasses had slid down his nose. He stared blankly at Jason, with a strong sense that today was going to be a bad day.
Geeta's expression didn't change—but her pupils shrank. She stared at Jason, as if trying to see through this Ditto's true intentions.
The silence finally cracked under a stifled chuckle.
"Pff."
Rika.
She bowed her head first, shoulders shaking—then raised it and burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha! Now that's interesting! Too interesting!"
Her laughter, full-bodied and unrestrained, blew away the solemn mood.
"Jason," Rika said, pointing a finger at him. "You're even more arrogant than I thought. I take back what I said—you're not here to challenge us, you're here to cause trouble."
She walked a few steps forward, standing just ahead and to the side of Geeta.
"4v4 all at once? What do you think this place is, a street market? You think you can just set up a stall however you like?"
Jason just flattened himself a bit more in the air at her mockery.
"I just think it's more efficient. And the four of you, the four of us—that's fair."
"Fair?"
This time Hassel spoke.
He frowned, face very serious, stepped forward to stand beside Rika.
"Sir Jason, this is no jest," he said, voice low with elder gravitas. "You must understand that a four-on-four battle is far more complex than you imagine."
"Waaah!"
His lecture was cut off by Poppy's excited shout. She threw her hand up, pigtails bouncing.
"4v4 sounds so awesome!" she cried, jumping. "Jason, Jason! Are you teaming up with Poppy to fight them? Like those Tera raids?"
Jason hopped onto her head and poked her forehead.
"No. I'm here to fight you, Poppy."
"Eh?" Her smile froze. "Fight me?"
"Yeah. Me, Gast, Iron Valiant, and Miraidon are going to fight you four Elites—four separate matches," he repeated.
"Nooo…" Poppy puffed her cheeks. "Poppy wanted to be on Jason's team…"
"Stop pouting, Poppy," Rika snapped, glaring back at her.
The air locked up again.
To Rika, the idea was insane—but fun.
To Hassel, it was absurd—and he was firmly against it.
To Poppy, it wasn't fun—because she couldn't be on Jason's side.
Champion Geeta remained silent, weighing pros and cons.
At that moment, the man who'd been trying desperately to blend into the background finally moved.
Larry.
He slowly raised his hand.
"Um…"
His voice was quiet, but in the silent hall it carried easily.
Geeta, Rika, Hassel, Poppy—and even Jason and his whole team—turned to him.
Under all those eyes, Larry pushed up his glasses with a face of pure sincerity.
"I'm out."
"Hah?" Rika dug at her ear, sure she'd misheard.
"Mr. Larry?" Hassel stammered.
"Out?" Poppy repeated. "Is Uncle Larry going home from work?"
Geeta's gaze sharpened. "Larry. Give me a reason."
Under the Champion's pressure, Larry kept his tired office-worker expression.
"I have a very good reason, Champion," he said evenly. "I've already faced Mr. Jason at Medali Gym."
Rika cut in. "No, that was as a Gym Leader. This is an Elite Four match—that's different."
"No, it's the same," Larry shook his head. "In that battle, even as an Elite, I was thoroughly beaten."
He pointed straight at Jason.
You've got to be kidding, he thought. No way am I getting steamrolled by those monsters twice. I just want to get off on time. I've had enough of this side gig.
"Tch," Rika snorted. "Corporate drone bailing at the last minute."
"Mr. Larry, this is…" Hassel sighed, helpless. "This is a key moment in defending the League. How can you—"
"Mr. Hassel," Larry interrupted, "I'm just stating facts. I did indeed lose to Jason before."
He said it so matter-of-factly that Hassel was left momentarily speechless.
"Well then," Rika shrugged, looking to Geeta. "That's a problem. Your best subordinate just walked. That leaves us one short. Your Elite Four's down to three."
The hall was stuck again.
Even Jason hadn't expected Larry to "surrender" so decisively.
"So what now?" Gast whispered. "Four versus three? Wouldn't that be bullying?"
"I like ganging up," Jason said.
Just then, the finally-stirring Geeta stepped forward—from the center of the five.
A light he'd never seen before flashed in her eyes.
"No. We're not short."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it hit like a gavel.
She walked past Rika and Hassel and stopped where Larry had been standing.
Then she turned, lining up shoulder to shoulder with Rika, Hassel, and Poppy.
"I'll fill Larry's slot."
Rika's smile froze.
Hassel nearly lost his glasses.
Poppy's mouth formed an "O".
Even detached Larry looked surprised.
The Champion herself—Geeta—the peak of Paldea—
was going to step onto the field with the three Elites?
Something the League had never seen, not once in its history.
"Champion…?" Hassel's voice shook. "You mean to…"
"I simply find Jason's proposal interesting," Geeta said.
Her eyes stayed on Jason. Her gaze passed him, passed Gast, passed Iron Valiant—and finally settled on Miraidon, the legendary Paradox Pokémon radiating terrifying pressure.
"To be honest, Jason," she continued, and there was a note of battle lust in her voice, "I want to see for myself just how strong the fabled Miraidon and you have become."
She turned away from him and faced her three Elites.
"Rika. Poppy. Hassel."
"What do you say?" she asked.
"Will you join your Champion—" her lips curved, "for a battle like no other?"
It was an invitation none of them could refuse.
Rika answered first. She dropped all laziness and sarcasm, revealing a feral grin.
"Well now—if the Champion puts it that way, how could I say no?" She cracked her knuckles. "4v4? Just hearing it gets my blood pumping."
Hassel drew a long breath, straightened his glasses, and shook his head with a sigh.
"Since it is the Champion's order… sigh." At last he nodded. "As an educator, I, too, want to see just how far this 'lesson' can go."
"Yay!" Poppy cheered, happiest of them all.
"I get to fight with Big Sis Geeta! Amazing!" She glared at Jason. "Jason, Poppy's not going easy this time! I'm going to help Sis Geeta flatten you!"
In the corner, Larry exhaled with real relief.
Wonderful.
The Champion herself had subbed in. Win or lose—it had nothing to do with a poor office worker like him now. He could actually think about going home.
Across the field, Jason studied the newly formed "ultimate" lineup: Rika, Hassel, Poppy, and Champion Geeta herself.
That was in a different league from the original Elite Four—literally. This time the Champion was part of the unit.
He forced a grin.
"Good."
"Then it's settled."
"Now then…"
Geeta's voice rang across the Hall.
"Paldea League Defense Match—Jason's final challenge."
"Format: 4v4."
"Challengers: Jason, Gast, Iron Valiant, Miraidon."
"Defenders: Elite Rika, Elite Poppy, Elite Hassel, and myself, Champion Geeta."
Her gaze swept the hall, settling finally on Jason.
"Begin."
The moment her words fell, the floor itself began to shake.
Vmmm—
The smooth tiles cracked down the middle, and massive mechanical structures rose. A huge combined battlefield—rock, grass, water, and standard hard court—lifted from below and filled the entire hall.
"Oh boy," Larry sighed from the corner.
He trudged onto a small, unobtrusive lift platform by the edge. It carried him up into a glass box hanging over the arena—the judge's and commentator's booth.
He picked up the mic and checked it.
"Ahem. The match will now begin. Both sides, take the field," he said, his deadpan voice echoing across the stadium.
Ding!
At the bell, both sides' shot-callers spoke at once.
"Poppy, Stealth Rock!" Geeta ordered first. "Hassel, Hurricane! Rika, Muddy Water!"
"Miraidon, Parabolic Charge!" Jason's voice rose to meet hers. "Iron Valiant, Psycho Cut the Noivern! Gast, Will-O-Wisp the Gogoat!"
The 4v4 battlefield exploded into chaos instantly.
"Copperajah!" Poppy shouted.
Her Copperajah lifted a massive foreleg and slammed it into the ground.
Boom!
The floor shook; sharp stones erupted and hovered in the air above Jason's side.
Stealth Rock.
At almost the same time, Noivern unfurled its huge wings.
"Aim for their center—blow them apart!" Hassel called.
The dragon screamed, winds gathering into a howling Hurricane that ripped up dust and grit, shredding visibility and trying to disrupt their movement.
"Don't stop! Swampert—Muddy Water!" Rika barked.
The Swampert in the pool opened its jaws; a huge wave of filthy, sand-laced water roared out, crashing indiscriminately toward all four on Jason's team.
It was a combo Geeta had picked as the best possible opener in an instant: rocks to lock the field, Hurricane to blind, Muddy Water to hit everyone and maybe drop accuracy. Her Gogoat, meanwhile, kept its head down, hoof scraping the floor as Grass power gathered for a Wood Horn charge at any moment.
But Jason was faster.
The moment Stealth Rock appeared, he'd already transformed—into Maushold.
Then he used Tidy Up.
Four little white mice scattered across the field, frantically sweeping the Stealth Rocks away. At the same time, Jason's own stats flared as the move boosted him.
Geeta watched and smiled faintly. "Clever. First thing he does is break the trap."
And just as the Muddy Water wave was about to engulf them—
"Rrnn!"
Miraidon moved.
It didn't dodge.
"Parabolic Charge!"
The purple electricity around it flared. A wave of power arced out from its body in all directions in a parabola, racing to meet the filthy tide.