Chapter 1125: Battle Nie Zi Again

Hum—!

Gloomy dark clouds blanketed the sky, three red clouds circling and swirling in a cycle.

"Roar——!!"

The roar resonated grandly through the firmament; dark red light clung to the surface of the Gigantamax Steelix, reflecting a terrifying aura that made one's blood run cold.

"Wow! It's really huge!"

Loze looked up in amazement at the metallic behemoth in the field, its total length exceeding sixty meters, its upright portion surpassing forty meters.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

Three lateral steel bones rotated in staggered succession, bringing a heavy wind sound that stirred up dust in the arena and people's temple hair.

Mali's forehead beaded with sweat, but her expression remained calm.

She had long grown accustomed to the pressure brought by Gigantamax Pokémon; even if Steelix's Gigantamax form was extraordinarily massive.

"Create distance!"

She shouted loudly.

Gigantamax nullified the effect of 【Encore】; what awaited the Bandana Thug would be a violent storm.

Hum!

Amidst the deafening rumble, the Gigantamax Steelix lowered its head to gaze down at the Bandana Thug, who had regained freedom due to its return-ball Gigantamax, the latter currently running backward.

"Roar——"

In an instant.

A golden-yellow giant fist descended from the heavens!

Boom!!

Accompanied by the violent trembling of the earth, a soaring golden pillar of light shone incomparably bright; scattered energy triggered the defense system in the audience stands.

Orange-red light lit up in turn; 【G-Max Steel Beam】 raised the Gigantamax Steelix's Physical Attack.

Mali crossed her arms to block the oncoming gust, shouting with all her might: "Bandana Thug! Use Flail!"

She could not confirm the Bandana Thug's condition; the clamorous smoke and dust obscured everything.

But if this move could land, it would provide enormous assistance to the Greedent that would come out later.

Please!

You have to hold on!

Mali prayed incessantly in her heart, and reality did not disappoint her.

In the center of a slightly sunken shallow pit, the Bandana Thug, enduring its injuries, set down its shed skin.

This thing looked flimsy as a cicada's wing, yet in reality it had blocked a large portion of the impact force for it.

Its gaze pierced through the smoke and dust, catching sight of the towering Gigantamax Steelix reaching into the clouds, and it suddenly surged forward and leapt high!

"Scraggy!"

The tumbling smoke was abruptly dispersed, revealing itself before everyone's eyes.

Loze praised: "Mali's Pokémon is excellent! To actually withstand the Champion's Pokémon's attack!"

Nie Zi remained silent, pinching a sweat for his younger sister.

In the arena.

The petite Bandana Thug launched an attack at the Gigantamax Steelix; at a glance it looked like an ant pouncing on an elephant.

Hum!

A blue rhombic light wall, reminiscent of an AT Field from Eva, lit up, blocking the Bandana Thug's Flail flying kick.

It was 【G-Max Guard】!

Seeing her move blocked, Mali felt no disappointment; first, a Gigantamaxed Pokémon can only use three G-Max Moves, and each delay was extremely favorable to her.

Second, Flail isn't a one-time skill!

She shouted loudly: "Use Flail again!"

Unfortunately, the Bandana Thug wouldn't get that chance.

As it was falling, another golden-yellow energy giant fist descended from the sky, like a meteor smashing into the Bandana Thug preparing to jump!

Thud!!

The massive arena trembled once more; a soaring golden light rose and quickly dimmed, then thick smoke billowed and scattered, covering everything.

Mali lowered her center of gravity to steady her swaying body, knowing in her heart that this time the Bandana Thug most likely couldn't take it.

In the sky above.

The dark clouds brought by Gigantamax dissipated.

The good news was that Steelix's Gigantamax had been successfully endured; the bad news was that Steelix had used G-Max Steel Beam twice in a row, its Physical Attack greatly increased.

Extremely unfavorable for the Fairy- and Dark-type Greedent.

Mali took a deep breath, took out a Poké Ball, preparing to recall the Bandana Thug once the referee announced.

That Baimu would exploit the swap interval to attack at the first moment — everyone had already understood this clearly through his battle with Zhi Mi.

It wasn't that he would necessarily do so; it was just that most Trainers want to but can't pull it off. This thing is like a false start; grasp the timing poorly and it's easy to violate the rules.

So most Trainers wait until the opponent's Pokémon has fully appeared and made its sound before letting their Pokémon attack.

It's a bit slower, but it wins in not making mistakes; the world calls it a fair and square battle.

Of course.

Baimu not doing so doesn't make him a "petty person" either.

His reputation for sharp reactions and knowing how to seize the moment had already spread widely.

On top of never having broken any rules, people would only admire him more for it — in any world, people are remarkably tolerant of the excellent.

Mali was the same; her admiration for Baimu wasn't just talk — she genuinely studied his tactics and learned from his battle experience.

Unfortunately, the threshold was too high.

It even made Mali suspect Baimu was a Pokémon wearing human skin.

"The Hoodlum is unable to battle!"

The moment the aerial Rotom announced the verdict, Mali recalled the Hoodlum and directly activated the Dynamax Band.

"Go! Grimmsnarl! Gigantamax!"

Purple light flowed from Mali's wrist into the Poké Ball, causing it to instantly swell into a giant orb of light, which she then hurled forward with all her might!

Bang!

Gigantamax storm clouds gather once more!

The Gigantamax Grimmsnarl descends like a demon god, long hair billowing!

Its body was completely covered in hair, including its feet and ears, like a suit of pitch-black armor!

"Straight to Gigantamax..."

Baimu fell silent.

Unlike the games, in the anime Pokémon can Dynamax directly before entering the field, but in most cases no one does so.

After all, Dynamax only grants three moves, which are extremely precious.

From Champions and Gym Leaders down to ordinary Trainers, everyone chooses to fight in base form first before Dynamaxing, same logic as never Mega Evolving or Terastallizing right out the gate.

Mali doesn't usually like doing this either; she was mainly forced into it by Baimu.

If Grimmsnarl entered in base form, it would likely be beaten by Steelix's Steel-type moves immediately.

Gigantamaxing early to extend its HP bar actually makes it harder to knock down.

"Dig."

"G-Max Snooze!"

Both sides gave the order simultaneously!

The giant Steelix, despite not being Dynamaxed, wasn't much shorter than the Gigantamax Grimmsnarl.

Hum!

Pitch-black lightning flickered at the Gigantamax Grimmsnarl's flank; two bolts of Lei Guang silently blasted toward Steelix!

Boom!

The earth trembled; Steelix struck first, plunging into the ground and leaving a bottomless giant pit.

The G-Max Snooze missed, but Mali didn't panic.

Just wait for Steelix to come out!

Dynamax has no time limit; as long as the three attacks aren't used up, it can maintain the Dynamax state until the match ends!

Fortunately.

Steelix didn't make her wait long; the moment it crashed through the ground and lunged at the Gigantamax Grimmsnarl's back, Mali swiftly shouted:

"G-Max Snooze!"

【G-Max Snooze】, a Dark-type G-Max move, has an additional effect that puts the opponent to sleep with high probability.

In Mali's view, as long as she could successfully put Steelix to sleep, this battle had a chance to be won!

Thud!

Steelix slammed into the Gigantamax Grimmsnarl's lower back, forcing it to kneel forward uncontrollably.

But black lightning still shot through the air toward it, as if it had eyes on its back.

"Sure-hit..."

Baimu knew relatively little about Dynamax in the anime.

Only because there's even less info online; who let the Dynamax Band and Tera Orb both only get manufactured recently?

And Rose tightly controls many key things, forcing tourists drawn by Dynamax to watch live in the Galar region.

"Roar!"

Relying on the Speed boost from Dragon Dance, Steelix dodged, then suddenly leapt and charged, smashing its head glowing bright silver into the black lightning.

Hum—

Iron Head clashed with G-Max Snooze.

Relying on its twice-boosted Attack, it managed to cancel out most of the Max Move, but still couldn't avoid taking a small portion of G-Max Snooze's damage.

Its massive body toppled, falling into sleep.

Mali's face was calm, but her heart surged with excitement; her small hand clenched into a fist as she shouted: "Max Knuckle!"

If not now to deal damage, then when!?

The Gigantamax Grimmsnarl and its Trainer were in perfect sync; it didn't even bother standing up, directly summoning golden giant fists descending from the sky!

Thud!!

The heavy fist bombarded Steelix; the soaring golden pillar of light was exceptionally dazzling.

Baimu said: "Sleep Talk."

A sleeping Pokémon is hard to wake, but as long as it learns the move 【Sleep Talk】, its body will automatically react upon hearing the Sleep Talk command.

Like some pre-programmed routine.

The Steelix amid the rubble suddenly reared up, then bent its head back to connect with its tail, forming a ring, its horizontal steel spine held parallel, spinning like a rolling wheel!

Rumble——!!

The massive body charged at the restored Long-Haired Troll like a steamroller!

"Guh!?"

Both the Long-Haired Troll and Mali were startled.

Baimu was also surprised to have drawn this skill.

"Dodge quickly!"

Mali was extremely nervous, and added, "Use Trip to kick it over!"

The Long-Haired Troll evaded the Steelix's rolling crush, and was about to pursue and side-kick, but the latter only rolled faster and faster — it simply couldn't catch up!

"Stomp!"

"Guh!"

The Long-Haired Troll stomped with all its might, and countless glowing giant rocks shot at the rolling Steelix like cannonballs!

Boom boom!

Smoke and dust exploded upward.

Under Mali's unbelieving gaze, the Steelix continued rolling completely unharmed; the giant rocks created by Stomp couldn't hinder its advance at all.

In the stands, Nie Zi wore a face full of helplessness.

Rose pinched his little forelock and said, "Looks like our cute Young Lady Mali still has a very long way to go before the Champion."

Being unable to handle crisis situations shows a Trainer's incompleteness.

Since discovering the Champion Dan Di, Rose had never encountered such a perfect Trainer —

No.

Baimu might be one.

But he is not a Galar Trainer, and refuses to accept his invitation.

Too regrettable.

Rose did not continue watching; the energy plant beneath Hammerlocke kept having problems, and right now was a critical moment.

If it succeeds, Galar will welcome a thousand years of prosperity!

Any price paid for this is worth it!

Rose absolutely will not allow the Galar region he built with his own hands to have any possibility of decline.

The Crown Tundra's empire was once so powerful, yet it too became history.

Thinking of the history the researchers gleaned from the golden coffin, and of Queen Leiguanwang's transformation of the Ore Region, Rose clearly knew that Eternatus must be made his!

Inside the arena.

The Steelix woke, releasing from its rolling state.

Its bronze-cast eyes looked at the Long-Haired Troll charging toward it, and without any hesitation it charged straight back!

"Heavy Slam."

"Trip!"

Rumble—

The Steelix was like a speeding bullet train, roaring across half the arena and slamming squarely into the Long-Haired Troll.

Thud!

In an instant.

The Long-Haired Troll flew backward with zero resistance.

The giant Steelix's tonnage-class body was absolutely not something its facade constructed of hair could withstand.

Whoosh!

It flew straight, brushing past Mali's side, and only stopped when it nearly hit the edge wall.

"Long-Haired Troll!"

Mali shouted, but got no response.

The games set Gigantamax as a projection, but the anime sets it as physical; Ash once climbed onto a Gigantamax Snorlax's belly to pick a giant Grepa Berry it produced itself.

Therefore the Steelix did not use Heavy Slam directly earlier; that would only minimize its power.

Right now is the best timing to use it!

First hit by Dig, then Heavy Slam — the Long-Haired Troll has no possibility of getting up again.

As expected.

The aerial Rotom, after judging, gave its conclusion.

"Long-Haired Troll unable to battle! Competitor Baimu wins... ranking will be updated!"

It zipped away swiftly.

Working in the middle of the night is truly torture.

Nie Zi quickly jumped down from the stands over five meters high.

Maintenance personnel who came to check the battle and clean up were furious: "Gym Leader Nie Zi! Don't do such dangerous things!"

"Sorry, sorry."

Nie Zi pressed his palms together in apology and hurried toward his younger sister.

Mali recalled the Long-Haired Troll, turned, and bowed deeply to Baimu from afar.

She had indeed been taught a lesson, and clearly realized the distance between herself and the Champion.

"Mali."

"Big Brother."

Hearing Nie Zi's call, Mali looked at him with a calm expression and said seriously: "I still have to work harder!"

"You can do it, you've always been the best in Needlepoint Town." Nie Zi hugged his adorable sister.

At the same time.

Baimu withdrew the Big Steel Snake and walked toward the two, "Hard work, how do you feel?"

"A very meaningful battle, truly troublesome for you so late at night." Mari bowed again.

Nie Zi then said: "Want to have a match with me too? You came to Galar just to improve your ranking, right?"

"Yes and no."

Baimu shook his head and said: "Do you know about the recent abnormal Dynamax phenomena occurring in various places?"

The siblings looked at each other.

Mari said: "I seem to have heard about it."

"I have a stronger sixth sense; when I saw this news, I felt that similar situations would definitely happen again in the future, so I came to the Galar region to stop Dynamax Pokémon from running amok in towns."

Baimu said in detail.

Nie Zi exclaimed in surprise: "Impossible, Dynamax only occurs at power spots; if it weren't like that, my hometown Needlepoint Town wouldn't have declined to its current state."

"I believe in the Champion!"

Mari immediately rebutted her brother and said: "Also, please let me help? You alone might not be able to handle the situation appearing in multiple places."

"Mari..."

Nie Zi looked at her helplessly.

Even if you like the Champion, it shouldn't be like this, right?

Mari insisted: "If similar situations don't occur, that's a good thing. If they do, I'll stop them and help people escape the traps. Building an excellent image can make everyone love the house and its crow, am I right? Champion?"

Baimu laughed and said: "What you say makes perfect sense!"

An excellent image can win others' favor.

Although most people do good deeds without seeking any reward, we cannot despise those who do good deeds for rewards.

After all, they really did do it.

Nie Zi was speechless and could only choose to support his sister.

Immediately.

The second battle began.

?? ps: The plot of direct Dynamax without releasing a ball occurs at Level 43 of the journey, Super Dynamax Battle Mountain smashes Dynamax Teng Kick Junior

? Those who dislike a certain person don't need to watch, this episode he has a lot of screen time

? I've been thinking whether to make him invisible, that is, directly not describe him

? (End of chapter)