Chapter 1095: What is a Bond

"Two birds with one stone! Let's go with this!"

Kieran shouted excitedly, "Bullet Seed!"

Battling against the person he admired filled the young boy with extreme excitement, and he genuinely wanted to win to prove himself to All Baimu.

Shiftry raised the wide fan-like leaves on both sides, riding the wind like an immortal!

"Shiftry!"

It opened its mouth wide from a high vantage point.

Pfft, pfft, pfft—!!

Countless glowing green seeds, each the size of a bullet, rained down like a torrential storm, crazily bombarding the rapidly moving Alolan Meowth!

Dust rose, and sand and stones flew!

It was as if someone were holding a heavy machine gun and strafing the ground continuously; the mountain forest was soon filled with smoke that lingered for a long time.

Carmine frowned slightly, "Stupid little brother."

Kieran also realized that he was used to the solid, conventional battlefields and had completely ignored the fact that the ordinary soil in the woods was incredibly loose!

Oh no!

"Shiftry, use Leaf Storm!" he shouted quickly.

Although Tailwind could disperse the spreading smoke, it definitely wasn't as fast as he had imagined.

Battling against an average Trainer didn't matter.

But a Champion was different.

Especially All Baimu, a player famous for seizing opportunities.

Almost every Pokémon he raised was sharp and knew how to seize an opponent's mistake to launch an attack.

Situations that were originally unfavorable or lagging behind could be instantly reversed because of this!

Whoosh!

A whirlwind composed of countless leaves dispersed the smoke; although it failed to hit Meowth, it successfully exposed it as it climbed onto a nearby tree trunk.

Found you!

Kieran was extremely relieved; many times, once All Baimu's opponents lost sight of his Pokémon, they would never be able to find them again.

This conclusion was drawn from many, many battle records.

As a fanboy of All Baimu, even though he didn't have a phone, Kieran had downloaded a pile of his battle videos and would take them out to watch whenever he had free time.

He immediately ordered, "Ye Ren! Take it down!"

"Shiftry!"

Shiftry flew over, the three shuttle-shaped leaves on its hands glowing and merging into one, transforming into two sharp Leaf Blades!

Slash!

It glared with its eyes, the blades slashing extremely quickly, attempting to take Meowth down completely with this strike!

But Meowth wasn't a pushover either; there were so many wild Pokémon in groups on Platinum Mountain, and the Pokémon Paradise was full of heroes—which one didn't it know?

A mere Shiftry wanted to take it down? In its dreams!

"Meow-ow!"

It let out a shrill cry, electricity flickering at its claw tips.

Slash, slash, slash!

The trunk of the large tree was actually cut into three sections by Shiftry's move, while the fourth slash went toward Meowth, who was leaping into the air!

Slash!

Lightning and Ye Ren hit each other!

In an instant.

Meowth's petite body flew backward, but unlike the previous time, it rolled to All Baimu's feet and quickly stood up again.

"Meow-ow!"

Its prized fur was covered in dust, but it didn't care at all; it knelt half-crouched with a fierce look, and while panting heavily, it wiped the saliva overflowing from the corner of its mouth with the back of its claw.

On the other side.

Shiftry landed on the ground, fine currents of electricity jumping across its body; this was a manifestation of being in a 【Paralyzed】 state.

Kieran frowned deeply.

Trading damage for a status condition.

Presumably, the next step would be to throw out some harsh words and release the big Jigglypuff, right?

This was All Baimu's most commonly used tactic: one Pokémon was responsible for inflicting status conditions, while another main force dealt the damage, with both sides cooperating with each other.

Kieran wasn't prepared to give Meowth a chance to take advantage of the situation and leave the field.

The large tree that had been slashed by the Ye Ren collapsed at this moment, hitting the ground with a teeth-grinding creak, just happening to block the space between the two Pokémon.

Now is the time!

As the smoke rose, Kieran said softly in a firm tone:

"Quick Attack!"

He had actually hidden this skill until now!

A move that should have been used at the very beginning had been kept tightly under wraps just to achieve a surprise effect.

Perhaps the Thunder Wave was beyond his expectations?

In any case, today was different from the past.

Meowth had taken a Ye Ren hit, and its stamina was likely very poor; its physical reaction and speed had dropped sharply, so suddenly releasing a Quick Attack to finish it off now—

Even if the paralysis state made the Tailwind boost useless, it could still catch Meowth off guard!

Take it down!

"Shiftry!"

Shiftry transformed into a white light, passing through the dense canopy and rushing in front of the injured Meowth with lightning speed!

Just as he had judged, Meowth's condition was very poor.

Among its various abilities, only its speed was passable; everything else, whether attack or defense, was far behind.

With its pitiful durability, the previous Ye Ren, even if it didn't one-shot it, would have brought it down to red health.

Using Quick Attack to finish it off was simply the most correct judgment possible.

Bang!

A low, muffled sound of collision, and Meowth flew backward again.

And it didn't make a sound—

Just as Kieran was rejoicing that he had prevented Meowth from using Parting Shot, he saw a colorful, mottled light suddenly released from the coin on its forehead as it flew backward.

Hum!

The eerie colors made Shiftry, and even him and Carmine, start to feel dizzy.

"C-Confuse Ray?"

Kieran rubbed his eyes quickly, a sense of foreboding arising in his heart.

Shiftry had been hit!

Meowth hadn't chosen to use Parting Shot at the last moment, but instead used Confuse Ray to make its opponent confused?

Although it didn't let the Pokémon leave the field safely, which surprised him a bit, after all, in his impression, All Baimu liked complete victories and would do his utmost to ensure that the Pokémon that had battled retained a sliver of stamina.

This allowed the final result to be a 6-0 shutout of his opponent.

Such a All Baimu was arrogant and powerful to the extreme, which was one of the reasons he attracted many Trainers.

And Meowth was clearly a Pokémon that had only recently begun to be raised; being slightly weaker was acceptable.

—Kieran had realized early on that there was a huge gap between Meowth's strength and All Baimu's other Pokémon.

It didn't matter.

The confusion state would be restored upon leaving the field; All Baimu was merely trying to take the opportunity to send out his next Pokémon and seize the chance to take down Shiftry.

With the large tree cutting across the battle field, his recall beam might be blocked.

Kieran thought of many things in a short time, his hand moving involuntarily toward a Poké Ball to prepare for a switch.

At this moment.

Meowth stood up.

"—Eh?"

Kieran was stunned; Meowth hadn't been defeated!?

All Baimu, on the opposite side, suddenly revealed a smile and said to him, "You are more capable than I imagined, and you know me very well, so do you know that I am very soft-hearted?"

No response was needed.

He continued, "For all Pokémon that want to rely on their own strength to defeat their opponents, I will choose to respect their wishes, even if it means changing my tactics. Because I know they will never let me down."

"Meow!"

Meowth, its body shrouded in white light, lowered its head and rushed toward Shiftry; the latter, in a confused state, had no way to resist, and the two Pokémon rolled into the canopy of the large tree, causing Kieran's recall beam to miss.

Kieran began to panic.

"Shiftry! Wake up! Quick Attack!"

"It's useless; the move just now was 【Endeavor】, and in its confused state, its stamina has been reduced again, so it shouldn't be able to stir up any trouble, right?"

All Baimu said casually.

Cold light flashed within the canopy; Meowth had used the move hidden within its instincts.

Leaves and branches flew everywhere, then quickly came to a stop.

In the silent woods.

Meowth walked out of the dense canopy with difficulty, and under everyone's gaze, it came before All Baimu, exhausted, and then...

Turned around!

"Meow-ow!"

It hissed forcefully at Kieran and Carmine, as if declaring its own victory, and also as if cheering itself on as it was about to collapse from exhaustion.

The young boy couldn't believe it, "It actually..."

"Cough!"

Meowth suddenly coughed, and a purple stone fell from its mouth.

Carmine realized, "Eviolite, huh."

A rare stone that could boost the dual defenses of unevolved Pokémon, a special item allowed by leagues everywhere for Pokémon to carry during battles.

"No! That's not right! Even with Eviolite!"

Kieran shook his head repeatedly.

Even with the addition of Eviolite, Shiftry, whose attack power had been boosted, was still not something Meowth could withstand!

Hearing this, All Baimu said with surprise, "Pardon me for asking, but the school spirit of Blueberry Academy seems to have some problems."

Kieran and Carmine were by no means the first batch of Blueberry Academy students he had encountered; there were many Trainers in the Orre region who had graduated in previous years.

But without exception, they all valued extremely superficial data and had no obsession with persistence.

Carmine didn't get angry for once; she said seriously, "Blueberry Academy is determined to cultivate powerful Trainers; there is absolutely no problem with our school spirit!"

"If that's the case, why don't you believe that Meowth stood up relying on its own perseverance?"

All Baimu asked in return.

Kieran even forgot to recall Shiftry, turning his head blankly to look at his sister, "... Perseverance? Does that refer to the Ability 'Guts'?"

"No, it seems to refer to self-will." Carmine quickly denied.

Kieran was even more confused, "The strength or weakness of a Pokémon is largely determined before the match, right?"

"Battles are just to rule out some extremely tiny possibilities. The Champion's battles are basically won by the Pokémon's hard strength, right? Including Champions like Leon, Cynthia, and others, they all possess strength that surpasses others."

The reason he admired All Baimu, the reason he yearned for "Ghost" and the "Head of the Pokémon Partners," lay in the fact that they possessed extraordinary strength.

Overwhelming! Invincible!

"That's right, everything you said is absolutely correct."

All Baimu affirmed Kieran's thoughts, "In the world, the vast majority of battles are basically determined the moment both sides' Pokémon appear, 80% of the time. After all, the Pokémon raised by Trainers are not equal. But."

He squatted down, picked up the swaying Meowth, and said, "There's still 20% left. What do you think that is?"

Without waiting for the siblings to respond.

All Baimu said, "10% of it is unexpected situations, such as a Pokémon not being in good condition. 5% is various suddenly triggered additional effects, and 4% is luck. The remaining 1%... is the bond, the unbreakable bond between Trainer and Pokémon, a bond sufficient to break conventions."

Bond—a relatively unfamiliar term for the two of them.

"But this bond is only 1%... with such a low proportion, it's hard to rely on this to win every time, right?" Kieran asked doubtfully.

All Baimu laughed, "That's right, so you only need to win the most critical time. A Trainer has countless battles in their life, but there are only one or two battles that determine the future; you just need to win those one or two."

Carmine then said, "But 1% is hard to trigger!"

All Baimu didn't answer, but instead asked, "Do you believe in your Pokémon?"

"I... believe." Carmine nodded after a moment of hesitation.

All Baimu said, "Then do you believe that your Pokémon can definitely, 100% defeat me?"

"..."

Carmine began to hesitate.

He then said, "For partners lacking a foundation of trust, the light of the bond will not shine."

"I've only had Meowth for almost half a year, and the number of times I've trained it can be counted on one hand; most of the time, it trains itself."

All Baimu stroked Meowth with a gentle gaze, "There is a clear gap between it and your Shiftry, and it especially wanted to defeat Shiftry to prove itself to me. What should I do?"

He held up a finger, "Trust. Trust that it can win, trust that it can stand until the very last moment. And the answer is clear: Meowth did not betray my trust—"

"This, is the bond!"

Without a doubt.

Eviolite was the great contributor to this battle.

It allowed Meowth to withstand Shiftry's power more easily, but in the final analysis, Meowth's ability to stand up again relied on its own will.

There is no necessary connection between poor defensive ability and whether one can withstand an attack!

A big difference between the anime and the games is that even if you are a Magikarp, as long as your willpower is firm enough, you can withstand extraordinary attacks!

"I was also weak once; I wasn't powerful enough to crush all opponents from the beginning. In every battle back then, my partners and I gave it our all."

All Baimu smiled slightly, "I still haven't forgotten how I started—winning against the strong with the weak! Absolute trust! My Pokémon will absolutely not lose! They will definitely win!"

He spread out his right hand, and an unparalleled, terrifying pressure erupted from his body, as if it were about to condense into substance.

"Happy!"

Blissey looked very proud; it was the one that had weathered the storms and hardships together with its Trainer!

Facing the desperate counterattacks of Pokémon whose strength had soared—even evolved—due to drugs, fighting battle after battle against hostile forces, and making fearless charges against armies of Shadow Pokémon!

Trust!

Unparalleled trust!

Carmine and Kieran were both shocked by All Baimu at this moment.

The high spirits belonging to a regional Champion, the absolute confidence and composure in his strength, and the arrogance of being at the pinnacle of the Trainer pyramid!

"From now on, I will continue to win, and my partners will never let me down. This is all I want to tell you."

All Baimu wasn't the type of person who liked to lecture others.

Except for his own Pokémon and the younger brothers he had supported along the way, he usually wouldn't waste his breath.

But Carmine and Kieran were the descendants of Tea.

Not wanting them to go down the wrong path, All Baimu had specifically given a long-winded speech.

As for how much they could take in and whether they could integrate it, it all depended on their own comprehension and fortune.

If the example of Meowth winning against the strong with the weak still couldn't move them.

The future...

It's hard to say.

Blueberry Academy—who exactly opened this place?

All Baimu thought about the organizer of the academy; if he wasn't mistaken, the other party probably wasn't a Trainer.

Or if they were, they weren't strong.

Otherwise, being in a mainstream region, they wouldn't fail to promote the power of bonds to the students below.

Just kidding, this kind of great power that directly reverses the overall situation—let alone a 1% chance, even 0.1% shouldn't be missed!

A normal Champion wouldn't give their opponent any possibility of a comeback.

They would block the challenger in every aspect.

You're using a bond? I'm using one too! Everyone is using one! Let's see who can have the last laugh!

Facts proved that Champions generally had the last laugh.

It's just unclear how the final between Ash and Leon went in the original timeline; had they used flashback kills, the power of bonds, and the three-word mantra?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1096 =====