Chapter 503: Facing Maylene

"No matter how you put it, that's way too strong."

Xiaosheng sighed, raised his Poké Ball, and recalled his defeated Nut Dumbbell.

The applause from the surrounding crowd of onlookers left him feeling restless and distracted.

If facing Porygon2 and Luvdisc, he felt he still had a fighting chance, then Hydreigon gave him the sense that even sending out Gardevoir and Banette, it would be hard to last more than a few turns.

He couldn't help but think of the Frontier Brains Ash had once challenged, especially the "Pharaoh of Jin Zita," Brandon, who commanded Legendary Pokémon.

All Baimu might not have reached that level yet, but he was surely not far off.

This is what a genius is, right?

Xiaosheng looked at All Baimu and Hydreigon walking over from the other side, feeling both admiration and a hint of worship in his expression. "I always thought my progress was already remarkable, but compared to you, Baimu-bro, I'm still far behind. Hydreigon is just too strong!"

"Sha-sha!"

The praised Hydreigon was incredibly proud, lifting its chin and looking at Xiaosheng with an approving gaze.

You little punk really know how to play along!

All Baimu reached out and pressed down on its instantly-class-losing, Husky-like big head, praising:

"Not at all, your Pokémon are all very strong. They fully demonstrated your growth in every aspect. Honestly, I'm quite surprised."

"That's right, Xiaosheng! Dad seeing your current strength would surely be very proud too!"

Maylene beside him hurriedly added.

This was absolutely not mere pleasantry. Although the simulation screens were quite abstract, going through them again and again was enough to let him clearly recognize what level of strength a white-talented individual belonged to.

And what level those blue-talented individuals who could achieve good results belonged to.

Xiaosheng's growth rate, if put into the simulation, would at least be a blue talent—in other words, a guaranteed top-eight finish. And all of this came from the knowledge he had studied before traveling and the experience accumulated from caring for the Pokémon at the Petalburg Gym.

Compared to Ash at the very beginning, who knew nothing at all, he was only stronger, not weaker.

As for whether he could ultimately win the championship…

That would depend on luck.

As the saying goes, the world is vast and full of wonders. With the changing times and frequent exchanges between regions, trainers who have participated in other regional League Conferences multiple times are commonplace, so it would be no surprise for any kind of monster to appear.

It was no longer the old "locals only" Conference of the past.

All Baimu had even seen news online saying that the Paldea League had recently produced a six-year-old Elite Four member—utterly absurd.

Although the Elite Four is a recommendation system, someone without real strength certainly couldn't hold the position, or at least would struggle to command respect.

He came back to his senses, looked at Xiaosheng again, patted the latter on the shoulder, and said frankly:

"I'm really looking forward to your performance at the Hiwai Conference, rising-star trainer with four Badges!"

"Don't worry! I won't let you down, Baimu-bro!"

Xiaosheng's confidence was reignited, and he nodded firmly.

Shortly after.

He looked toward Maylene again, expectantly saying: "Sis! It's your turn now!"

"Me? Huh… alright, let's do it."

Maylene instinctively glanced at All Baimu, forcing a smile. Honestly, she had been a bit startled by Hydreigon's performance just now.

Besides, if it were a Contest battle she'd still have some confidence, but a regular battle…

But she'd already agreed.

Her partners might not necessarily lose that badly either!

"Is one-on-one okay?" Maylene asked, her rabbit-ear-like hairband swaying in the wind.

"Of course."

All Baimu nodded.

The surrounding crowd of onlookers had been about to disperse, but upon seeing All Baimu was about to start another battle with a girl, they gathered back together.

Street battles were mostly noobs pecking at each other; exciting battles with big scenes like this were rare.

On the other hand.

Some of the watching Coordinator trainers had already recognized All Baimu's identity through Hydreigon and by matching his face.

A street battle with the rising star of the Contest scene!

This was a perfect chance to gather intel!

Many people quietly took out their phones to record, unaware that in the online world, a series of semi-closed windows representing their phone systems had appeared before Porygon2.

The firewalls on them were as simple as the latch on a wooden door—something you could open with your eyes closed.

"Pory…"

Porygon2 stretched its body, ready to get to work.

——

All Baimu and Maylene each moved to opposite sides, putting an appropriate distance between them.

While walking.

He tried to recall Hydreigon into its Poké Ball, but the latter shook its three heads and dodged the recall beam.

"Sha-sha!"

"Participating in one battle is enough, give the other partners a chance. Come back now."

All Baimu said another sentence.

As a result, Hydreigon moved even farther away, and with full justification, all three heads hoarsely roared in unison: "Sha! Sha-sha!"

It wasn't trying to steal its companions' chance to battle—it was strongly protesting that Dusknoir and the Dusclops siblings could stay by his side, while it had to go back to its Poké Ball to rest!

It's not even hurt! Not going back in the ball!

Refuse!

"... You little rascal." Baimu felt a slight headache coming on. Up to now, the "Independent Combat" training had been going on for quite some time, but the progress could basically be said to be next to nothing.

It was still clingy as ever; in fact, since there had been less physical contact recently, it had become even more outrageously clingy.

Patient as he was, he felt that continuing any further would just be mutual torment, so he might as well call it a day.

After all, no matter how "independent" it was, there weren't many chances to leave his side anyway. Moreover, the Hydreigon's true age was still young, so why insist on achieving everything in one go?

As for being too clingy, resulting in an inability to evenly divide time with the other Pokémon...

That was his problem as a Trainer.

"You win."

Baimu set down the Poké Ball. Not far away, the Hydreigon's expression immediately became especially radiant, and it eagerly fluttered over to circle around him.

The Doublade that had originally been hidden to his right quietly drifted a little farther away.

It found Hydreigon a bit hard to deal with, because the latter's gaze toward it was always friendly yet tinged with hostility, and within that hostility lurked a strong sense of rivalry.

This kind of Ultra Necrozma-evolved Hydreigon little brother was simply its natural nemesis; being stared at for even a moment made its scalp tingle.

In the distance.

May's hand swept across the Poké Balls at her waist, and she finally selected the Pokémon to send out.

And when she looked up at Baimu, the latter had already thrown his Poké Ball.

Bang!

Bai Guang flickered.

"Roar!"

A low growl sounded, but what was even more startling than the voice was the terrifying body that resembled a pillar reaching to the heavens.

The light from the nearby streetlamps could only illuminate a part of it. Most of its ferocious, giant-beast-skull-like head was hidden in the night, and its molten-forged bronze-red eyes brimmed with a condescending, downward gaze—extraordinarily soul-stealing.

"Hiss—"

"That's way too big!"

"Is Elite Four Bruno's Steelix even this big?!"

Everyone's heads unconsciously tilted high, watching the giant Steelix that seemed forged from fine steel with expressions of either excitement or fear, discussing it among themselves.

May's expression stiffened, and the motion of throwing her Poké Ball froze halfway.

She had to admit she was startled. It wasn't as if she had never seen a Steelix before—her former traveling companion Brock had one—but it was absolutely not that big.

It felt like at least twenty meters!

When her face showed hesitation, her little brother Max's energetic cheering suddenly reached her ears.

"Sis! Go for it! I believe you can do it!"

May turned her head and, among the watching crowd full of exclamations and shock, clearly saw Max clenching his fists and watching her with a slightly nervous look.

This gave her a sudden lift in spirits.

Her mind, as if doused with a basin of cold water, quickly calmed down.

"Inhale... exhale..."

May closed her eyes and took several deep, cyclical breaths. When she opened them again, she suddenly reached out in front of her to mimic a camera lens and said with absolute seriousness to herself: "Exploration fans all over the world, sorry to keep you waiting.

"This time, the May Exploration Team has encountered an unprecedented great crisis—a giant Steelix is blocking our path. Will the May Exploration Team be able to defeat it and overcome the difficulty? Let's wait and see!"

After her long string of words, many onlookers showed strange expressions, and Max also covered his face, feeling embarrassed.

Only Baimu on the opposite side was all smiles.

【May Exploration Team】—what a nostalgic scene. He remembered that in the anime, May often put on the air of a TV host to ease her inner nervousness, and this also stemmed from May's habit of loving to watch TV.

He recalled that she almost every night would watch Pokémon serials by herself... perhaps she'd have something in common with Mawile?

While he was pondering.

"I leave it to you! Blaziken!"

May shouted loudly and threw her Poké Ball forward.

Bang!

Bai Guang flashed.

The tall, sturdy Blaziken landed. Upon seeing the giant Steelix's mighty figure, flames symbolizing fighting spirit immediately ignited on its wrists, and waves of scorching aura were released.

"Gao Ang!"

"Flamethrower!"

May quickly gave the order, intending to seize the initiative with a first strike.

Blaziken reacted swiftly as well. With its outstanding jumping power, it sprang up from the grass with a Peng De, easily leaping to a height where it could look the giant Steelix in the eye.

Its chest and belly covered in Bai Yu rose high with its backward-leaning motion, and brilliant firelight spilled from its beak.

The next moment.

A surging torrent of flames spewed forth, pouring toward the Steelix like a torrential downpour from the heavens with a thunderous roar!

"Sand Tomb."

When the flames surged toward the latter, a violent airflow dragged flying sand up from the ground, blocking in front of the Steelix and crashing violently into the inferno. Through the pull of the airflow, it wrapped up and carried away the scorching flames.

In an instant, fire and sand whirled together.

The two briefly constructed a terrifying flame tornado on the surface of the giant Steelix, which then suddenly swelled like a giant wall and slammed the descending Blaziken away!

But as May's ace Pokémon, it was no pushover either. A single backflip let it regain its balance, and it landed lightly on the ground.

It raised its head, warily looking at the giant Steelix that, after the flames dispersed, revealed thick horizontal steel bones whirling around as it manipulated the wild sand.

"Gao Ang!"

"Not bad, not bad."

The smile on Baimu's face did not fade.

Using Sand Tomb to block fire-type attacks that are easily stirred up by the wind had long become a basic habit for Steelix — no command needed.

May cried out in surprise, "Mirror Coat!?"

"You know about it?"

All Baimu was mildly astonished — Ash had pioneered this special tactic in the Sinnoh region, and during the Mi Ke Li Cup era in Sinnoh it shouldn't have been developed yet.

May replied a little sheepishly: "Brock told me about it. I battled him once, and he used it."

I see.

Brock truly applied this special technique at every opportunity, but the originator Ash never used it again in Advanced Generation, XY, or Sun & Moon — he might have used it during his journey, but he couldn't quite remember.

All Baimu drifted off in thought, and May immediately seized the chance, shouting:

"Blaziken! Sky Uppercut!"

Boom!

Grass clippings and sand flew as Blaziken surged forward, both claws wrapped in a brownish-red airflow, the surging Fighting-type energy almost forming a pair of boxing gloves.

Sky Uppercut, Sky Uppercut.

It is both a punch that sends one soaring skyward, and the opponent being forced skyward!

"Blaziken!"

Blaziken's eyes were fierce, charging straight through the swirling sand toward the giant Steelix's lower jaw!

But the instant before it leaped, the giant Steelix abruptly lowered its head, its copper-red eyes staring straight at the oncoming Blaziken, a dark cavernous maw slightly opening.

It took the bait!

The same glint flashed through All Baimu's and Steelix's eyes.

"Screech!"

"Roar—!

"

The furious roar exploded, and a transparent wave of light burst from the giant Steelix's mouth, rapidly forming a sonic wave that stirred the air, slamming toward the leaping Blaziken!

The latter endured the pain of the sound wave and kept swinging both fists — Fighting-type energy collided with the sonic wave, blasting a ring of milky-white shockwave into the air!

Boom!

Blaziken, which had not yet gained the ability to fly, was forced flying backward, the Defense-lowering effect of Screech shrouding it in a blue lowering aura, but All Baimu had no intention of letting it off so easily.

"Bind!"

"Roar!"

Steelix surged forward violently, and the moment Blaziken hit the ground its serpentine body whipped around like a chain, firmly clamping it, while tightening again and again to apply continuous pressure.

"Blaziken—"

Blaziken let out a pained howl.

"Blaziken! Use Overheat on Steelix's head!"

May couldn't help feeling panicked, but quickly thought of a way to break free of the giant Steelix's grip.

All Baimu shouted: "Don't give it a chance! Earthquake!"

In the grassy field.

The constantly compressed Blaziken's entire body suddenly turned crimson, and its indomitable will forced it to painfully yet resolutely open its beak, terrifying heat gradually spilling out.

"Roar!"

How could Steelix allow this to continue — it raised high the tail locking Blaziken in place, then slammed it down!

Thud!

Like a pile driver pounding the earth, amid a muffled rumble a yellowish-brown energy shockwave instantly blasted countless withered grass and rubble skyward, the flying sand and stones obscuring everything.

The onlookers all covered their ears and retreated backward — even though they were already far enough away, they still didn't want to be spattered by the flying sand and dust.

But soon, another heart-pounding pillar of blazing white flame shot skyward!

Boom—!

The sky was lit up by the spiraling pillar of flame.

Like a momentary firework, this pillar of flame appeared suddenly, then vanished just as suddenly.

In the smoke May covered her mouth and nose with her arm, coughing while waving away the dust around her, anxiously looking at where Steelix and Blaziken had been.

"Blaziken!"

She tried calling out to her Pokémon to check on its condition.

Suddenly a gust of wind swept through, blowing away the dust that had blocked the view, exposing the scene in the grassy field to everyone's eyes.

In the not-shallow crater, the giant Steelix, still standing proudly, slowly rotated its horizontal steel body — the joint between its head and torso showed obvious scorch marks, undoubtedly the result of intense burning flames.

And beneath it.

Blaziken, its eyes replaced by spirals, lay unconscious in a spread-eagle pose, clearly having lost the ability to battle.

"…May's Expedition Team probably won't make it through today."

May thought dejectedly.