Pokémon: When the World Changed

"Divine envoy?"

"What a shameless way of asking for everything."

One of the leaders let out a mocking laugh.

"That boy... is Ethan, right?"

"If he were willing to join our League, then we could indeed consider making him a divine envoy."

"The youngest Pokémon Professor, and moreover with achievements in the field of evolution. His value to our League is, without doubt, enormous."

The person in charge of recruiting the Trainers in training directed his gaze toward Ethan, among the crowd, with evident interest in his eyes.

"Divine envoy..."

"Pokémon Professor..."

The other leaders also fixed their gazes on Ethan and began paying close attention to his performance.

Very soon, the competition officially began.

And Ethan did not disappoint them.

With just one Kommo-o, he advanced forcefully through every round.

Even when facing several Trainers in training whom they held in very high esteem, Ethan still showed himself dominant and successfully made it into the top four.

And, aside from Ethan, Harvey's performance was also incredibly strong: he, too, broke through to the semifinals using only one Pokémon, displaying terrifying strength.

And it was precisely in the semifinals that the two of them ended up meeting.

In the first match of the semifinals, the battle was Ethan against Harvey.

"I finally meet you again!"

Harvey looked at Ethan while clenching his fists tightly.

In the previous Junior World Championship, he had been completely swept by Ethan's mere Slowking!

After that, he received an enormous amount of criticism, and that left a thorn lodged in his chest.

During all that time, he had trained with almost obsessive intensity, only for revenge!

Originally, he thought he would have to wait until the World Championship to have his chance, but he had not expected that it would arrive so soon.

And, moreover, once again in the semifinals.

It could be said that this battle was the perfect opportunity to vindicate himself.

"Long time no see."

Seeing him like that, Ethan simply smiled slightly.

The previous time, they had also crossed paths in the semifinals. He had not expected it to be exactly the same this time.

"Let's fight! This time, I won't lose again."

Harvey clenched his fists tightly, waiting in silence for the battle to begin.

Very soon, the big screen began spinning the names, and the first turn turned out to be Ethan's.

"In that case... forward."

Ethan's Poké Ball shot out, and his starting Pokémon was once again Kommo-o.

"That strange-colored Kommo-o... then I'll start with him too."

Harvey took a deep breath and likewise released his own Kommo-o.

The two Kommo-o, one black and one golden, stood facing each other on the field, fixing their gazes on one another.

Suddenly, the dark Kommo-o's expression began to change: from doubt, to confusion, and from there to an overflowing will to fight.

It was evident that, since both belonged to Dragon Valley's Kommo-o line, the dark Kommo-o had recognized its opponent, and in that instant it was filled with battle hunger, wanting to prove its worth.

"It seems it will be an interesting battle."

Ethan smiled slightly and immediately ordered the dark Kommo-o to launch the attack.

On the other side, Harvey did exactly the same, also giving the order for close combat.

Boom, boom, boom!

On the field, both Kommo-o collided violently at high speed.

Fist against fist, leg against leg, tail against tail: the two Pokémon turned every part of their bodies into a weapon and unleashed their most powerful attacks.

"What strength... those two Pokémon!"

The spectators, watching that brutal battle of direct blows, could not help becoming excited.

"That fighting style... and also that way of training the body."

"I see. Your Kommo-o also trained at the Ice Dragon Gym!"

Harvey, observing the exchange between the two Pokémon, also seemed to realize something and said it aloud.

"The Ice Dragon Gym? My Kommo-o did learn there. But if we're talking about fighting style, my Kommo-o has always been searching for its own path."

Ethan shook his head slightly, and then his gaze also became serious.

On the field, the dark Kommo-o's expression changed in the same way.

"Forward, use Clanging Scales!"

Upon hearing Ethan's order, the scales on Kommo-o's body began to vibrate.

In the next instant, a sound wave visible to the naked eye swept violently toward the opposing Kommo-o.

Boom!

In the distance, the opposing Kommo-o received that unexpected sound attack, and its figure trembled sharply.

And just as it was still trying to adapt to the impact of the sound wave, its vision suddenly blurred.

In the next instant, it felt a sharp pain in its abdomen, and then everything went black for it: it lost consciousness at once.

Bang!

Kommo-o's body fell heavily to the ground, and at that precise moment, the hearts of all the spectators seemed to tremble along with it.

Immediately afterward, disbelief filled everyone's eyes.

No one had expected that a battle which, until just now, had seemed completely even would end so suddenly.

The dark Kommo-o's sudden burst of speed and strength had caught everyone off guard.

And at that moment, even Harvey himself, the Trainer of the defeated Kommo-o, was looking on with wide eyes, unable to believe it.

"It worked. The combined tactic of Clanging Scales, Belly Drum, and Autotomize."

Looking at the Kommo-o on the field, which had already shed all its scales, Ethan smiled slightly.

The effect of the move Clanging Scales consisted of vibrating the scales all over the body to produce a deafening sound that attacked the opponent, at the cost of lowering one's own defense after using it.

The effect of the move Autotomize consisted of shedding the useless parts of the body, greatly increasing speed and reducing weight at the same time.

And the move Belly Drum reduced one's own HP to half of its maximum in order to raise attack to the absolute limit.

Among them, the move Clanging Scales served to control the field, and it could also combine with the move Autotomize so that Kommo-o could shed its heavy scale armor in an instant, pushing its speed to the extreme.

Thus, combining combat control through the move Clanging Scales with the maximum attack increase from the move Belly Drum, that elegant instant KO had been achieved.

Originally, this combination had been the signature move of Jorge Holt's Kommo-o in the qualifying phase of the Junior World Championship.

At that time, when Ethan managed to decipher it, he had already begun working on adapting it for his own Kommo-o.

After all that time of development, Kommo-o had finally completed this tactic.

And now, when used in battle, its effect was still as excellent as ever.

"Speed and strength... This Kommo-o has reached a truly terrifying level."

Harvey began to feel a headache coming on. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to send out a Pokémon that surprised even Ethan.

Gengar!

As a specialist in Dragon-type Pokémon, Harvey had sent a Ghost-type Pokémon into battle.

It was evident that his idea was to take advantage of Gengar being immune to Fighting-type moves, as well as using its ghostly speed, to counter the opponent's Kommo-o.

"Gengar, huh?"

"You already did magnificently in this battle. Come back and rest well. Leave what comes next to your other companions."

As soon as he realized Harvey's intention, Ethan took out the Poké Ball and recalled Kommo-o.

Clearly, he intended to send another Pokémon to face the Poison- and Ghost-type Gengar.