Four trump cards.
Clodsire, Baxcalibur, Tinkaton, Glimmora.
Ground, Dragon, Fairy, Rock.
A lineup with no real blind spots.
Defense, offense, control, disruption—four roles, perfectly covered.
Miraidon scraped its claws nervously, electricity crackling over its frame.
"Jason, this really looks bad. That Baxcalibur's looking at me like it wants to eat me alive."
"Relax." Jason said it casually, though his brain was racing. "It's just two versus four. Sure, we're low HP and they're fresh…"
"But I kinda like this feeling," Miraidon grumbled.
"Funny, so do I," Jason narrowed his eyes.
Geeta didn't waste a single breath.
At this point, there was nothing left to "test."
She raised her right hand.
Not just her.
Rika, Hassel, Poppy—four arms moved in perfect sync, as if they'd practiced it a hundred times.
The Tera Orbs in their hands lit up at once.
Blindingly so.
The previously dim Champion Hall lit up like midday.
"We won't be holding back anymore," Geeta's voice cut through the light.
"Shine!"
"Tera—!"
The four shouts overlapped into a deafening wave.
Space itself seemed to twist.
Above Clodsire's head, a dazzling crystalline crown like a stone temple formed, Ground energy roaring up from below.
"Clodsire, Terastallize: Ground!"
Baxcalibur roared to the sky, its already huge body encased in crystal. A massive dragon idol formed above its head, ancient draconic might pouring down like a living fossil.
"Baxcalibur, Terastallize: Dragon!"
Poppy's Tinkaton hefted its hammer; pink body now wrapped in a layer of unbreakable platinum armor, a huge axe-crest crown gleaming wickedly above.
"Tinkaton, Terastallize: Steel!"
And Geeta's Glimmora blossomed into a death-flower made entirely of gem. A rock-carved crown sat atop it like a tombstone.
"Glimmora, Terastallize: Rock!"
Boom—
Four torrents of Tera energy erupted, the shockwaves blasting debris clear off the central field.
Four.
A full four Terastallized aces.
"This is just cheating…" Larry muttered from the booth, staring, his onigiri dropping onto the console. "Four Teras at once? With that level of energy, it's a miracle the building's still standing."
Miraidon's Electric Terrain flickered like a candle in a storm under that pressure.
It instinctively stepped back, growling low, feeling genuinely threatened.
"Jason… how do we even fight this?"
This might be… a little hard~
"Two versus four… and all four are Terastallized," he said.
Jason stared at the four radiant monsters—and suddenly smiled.
"What do we do?" he repeated. "We hit back, obviously."
"We're going in too!" he yelled.
He sprang into the air, pink body launching up as white light enveloped him.
Everyone's eyes fixed on that shining blob.
Geeta frowned slightly.
The light faded.
Hovering in the air—was a flower.
Crystal-blue petals, floating like something beautiful and deadly.
Silence crashed over the hall.
Rika's eyes bulged. "That's—"
Poppy rubbed her eyes. "That looks just like Sis Geeta's Glimmora—"
Exactly.
Jason had turned into Geeta's own ace: Glimmora.
"What?" The Champion's ever-calm face finally cracked; her pupils shrank sharply.
"He became Glimmora?"
The feeling was deeply uncanny.
Like staring into a mirror—and the reflection is smirking back at you.
"What's he plotting?" Rika couldn't make sense of it. "Using Glimmora to fight a Tera Rock Glimmora? What kind of strategy is that?"
"Don't panic," came Jason's voice from the imposter bloom, dripping with mischief.
"Watch closely. This is called 'using poison to fight poison'."
Before anyone could process that, Larry's voice nearly broke through the speakers.
"Fourth round—final battle—begin!"
The bell rang—and Geeta's killing intent exploded.
"Now!"
She had no intention of giving him any room for tricks.
"Four-hit combo—send them off the stage!"
No probing, just execution.
"Baxcalibur, Glaive Rush—target Miraidon!"
"Clodsire, Earthquake—hit the whole field!"
"Tinkaton, Gigaton Hammer—target that Ditto!"
"Glimmora, Power Gem—target Ditto!"
Four world-class Trainers.
Four kill orders in the same second.
The air itself screamed.
ROAR!
Baxcalibur's back spines flared with pale blue light. Its whole body turned into a colossal frozen missile, boosted further by Tera Dragon, ramming through the arena toward Miraidon. Its signature move—base 120 power and a full-send commitment hit.
Thud!
Clodsire stomped once. Tera Ground energy poured into the floor; the Champion Hall's tilework shattered, a tidal wave of shock ripping across the arena.
Fwoom!
Poppy's Tinkaton swung a hammer three times its size, the Tera Steel gleam making it look like a falling meteor, locked square on Jason's hovering flower.
Zing!
Glimmora's core flared, Rock energy collapsing into a piercing beam—Power Gem, fired like a railgun straight at "Glimmora" number two.
Four attacks.
All STAB, all boosted by Terastallization.
This wasn't a battle; it was an execution.
"Miraidon!" it howled, despair in its voice.
"Miraidon!" Jason's tone was frighteningly calm. "Listen up! Forget about me!"
"What?!"
"Use that move—right at them!" he bellowed. "I'll tank the damage!"
It was a madman's decision.
He was Rock/Poison at the moment.
Earthquake and Gigaton Hammer were not things you tank for fun.
But Miraidon saw the unshakeable resolve in his eyes.
In that instant, the future dragon chose to believe.
It didn't Protect. It didn't dodge.
It gathered all its remaining power in its throat.
"Charge!"
Lightning roared through its circuits. Instead of retreating from Baxcalibur's rush, it charged head-on.
Boom!
The first collision.
Baxcalibur's Glaive Rush slammed full force into Miraidon. Not just physical impact—pure Dragon energy crushed into it.
Miraidon screamed, flung like a kite with its string cut. But in that same heartbeat, a surge of electricity raced back along the contact, burning into Baxcalibur's body.
At the same time, Clodsire's Earthquake engulfed the field. Miraidon hit the ground and was tossed again by the shockwaves, pain upon pain.
Above—
"Come on then! Show me what a Champion's got!"
Jason laughed raggedly, controlling Glimmora's body to lean into the hammer and beam.
Boom!
Tinkaton's Gigaton Hammer—the one said to bat Corviknight out of the sky—hit Jason's petals squarely, Tera Steel destruction shuddering through his core.
Right behind it, Glimmora's Power Gem punched right through the flower's center.
Explosion.
The blast swallowed Jason whole; smoke and crystal fragments spun out in all directions.
The Hall shook; chips of ceiling rained down.
"Is that it?" Rika panted; even Clodsire's Earthquake had taken a toll.
"If he's still standing after that, I'll eat my tie," Hassel muttered, wiping sweat. "Four-times-weak Earthquake plus a double Steel/Rock nuke…"
"Did we win…?" Poppy asked.
Geeta said nothing.
She never took her eyes off the roiling smoke.
Something was wrong.
Her Champion's instinct told her that needle-like threat in her spine hadn't faded.
It had gotten worse.
The dust slowly settled.
A vast crater scarred the center of the field.
Miraidon knelt at the edge, covered in blood, sparking faintly like a dying bulb.
But its head was still raised, staring upward.
Above—
The silhouette was still there.
The flower form was shattered, petals in pieces, crystal shedding away.
Black smoke rose from his body; he looked utterly wrecked—
But he hadn't fallen.
"H-how?!" Rika's voice cracked. "He ate two Tera nukes head-on?"
Geeta's pupils shook. "That vitality… Is he really just a Ditto?"
"Cough… cough…"
Inside the smoke, Jason dropped the transformation.
Back to a pink blob—now charred and blackened in patches.
"Man… that really, really hurt…"
His voice was weak, but underneath was a chilling exhilaration.
Good thing his HP stat was massive.
He'd gambled.
If his health couldn't withstand that volley, he was done.
He'd won the bet.
He was down to a sliver. The faintest of red pixels. One tap from fainting.
"But…"
Red light flared in his beady eyes.
"If you couldn't kill me—"
"Then it's my turn now."
From that tiny, wobbling body, a savage, primal pressure burst forth.
Black energy bloomed like ink in water.
His form writhed, inflated, stretched.
A pair of blood-red dragon wings snapped open, blotting out the lights.
Razor fangs, crimson plumage, a crescent-shaped body.
Ancient Paradox.
The most feral dragon.
Roaring Moon.
"ROOOAR!!!"
The roar shattered every pane of glass in the Hall.
Suspended in midair, the ancient beast radiated such killing intent that every modern Pokémon present felt their soul recoil.
"What is that?" Poppy squeaked, stumbling back.
"It's Roaring Moon—from the depths of the Great Crater," Geeta shouted, face drained. "Careful! Everyone on guard!"
"Miraidon—you rest," Jason snarled.
Hovering, he began a strange dance.
Dragon Dance.
"He's boosting! Stop him!" Hassel yelled. "Baxcalibur, Ice Shard!"
"Clodsire, Sludge Wave!"
"Glimmora, Power Gem!"
Three aces struck at once—no way could they let that thing get going.
But—
Jason glanced at the incoming attacks and his grin turned feral.
"Just kidding."
Dragon Dance?
Just a feint.
The instant they committed their moves, his wings snapped.
Boom!
The air rippled; he turned into a sonic blur.
He didn't go after the dangerous Baxcalibur.
He didn't waste time on the tanky Clodsire.
He had only one target.
The hammer gremlin.
The lone Fairy-type.
A dragon's lifelong nemesis.
Tinkaton.
"Poppy, look out!" Rika screamed.
Too late.
A black streak carved half the field away, appearing right in front of Tinkaton.
She'd barely lifted her hammer to block when—
"Outrage!"
Blood-red madness flooded his eyes.
No finesse. No trick. Just brutal, unstoppable violence.
Dragon energy wrapped his claws, all the rage of ages pouring through.
CLANG!
The first swipe hammered her precious Gigaton Hammer.
The weapon, proud of knocking around Corviknight for fun, bent like tinfoil under the hit.
"What?!" Poppy squealed.
Bang!
Second swipe.
The hammer flew from Tinkaton's hands, crashing into the wall.
BOOM!
The third strike—was the worst.
Roaring Moon's massive tail slammed into her like a siege ram.
Her Tera Steel armor exploded off her body; before she could even scream, the little pink goblin was launched like a cannonball, embedded deep into the spectator wall.
Dust billowed.
"Tinkaton is unable to battle."
Instant kill.
In the time it took to blink, Jason had executed a textbook assassination.
Fake a boost, bait out their reactions, then exploit Roaring Moon's monstrous speed and power with a suicidal Outrage to remove the one Fairy that truly threatened him.
Gulp.
Larry swallowed loudly.
"Tinkaton is unable to battle," he repeated.
The Hall went still again.
Roaring Moon hung there, panting.
Outrage left him on the edge of confusion; the red glow in his eyes flickered.
His HP bar was empty.
But he was still smiling.
He turned that monstrous head toward the remaining three.
The situation now:
Still two versus three on paper.
But the biggest threat—the Fairy—was gone.
Miraidon, though mangled, still had Hadron Engine humming.
Electric Terrain still glowed.
And his ability, Protosynthesis, was cranking his Attack to insane levels.
"Alright."
He licked the blood from his muzzle.
"Warmup's over."
"Now—"
"Now the hunt begins."
Geeta stared at the dragon overhead, sweat cold in her palms.
Somehow, this Jason had become even stronger than she'd feared.