"No, you still need talent!"
"Ugh, that's brutal!"
Seeing yet another shameless clash of strength, the onlooking crowd couldn't help but cry out at the dazzling display.
By now, no one cared anymore about the blond guy's shamelessness.
After all, they couldn't exactly beat him up themselves.
Instead of saying things that might damage their own image, it was better to just enjoy Nathan's amazing performance.
"Treecko, use Leaf Blade!"
"You can't? Alright then! Move towards eight o'clock first, then use Vine Whip!"
Blocking out all external distractions, Nathan focused entirely on commanding his Pokémon.
As a Grandmaster, even if Silver played dirty, Nathan absolutely could not lose!
And if he won, the benefits would be enormous.
For one thing, he'd be laying a great foundation for building trust and bond with Treecko!
Maybe, based on that foundation, he might even achieve Treecko's mega evolution before the national tournament!
Sure, playing the trump card at the last moment was nice.
But Nathan preferred sending out the airplane first, then the bomb, and finally dropping a bigger bomb to finish it off!
However, the blond guy still hadn't realized how serious the situation was. He was still sneering and laughing mockingly:
"You think such a weak Vine Whip can defeat Kingler?"
"Kingler, grab the Vine Whip and pull Treecko over to clamp it!"
"Crush that little Treecko!"
…
Just as the blond guy smugly expected, the Vine Whip lashed onto Kingler, making it cry out in pain — but its tough shell didn't even crack!
Instead, Kingler seized the opportunity, grabbed the Vine Whip, and gave it a fierce yank!
"He's doomed! As expected, even a genius like Nathan can't bridge such a huge gap in strength!"
"Exactly, no matter how talented a Pokémon is, you can't just jump huge ranks. It's an iron rule!"
"Looks like the so-called 'Rising Star' is just a nickname after all. Nathan is really good, but still not enough."
Seeing this scene, the crowd's opinion immediately shifted. Their faces filled with pity, gloating, and even some relief — happy that Nathan wasn't truly invincible.
Being born in the same era as a genius was both a blessing and a tragedy.
The more talented someone was, the more they made others feel helpless and despairing.
But… was Nathan really going to lose?
"Don't be afraid, Treecko! Use Kingler's force to leap over it and get behind!"
With a confident smile, Nathan continued to command.
Although he'd only been working with Treecko for a short time, he already understood it quite well!
Maybe this Treecko didn't have the same raw physical strength as some others that trained like maniacs.
But in terms of agility, this Treecko far surpassed them!
Holding onto the Vine Whip, Treecko actually vaulted right over Kingler's head!
"Good! Use the momentum and Vine Whip to swing underneath Kingler and flip it over!"
Seeing Treecko perfectly execute the command, Nathan pressed on.
"Treecko!"
Hearing Nathan's voice, Treecko's eyes sharpened.
It grabbed the Vine Whip and swung around Kingler's huge claw several times like Tarzan!
After tying it securely, Treecko landed on the ground and used the momentum to dash underneath Kingler.
"Treecko!"
With an unusual, burning passion in its eyes, Treecko shouted and kicked upward!
Because it was charged with Grass-type energy, the effect was explosive!
Kingler was flipped cleanly onto its back, eyes rolling upward and foam spilling from its mouth.
"Hmph. Kingler's underbelly is its weakest spot."
"As a Trainer, your command skills are terrible. And you clearly don't care about training your Pokémon properly either."
Nathan said casually, rubbing his nose as he watched the blond guy, who still looked like he hadn't processed what happened.
Honestly, Nathan hadn't expected Treecko to take Kingler down in one move either.
But the real problem was that the blond guy was simply too weak!
Before, Nathan had compared him to Silver — that was wrong.
He should've compared him to bronze!
Of course, Trainers like this were rare.
Just like in school, there were students who were bad at studying but arrogant thanks to their rich families.
In his past life, these people mostly ended up as spoiled wastrels.
In this world, however, there were even more idiots like the blond guy.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Nathan and became the most pathetic and ridiculous fool of them all.
"Treecko, would you like to become my Pokémon? I'll take you to a peak no one has ever seen!"
Nathan walked up to Treecko with a Pokéball in hand as the blond guy stood there, still stunned.
"Treecko!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Treecko touched the Pokéball and was immediately captured!
Even a pure-hearted Pokémon like Treecko could tell that Trainers like Nathan were a once-in-a-lifetime find!
It was only at this point that the onlookers finally snapped out of their daze.
"He… he won? This kid hasn't even been to college yet?!"
"Unreal! Seriously, there's no other word for it!"
"I witnessed a miracle today! A Trainer really can beat someone way higher in rank!"
The crowd erupted. Many Trainers' faces turned bright red with excitement,
almost as if it was they themselves who had defeated the Kingler against all odds!
And many others immediately started uploading the videos they had recorded, giving them flashy titles like:
[Shocking! A Genius Trainer Did This!]
[The Alliance's Rising Star, Truly Worthy of the Title!]
[Nathan, I Declare You the Strongest!]
(TN: Author really glazing Nathan a lot this chapter)
Compared to the celebrating crowd, the blond guy had clearly fallen off a cliff.
In a daze, he recalled his Kingler and slunk away.
But no one cared about him anymore.
His looks, his name — none of it mattered.
He would forever be remembered only as a background character, a joke for people to mock.
Of course, many of the crowd's earlier comments that doubted Nathan were also captured in the videos.
It was easy to imagine — Nathan's online fame after this wasn't just going to rebound.
It would explode!
Defeating a higher-ranked opponent — this battle was destined to become a classic!
Even years from now, whenever people talked about it, Nathan's name would come up.
It might even... be written into the textbooks someday.
Because even pseudo-legendary Pokémon, when facing a huge level gap, couldn't always beat a higher-ranked opponent —
and that wasn't just about stats. It was because of the deep, entrenched strength differences between levels!
Sure, it might not be neatly divided into levels, but the gap between Gym Leaders and Elites, between Trainers of Level 50 and 51...
was not something a little extra base stat could bridge.
Honestly, feats like this were supposed to be reserved for Legendary Pokémon and gods!
And that didn't even account for Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, or Bond Phenomena (also called Bond Evolution)...
Those factors weren't even considered part of the "no-skipping-levels" iron rule —
because humanity hadn't yet fully discovered those phenomena.
Returning to the hotel with the newly captured Treecko, Nathan's phone started ringing.
"Lily? Why's she calling me now?"
Nathan wondered as he picked up the call.
As the person directly involved, he hadn't yet realized just how serious the situation was.
After all, what others saw as unbreakable "iron laws" never seemed to apply to Nathan.
There was another factor, too:
If an older Trainer used dirty tricks to beat a younger one, it wasn't recognized.
The "no-skipping" rule mainly applied when the age gap was within five years.
And Nathan wasn't older than the blond guy — he was several years younger!
"You're famous again! Son, you really are my child! You even pulled off a level jump!"
"For scumbags like him, you have to beat them down hard! Hahahahaha!"
In a hotel somewhere, Lily was laughing wildly without a shred of her usual cool and noble demeanor.
Her beautiful face was flushed with excitement.
Only Nathan could make her act like this.
Anyone else? She wouldn't even spare them a second glance.
"What the heck? Sweet daughter, hurry up and tell your old man what's going on!"
Hearing Lily's voice, Nathan asked, totally confused.