Chapter 413: Poliwhirl II

Cleanse Rotom.

A special form created when a normal Electric-Ghost Rotom infiltrated a washing machine.

Its type changed to Electric-Water, and multiple abilities saw considerable growth.

Ever since Tie Xuan chose Rotom as his network administrator, Baimu had suspected he might slip a few into his challenger team—until just now, when it still hadn't appeared, he thought he wouldn't face it.

Yet it turned out to be the last one…

Tie Xuan stood tall, hands on hips, utterly devoid of the despair he showed when his Thunderbeast lost, and roared: "Gahahaha! You've never seen this form of Rotom, have you? This guy is my secret weapon! Don't underestimate it just because it's not my ace! Hahaha!"

"Ooosh! Ooosh!"

The trainer and his Pokémon laughed heartily, looking extremely arrogant.

Big trouble!

Poliwhirl might lose control!

Seeing this, Baimu's heart sank; as he turned his gaze forward, he saw the two-wheel Lego car trembling violently like an engine starting, its gear-like legs spinning furiously in place, kicking up thick clouds of dust.

"Pali! Pali!"

Excited shouts kept erupting.

This thing wanted to punch Rotom yesterday, but couldn't find the real one—instead it ran into Zero Machine, that weird contraption.

Today, in the gym battle, it met Cleanse Rotom as if fate had destined it—its impatience is natural. Or rather, its wheels have already smoked without charging forward—that's already surprising.

This "restraint" made Baimu exhale in relief.

It was clear Poliwhirl's anger had burned away seventy or eighty percent; its emotions were now filled with fiercer excitement and battle lust.

This thing—

Is it treating this Cleanse Rotom as a replacement?

Baimu stared silently at Poliwhirl.

But in truth, the latter never truly saw Cleanse Rotom as a substitute for yesterday's Rotom—perhaps it had once thought so, but now only the intense anticipation of finally battling a Rotom remained.

Battle!

It wanted to prove its worth honorably—not through reckless mischief, not through self-pity, but by overpowering its destined opponent with strength.

After searching far and wide without success, the prize came effortlessly!

What kind of fortune allowed it to face Rotom at last—and with a trainer who had once chosen Poliwhirl, then abandoned it?

But…

"Pali!"

Poliwhirl turned its head to its trainer, pleading not to be swapped out.

This battle meant everything to it.

Though its other modules reacted only normally, its emotional module knew it must fight Rotom—and let all its resentment be transcended in battle.

And embrace rebirth!

Success or death—either total defeat or total victory!

Baimu met Poliwhirl's resolute gaze and smiled: "There's no need to ask me for permission when it's obvious…"

"Poliwhirl! Prepare to battle!"

"Pali!"

Far away, Tie Xuan watched their synchronized exchange, then finally burst into laughter: "Wonderful! Seeing you both so fired up makes my swap worthwhile! Come on! Final battle!"

Cleanse Rotom responded with a cry: "Ooosh!"

The final battle at Zi Jin Gym was officially underway!

As if a rapid drumbeat had begun, both issued their commands simultaneously.

"Water Gun!"

"Dodge! Texture 2 Dragon!"

The words fell.

Cleanse Rotom raised the hose clamped in its right claw; a brilliant blue torrent surged forth, transforming into a thick water column that blasted toward Poliwhirl, the air trembling with a thunderous roar.

To maximize its attack range, it activated a sweeping mode like a Super Machamp!

"Pali!"

Poliwhirl sped through flying dust on its spinning gears, the Water Gun chasing behind, trying to strike it—but since the faster Thunderbeast had already been withdrawn, its evasion was far worse than before—

Fortunately, its move reaction was swift enough.

A brilliant luster ignited along its dark brown surface; a chilling azure hue emerged, accompanied by faint, intricate patterns, and a faint howl of an unknown creature echoed in the air.

The transformation made Baimu raise an eyebrow—this had never happened before with Texture; something unusual was occurring.

But now wasn't the time for deep analysis.

The transformed Dragon-type Poliwhirl slammed to a sudden stop, its body leaning forward slightly with inertia, yet precisely escaping just beyond the reach of the Water Gun's final force!

Puff!

The last remnants of the blue water jet struck Poliwhirl, spraying clear droplets that looked powerfully forceful—but failed utterly to budge its body.

"Ooosh—"

Cleanse Rotom stared at the enemy that had moments ago been brimming with battle lust, now moving like a precise machine, and suddenly felt uneasy.

Dragon-type resists both Water and Electric attacks; Grass-type resists too, but Rotom knows Bug-type move Signal Beam, so becoming Dragon-type was better.

With its power greatly reduced, Poliwhirl's dual resistance, boosted by its Evolution Stone, could easily withstand Cleanse Rotom's attacks.

At least, no instant knockout.

"Triple Attack!"

"Pali!"

The Polywhirl's body manifested three colored orbs—yellow, pale blue, and orange-red—that formed a triangle before unleashing fierce attacks of electricity, flame, and ice light!

Tie Xuan shouted urgently, "Use discharge!"

"Oh, shh!"

Cleaning Lotom raised its hose and let out a shrill cry; wild lightning formed a massive ring of electric arcs around it, colliding violently with the three beams of light!

Boom!

Smoke exploded, instantly engulfing the bodies of both Pokémon.

But they quickly broke free from the smoke, retreating to stand before their respective trainers, waiting for the swirling mist to clear.

Baimu glanced at Polywhirl; its emotion module was indeed suppressed once again by numerous battle modules, its octagonal eyes appearing utterly vacant, yet actually performing massive calculations to confirm Cleaning Lotom's next movement and attack.

These abilities are all beyond Cleaning Lotom's capacity.

After all, while Electronic Ghosts can control high-tech electronic devices, they themselves possess no physical equipment—they are parasitic Pokémon—whereas Polywhirl is one that inherently possesses an ultra-powerful electronic brain, requiring no external device to inhabit.

The difference between them is significant.

The smoke dispersed.

Tie Xuan stared at Polywhirl, whose type had changed again, and frowned in frustration, "Not this move again! Will-o'-the-Wisp!"

In his view, the move 【Texture2】 was even more unfair than 【Versatile Shift】; the latter at least required a move matching the target type, but 【Texture2】 simply let it randomly select any resistive type after the opponent's attack.

Fortunately, it could only change into one type, not a composite one—otherwise, he truly had no idea how to battle a Pokémon like Polywhirl.

"Oh, shh!"

Cleaning Lotom trembled slightly; multiple ghostly purple fireballs emerged and rotated around it, then shot forth one by one toward Poliwhirl, scattering haphazardly yet sealing off every possible escape route.

Seeing this, Baimu smiled faintly, as if everything were under control.

"Use Angular Shift to dodge!"

"Pali!"

Poliwhirl responded to its trainer's command, twisting its body to evade the incoming ghostly purple fireballs; when it could not avoid one, its surface glowed with white light.

Instantly, its upper body transformed from a blocky duck shape into a long, angular polygon, narrowly brushing past the fireball!

"It can change its upper body too!?"

Tie Xuan was stunned; Polywhirl had fought so long against Thunderbolt with nothing but Psychic Strength that he'd nearly forgotten this creature, like Lotom, was a being of constant transformation.

No.

It was even better than Lotom!

After all, Polywhirl didn't need any medium to shift its form!

"Charge!"

After much thought, Tie Xuan decided he could only win by landing a guaranteed move in one blow.

Baimu shouted, "They're giving us an opening! Use Psychic Strength!"

"Pali!"

Polywhirl's front-facing polygonal eyes glowed; invisible waves surged toward Cleaning Lotom, whose body crackled with electricity—but just as its psychic energy locked onto the target and the attack launched, Lotom disintegrated!

That's right.

Like a soul leaving its body, Lotom detached from the washing machine portion, reforming into its plasma form, darting through the air like lightning while emitting continuous bili-bili shrieks.

Boom!

The remaining washing machine rolled backward under the psychic assault, thundering loudly—

Yet it didn't break apart!

"Hahaha! This is a custom-made washing machine! It won't be destroyed so easily!" Tie Xuan laughed triumphantly, feeling he'd finally turned the tide, "See that? Lotom's free disassembly and reassembly!"

As he finished speaking,

Lotom plunged back into the washing machine; a flash of Bai Guang returned it to Cleaning Lotom, its surface electric currents swelling further, terrifying amounts of electrical energy accumulating at visible speed, aiming to strike Polywhirl down in one blow!

This unrestrained energy storage was Tie Xuan's signature technique as a Gym Leader; no ordinary trainer's Pokémon could accumulate so much electrical energy for so long.

What surprised Baimu even more was that he'd actually integrated shape-shifting into his battle strategy…

Clever!

Since shape-shifting was Cleaning Lotom's unique technique, there was no rule violation to be cited.

But now it was problematic—wasn't Lotom effectively possessing three types?

This was an abnormal Pokémon free-for-all.

He narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling a rarely used move in Polywhirl's move set, and murmured:

"Lock on! Target this individual Lotom!"

Though spoken softly, Polywhirl caught it precisely; a phantom red crosshair appeared before its eyes, locking tightly onto Lotom.

A streak of red light shot from its eyes and pierced into Lotom's body.

"Hm?"

Tie Xuan froze for an instant; his ears were filled with the crackling of Cleaning Lotom's charging current—he hadn't heard Baimu's command.

Based on his experience, this move was—

"Shadow Ball!"

"No! Lotom, don't disassemble! Change back!"

Tie Xuan shouted frantically—but too late. Faced with the rapidly approaching ghostly purple energy ball, Lotom decisively separated from the washing machine, as before.

But the ghostly purple energy ball didn't strike the washing machine—it chased after Lotom!

Startled, Lotom heard Tie Xuan's cry and hesitated—resulting in the Shadow Ball abruptly veering off and slamming into its entire body, now crackling with electricity!

Ong!

Purple flame mingled with smoke!

"Beep—"

Rotom let out a pained cry and plummeted from the air, drilling back inside the washing machine.

"Ah!"

Tie Tie Xuan slapped his forehead in frustration—getting old really did slow one's reactions. He hadn't even noticed Porygon using Lock-On, which delayed his command by a beat. Not only had he failed to warn Rotom, he'd actually become a drag on it!

But thankfully, Wash Rotom was tough enough. Not only did it avoid being taken out by that sudden Shadow Ball, but even after wobbling back into the air, the charging glow on its surface still hadn't faded.

At most, only about half of it had worn off.

Clearly, the special defense boost from Charge was enough to let it tank Porygon's off-type Shadow Ball.

Tie Tie Xuan couldn't help but feel elated.

"Thunder!"

He knew this chance wouldn't come twice—continuing to charge would just waste the electricity Wash Rotom had barely managed to hold onto!

Wash Rotom howled furiously at the sky, "Oosh!"

Pain may weaken a creature, but sometimes it also stirs their will!

Boom!

Roaring Lei Ting surged skyward, twisting through the air before transforming into a brilliant tree of lightning, its dazzling electric branches reaching out toward Porygon!

Peng! Peng! Peng!

Silver-snake-like currents danced wildly, licking the earth and blasting out crater after crater. The terrifying force made eardrums tremble, as if they might shatter at any moment.

What a devastating strike—and this was with half its stored electricity already drained.

Even though Porygon had shifted to Ground-type under All Baimu's command, looking at that massive tree of thunder still stirred a hint of fear within it.

Using Texture 2 had been the right call—even if it had become Dragon-type, it couldn't have tanked that hit!

Long!

The lightning pierced the air and struck beside Porygon. Though the Electric-type energy itself had no effect, the rocks blasted up by the thunder still dealt some damage to it.

It flickered desperately among the flying debris, forced to admit one thing—

Its type energy was nearly spent.

Two Trick Rooms, plus all those uses of Texture 2, Conversion, and various type attacks—each one pushed to its absolute limit—had left it with almost nothing left.

Attrition wars are brutal for low-level Pokémon, let alone a deadly rotation battle.

By its own estimate, it might have only three… no, maybe even just two attacks left. It relayed this information to the trainer behind it through its tail.

Porygon decided to entrust everything to All Baimu.

Because it firmly believed its trainer could make the most of those last few chances and carry it to victory.

The tree of thunder gradually dimmed.

Tie Tie Xuan saw Porygon covered in wounds from the flying rocks, panting without pause, yet still not using Recover—he understood.

"I see—so it's almost at its limit? Should I switch?"

All Baimu didn't answer, just frowned tightly as if thinking about something.

Seeing this, Tie Tie Xuan shouted: "Since you won't switch, I won't hold back either! Rotom, use Water Pulse!"

From Porygon's body color and the situation just now, it wasn't hard to tell it was currently Ground-type—perfectly countered by Wash Rotom's Water Pulse!

One last move!

Take it down!

"Oosh!"

Wash Rotom gripped its drain hose, but the Water Pulse was ultimately released from the valve on its chest. A raging torrent formed into a glowing blue pillar of water that surged forth like an enraged water dragon charging at Porygon.

Porygon dodged desperately, the water dragon pursuing it relentlessly as Wash Rotom turned to track it. The two seemed locked in some kind of standoff.

But just then, the Trick Room outside the field suddenly materialized and shattered!

Bang!

Countless points of light flashed—the space had ended!

The sudden return of normal speed made Porygon's dodging sluggish, while Wash Rotom sped up. In its panic, the Water Pulse wobbled and uncontrollably tilted upward.

It missed!

Tie Tie Xuan hadn't expected such an anomaly at all. In its fluster, Wash Rotom's body swayed unsteadily.

All Baimu's eyes lit up, and he shouted:

"Now's our chance! Tri Attack, energy-saving mode!"

"It's done for! Rotom, Disconnect and hold on!"

Tie Tie Xuan shouted along, immediately seeing Porygon gather a tri-colored orb and fire a multicolored beam, while Rotom shook off the washing machine and returned to its original plasma ghost form.

However.

"Such weak power! Is it out of type energy?" Tie Tie Xuan stared at the beam—barely thicker than a thumb—as it passed through Rotom's body, then turned his suspicious gaze toward Porygon—

Where was Porygon?!

"Where did it go?"

Tie Tie Xuan looked up at Rotom and scanned its surroundings. Rotom replied with frantic beeping, indicating it had been focused on dodging and attacking, and suddenly Porygon was just gone.

Nothing.

Could it have been recalled into a Poké Ball by All Baimu?

"Get back into the washing machine!" he shouted. A Rotom merged with an appliance was clearly a bit stronger than a normal one.

"Beep beep!"

Rotom dove urgently toward the washing machine on the ground.

Then.

The washing machine's valve toward the sky suddenly opened.

Tie Tie Xuan's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Shadow Ball!"

"

All Baimu's voice echoed over the field, and immediately from inside the washing machine's valve, a dark-purple ball of energy rapidly took shape, slamming head-on into the falling, wide-eyed Rotom!

Boom!

The middle of the field was swallowed by thick smoke!

The word "dodge" had barely left Tie Tie Xuan's mouth before he swallowed it back down.

The gym fell deathly silent.

Watt braced his glasses, his body trembling slightly.

A few seconds later.

Under the work of the ventilation fan, the haze lingering over the field dispersed, revealing the plasma-form Rotom with both eyes turned into black circles, collapsed on the ground.

And inside the washing machine, the Porygon — nearly jammed to death by the cramped space — let out an utterly feeble "Pory!"

Its type energy was utterly spent, not a single drop remaining.

Watt raised his flag, his heart surging.

"Rotom is unable to battle! Porygon wins — the winner of this Gym Challenge is the challenger!"

His excited voice rang out across the arena.

It's been a long time since I've seen such a thrilling Pokémon battle! Both Rotom and Porygon gave everything they had, holding nothing back, in pursuit of victory.

Tie Tie Xuan's look of disbelief gradually faded, replaced by a helpless smile. "Ahahahaha… we lost… I'm truly convinced!"

He took out a Poké Ball and recalled Rotom. "You worked hard! Running into such a remarkable young trainer, we can't say we lost unjustly! Can't defy the march of age!"

Across the field, All Baimu likewise used a Poké Ball to help Porygon out of its jam, but then immediately let it back out again.

Because Porygon, whose emotion module was gradually coming back online, was now extremely agitated.

"Pory!"

It looked up at its trainer, its eyes filled with pride, arrogance, and an unshakable worship and joy.

I did it!

Under your commands and tactics, I, in an incomplete body, defeated the fully-powered Wash Rotom! Proving that Porygon is the stronger one!

I'm bringing the victory to you!

Your choice, your trust — they weren't wrong! You can always count on Porygon!

All Baimu looked at Porygon — its body trembling slightly, its once cold, vacant eyes now brimming with countless tangled colors — placed a hand on its head, and smiling, said the words it most wanted to hear right now.

"Beautifully done! Choosing you was the best decision!"

"Pory—!

"

Porygon let out a low-pitched shriek, its eyes actually spilling tears the size of beans, and it spun around All Baimu nonstop like a remote-control toy car with a virus.

Even as the latter tried to intercept it, he couldn't make it stop.

And what finally felled the little creature was its already dwindling stamina — its eyes turned into circles on the spot and it passed out cold.

"Hahahaha! Too excited after winning?"

"It's not just about winning."

All Baimu looked at Tie Tie Xuan, who had walked over together with Watt, and replied softly: "What it gained from this battle is a lot of things it had once cast aside."

"Hahahahaha! Looks like you really care about your Pokémon's mental health! Very good, very good!"

Tie Tie Xuan laughed heartily, then pulled from his pocket a yellow badge that looked electronic, but when it caught the light and tilted slightly, a few hints of a cyan sheen could be glimpsed.

"Here! This is your Thunder Badge! Hold onto it!"

"Thank you!"

All Baimu cupped it in both hands, received it, and placed it into his badge case.

Tie Tie Xuan continued: "Seeing a young trainer with such a boundless future ahead of him — I really am moved! But I never imagined not a single one of your Pokémon could be taken down!"

"You're too kind."

"Excessive modesty is pride, you know! Don't blame an old man for talking too much, but you really ought to smile more! Laugh out loud! Laugh and welcome a thousand blessings! Hahahaha—"

Tie Tie Xuan was all smiles.

All Baimu gave a helpless smile. "Being so flashy doesn't really suit me…"

"Pory!"

The unconscious Porygon at his feet suddenly jolted awake, looked up at its trainer, and cried "Pory pory!"

Tie Tie Xuan, noticing, asked: "Oh? It looks like it wants to do something?"

"It's reminding me that the time has come."

All Baimu reached out to soothe Porygon, took out his phone under the puzzled gazes of the two men before him, and replied: "—The time to evolve. Excuse me, does the gym have a trade machine? If Porygon doesn't evolve, I doubt it'll even want to go to the Pokémon Center."

Under the astonished gazes of Tie Tie Xuan and Watt, Porygon slipped into the phone and voluntarily displayed its trust level — hearts nearly filling the screen leapt into view.

Seven hearts!

A single battle had shot Porygon straight from five hearts up to seven!

"Y-Yes! We have one! We have the machine!"

Assistant Watt hurriedly raised his hand to make his presence known.

Tie Tie Xuan beside him turned his head and asked: "Eh? Since when does the gym have a trade machine?"

"So your Electabuzz could evolve into Electivire! Did you really forget?" Watt stared at him in shock.

"Ahhh!"

Tiesuan suddenly understood, rubbing his head helplessly. "Getting old really does make my memory worse."

Not long after.

Once the initial treatment of Porygon was complete, the three of them found the trading machine inside the building. Since it wasn't used very often, a layer of plastic sheeting covered the outside.

"Let me handle the trade for you!"

Wat, holding a Poké Ball, volunteered.

"Alright then, I'll leave it to you."

Baimu gave a slight nod, and before recalling the excited Porygon, he didn't forget to take back the Everstone, then stuffed the hard-drive-shaped Upgrade Data to it.

When connecting for the trade, the Poké Ball turned into a mass of data, causing the Upgrade Data inside to merge with Porygon and undergo a transformation.

The trade begins.

In the anime world, the Poké Balls used to contain Pokémon are a special kind of black technology. In mainstream regions, Poké Balls are kept in check by the Poké Ball Management System, and after trading a Pokémon, the system internally refreshes the registered owner — that is, the Trainer.

If the registered owner of the Poké Ball doesn't match the user, they'll be questioned by Officer Jenny.

Therefore, people in the Pokémon anime world must use a trading machine to trade Pokémon, even if the other party is standing right in front of them.

The machine sucked in the two Poké Balls and traded them, dropping them again in the distance.

Then Wat pressed the trade button once more, and the two Poké Balls switched places again.

"Done!"

He looked at Baimu. "The link evolution was successful!"

"Thanks."

Baimu thanked him again, took the Poké Ball where Porygon was stored, and opened it in front of him.

Poof!

Light flickered.

Porygon landed on the ground. The Upgrade Data it had been holding in its mouth was gone, replaced by a gradually brightening, brilliant blue glow, with countless fireflies swirling around it.

【Evolution】.

An artificial life can possess this miracle too.

Although it came from Professor Akihabara's one lucky, all-around upgrade, evolution had indeed descended upon Porygon, as if somewhere unseen a pair of eyes had acknowledged Porygon's value as a life.

Baimu watched the transforming Porygon in silence; the video recording on his phone had long since started.

And no matter how many times he saw it, the evolution happening right before his eyes always moved him deeply.

Tiesuan and Wat likewise didn't disturb this moment.

A short while later.

The light faded.

An outwardly perfectly rounded plastic toy duck appeared before them. Its biggest difference from Porygon was that the latter had only edges and no curves, while this one had only curves and no edges.

As if from an old 3D model, the concept of subdivided surfaces had been added, making it appear far more refined.

At first glance the change wasn't much, but in truth it was already worlds apart from before.

Both outwardly and inwardly.

【Porygon2】 had truly been born before Baimu's eyes.

"Congratulations! Porygon2!"

"Pory!"

Porygon2 opened its bright, lively eyes and let out a softer, gentler cry.