After the Annihilape unleashed its final, fully-powered Rage Fist, taking down Steven's last remaining low-health Aggron, it completed the final blow, securing the championship for Roy in the Edge Cup.
Seeing this, Steven knew he had lost. He accepted his defeat calmly and recalled Aggron.
"Abandoned!"
The Annihilape brandished its fist, proclaiming its absolute power in the very center of the Arena.
"Aggron to fight. The winner of this battle is contestant number 99, Roy!!"
The referee, knowing this was also a championship battle, became excited in his otherwise calm tone.
After the referee announced the result, the host Lei Ye, passionately took the microphone and began speaking:
"Let's congratulate contestant number 99, Roy, on overcoming all obstacles to finally stand on the highest stage."
They won the championship of this year's Edge Cup!
Thank you for bringing us so many exciting matches! Let's shout his name with the loudest voices!
"Roy! Roy! Roy!"
Countless spectators rose to their feet and cheered for Roy, having witnessed firsthand how Roy had made it from the preliminaries to winning the Edge Cup.
Just when everyone thought the other would lose to Tobias, Roy's Annihilape defeated both gods with two punches.
Later, after the Misdreavus evolved into Flutter Mane, it cleared the game without taking any damage, defeating another favorite to win, Cade, the young chieftain of the Meteor People.
This year's Edge Cup has produced so many memorable moments: two punches crushing Legendary Pokémon, Mega Evolution, Bond Evolution...
This is also the most prestigious competition in the history of the Edge Cup, without a doubt.
Roy the battle, Roy didn't jump down to celebrate with Annihilape as he usually did. Instead, he bumped fists with Annihilape, then put Annihilape back into its Poké Ball and quickly walked up to Steven's command seat.
No one understood what Roy was trying to do.
As soon as Roy arrived, he saw Steven leaning on the railing of the command seat, his face pale and covered in sweat, looking rather disheveled.
Roy knew the opponent was exhausted, and his command in the second half was almost a struggle. Steven had given it his all for this game.
Let's go.
Roy extended his hand to Steven.
"Um..."
Steven managed a weak reply, and seeing this, he reached out to Roy's outstretched hand. However, since his legs were completely exhausted, he almost stumbled and fell to the ground.
Roy reacted quickly and caught Steven.
"You're so weak, I told you to practice with me more."
"If I train with you, you'll train me to death sooner or later."
Steven retorted listlessly.
Oh? You can even criticize yourself? Looks like you haven't used your full strength yet, buddy.
Roy simply put Steven's arm on his shoulder, practically carrying Steven off the command seat.
This scene was naturally captured by the Drones on site.
Everyone then realized that Roy wanted to take Steven, who was exhausted, off the stage.
This... is what true brothers are.
Giving your all during a match is a sign of respect for your friend, and helping your opponent off the stage after the match when you know they're not feeling well is a sign of respect.
When will my brother win a championship?
The Drone captured the entire scene, and the tournament organizers decided to use it as the final settlement footage for the 8th Edge Cup.
It's not time for the awards ceremony yet. There's another match coming up: a showdown between the players who previously lost to Steven and Roy for third place in the Edge Cup.
After watching the final battle between Steven and Roy, the battle for third place seemed somewhat uninteresting.
Roy helped Steven back to the Arena's preparation room and called for Nurse Joy.
Seeing Steven's condition, Nurse Joy from backstage brought him a vial of Energy Potion to restore his stamina. Steven drank it down in one gulp before his complexion returned to normal.
However, Steven could only stay upright by clinging to Roy's shoulders.
Is it really necessary to work so hard?
Upon hearing Roy's question, Steven forced a smile and replied:
"You don't need to fight others, but you'll definitely have to fight to the death to beat me."
After the third-place winner was determined, the final awards ceremony began.
Roy carried Steven onto the Arena, and as soon as they entered, the staff pulled them onto the podium that had been set up in less than ten minutes.
Upbeat music immediately filled the room.
Damaranch handed a Golden trophy to Roy, on Golden was a half-drawn sword, symbolizing the beginning of his talent.
The reward for Roy's final championship Pokémon or any item from the Pokémon League Vault must be claimed after the award ceremony.
Roy can now choose either a set of Advanced Evolution Stones or challenge one of the two Elite Four on the judging panel.
Challenging the Elite Four?
Roy was also just finding out that there was this option in the rewards, and looked at Steven beside him with a puzzled expression, not understanding what was going on.
Steven, having regained some strength, whispered in Roy's ear, "Roy I understand."
The Edge Cup announced after its first edition that the champion could choose to either receive a set of Evolution Stones or challenge Elite Four of the top judges.
However, even in this eighth edition of the Edge Cup, no one still chooses to face off against the Elite Four Fighters.
If you can't win a fight, isn't that just inviting humiliation?
So this item has been sitting there as a reward section, unselected by anyone, and he didn't mention it to Roy.
Roy and Steven's actions were still captured by the Drones in the sky and projected onto the Arena's large screen.
"No, have these two always had such a good relationship?"
"Hiss~ I have a feeling something's definitely going on between these two!"
I'm blown away! I'm blown away!
"Taking things without understanding their nature will only harm you!"
Roy didn't hear the whispers in the audience; he was already deep in thought.
Can I still challenge the Elite Four?
Well... the Popularity Points must be quite high, right?
The nine Evolution Stones, including the Sun Stone and the Moon Stone, were all Advanced Evolution Stones with a total value of tens of millions, but he had access to the System Shop.
Furthermore, Evolution Stones, unless they are of perfect quality, can generally be bought with money, but the opportunity to battle against a regional Elite Four cannot be bought.
Roy looked up at the judges' panel in the center of the audience; of course, he wouldn't dare challenge his teacher, Agatha.
Instead, he focused his gaze on the man next to Agatha, who was smoking a pipe, wearing a naval uniform, and had a cold look in his eyes.
The Dragon type Elite Four of the Hoenn, Drake.
Ultimately, Roy made his own choice.
"I choose to challenge the Dragon type Elite Four, Mr. Drake."