Chapter 216: The Three Regis Strike
The assembly hall was buzzing with murmurs. Everyone was stunned by the fact that Lance—the final gatekeeper of the Elite Four—had also been defeated without taking down a single one of Rio’s Pokémon.
Lance looked at the crowd, his emotions a tangled mess. He felt an overwhelming sense of shame, as if he had let down everyone’s expectations. Eventually, he made his way to Agatha and Lorelei. When he learned that both of them had also been swept without a single win—and in even less time than him—he felt a wave of relief, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest.
That makes sense. As the final gatekeeper, I should be the strongest. If I were weaker than the other three, that would be truly humiliating.
But then he heard that Bruno—the Fighting-type Elite Four—had actually taken down one of Rio’s Pokémon.
His world collapsed.
"Impossible—absolutely impossible. Say that again!" Lance’s eyes bulged like saucers as he stared at Lorelei. If this were true, it would mean that Bruno—that blockhead—was stronger than him. He hadn’t even seen a glimmer of hope in his battle, yet Bruno had managed to win one?
"That’s what happened. Ask anyone if you don’t believe me," Lorelei said with a shrug. Seeing Lance equally shocked made her feel much better about her own loss. Even Agatha, the Ghost-type Elite Four, felt somewhat comforted—she wasn’t the only one left hurting.
Finally, Lance found his clan elder hidden among the crowd. When the elder confirmed it was true, the blow hit him as hard as his defeat.
"Where’s Bruno?! I need to know how he did it!" Lance demanded, his eyes red, his composure shattered. His own failure was one thing, but a friend’s victory was far more unsettling. If Bruno had also been swept, Lance could have accepted it—after all, he, the heir of the Dragon Tamer Clan, had suffered the same fate. But for Bruno to win one Pokémon while he won none was worse than a thousand cuts.
The elder, however, had no idea where Bruno was—only that he was probably still doing push-ups in his chamber. When asked about the attackers, Lance brushed him off: "Don’t ask me—I don’t know." His spirit was completely broken. He no longer wanted to think about anything except how Bruno had managed to beat one of Rio’s Pokémon.
He decided he would challenge Bruno—he had to. Having a League Champion above him was already hard enough, but if another Elite Four member surpassed him and dropped him to second place, he might as well give up entirely.
At the Viridian Gym, another man’s spirit was slightly cracked: Giovanni. When he learned that Lance had also been swept, he stood frozen for a long moment. That meant Rio had lost only one Pokémon throughout his entire Elite Four challenge—an almost unbelievable feat. Even Giovanni doubted he could accomplish such a thing.
"So how did Bruno manage to win even one? Surely he’s not stronger than me?" Giovanni wondered aloud, ordering his subordinates to find out exactly how Bruno had done it.
"The Champion is out!"
About ten minutes after Lance emerged, Rio walked out of the Champion’s chamber. The moment he appeared, all eyes turned to him. One by one, they bowed slightly and addressed him as "Champion." Rio nodded to each of them in turn, savoring their respect.
This is how it should be—this is what it feels like to be a regional Champion. No, a Champion of two regions.
He eventually reached the three Elite Four members.
"Champion," Lorelei said first.
"Champion," Agatha followed.
"Champion," Lance said through gritted teeth, reluctant but obedient.
Rio nodded with satisfaction. If he had to describe how he felt, it was one word: satisfying. Whether sincere or not, as long as they bowed their heads before him, he was pleased.
"Tell me—how did Bruno beat one of your Pokémon?" Lance asked, his eyes still red. He could set aside everything else, but this question haunted him.
As soon as Lance asked, Lorelei and Agatha also turned their attention to Rio. They were equally curious—both had been utterly crushed without taking a single Pokémon, so how had Bruno managed it?
But when Rio answered, the three of them froze.
"Beat one of my Pokémon? He didn’t. It was the same for him as it was for you," Rio said, puzzled. Annihilape had knocked out every single one of Bruno’s Pokémon—when had Bruno beaten any of his?
"He didn’t? Not a single win?" Lance exclaimed, his voice rising. The dejection on his face vanished in an instant—as if he had been pulled from rock bottom and launched to the peak. His lips involuntarily curled upward. If that was the case, then being utterly dominated today wasn’t so hard to accept after all.
"Bruno didn’t beat any of your Pokémon?" Lorelei and Agatha’s eyes also regained their light.
"No—he didn’t. Did Bruno tell you he had?" Rio raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling that Bruno wasn’t as honest as he’d seemed. Had Bruno lied to save face? Tsk—fallen from grace, Bruno. You’re no longer the pure-hearted training fanatic I thought you were.
"Not exactly—Bruno hasn’t even shown up yet. But the indicator lights for your challenge showed one of your Pokémon went down during his round," Lorelei said, pointing to the display wall showing the battle results.
Rio looked at the wall and saw that during the second round, one of his six Pokémon lights was indeed dark. He immediately understood—it had been Annihilape’s beatdown of the Red Gyarados, mistaken as a defeat.
"You probably misunderstood—that was just—"
BOOM!
Before Rio could explain, a massive crash echoed from outside. Everyone rushed out—and saw a Pokémon made entirely of rock standing to the west, smashing a statue with Hammer Arm.
"That’s the legendary giant Pokémon... Regirock!" someone recognized it.
"No—look over there! There’s also Regice—the Ice Giant!"
On the other side, another Pokémon made entirely of ice appeared, freezing a building with Ice Beam.
"And there—Registeel, the Steel Giant! What in the world is going on? Why are legendary Pokémon appearing here?"