Chapter 403

Want to swap?

No.

Bigserpent's condition is still fine; no need to swap.

Baimu shifted his gaze to the Metagross that had just appeared, and gave the first command, "Sandstorm."

Since this Pokémon is exceptionally rare, this was his first battle against a Metagross to date, and in the anime, Metagross typically relies on both special and physical attacks equally.

For safety's sake, some special preparation was necessary.

"Grrr~!"

Bigserpent let out a low, muffled roar, rising back into the air and circling as its horizontal steel bones spun sideways, blasting vast amounts of sand and dust from the gaps between its joints, enveloping its body and spreading outward.

A massive sand tornado instantly formed, obscuring the battlefield so that both sides saw the arena through a hazy, yellowish filter.

The situation was barely visible, but unclear.

Zheye, having lost the initiative due to the failed swap, felt a chill—had it been a concentrated sandstorm, there might have been a counter, but such a vast, diffuse sandstorm could not be dispersed by Metagross's strength alone.

They could only let it swirl freely within the arena.

But if he couldn't see clearly, Baimu probably couldn't either; both sides were now in the same state.

Thinking of this, Zheye immediately felt more at ease and shouted quickly, "Bullet Punch!"

"No way!"

Metagross flickered, its bronze-colored, disc-shaped body hurtling forward at such speed that its four limbs were invisible in motion, covering over ten meters in an instant and arriving near Bigserpent.

"So fast!"

The spectators, blinded by the sandstorm, cried out in shock—their eyes saw Metagross moving as if teleporting.

In the anime, all priority moves are explicitly portrayed as speed boosts; one reason the production team stubbornly refused to replace Pikachu's Quick Attack was because they treated it as a technique for closing distance at near-instantaneous speed.

Baimu also thought Metagross was fast, but it still fell slightly short of evading his and Bigserpent's dynamic vision.

"Quicksand Hell!"

"Grr!"

Bigserpent tilted its head upward; its already spinning horizontal steel bones accelerated violently, spewing even more exaggerated streams of brown-yellow sand, forming a second, contracting sand tornado as Metagross drew near.

Metagross's red eyes flickered, and as it leapt upward, its right forelimb, now glowing bright silver, shot out with lightning speed—*Bang! *

Bang! Puff!

A heavy thud, followed by the sharp pop of a hydrogen balloon bursting.

"No way!"

Brown-yellow grit slammed into Metagross, forcing it to land and immediately retreat.

In that strike, it felt as if its Bullet Punch had plunged into a liquid of extreme resistance, its force dissipated by seventy to eighty percent.

Zheye winced, "... Quicksand Hell as a shield?"

He wasn't inexperienced—he instantly recognized that Bigserpent had used the contraction and high rotational speed of Quicksand Hell to twist and deflect the punch's force, drastically weakening what should have been a powerful impact.

He had assumed Bigserpent's performance against Dunsparce was its full potential—never imagining it still had another trick up its sleeve...

To counter such precise technique, absolute power was needed!

He shouted, "Psychic!"

The X-shaped structure on Metagross's face glowed blue, and an invisible psychic force rapidly spread over Bigserpent—not attempting to control its body, but instead clinging to the swirling sandstorm.

"That's it! Push it back!"

"No way!"

Metagross let out a loud roar, forcing the sandstorm created by Quicksand Hell to contract further, turning Bigserpent's own move against itself.

Baimu would never let that succeed: "Accelerate rotation! Push back Quicksand Hell!"

"Grr!"

Bigserpent strained to spin its horizontal steel bones; the violent wind roared like thunder, and the tightly compressed sandstorm around it began expanding again, causing the ground-type energy turned to sand to clash violently with the psychic force.

Finally, like two ignited bombs, they exploded suddenly!

Bang!

Thick smoke rose, briefly dispersing the swirling sandstorm, but was quickly pushed back by the returning wind and sand.

Zheye's plan had failed, yet his face showed no disappointment—whether Quicksand Hell successfully struck Bigserpent or detonated, he was guaranteed a massive advantage, since Metagross was outside the blast radius.

Not to mention, after this attack, Bigserpent had fallen from the air and landed on the ground.

The charge had begun!

"Quick Attack!"

Metagross flickered, appearing instantly beside Bigserpent; the remaining smoke, already being scattered by the wind and sand, was swept clean by its movement.

But the instant Bigserpent turned its gaze, Metagross vanished again and reappeared on the other side—its ghostly, agile motion made it hard to believe this was a half-ton metal monster.

Unable to pinpoint the enemy's exact position, Bigserpent dared not return to the sky—its slow speed would give the opponent too many openings.

And Zheye knew his opponent's high-power moves all required mental focus through its head; as long as he avoided its front, his chance of victory would skyrocket!

"Spinning Belly Flop!"

"Ice Punch!"

His command was issued almost simultaneously with Baimu's.

The spectators near Baimu, hearing the command, froze.

Spinning Belly Flop?

What the hell?

They saw Bigserpent suddenly jam its tail spike into the ground, its three horizontal steel bones glowing faint blue, spinning rapidly to form three dazzling circular rings.

At the same time, it lowered its raised upper body to the ground, using its tail spike as the pivot point and sweeping the earth in a circular motion with its high-speed spinning steel bones.

Wherever it passed, the ground trembled and dust flew wildly—terrible indeed!

Yet facing this ferocious assault, Metagross fearlessly raised its right arm, frost enveloping it to form a massive hammer of ice crystals, slamming it with all its might toward the rolling Garchomp!

Technique met technique!

Tssss—Boom!

After a grating, teeth-chilling screech came the muffled blast of exploding smoke!

Both sides were thrown back several meters by the explosion's shockwave; firelight and smoke obscured everything, mingling with windblown sand as it swirled wildly.

Zheye regarded the battlefield with solemn expression, utterly unprepared to be pushed to this limit by a single Garchomp.

The smoke stirred.

There stood Metagross, having smashed through the dust to retreat before him—its appearance showed little damage, yet this exchange had fully proven Garchomp's tenacity.

Indeed, a direct confrontation was unavoidable.

Not far away.

Baimu watched the faintly visible Garchomp through the smoke, noticing its light panting—his heart stirred, and a plan formed.

"Dig."

At the same time, a faint sound came.

"Upward Comet Punch!"

A flash of light shimmered within the smoke.

The next instant.

He saw Metagross, its fists fused into a battering ram, suddenly piercing through the smoke—silver-blue light clinging to it like a blazing comet, leaving a dazzling tail behind as it surged forward, kicking up dust and thundering!

Boom!

The ground heaved violently.

Metagross's Comet Punch surged forward in an upward arc, crashing squarely into Garchomp's spike-like tail, then shot past at high speed before sharply reversing direction.

Boom!

Smoke exploded and quickly dispersed.

Garchomp was gone—only a massive crater remained. Clearly, Metagross had struck only Garchomp's tail because the latter had already dug underground like a fish slipping into water.

The wind was too loud to carry Baimu's command, yet it did not hinder Garchomp's understanding or precise execution.

"Dig!?"

Zheye looked at Baimu through the sandstorm filter, blurred and indistinct—he had assumed Baimu would use Magnetic Float to evade upward, forgetting that Garchomp was a Pokémon exceptionally skilled at digging, and should have gone underground.

Perhaps the image of the colossal, flying Garchomp had left too deep an impression.

The dust cleared.

The enormous crater lay exposed before all eyes—and in truth, with its scale, Metagross could easily have burrowed in to fight within.

But Zheye dared not.

Fighting a Ground-type Pokémon underground? Too unwise.

He shouted: "Magnetic Float!"

"Nope!"

Metagross retracted its four limbs, folding them atop its head to hover, its red eyes fixed on the ground, searching for Garchomp's movements.

Unfortunately, the creature was simply too large—any slight motion caused nearly half the battlefield to shake violently; normal observation methods were useless.

Zheye frowned tightly.

Before diving, Garchomp's body still bore faint strands of yellow lightning—that was why he ordered Metagross to use Upward Comet Punch. Now, had Magnetic Float ended?

As a short-duration technique, he did not believe Garchomp's Magnetic Float could persist indefinitely. If it had ended now, the immunity to Ground-type moves would also vanish—even if Garchomp stayed underground, Metagross could still attack…

Take the gamble!

Fortune favors the bold; no more time to waste. He must prevent Garchomp from scheming underground.

"Earthquake!"

"Nope!"

Metagross obeyed its trainer's command: its folded right fist uncurled from above its head, glowing earth-yellow as it plummeted downward and slammed into the ground with crushing force!

Dong!

The ground trembled violently; earth-yellow shockwaves swept outward in all directions, invisible walls of force pushing back the surging sand—space at the epicenter suddenly cleared.

But.

The next second, it was covered again by flying sand.

The power of Earthquake was unquestionable, especially against an opponent underground—its effect was doubled.

Yet what drained Zheye and filled him with dread: Garchomp had not been forced up by this devastating Earthquake—proof that its Magnetic Float had not ended. He had lost the gamble—

How could it last this long!

"Rise quickly and dodge!"

He knew Metagross's move had failed—Garchomp would strike now.

Indeed, as soon as he spoke, a flat stretch of ground nearby exploded!

Boom!

"Aerial Attack."

Gigantic Garchomp burst from the earth, its mountainous form slicing through the sky with the terrifying sensation of a skyscraper collapsing. As its steel bones rotated horizontally, torrents of sand spewed forth; brilliant brown-red light ignited at its head and stretched backward like a crimson dragon!

"Roar!"

Boom—

The air emitted a deep, resonant hum!

No place to dodge! The moves are too fast to follow!

Let's go!

Zhe also gritted his teeth and shouted: "Spin and meet it with Bullet Punch!"

"No way!"

Metagross twisted sideways in a spin, having made the same decision the moment its trainer spoke—its bright silver fist lowered as it roared, crashing violently into the charging Steelix.

Dong!

A dull metallic clash exploded, sending visible shockwaves rippling outward!

The force of the impact sent Metagross flying backward like a meteor, spiraling dozens of meters into the air before it barely stabilized its form.

Inside the arena, Zhe and the spectators clapped their hands over their ears, their heads ringing and vision blurring.

Several seconds later.

The smoke was blown away by the sandstorm.

"Roar…"

Towering within the arena, drenched in the sandstorm, the colossal Steelix breathed heavily, gazing at the wobbling Metagross as it drifted back.

It had to be said—the latter was strong; even in haste, Bullet Punch had left three faint grooves on its head. But the same recoil had bent inward the three sharp claws on Metagross's right fist, slightly damaging the joint so it could no longer close properly.

Overall, it was the better exchange.

But…

Its own condition was dangerously precarious. Steelix knew well that after battling Dunsparce, and now enduring high-frequency clashes with Metagross, its own depletion was far worse.

Its trainer's voice rang in its ear: "Knock it down!"

"Roar!"

Steelix did not hesitate—its largest lateral steel bone spun rapidly, and as the sandstorm swirled around it, several golden, solid rocks shot through the air toward Metagross!

"Psychic!"

Zhe, recovered, shouted.

The X on Metagross's face glowed blue; an invisible psychic wave formed a wall that blocked all the flying golden rocks, shattering them upon impact.

This made Baimu raise an eyebrow slightly.

After directly taking the impact head-on, could it still intercept moves with such precision?

Though he never expected to knock out Metagross in one hit, its physical defense and willpower were truly admirable. But if Knock Down misses, the highly effective Ground-type move becomes useless.

Moreover, Steelix's condition was plainly terrible—should he pull it out?

"Roar!"

A muffled roar reached Baimu's ears.

His heart stirred; he gave a helpless smile and shouted: "Rock Blast!"

"Use Arm Hammer while spinning!"

Zhe had also noticed Steelix's condition, and decided to gamble everything, trying to end the battle as quickly as possible.

Even injured, Metagross—having had its speed boosted—remained incredibly swift, especially when spinning sideways, like a spiraling accelerator.

A ring of amber-gold light now glowed along its outer edge.

Like wind and lightning!

In the blink of an eye, Metagross was beside Steelix, slamming its hammer down hard on Steelix's lateral steel bone at the waist.

Peng!

"Roar—"

Steelix's entire body toppled sideways under the blow, like a collapsing mountain—yet the many sharp, massive rocks gathered around it shot out like artillery shells toward Metagross!

Even though Metagross dodged the instant after its attack, it could not escape such dense and rapid strikes.

Peng!

Rocks shattered into dust and scattered.

"No way…"

Metagross fell toward the ground, but Zhe exhaled in relief.

He believed Steelix had been knocked out by the Arm Hammer's impact.

Suddenly.

From the smoke, a thick tail suddenly shot out, forcibly locking onto Metagross's injured right arm.

"What?!"

Zhe's eyes widened, then he saw Baimu smiling from afar.

"Explosion."

In an instant.

Blinding Bai Guang swallowed the entire arena; countless spectators instinctively covered their ears as thunderous roars echoed through the field!

Gong—!

Bai Guang dimmed.

Upon a terrifying, massive fireball resembling a nuclear blast, a towering mushroom cloud rose slowly.