Chapter 333: The Best Sparring Partner

As expected.

Just as Galarian Sun Coral had anticipated.

"Detect!"

"Meow!"

The Elegym's twin eyes released a bright blue radiance, and a ring of pale blue light rapidly spread outward.

Even without knowing what this thing was, its instincts told it that if Galarian Sun Coral got hit by that light, it would be finished — finished in every way.

"Screee—"

It instinctively shifted its attention to its trainer, wondering why it hadn't received the next command yet.

But it soon realized.

All Baimu was smiling.

"Strange Light! Release it through every one of your Kong Dong!"

The command finally arrived, and Galarian Sun Coral immediately had every hole on its body emit an eerie, ghostly purple glow outward.

That mottled, bizarre light alone was enough to make one dizzy and dazzled at a single glance — utterly terrifying!

At the same time, the pale blue radiance had already spread to its front, and when the two lights collided they neither resisted each other nor exploded directly; instead they merged into an even more distorted sight.

The Elegym, which had been trying to see through Galarian Sun Coral's true form, was instantly affected by the light — the focus between its pupils rapidly dissolved, and it panicked as if it had gone blind.

"Meow-ow! Meow-ow!"

"Elegym! Calm down!"

Manatsu was startled, suddenly realizing the opponent had been waiting for him to make Elegym use Detect.

At that moment Elegym had thrown its entire focus into probing, spreading its awareness to every corner, leaving it with absolutely no defense against the "flashbang" of Strange Light — so the move that should have seen through Galarian Sun Coral instead threw Elegym itself into disarray.

Has it been too long since the last battle? His instincts have gotten dull…

He couldn't help but clench his fist.

The watching tenants all showed surprised expressions — Detect could actually be countered like this?

At first glance it seemed a bit outrageous, but thinking it over, it really did seem feasible; the timing just had to be right, and once the opponent caught on, it wouldn't work nearly as easily.

This guy's pretty impressive!

Meanwhile, his cousin Aman, seeing Manatsu fall behind, instinctively grew tense along with him, covering her mouth and not daring to make a sound and disturb him.

"Curse!"

All Baimu didn't care how many storms were raging in Manatsu's heart — when it was time to strike, he struck.

The hard-won initiative couldn't be given up for nothing.

Galarian Sun Coral's crimson eyes flashed, and black-purple smoke overflowed its body, transforming into a shrieking ghost that charged forward at tremendous speed!

But who would have thought Manatsu would switch Elegym out one step ahead,

sending in instead a small green figure holding a blue-and-red flower, its hair like white rose petals, its face seemingly masked.

"I'm counting on you! Roserade! Petal Blizzard!"

"Rodeee~"

The newly entered Roserade's eyes burned bright, completely ignoring the hideous ghost shrieking as it lunged, and raised its arms to unleash a storm of ten thousand pink falling petals like flying snow toward Galarian Sun Coral!

Whoosh!

Galarian Sun Coral, having just finished Curse, had no time at all to dodge or block, and was struck head-on by the petal storm — its small body was sent flying out of the field on the spot!

All Baimu saw things going badly and tried to recall it, but the red beam of light unfortunately missed.

The ghost sank into Roserade's body, and an instant twitching pain shot through its head, but it forced itself to show no expression at all, as if it hadn't noticed.

The ghost, having launched one attack, then took up residence in Roserade's shadow, biding its time.

"What fast reaction speed, what tremendous power."

All Baimu's smile froze as his gaze chased the flying Galarian Sun Coral — the thing nearly tumbled straight into the pond ringed by little stones, which showed just how powerful Roserade's move was.

And that wasn't even Leaf Storm — it was the Grass-type move 【Petal Blizzard】.

And the choice of this move might prove Roserade doesn't have Technician as its ability — Poison Point? Natural Cure?

He looked hopefully toward Galarian Sun Coral, only to find helplessly that it had already shown a pair of spiral eyes.

Even the Eviolite couldn't hold out…

The level gap really was a bit too large.

It might be even bigger than with Porygon and Forretress earlier, and it had just used Curse, so its stamina was greatly reduced and it didn't have any god-tier move like Recover — getting one-shot was understandable.

The fact that it could drag out the fight with Elegym for so long was mainly thanks to the type advantage and Manatsu's unfamiliarity with Galarian Sun Coral.

The moment Manatsu went on the offensive, the whole thing fell apart at once.

"One hit and…"

"So this front-desk guy is actually this strong?"

"I'm more interested in his reaction speed — he didn't even hesitate switching Pokémon, like he'd already figured out in his head what moves and tactics to use?"

"Go Manatsu! Go Manatsu!"

The watching tenants buzzed with discussion, and cousin Aman, ignoring all decorum, shouted excitedly — the Galarian Sun Coral that had just been on top was taken down in the blink of an eye.

And this kind of instantaneous shift is precisely the charm of Pokémon battles.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, both Manatsu and Roserade broke into smiles. No matter the opponent's strength, the joy of victory never changes.

For Manatsu, this was also a long-absent surge of high spirits.

Not far away.

All Baimu first let out a helpless sigh, then grew a little excited.

Judging purely from attack power, timely judgment, and reaction, Manatsu's strength was absolutely the real deal — such a powerful sparring partner could truly be called hard to come by.

He only hoped this person wouldn't leave Greenfield Town for the next stretch of time.

And would preferably be willing to accept his frequent invitations to battle.

Drawing the nourishment of growth from powerful opponents, letting himself grow strong.

All Baimu knew very well that what he wanted wasn't Champion Dan Di's kind of hundred-battles, hundred-victories debut, but rather to claim the final victory with absolute power in the most critical match.

Even if he could only win one out of ten battles, he had to make sure that one win was the most critical one.

He swiftly recalled the battle-incapacitated Galarian Sun Coral, "Good work. That's all I'll ask of you today."

Immediately after.

The second Poké Ball opened.

Peng!

"Hee-oor!" "Hee-oor!"

The Doubled-Dragon landed, letting out a roar at the not-distant Roserade.

Seeing this Pokémon, which was equally unfamiliar to him, the familiar itch rose again in Manchu's heart, and an indescribably complex emotion began to brew within him.

But he understood that the pressing matter was to continue the battle.

"Leech Seed!"

"Rodeo!"

Roserade raised the flower clusters in both hands and sprayed several brown seeds toward the Doubled-Dragon, but the seeds were burned to ash halfway by a stream of indigo flames.

The Doubled-Dragon's left head breathed dragon breath, while its right head let out a noisy bellow to disrupt Roserade and observed its movements at the same time.

Two heads doing two different things—this was an attempt the Doubled-Dragon had been making under All Baimu's guidance.

Splitting one's mind in two, fighting with both hands.

For now it wasn't very practiced, and would occasionally fall into self-confusion, but as long as it was put into real combat it would inevitably get better the more it was used.

"Status moves really don't work, huh…"

Manchu realized that All Baimu and his Pokémon always specially guarded against status moves, and could always think of ways to break them, forcing him to battle with pure power.

"……"

A bead of sweat unconsciously slid down Roserade's temple; Curse silently tore at its spiritual body, inflicting a continuous drain on its stamina.

But only it, with its super-strong endurance, could bear this kind of thing.

Any other teammate really wouldn't be able to take it.

While the trainer and Pokémon were thinking, the Doubled-Dragon had already, under All Baimu's command, spewed forth crimson and indigo dragon flames!

"Dragon Pulse!"

Hong!

The wildly different colors mingled into a ferocious energy dragon, scraping the air to emit a roar-like thunderous sound as it charged at Roserade, its clawing, fang-baring posture looking rather menacing.

"Wake-Up Slap—! No—Awakening Power!"

"Rodeo!"

Roserade raised the flowers in both hands high, and countless glittering ice-blue pellets gathered together, firing toward the energy dragon like flash-bangs!

Peng!

The two moves collided and instantly exploded into a skyful of smoke.

They actually cancelled each other out.

But Roserade's restart speed was clearly a bit faster than the Doubled-Dragon's; the instant it finished Awakening Power, it suddenly charged toward the latter.

"Close in on it! Pin Missile!"

Manchu shouted. Realizing that status moves meant to affect the opponent were just a waste of time, and seeing the Doubled-Dragon's "frailty" from this exchange of blows, he decisively gave up on continuing to stall.

"Rodeo!"

Roserade raised both arms, and along with its forward charge, countless emerald-green light-shards shot out!

Puff puff puff!

They were like missiles with their own tracking system, stubbornly latching onto the Doubled-Dragon, which had realized things were bad and begun to move, constantly chasing its figure.

The ground kept erupting in puffs of smoke as the Pin Missiles struck, obscuring its body.

Fortunately, the Doubled-Dragon had two heads, allowing one head to control the body to dodge while the other kept a constant eye on the approaching Roserade, maintaining a stable distance from it.

It had to watch out for Dazzling Gleam, but from the looks of things now, a good opportunity to attack had actually appeared.

"Hee-oor!" "Hee-oor!"

It let out a loud cry to alert its trainer—rather than passively dodging in hopes of drawing out the opponent's key move, it was better to just charge in headlong!

Attack! Attack!

"Dragon Dive!"

"Roar!"

The instant All Baimu responded to the decision, the Doubled-Dragon's two heads transformed into shining orbs of light, its shriek became a low growl, and the ferocious two-headed energy dragon appeared once more, charging toward the actively approaching Roserade!

A terrifying presence descended upon Roserade's heart as it burst through the smoke, yet not a trace of panic could be seen on its face.

"Now! It can't dodge! Pin Missile!"

It raised both arms high, like mounting a machine gun, continuously firing emerald-green light-shards at the charging Doubled-Dragon.

Because the distance between the two had closed, the space to dodge was forced to shrink considerably, and since it was in the middle of an offensive charge, the two-headed energy dragon had no way to evade and could only tank the Pin Missions head-on.

Peng peng peng!

Thick gunpowder smoke rose.

The explosion flames mixed with indigo light let Manchu understand that Dragon Dive had been successfully interrupted by Pin Missile.

"Press the advan—"

Before the words had finished falling.

A black shadow suddenly burst through the smoke — it was the Double-Headed Tyrant, having broken free of the energy dragon's outer membrane!

Though it let out no cry at all, an utterly terrifying aura wreathed its whole body; the two pairs of eyes hidden behind its pitch-black fur gleamed with a chilling light. Even Roserade couldn't help being startled by this fellow.

"Aw—Awakening power!"

"Fire Fang!"

Manchu and Baimu shouted together.

But this time the Double-Headed Tyrant was clearly faster — both heads lunged forward at the same instant, and blazing flames swiftly kindled between its teeth as it opened its jaws!

In an instant.

Two flame fangs, as if illusory, took shape in the air and snapped shut hard against the icy-blue orb of light rapidly condensing around Roserade!

Boom! Boom!

Two blossoms of raging fire rose up!

In the violent explosion, the Double-Headed Tyrant and Roserade were both blasted away.

Thick smoke billowed.

Baimu looked at the Double-Headed Tyrant that had fallen before him and saw the frost coating its wings, hands, and feet — clearly that Awakening power had indeed been Ice-type.

And the opponent actually didn't know 【Dazzling Gleam】… He had been trying to guard against that move the whole time, the one that could take the Double-Headed Tyrant away in a single strike.

When he spotted Roserade charging over he'd been shocked — who could have guessed that guarding against everything in the world meant guarding against nothing; the opponent simply didn't know it, so he just went all-in.

Judging by the current situation, the all-in had worked.

Fire Fang had definitely dealt Roserade a very solid chunk of damage, given the level gap between them and the "effort value" gap built up over a long battle.

For the Double-Headed Tyrant to reach this point could already be called perfect.

"Urgh…""Urgh…"

It struggled to prop up its body, but the power of Awakening Ice left its limbs terribly stiff. After struggling for a while, purple bubbles suddenly began spilling from the corner of its mouth.

It had been poisoned.

This negative status was the last straw that crushed it, causing the Double-Headed Tyrant to faint completely.

So it really was the 【Poison Point】 Ability — when using contact moves against such an opponent, there's a chance of being poisoned. Put simply, when the Double-Headed Tyrant bit down, it had brushed against the poison thorns on Roserade's body.

Roses are poisonous…

Baimu swiftly recalled it. "Nicely done. Leave the rest to the last one."

Not far away.

Roserade, half-kneeling, barely managed to push itself up — but when a red light flared within its shadow it staggered again, and suddenly flames leapt up and engulfed its body!

The former was a curse; the latter, a burn.

Without a doubt, while the Double-Headed Tyrant was being poisoned, Fire Fang had also left Roserade in a burn state.

And, since the gap between them wasn't as huge as that between Galarian Corsola and Roserade, the Double-Headed Tyrant, boosted by the Vital Spirit Ability, had been extremely offensively capable.

Manchu instantly sensed things were going badly. Seeing that Baimu had already released his third Pokémon, he swiftly pulled out a Poké Ball and shouted: "Giga Drain!"

"Not a chance! Heavy Slam!"

"Rooooar!"

A colossal Steelix appeared — its massive, silver-glinting body wreathed in a halo of Steel-type energy. Under the stunned gazes of the surrounding onlookers and Manchu, it bellowed and suddenly charged at Roserade!

Rumble—

The air thundered at its impact, and Roserade, unable to dodge in time, took the hit square on!

Boom!

The earth quaked violently, and a skyful of dust billowed up.

"That's a Steelix!? How can a Steelix be that huge?"

"So fierce!"

"Did this guy actually have a Pokémon this strong? I thought he'd just keep getting pushed around!"

The tenants buzzed with talk. Cousin Aman's pupils trembled; she covered her mouth and dared not make a sound.

Before long.

The dust on the field slowly cleared.

Roserade, with spiral eyes, lay in a small crater — clearly knocked out of the battle by Steelix's direct hit.

Heavy Slam is a move whose power grows the more the user's weight exceeds the opponent's; at one and a half tons, Steelix could maintain that move's maximum power against most Pokémon.

Not to mention Steelix's level wasn't low — its hard work in Iron Town had recently brought it to Level 67, certainly no worse than Manchu's Pokémon by much.

"A-Amazing — there's actually a Pokémon with a ridiculous size like that?"

Manchu had never imagined that even when Baimu sent out a Pokémon he recognized, he could still deliver such a visual and spiritual shock.

But.

The restless stirring in his chest and belly was growing clearer and clearer.

Perhaps earlier Manchu hadn't known what it was, but now he understood — it was the hunger for victory, the joy of being immersed in Pokémon battles.

Even if he didn't know which path to take next, this feeling didn't feel false.

Even if he couldn't find a goal, couldn't find the meaning of being a Trainer, he still wanted to battle more Trainers, still wanted to keep winning.

He absolutely refused to lose!

Manchu drew a deep breath and took a Poké Ball from his pocket.

"I'm counting on you! Gallade!"

Poof!

Light flashed.

Like a gladiator, an Absol appeared, half-crouching with its head lowered and eyes closed.

"Quicksand Hell!"

All Baimu gave the command at once, and Steelix also launched a fierce attack on the appearing Absol without mercy. With four horizontal steel bones spinning, a visible sandstorm tornado surged toward Absol!

"Dodge it!"

Along with Man Chong's shout, Absol suddenly opened its eyes and leaped up from the ground!

Boom!

A small crater cracked open in the ground.

Its terrifying jumping power sent it soaring high like a great roc spreading its wings, dodging the violent assault of the sandstorm tornado.

At the same time.

To All Baimu's surprise, Man Chong pulled out a Key Stone pendant from his chest.

"Let's get even stronger together! Absol! Mega Evolve!"

He shouted loudly, and the small Key Stone burst forth with an incomparably dazzling brilliance!

Absol's body in midair was likewise enveloped in the light of Mega Evolution, and as it free-fell, its body underwent astonishing changes at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The blades on its arms lengthened, a cape-like dashing structure extended from its back, and the horn on its head curved like a silver moon.

In the blink of an eye, it had completed its astonishing transformation!

When the light of evolution dimmed.

A holy white knight suddenly appeared before everyone, diving down toward Steelix from midair!

"Close combat!"

"Heavy Slam!"

Man Chong's and All Baimu's voices rang out together.

Steelix looked at the transformed Mega Absol, and even without its trainer's prompt, it understood that this guy was absolutely not someone to be trifled with, so it couldn't help but use its full strength.

"Roar—!

"

Even if you're a mountain, I'll smash right through you!

Surrounded by a silver halo, it roared and charged upward toward the sky with all its might!

However.

Its fierce charge failed to hit its target.

Despite having no wings, Mega Absol used its cape to change its descending direction like a great bird, brushing past Steelix's terrifying massive head!

Moreover, it raised the blade on its right arm, and as it lit up with a brownish-red glow, it sliced straight down along Steelix's lower jaw, cutting smoothly all the way through as if to gut it open!

Rumble rumble—!

Continuous explosions and billowing smoke erupted across various parts of Steelix's body!

"Roar—"

Steelix let out a pained howl, its massive body stiffening as it tilted backward, crashing down like a collapsing mountain, kicking up countless clouds of dust beside All Baimu.

The latter's eyes flickered, his gaze toward Mega Absol complex and indescribable.

As a trainer, he knew best that the slash just now had directly suppressed Steelix's stamina to the point of triggering Sturdy, beating a Steel-type Pokémon with near-maximum physical defense down to its last breath!

Just one strike!

Man Chong's ace, after Mega Evolution, was actually this powerful.

"Damn, it's seriously too strong!"

He gritted his teeth as he marveled at the power of Mega Evolution and Absol.

Thud.

Mega Absol landed, showing a relieved expression together with Man Chong.

"Phew~"