The final result of the Elite Four Challenge came as something of a surprise.
The defending Elite Four members had an overall win rate as high as 80%, meaning that even if a challenger won, it would be a bitter victory.
And yet, the 6-3 score, which seemed to have cost the victor three Pokémon as well, was actually an overwhelmingly decisive win in the eyes of trainers who truly understood battling.
To put it more bluntly, and perhaps a little tactlessly, it could almost be called a complete demolition.
Had Aoki beaten Iono by that score, it would have been perfectly understandable.
But Aoki was the one who had been demolished.
That result alone was enough to leave every pre-match pundit dumbfounded.
Unlike the incredulous discussions outside the arena, however, Aoki appeared exceptionally calm on the battlefield, even carrying himself with the easy acceptance of someone relieved of a burden.
He slowly stepped forward, gently recalled the fainted Altaria, and murmured a few words of comfort before calmly walking to the center of the field to wait for his opponent.
On the other side, Iono still seemed caught up in overwhelming joy and a faint sense of unreality.
Only when the audience's cheers washed over her once more like a tide did she finally come to her senses.
After bowing deeply to the spectators supporting her, she hurried to the center of the field and shook hands with Aoki, who was waiting there.
A Rotom camera at the sidelines captured that exact moment.
With the results released soon afterward, it quickly became a hot topic on social media.
[Congratulations to Iono for defeating Aoki and becoming Paldea's youngest Elite Four member!]
[Wait, youngest? Isn't Poppy the youngest?]
[Come on, Poppy just looks little and cute. She's almost thirty, okay?]