Chapter 148: VS Steel Titan

Life Orb: The moves of a Pokémon holding this item have their power increased by approximately 30%, but the user loses 10% of its maximum HP every time an attacking move hits an opponent.

In battle, this is an incredibly powerful item! Yet it is also a double-edged sword. If given to a Pokémon with recovery capabilities, its immense power is fully realized; but if given to a Pokémon without such abilities, it means pushing that Pokémon's output to the limit, with the intent of defeating the opponent before falling oneself!

In real-world combat, the side effect of the Life Orb manifests as a simultaneous decline in physical strength and stamina. Once the stamina is exhausted, one's Pokémon loses its ability to battle!

Steven: "Life Orb. But how is Regirock supposed to hold it?"

Xiang Guangtai: "Doublade, use Brick Break on Regirock's back! Chisel out a gap!"

Receiving the order, Doublade's two blades shimmered with light, cleaving a gap in Regirock's back large enough to insert the orb. Xiang Guangtai placed the Life Orb inside—it looked a bit like a backup emergency power source, didn't it?

Xiang Guangtai pondered for a moment, then pulled two berries from his backpack, one red and one green, and stuffed them straight inside.

Afterward, he patched the gap with the meteorite fragment Steven had provided.

"Sah-sah-sah-li! ~ Regi—"

Regirock gained the power of the Life Orb and the meteorite fragment; its Rock-type energy increased significantly, and that feeling of becoming "powerful" was particularly distinct!

"Beep-beep-beep—Regi—"

Registeel hadn't expected Regirock to actually fight it. However, among the three giants, only it possessed a weapon, and furthermore, the Rock type was weak to the Steel type. Registeel felt that Regirock had been in the temple so long it had gone soft in the head!

Then let me show you the gap between us!

Aura Hammer!

A dense white light suddenly condensed on Registeel's giant hammer! It began to gather energy, and a violent air current generated out of thin air around the Steel Giant, condensing upward as if it were a mountain peak and lightning combined!

If one concentrates all of one's momentum and spirit into a fist, one can unleash the immensely powerful Focus Punch. This is a powerful move mastered by all three Legendary Giants; like "Superpower," it is a Fighting-type skill with massive destructive force.

And by slightly altering the operational mode of that momentum and spirit, through diligent practice, one can allow the Fighting-type-specific power of "Aura" to be projected externally, using one's entire body's strength to blast it out and form a massive air-vortex shell—this is "Aura Sphere"!

However, during its long time spent with humans, Registeel grasped the trick of integrating this Aura power into its giant hammer, thereby developing a brand-new move!

Calling it an Aura Sphere or a Giant Force Hammer—neither felt quite right!

Xiang Guangtai stared, eyes wide.

Speaking of condensing momentum for an attack, this is practically like "Explosive Aura." Where did you run off from, you martial artist?

You fellow, perhaps you could even help me craft a Focus Sash?

"Stone Edge!" Xiang Guangtai waved his hand!

The "H" character on Regirock's face flashed. Sharp, massive rocks appeared around it like a star ring, and after circling twice, they blasted out at extreme speed!

Registeel swung its giant hammer, shattering the incoming sharp stones. But the number of stones was immense; after shattering the first batch, the subsequent stones kept coming endlessly, and thus the first "Aura Hammer" failed just like that!

"Beep-beep-beep—!?"

The power of that Stone Edge wasn't right!

Registeel realized that the power of this attack was quite formidable; Regirock shouldn't have such sharp attack power!

"Follow up with continuous Iron Defense!" Xiang Guangtai began his continuous Iron Defense tactic. A silver radiance shimmered over Regirock's body, flickering on and off; each time it flashed, its defense increased significantly. The Registeel opposite, seeing this, was not in a hurry; it likewise planted its giant hammer into the steel floor and began its own Iron Defense reinforcement!

"Comparing defense stats between giants, are we..." Steven chuckled: "This battle has turned into a war of attrition."

Regardless, Regirock, holding the Life Orb, seemed to be at a disadvantage; after all, every attack would cause its own power to decline. The Life Orb could be seen as stimulating a Pokémon's potential to the limit, which is why it could raise the power of moves and its own strength to an unimaginably high level!

"No problem, next we use that!"

"Use Body Press!"

Iron Defense + Body Press is the most common combination tactic for high-defense Pokémon!

Converting one's own defense into offensive power is a fighting style used by many trainers who excel in defense. For example, Gym Leader Byron of Canalave City in the Sinnoh region; he specializes in Steel-type Pokémon, and his ace is Bastiodon. In his hands, such Pokémon with weak offensive power instead become the strongest and most solid "Battle Shields." That is his unique training method: converting defensive energy into attack!

But that requires years of training to master as a unique fighting style. Body Press, however, does not require such long-term tempering. More importantly, even if one converts defense into attack power, the damage caused is still limited by one's own Attack stat. But Body Press can use one's own Defense stat instead of Attack for damage calculation!

The higher the defense, the higher the damage dealt!

The character on Regirock's face flashed!

It rushed toward Registeel, which was still stacking Iron Defense, at extreme speed. Turning its body sideways to condense its full strength, it slammed fiercely into Registeel!

Bang, bang, bang! Registeel retreated three or four steps in a row!

"Beep-beep-beep??!"

That last strike was super effective!

Registeel let out a shocked questioning sound. That move was completely different from previous combat moves! And since when did Regirock have such immense power?!

"Regirock's base Defense stat is as high as 200!" Xiang Guangtai muttered to himself. Plus the significant defense boost from Iron Defense, even though Registeel had also used Iron Defense, that strike still dealt considerable damage!

However, it was truly as Steven said: no matter what kind of attack the Steel Giant received, no injuries could be seen on the surface. That incomparably solid body was the ultimate masterpiece of Regigigas!

The Steel Giant adjusted its center of gravity, and the giant hammer in its hand swung up once more!

Aura Hammer!

This time, the attack landed solidly! The heavy, powerful strike nearly hammered Regirock off the ground. The Stone Giant lost its balance, and its rock body was struck with a massive crack in a single blow!

The air current surged violently, rushing toward the people and Pokémon at the back of the temple like a tidal wave. Even He Yue had cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Back then, he had taken this very hammer blow and nearly ended up with a concussion!

"Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!"

Registeel held its giant hammer high, seemingly celebrating another victory!

This immense power, obtained through years of iron-forging, was enough to shatter hard boulders and mountains. Even if Regirock was also a legendary giant, under the condition of being type-disadvantaged, it could never stand again...

"Regi!" Regirock stomped hard on the steel floor, letting out a high-pitched battle cry!

"Beep-beep-beep? Regi?" The circular light symbol on Registeel's face flashed frantically. It couldn't believe it, because Regirock had actually withstood its full-force strike and hadn't taken much damage?!

How is this possible?

"Beep-beep-beep!" Registeel questioned Regirock: how did it block its attack?

Brother, you've become a bit of a stranger!

"What was that you stuffed in earlier?" Steven had noticed Xiang Guangtai's berry-stuffing action earlier.

Xiang Guangtai clenched his fist: "Occab Berry and Chople Berry. The former can weaken super-effective Steel-type moves, and the latter can weaken super-effective Fighting-type moves. These are special berries that only exist in the Sinnoh and Shinto regions."

"So it was those two kinds of berries!" Steven realized.

Xiang Guangtai spread his hands: "Because I didn't know if Registeel's hammer attack was Fighting-type or Steel-type, I brought a few extra berries. In any case, they were bound to come in handy."

Registeel looked at the two humans, then at Regirock. It swung its hammer again, not believing that this time the attack would be brushed off so lightly!

"Thunder Wave." Xiang Guangtai waved his finger. Regirock raised its arms, and a faint current shot out directly. Registeel's raised hammer swung into empty air and slammed into the ground; its body trembled slightly, but it couldn't move!

It was the "paralyzed" state!

"Continue Body Press!"

Regirock continued forward, condensing its full strength to slam into it, landing an elbow solidly on Registeel's "face"!

"Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep?!"

"Yo-woo~" Doublade's gaze was a bit strange.

The Steel Giant is cursing.

However, because it came from ancient times, it hadn't mastered the essence of cursing, so the words it spat out lacked offensive power—nothing more than short, harmless phrases like "vile traitor."

Having been hit by two Body Presses, Registeel certainly wouldn't sit still and wait for death. It shielded its "round face" with both hands, and its body was suddenly enveloped in a layer of violent, silvery-white Steel-type energy!

Steven: "It's 'Iron Head'! Just like Brandon's Registeel! When Registeel uses a Steel-type move, it condenses Steel-type energy at a single point and envelops its entire body!"

From the momentum, it looked very intimidating; one might think it was Meteor Mash, never imagining it was Iron Head!

It took off from the ground, slamming over like a steel rocket!

This method of attack... it was actually more like "Rocket Headbutt"!

Xiang Guangtai clenched his fist: "Use Protect!"

Regirock crossed its arms in front of its chest, and a pale green barrier spread out!

Registeel's strike emitted a massive crashing sound!

Large chunks of rock debris were blasted out; Protect hadn't completely "protected" it!

"Protect didn't successfully block it..." Xiang Guangtai recalled a certain battle from the anime. During the Battle Pyramid, when Paul's Electabuzz faced the Stone Edge of Brandon's Regirock, it used Protect, but it was still broken through by the immense power of Stone Edge!

The power of Protect seemed different from the games; it also depended on the Pokémon's own level of cultivation. If stamina or endurance were insufficient, or if the power gap was too large, then even if the move Protect was used, a situation where one "couldn't protect" could occur!

"The Life Orb enhanced the output power, but because it continuously drains its own stamina, Protect didn't completely block this impact."

At this moment, Regirock's body, reinforced by Iron Defense, still couldn't quite hold its ground, continuously being pushed back by Registeel's collision, carving a screeching, buzzing sound into the floor of the Steel Temple!

Xiang Guangtai watched the rampaging Registeel and suddenly had a good idea!

When this guy uses Iron Head, it hangs in mid-air like a rocket and slams down... hanging in mid-air?!

"Regirock! Use 'Gravity'!"

Gravity: For 5 turns, Pokémon with the Levitate ability and Flying-type Pokémon will be hit by Ground-type moves. Moves that fly into the air will also be unusable, and the accuracy of all moves will be increased!

Powerful psychic energy surged from Regirock's body, and an invisible gravity field generated out of thin air, directly dragging Registeel—which was slamming over like a rocket—down to the ground! The Steel Giant crashed headfirst into the earth, knocking a dent into the temple floor!

"Now is the time, use Iron Defense again, then Body Press!"

Regirock seized the opportunity, unleashing its full strength. The final Iron Defense boosted its defense significantly again, and the Stone Giant, like the Steel Giant, slammed into it with unstoppable momentum!

Registeel tried to climb up from the ground, but it only managed halfway before Regirock slammed its massive strength directly onto its "back"!

Clang! A heavy sound of metal being hammered echoed! This strike seemed to hit a vital spot!

The dent in the ground deepened by another fraction, and the Steel Giant's arms relaxed, completely collapsing onto the ground, having lost the ability to battle!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 149 =====