Chapter 40: A Miracle of Life

The Dark-type Houndoom was bound by some kind of Psychic-type move?

A miracle?

No.

All Baimu understood that at the very least, Chansey had not reached a level that defied the laws of nature—that was the wondrous power of legendary Pokémon.

What it was using right now was either a binding move—namely the Petrification move that Misty's Psyduck loved to use in the anime—or some kind of Psychic-type status move that could ignore type matchups.

【Telekinesis】!

Right, that had to be it.

He covered the wound on his arm, swiftly pulled himself out from under the Houndoom, and scrambled to his feet, observing Chansey's condition.

Its eyes were covered by a blue light, and its cute little face was a mix of pain and determination, as if its mental strength had reached its limit but it was still holding on.

Although it hadn't done much damage to the Houndoom, being able to hold it in place was enough.

"Thank goodness…"

All Baimu exhaled a breath of stale air, turned his head to look at Takeshi, who was likewise standing dumbfounded on the spot, and sprinted over without caring that blood was streaming down his arm.

Unfortunately, because the distance was too great, that guy hadn't been restrained by Chansey.

It was necessary to give him a slash.

"You! Don't come any closer!"

Realizing All Baimu was closing in, Takeshi shrieked, turned, and ran, his voice twisting into a highly distorted pitch.

Even though the two of them weren't that different in size, and the former was even injured in one arm, just seeing him charge over was enough to inevitably raise a feeling of panic and unease in his heart, as if some fierce beast were coveting his head.

After all, even now, he still couldn't understand why All Baimu was so hard to deal with.

He'd only been training Pokémon for a week, his levels were far inferior to his Pokémon, and he'd even fed them his trump-card medicine, yet he still couldn't win.

"You stop right there!"

Thinking of this, a hint of viciousness rose on Takeshi's face. He roared and pulled a small knife from his pocket as well, but his brow was filled with the look of being fierce outside but brittle within.

Suddenly.

He shouted excitedly, "Ursaring! Take out that Chansey!"

All Baimu turned his head slightly and was astonished to see Ursaring, which should have been asleep, miraculously sit up like doing a sit-up, clearly having broken free from its sleeping state.

Likewise.

The Aron in front of it also awoke from its grogginess.

At first glance it seemed like the situation was about to turn again, but in his momentary excitement, Takeshi slowed his pace, causing the distance between them to rapidly close once more.

And by the time he realized the two of them had already run quite far, and that even if Ursaring defeated Aron and Chansey, there was no way it could look after his side in time—

All Baimu was already in position.

"Release!"

He saw him suddenly hurl the dagger in his hand; driven by fierce force, the dagger turned into a cold flash and abruptly plunged into Takeshi's wrist.

"Ah!"

He let out a scream, and the knife in his hand immediately clattered to the ground.

In his panic, Takeshi clutched his bleeding wrist, wanting to pull the knife out of it, but this delay directly led to All Baimu already arriving in front of him—a flying kick sent him crashing to the ground!

"Urgh!"

Pinned heavily to the ground, Takeshi let out a muffled grunt, then immediately began to scream miserably.

Because All Baimu had directly pressed down on his back, and without the slightest hesitation, forcefully wrenched both his arms apart—until two crisp cracking sounds rang out, like disassembling a robot figurine, and his shoulders shattered before he stopped.

But it wasn't over yet.

The backs of his knees were each stabbed once by All Baimu with the knife pulled from his wrist, and dark red blood quickly soaked his gray team uniform.

"Aaaaaaaaaa—"

Takeshi let out an earth-shattering howl, tears and snot quickly smearing that face that had originally been full of arrogant swagger.

"Shut up!"

All Baimu slapped him across the face, making his cheek swell red, "A tiny injury and you're wailing like a banshee—all that size for nothing!"

Logically speaking, given Takeshi's build, they should have been able to exchange at least a few rounds.

Who would have known this guy was even worse than a pig being slaughtered—at least a pig's struggling can give people a headache, but this guy's resistance was pitifully weak.

Ever since becoming a trainer and starting to act like a tyrant, has he even forgotten how to fight?

All Baimu grabbed his hair, forced him to look toward where Ursaring was, and said coldly: "So you're looking forward to a Pokémon coming to save you? As you wish—open your eyes wide and watch!"

In the distance.

After waking, Ursaring shook its head, struggling to clear its mind a little, then pounced toward the Chansey that was binding the Houndoom with blue light.

"Grrr!"

However, just as it leapt up, a flash of silver suddenly appeared, slamming into it like a heavy hammer and sending it flying; it rolled on the ground for several circles before staggering to its feet.

"Grr…"

It raised its head and looked at the attacker not far away—Aron.

The other's face, just like its own, was filled with the limit of stamina reaching its end, ready to be exhausted at any moment.

But.

Why were that guy's eyes still so bright?

Ursaring's drug-fogged brain after the medicine wore off couldn't figure it out no matter how hard it tried—at this very moment, after such a brutal battle, with pain and fatigue entangled in both their bodies, wishing they could fall asleep on the spot—

Why could Aron's gaze still be as bright as if none of this had ever happened?

As if.

All the pain and fatigue had become trivial for some reason, as if final victory was certain to come, as if a wonderfully beautiful tomorrow was waiting for the other side.

The blocking bear took an inexplicable dislike to that look.

"Guma!"

It howled hysterically, pouring every ounce of strength from its body, like a black wall pressing Cocolola down, then trying to lift the opponent's body and slam it hard onto the ground.

But it failed.

Because just as the blocking bear did so, beneath its body, a glowing azure light — a miracle of life — lit up.

Countless fireflies swirled around Cocolola; its puppy-like body rapidly swelled, its rounded head taking on the shape of a mountain ridge, the protruding spines on its back multiplying and fusing with plate-like steel armor.

In an instant.

A fierce creature like an ankylosaurus appeared beneath the blocking bear, its pale-blue pupils brimming with joy and confidence!

"Guma!?"

The blocking bear was startled; the moment it tried to do something, a tremendous force sent it flying!

And when it landed, Cocolola slammed both claws into the ground, causing the sand beneath it to collapse and form a sunken, earth-deep quicksand vortex spinning wildly!

"Guma!"

The blocking bear inevitably slid in, and the more it struggled the deeper it sank; soon half its body was buried in the sand.

It wanted to counterattack Cocolola with an Ice Beam, but the energy within its body was already completely spent — it couldn't even muster half a move.

Thus, it could only watch helplessly as it was gradually swallowed by sand and gravel.

And soon, the poochyena too was dragged in by Cocolola, joining it in this terrifying quicksand hell for company.

The two Pokémon stared at each other, and in the blink of an eye lost consciousness, completely knocked out.

In the distance.

Ken watched the scene in despair, his mouth only letting out the unconscious wails and moans brought on by the severe pain.

"Thank you — my Cocolola has found the trigger to evolve."

Baimu spoke words of thanks, his expression cold as ice; he dragged Ken by the hair, ignoring the screams one after another, and walked back toward where Chansey and Cocolola were.

The latter two, seeing this, hurried to meet him as well.

"Lucky…"

"Dora!"

Chansey looked at Baimu's blood-soaked arm in a panic, and Cocolola also wore a worried expression.

"I'm fine, just a flesh wound."

Baimu smiled at the two, tore open his sleeve with his teeth, and showed them the bracer beneath, which had been bitten through in several places. "I prepared in advance."

Don't be fooled by all the blood — in truth, no sinews or bones were harmed.

Only then did Chansey and Cocolola set their minds at ease.