The entire battlefield was covered in smoke.
Spectators stood from their seats.
Nobody could see the result.
Slowly...
The dust began to settle.
At the center of the battlefield stood
Eclipse Lunashade and Soulmourne.
Both were still standing.
The battle continued.
Morrigan smiled.
"Soulmourne, Phantom Drift!"
Soulmourne vanished into the shadows.
Immediately, dark ghostly copies appeared throughout the battlefield.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Lunashade was completely surrounded.
Elior Stays Calm
Elior didn't panic.
He remembered his training.
The lesson Morrigan taught him.
Ghost battles weren't about strength.
They were about understanding.
Lunashade closed its eyes.
The crowd gasped.
"What is it doing?"
Morrigan narrowed her eyes.
Then she smiled.
"...I see."
The fake Soulmournes attacked.
Lunashade didn't move.
It waited.
Watched.
Felt.
Then—
Its eyes opened.
"There!"
"Abyss Claw!"
BOOOOOOM!
The real Soulmourne was struck and forced backward.
The illusion army disappeared instantly.
Morrigan Pushes Forward
"Excellent."
"But not enough."
"Shadow Eclipse!"
Soulmourne unleashed its strongest attack.
A gigantic sphere of ghostly energy descended from above.
The entire stadium shook.
Elior clenched his fist.
"...We don't run."
"...We face it."
Lunashade roared.
Dark and silver energy merged around its body.
The same energy that once frightened it.
The same power it once tried to suppress.
But now—
It was under control.
"Abyss Burst!"
For the first time in battle—
Lunashade unleashed its full power willingly.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The attacks collided.
The shockwave shook the entire gym.
Cracks spread across the battlefield.
When the explosion faded—
Both Pokémon were exhausted.
Both struggled to stand.
Soulmourne took one step.
Then another.
Lunashade did the same.
The entire stadium became silent.
Then—
Soulmourne collapsed.
THUD.
Everyone froze.
Lunashade remained standing.
Barely.
But standing.
The referee raised the flag.
"Soulmourne is unable to battle!"
"The winner is Lunashade!"
"Victory goes to the challenger, Elior!"
The stadium erupted into cheers.
For several moments, Morrigan remained silent.
Then she recalled Soulmourne.
A smile appeared on her face.
Not disappointment.
Pride.
She walked toward Elior.
Holding a badge shaped like a silver ghostly moon.
The Phantom Badge
"You didn't win because you became stronger."
"You won because you understood your partner."
Elior accepted the badge.
His Seventh Gym Badge.
As Elior prepared to leave, Morrigan stopped him.
"The road ahead won't be easy."
"Wang Tang is waiting."
"And the Dragon Gym Leader is stronger than any opponent you've faced."
Outside Nowhere City.
The wind blew gently.
Elior looked at the
Phantom Badge
in his hand.
Then toward the distant horizon.
Far beyond the mountains lay
Wang Tang.
The city of his final Gym Badge.
Elior smiled.
"One more badge."
"Then the Luminara League."
As he began walking down the road...
A shadowy figure watched from a distant cliff.
The figure's face remained hidden.
But a familiar silver eclipse emblem glimmered on their cloak.
TO BE CONTINUED...