With the match between Kurachi and Xinyuan Hai over, the preliminary round of the Elite Four Ranking Match had also come to an end.
Including the current Johto Elite Four, a total of sixteen people would battle it out in the finals.
The current Johto Elite Four were: First Elite Four, Ryu, specializing in Ice-types; Second Elite Four, Gouming, specializing in Psychic-types; Third Elite Four, Sen, specializing in Flying-types.
Fourth Elite Four, Lance, specializing in Flying—uh... Dragon-types.
As for Lorelei, Agatha, Xia, and Shiba, they were the current Kanto Elite Four.
In the original world, Elite Four Sen had been assassinated, causing Shiba to serve as an Elite Four in the Johto Region for a very long time.
Now, Sato's Butterfree had flapped the wings of fate early on, preventing that tragedy from occurring and allowing Shiba to be transferred to the Kanto Region sooner.
Though Kanto and Johto were closely connected and practically inseparable, headquarters was still headquarters. Kanto's Elite Four had to be more exceptional in every respect.
Aside from the Johto Elite Four, Sato had taken first place in the preliminary rankings with an overwhelmingly dominant record of thirty-nine wins in thirty-nine matches.
A silent man could make a startling impact with a single achievement. After lying low for years, Sato had once again shocked everyone with his terrifying record.
Nearly ninety-nine percent of people believed that Sato was destined to succeed and become one of the new Johto Elite Four.
Yet Sato himself had remained low-key. In his daily life, he used Gardevoir's Teleport and Gengar's Space Barrier to shake off wave after wave of reporters.
It was not that he was unwilling to accept interviews. He simply knew full well what the media were like.
Taking things out of context, exaggerating the facts, sensationalizing for