Chapter 411: The Gym Leader's Ace

"Teacher! This is against the rules!"

Walter said in a panic.

Although a Gym Leader may adjust their chosen Pokémon based on a challenger's strength, that preparation is done before the match — where's the logic in swapping mid-battle?

If this were reported to the League, the lightest consequence would be the Leader being held accountable, and the worst would be the Gym being shut down for rectification.

The League has always been extremely strict toward Gyms, these departments that hold important authority — any small issue and they'll send a Pokémon Inspector to investigate, and the slightest irregularity means closure for rectification.

"It's fine, it's fine!"

Wattson waved his hand with an extremely carefree attitude, then suddenly turned his head to look at Baimu and asked, "Do you mind, young Baimu? I suppose you'd also like to battle stronger Pokémon, right?"

"…Yes, go ahead."

The latter naturally had no objection.

"Hahahaha! Splendid, splendid!" Wattson laughed heartily as he swapped the two Poké Balls in his hand with the Ultra Balls in the wall.

Only two, huh…

Baimu was disappointed yet also somewhat relieved.

Normally he'd be thrilled to fight four more, but right now he could sense his Mega Aggron was on the verge of giving out and reverting to its original form.

It could hold on for at most one more before reverting?

Baimu exchanged a glance with his Mega Aggron, which had turned its head, and the two of them made a rough assessment of their own mental state.

In the end, the time they'd spent mastering Mega Evolution was still too short — starting from scratch and researching for less than half a month before being able to use it in real combat, and consecutively smashing two Pokémon, was already impressive.

He'd once dreamed of doing exactly what happened in the games, fighting through an entire battle without reverting.

Once he actually tried it, he knew he'd been thinking too much.

It wasn't that stable at all.

At least not currently. Putting himself in their shoes, Baimu roughly understood why those powerful Trainers in the anime liked to drag out the pace, never leading with a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution.

Precisely because the thing was "costly" and didn't last.

Suddenly.

The Trick Room on the field suddenly appeared and shattered, leaving Baimu somewhat regretful — from a practical standpoint, the larger the move's range, the shorter its duration.

Trick Room was a typical example.

And if not for the fact that most Gym Leaders were reliable in character and had no reason to, he might really have thought Wattson was deliberately stalling until Trick Room ended—

It's not like he couldn't afford to lose.

Gym Leaders had been defeated plenty of times — when a Pikachu swept his entire team a few years back, the old man had only thought he might be getting on in years and ought to retire.

Later, when Ash returned the Badge wanting a rematch, he was refused, on the grounds that Ash had already earned it.

"Hmph hmph hmph—"

Wattson returned holding two Ultra Balls, a self-satisfied smile reappearing on his face. "Young Baimu! I have to admit your Pokémon are indeed very strong! But from here on, it won't be so easy for you to win! Allow me to show you my strongest Pokémon!"

He shouted and hurled a Poké Ball forward.

"Go! Manectric!"

Poof!

A flash of white light, and a long wolf howl rang out.

"Furrrr—"

Manectric appeared, its body a mix of blue and yellow fur, resembling the mythological beast Raiju — the moment it landed, fine currents of electricity crackled across its surface, and visible silvery-white sparks flickered through its fur.

Static Ability, huh…

"Stone Edge!"

"Grrrroar!"

Mega Aggron growled low, white smoke billowing from its mouth as countless sharp stones spun around it forming two rings of rubble, which then launched toward Manectric like a barrage of shells!

Swish swish swish!

The dense sharp stones had the bearing of full fire coverage!

"Dodge with Quick Attack!"

Wattson's shout drove Manectric to howl and suddenly break into a run, its muscular body dodging the incoming sharp stones with extreme speed, a ribbon-like streak of white light trailing behind it, so fast it even left afterimages.

Moreover, with every step Manectric took, its hind legs — shrouded in pale yellow explosive fur — crackled with electricity, as if it were riding the lightning forward.

Baimu knew this was it using electric current to stimulate its muscles, greatly enhancing its movement speed — a special ability of Manectric's.

In full burst, it was no slower than the Voltorb from before.

Clearly this one was most likely Wattson's "ace" Pokémon, evolved from the Electrike he'd encountered in old New Zi Jin years ago. It had beaten the Ash who later challenged the New Zi Jin Gym again, leaving his Torkoal unable to turn things around.

The fifth Gym Leader and he's already sending out his ace?

That's simply unsportsmanlike!

In just a few seconds, Manectric had already arrived near Mega Aggron, but it didn't leap and pounce — instead, it used its front claws to abruptly change direction, attempting to circle around the latter's front.

Its form also began flickering violently, as if something was brewing.

"Double Team!"

"Sand Tomb!"

Mega Aggron's gaze darkened. As it growled low, large amounts of brownish sand surged from the Kong Dong across its body, sweeping outward in all directions like a sandstorm!

Boom!

The countless false afterimages Manectric had just created were instantly shattered by the surging Sand Tomb, and the force of the sand sent Manectric flying as well.

"Furrrr!"

"Great prediction!"

Wattson was shocked, then couldn't help but praise — he hadn't expected his and Manectric's tactics to be read so easily. By deliberately delaying his command by a beat, the opponent had successfully countered the Double Team meant to confuse the eye.

Had he struck first, the Manectric would very likely have already succeeded by now.

Baimu pressed the advantage and shouted: "One hundred thousand horsepower!"

"Guuu roar!"

Mega Aggron suddenly leapt toward Manectric, its massive form absurdly launching into the air, orange-red currents swirling around its body so that as it fell it resembled a brilliant meteor!

Tyson hastily ordered, "Hold the line!"

Manectric, which had rolled across the ground and gotten back up, growled low, and a pale-blue shield of light made up of countless hexagons lit up before it, drawing a thunderous boom as the falling Mega Aggron slammed into the shield!

Bang!

The shield trembled, then abruptly shattered like glass into a skyful of light dust, and Mega Aggron rode the momentum through the light wave to slam into the Manectric behind it.

Boom!

A heavy, muffled thud.

But to Baimu's surprise, Manectric actually lowered its body, jaws clenched tight around its mouthful of fangs, and used its head to stubbornly withstand Mega Aggron's Ground-type energy blast.

"Fuuu wooo!

"Hahaha! My Manectric isn't going to fall that easily!"

Tyson watched Baimu and Mega Aggron wearing identical expressions of astonishment, and couldn't help bursting into wild laughter as he called out loudly: "Jump off it! Use Thunder!"

"Fuuu wooo!"

Manectric suddenly leapt up, its four paws landing on the single horn atop Mega Aggron's head, using the latter as a springboard to successfully jump away; the incredibly agile movement left the latter's twin claws probing in vain and its massive tail stretching upward, still unable to catch it.

And by the time Mega Aggron turned around, the Manectric behind it had already crouched down and begun to roar.

"Roar!

Boom!

Blinding thunder from the roar surged up from Manectric's lightning-rod-like tail, tearing through the air as it shot toward the sky, then abruptly twisted and crashed down right in front of it, pouring endlessly into the nearby Mega Aggron!

Baimu's gaze sharpened. "Metal Burst!"

"Guuu roar!"

A mottled metallic sheen rose across Mega Aggron's body; facing the incoming lightning it neither dodged nor evaded, letting it crash down as it was, enduring the pain of the thunder's numbing erosion as it slightly opened its mouth, and a blazing white energy ball rapidly took shape, drawing in all the lightning flickering across its body like a black hole.

The energy ball grew steadily larger during this time.

The next instant.

Boom!

The energy ball transformed into a thick, blazing white energy pillar, with currents of electricity leaping up from within the pillar, proving that the main source of the energy was precisely Manectric's Thunder!

"Dodge it now!"

Manectric had already tried to evade the moment Tyson spoke, but unfortunately Mega Aggron stepped back with its right foot, steadied itself, and twisted its steel-tooth-packed jaws, turning the blazing white pillar from a straight shot into a sweeping blast, so that the moment it tried to dodge to the side it was struck by the sweeping pillar!

Boom!

Vast clouds of dust rose along with fire shooting skyward; a continuous strip of explosions covered everywhere the blazing white pillar had swept across, and the destructive power alone was enough to show just how fearsome this move was.

Manectric howled as it was sent flying backward, crashing through the smoke and slamming heavily into the wall at the edge of the field.

"Hold on!"

Yet even so it still had not fallen; its four paws trembling, it propped itself up, forcibly steadied itself, then glared ferociously at Mega Aggron. "Fuuu wooo!"

"Hiss! What a tough one…"

Baimu couldn't help feeling a measure of respect; this Manectric's outrageous durability had already shown itself during its battle with Ash's Torkoal, and now it seemed to have climbed yet another level.

"Stone Edge!"

"Guuu roar!"

Mega Aggron clenched its claws and roared; countless shattered sharp stones spun around its body forming three rings of rock, which then shrieked as they were launched at Manectric, the rock rain with further expanded power and coverage making one's heart tremble.

No one expected Tyson to suddenly shout: "Howl!"

"Fuuu wooo——!

Manectric, enveloped in a crimson ring of light, howled savagely; visible semi-transparent sound waves surged out forming terrifying sonic booms, actually shattering most of the sharp stones flying toward it, then spreading all the way to Mega Aggron's front and turning into a wave of weight that made its body tremble slightly.

"Guuu roar……"

Mega Aggron let out a low, muffled growl resisting some force, yet its body involuntarily lifted off the ground, turning into a streak of red light and flying into the Poké Ball at Baimu's waist.

The Poké Ball beside it smoothly opened, sending a streak of Bai Guang flying out onto the field.

"Pory!"

Porygon2 stepped onto the field looking utterly bewildered, an orange-red aura of some stat boost lighting up around its body.

Tyson looked at Baimu across the way, whose brow had lifted slightly, and laughed heartily. "How about that! Pretty shocking, isn't it! And this is the perfect chance! Manectric, use Charge!"

"Fuuu wooo!"

Electricity flickered across Manectric's body, its momentum surging at an astonishing speed.

"Trick Room!"

Baimu's command followed right away; the recovered Porygon2's eyes lit up with brilliant blue light, and waves of deep blue and pale blue light rose from the edges of the field, gradually forming a rectangular magical space.

He was indeed a little surprised.

But what surprised him was that Manectric's Howl could actually shatter Mega Aggron's Stone Edge; even though it wasn't a same-type move, it shouldn't have been that easy to break through.

Besides, was that really Howl? Anyone who didn't know would think it was a high-pitched scream!

Of course, it was perfectly normal for the anime's moves to differ from their in-game presentation; he himself had happily used Mean Look as a hard crowd-control skill, so what was wrong with someone using Howl to shatter a Rock Slide?

Moreover, one only had to think for a moment to recall similar scenes from the anime, such as Sinnoh Gym Leader Byron having his Steelix use Screech to shatter Ash's Chimchar's Flame Wheel, causing it to crash into a rock and take damage.

"Pory!"

Porygon2 gave a soft cry; Trick Room was successfully constructed. This move actually starts up very slowly; last time it had only succeeded by taking advantage of Voltorb's inability to attack directly, which forced it to bounce off and turn around, and then crash through rocks before it could be used.

This time, however, it took advantage of the surplus time while Manectric used Charge.

But while the opponent was using Charge, it also caused its own Special Defense to rise — not exactly good news for a Porygon that relies on Special Attack for damage.

Lt. Surge keenly caught the window after Porygon's Trick Room wore off, when it couldn't use moves quickly, and shouted: "Thunder!"

"Fwoo!"

Manectric let out a loud howl!

Boom!

The Thunder after Charge was far more exaggerated and massive than before, forming a snarling, clawing thunder dragon in midair that twisted and coiled before charging toward Porygon.

Rumble—

The air kept letting out deafening explosions.

Although it had briefly fallen on the back foot against Mega Bossgodora, as the Gym Leader's ace Pokémon, facing a Porygon that was overwhelmingly dominant in every respect, the advantages brought by its high level and rich battle experience — such as faster move-delivery speed — immediately showed!

"Dodge it! Camouflage!"

All Baimu's command was drowned out by the roaring Thunder, but fortunately Porygon knew even without hearing that it had to evade the thunder dragon's pounce, and had already begun trying to dodge early on.

Electric-type moves used by Pokémon were still different from natural lightning — at the very least, the speed wasn't that exaggerated.

Otherwise, no matter how Porygon dodged, it would likely still be unable to avoid it. But this time, relying on the speed it had inherited from Manectric, it successfully dodged the first wave of Thunder.

That's right.

The first wave.

After the thunder dragon landed, it burst apart like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers, then suddenly transformed into countless bright-yellow thunder serpents that swept out in all directions. At the same time, the trembling ground was blasted into countless shards of rubble that rained down on the swiftly dodging Porygon.

"Crackle—"

The latter really couldn't dodge them all in time, and was struck by numerous pieces of rubble, crying out in pain — but it stubbornly managed to use Camouflage before the thunder serpents wrapped around it, turning the blue parts of its body brown.

Gaining the Ground type allowed it to successfully become immune to the electric current's assault.

"Crackle!"

Porygon stopped moving, feeling slightly weary, but its eyes took on an incomparably sharp gleam.

This was its first Gym battle — how could it go down like this! It had to take down at least one enemy first!

And Lt. Surge couldn't help but show a regretful expression.

He had wanted to take down All Baimu's Porygon in one go, to teach it that Pokémon had their own powerful tenacity — who could have imagined that Porygon itself would already embody such an extraordinarily tenacious will.

"Fwoo…"

Manectric lowered its head and panted — it wasn't inexhaustibly energetic either, just relatively more enduring.