Chapter 507: A Matchless Pair

Beneath dark clouds.

Violent thunder and lightning flashed without cease.

The Milotic, tormented by repeated electric shocks, let out a wail—but Adam's attention was nowhere on it.

Instead, he was staring at the shiny Milotic wrapped in multiple Water Rings, releasing lightning from its orbiting orbs of light—his gaze filled with undisguised delight.

And when his gaze shifted to Baimu, who had regained his composure on the opposite side, and to the Bouffalant still roaring outside the field, along with the other Pokémon gradually roused by the commotion, his delight turned into a sigh of regret.

"So that's how it is…"

Adam murmured softly.

Boom!

The electric current unleashed to its limit instantly vaporized a great volume of pool water, and a mighty white mist surged upward with a thunderous roar.

Baimu's voice rang out once more: "Hypnosis!"

"Milo!"

A sharp gleam flashed in the shiny Milotic's eyes, transforming into a shimmering blue light.

Both sides were well aware that they couldn't even take down the opponent with a damage-doubling Mirror Coat—let alone an Electric-type Awakening move.

But since this one's previous Recover hadn't fully healed the injuries inside and out its body, another accumulation of damage from Awakening Electric would be enough to force it to use Recover once more.

Of course.

The main reason Hypnosis wasn't chosen at the very start was that, just before giving the order, Baimu suddenly noticed the fact that Adam's Milotic had already woken the instant the shiny Milotic raised its body.

If Hypnosis were used, Adam's Milotic, still in good condition at the time, might well have been able to use Safeguard under his command at the same moment, rendering Hypnosis useless and wasting a precious opportunity.

By contrast, although Awakening Electric's power was small, its activation speed was fast enough, and it came with the built-in effect of paralyzing the opponent's body on contact—effectively preventing the opponent from pulling any tricks.

Once enough damage had been dealt and Adam's Milotic's stamina dropped, it would likely have a much harder time blocking Hypnosis.

Even if it later dodged it through seasoned experience and special methods, as long as Awakening Electric hit Milotic and dealt effective damage, his side wouldn't be at a loss.

In a single word—"steady"!

Hum!

The blue light transformed into rippling waves spreading forward, and the accuracy boost from Coil made the waves far larger in scale.

But what Baimu hadn't expected was that, after the blue ripples of Hypnosis suddenly dispersed part of the white mist, Adam's Milotic, which had originally been directly ahead, had mysteriously vanished.

Gone without a trace—no, wait!

He stared at the pitch-black water's surface, his expression changing drastically, and shouted: "It's right beneath you! Use Waterfall to leap up!"

"Milo!?"

The shiny Milotic instinctively looked down, and a dark shadow in its line of sight grew from blurry to clear.

Boom!

Adam's Milotic burst out of the water!

"Wrap."

He issued the command with perfect composure, and Milotic swiftly spiraled along the shiny Milotic's body surface, using its long serpentine form to bind it tightly in place.

"Milo!"

"Milo!?"

The shiny Milotic groaned and struggled continuously, but its opponent seemed to have pinned its very lifeline—not only tightening its grip further but rendering it unable to move at all, even making it hard to breathe, and interrupting its attempt to use Waterfall.

The sudden turn of events made Baimu knit his brows.

He couldn't fathom where, after accumulating such severe damage, Adam's Milotic found the condition to maintain such swift evasiveness, movement speed, and muscular strength.

One had to remember that the shiny Milotic had also used Coil to boost its Attack and Defense, and had even learned binding techniques from Steelix—there was no reason for it to lose so quickly.

Adam, however, said with a smile: "Don't underestimate my Milotic. The Electric-type Awakening power alone can't affect it much—I'm quite confident in it as well.

"Moreover, I'm even more aware of Milotic's weaknesses beyond its typing."

…What does he mean?

【The seven-inch mark】?

Baimu watched the shiny Milotic, still struggling futilely with movements that had gone limp and feeble, and knew he had lost to his opponent's understanding of Milotic.

Thinking it over carefully, as a Milotic specialist, Adam couldn't possibly have failed to guard against a move like Hypnosis—he had most likely given the silent order the moment he called it out.

He looked at Adam in the gym's seat of honor, and the middle-aged gentleman's face was indeed filled with a smile of perfect composure.

But no matter what, he had to escape the current predicament.

"Use Hypnosis again!"

If the body couldn't move, the head still could—Wrap seemed to have locked down the shiny Milotic, but conversely, it had also locked down Adam's Milotic!

Adam said softly: "Tickle."

The words fell.

Before the blue light of Hypnosis could light up in the shiny Milotic's eyes, Adam's Milotic moved first, using its glowing white agile tail to touch various parts of the former's body.

"Mii~~"

The intense itch immediately made the shiny Milotic writhe in unbearable discomfort, but its long serpentine body was currently locked tight, leaving it pitifully little room to move—making the sensation almost unbearable.

At this moment, compared to the physical torment, the drop in Attack and Defense caused by Tickle hardly mattered.

The good news was that its Competitive ability had triggered, sharply raising its Special Attack.

Baimu saw a sliver of opportunity and spoke out repeatedly to soothe the shiny Milotic, urging it to hold on.

Just as he had in the past crushed other trainers with his various knowledge and intelligence, this time Adam had unilaterally crushed him with his understanding of Milotic.

Fortunately, this battle was neither an important Gym Challenge nor a wager deciding something of significance.

It was merely a lesson.

He watched intently every movement of Milotic's tail, every joint point where it coiled around the shiny Milotic to restrain its actions—and although the true lesson had yet to begin, this battle had already taught him a great deal.

Unfortunately, before he could look any longer, Adam's command came through once more.

"Release it. Self-recovery."

"Milo!"

Adam's Milotic, hearing the order, swiftly broke free of its binding state, pulling away from its opponent as a golden self-healing glow lit up across its body.

Above the field.

The dark clouds slowly dispersed, no longer spilling rain — the long spell of rainy weather had finally come to an end.

"Milotic, pull yourself together!"

All Baimu called out loudly to the shiny Milotic, which had finally caught its breath yet was still half unable to come back to its senses.

The combination of Bind and tickling may not have inflicted much actual damage, but it left the latter utterly exhausted, able only for the moment to watch as Adam's Milotic recovered.

The initiative it had finally seized had once again fallen into the opponent's hands.

The shiny Milotic was weary in both body and mind, and somewhat panicked.

It didn't yet share the almost resonant rapport with its trainer that Aggron did, and with its battle experience never exactly abundant, encountering another setback after its first burst of power was bound to leave it flustered.

"Don't be afraid! We still have plenty of chances!"

All Baimu shouted to soothe the shiny Milotic, not rushing to launch an attack even though he very much wanted to interrupt the opponent's self-recovery.

Aqua Ring had been continuously healing the latter's wounds and restoring its stamina, so despite how it had looked moments ago as if it was about to lose, the shiny Milotic's condition was actually still quite decent.

At worst, the Awakening had been wasted, but the Special Attack boost brought by competitiveness meant that heavily wounding the opponent again was far from impossible!

And upon hearing its trainer's voice, the shiny Milotic gradually calmed down as well.

It considered itself rather dim, so it had basically given up on most independent action, mainly following commands to make every decision… whatever the trainer said, that was what it did.

The two looked again at Adam's Milotic, still recovering. It was clear that this fellow's condition after taking the Awakening was nowhere near as easy as Adam had claimed — otherwise it wouldn't still be recovering after so long without stopping.

Seeing the battle seemed about to return to its original state, All Baimu's gaze sharpened.

"Use Blizzard to freeze the water surface in front of you!"

A fresh start is still a chance!

"Milo!"

The shiny Milotic took a deep breath and suddenly blasted forward a howling gale mixed with snowflakes; the waves along the way were instantly frozen into ice, emitting crisp cracking sounds all the way.

Compared to the Ice Beam earlier that failed to leave a single block of ice, the freezing efficiency of Blizzard after the Special Attack boost was visibly, dramatically better.

Of course.

The landing point this time was also different from before. Having gained experience, All Baimu clearly knew that as long as he focused on freezing the middle section of the pool water first, it would be enough to hinder the rapid formation of Whirlpool.

A slight difference would lead to a vastly different result!

Whoooosh—

Amid the fierce howling of the gale, the Blizzard roared toward the Milotic whose golden light had yet to fade.

"Nice idea, but unfortunately my ace technique has never been limited to just one form."

Adam smiled and said: "Aqua Ring."

The words had barely fallen.

An aquamarine water ring materialized around the Milotic's body — but unlike the shiny Milotic's multiple rings, it had only a single one — yet it was exceptionally thick!

Boom!

With a roar like floodwaters bursting a levee, the Aqua Ring, a veritable pillar of water, instantly swelled and thickened further as it collided with the incoming Blizzard!

Crack-crack-crack—

The brittle sounds of continuous freezing were like dozens of bags of chips being crushed at once; the surface of the Aqua Ring was assailed by the Blizzard and rapidly turned to ice crystals, but as it never ceased swelling and expanding, every one of those ice crystals was shattered into chunks.

In the blink of an eye.

The Aqua Ring, now carrying ice chunks of all sizes, had already arrived before the shiny Milotic — the Blizzard had failed entirely to impede its expansion.

"Milo!"

The shiny Milotic's eyes went wide; there was no way to dodge.

Boom!

Water exploded! Ice shards flew!

The shiny Milotic was forced to tilt backward and sink into the water.

Ice fragments scraped across his face with a faint sting, but All Baimu paid it no heed. He stared at the gradually dissipating Aqua Ring, a hint of delight glimmering in his eyes.

He had seen this unique application of Aqua Ring used by Lance's Milotic in the anime, and had even prompted the shiny Milotic to learn this technique, but it had never grasped the knack — at best it could bully small children.

It was nowhere near the level Adam's Milotic had just displayed —

For a non-attacking move like Aqua Ring to so easily break through a Blizzard head-on was unthinkable.

There was truly so much to learn!

All Baimu forcefully suppressed his inner delight, his gaze sweeping across the pool filled with floating ice. When he spotted a dark shadow rapidly darting forward beneath the ice in the middle, he immediately shouted: "Awakening!"

"Hm?"

Adam's gaze, which had been on his face, dropped, and he likewise saw the shiny Milotic already closing in on his own Milotic. He chuckled lightly: "Truly a tough little one. But I've already seen what I wanted to see — let's end it here. Hurricane."

Underwater.

"Milo!"

The shiny Milotic, which had rushed up to its opponent, had several bright yellow orbs of light spinning around its body; crackling bolts of electricity leapt forth and shot toward the lower half of Adam's Milotic!

Crackle—

The current instantly illuminated the somewhat dim underwater scene, but it did not strike as the shiny Milotic had anticipated — every bolt was blocked outside by an azure airflow that stirred the water into a vortex, with the opponent at the very center of the watery whirlpool.

A Water Spout!?

The shiny Milotic stared blankly as its opponent rode the Water Spout skyward alongside it, hovering high above the pool like a Rayquaza soaring through clouds, its winding gaze surveying everything below.

It hurriedly chased after them, and the instant its head broke the water's surface, its trainer's shout rang out beside its ear.

"Quick, dive into the water and use Mirror Coat!"

"Dragon Pulse!"

Astonishing energy swiftly gathered in Adam's Milotic's mouth; it stared at the Shiny Milotic that had surfaced and spat it out without mercy!

Roar!

The surging, near-screaming azure dragon of energy crashed down with a thunderous boom, claws and fangs bared in utter ferocity!

Light shimmered across the Shiny Milotic's body like glass, bright and smooth, and its entire form had already sunk back beneath the water.

Boom—!

A tremendous roar shook the air! A pillar of water shot skyward!

The surging Dragon-type energy was like a high-explosive shell, blasting up over half the pool battlefield.

The arena's dome, struck by the violent torrent of water, let out a frenzied rumbling; scattered spray flew everywhere like a downpour, and in an instant soaked all of Baimu's barely half-dry clothes.

He had to remind himself—this was the true strength of Adam's Milotic.

Putting together everything that had just happened.

All Baimu understood that this former Gym Leader Adam, who was practically semi-retired, was more than capable of holding the position of a Hoenn Elite Four member, and would even be a remarkably outstanding one among the Elite Four of the entire world.

Unfortunately, the League never sent him an invitation to succeed as an Elite Four member, so Adam's achievements as a trainer could only stop at top-tier Gym Leader.

Strength and achievement were two different things.

That this battle had dragged on so long was undoubtedly because Adam, who wanted to see the Shiny Milotic's full limits with his own eyes, had been holding back to some extent, only bringing out his full power at the very end to put a period on this match.

Scattered water droplets dripped down from the ceiling.

In the pool, now more than half emptied, the two Milotic each pulled apart a stretch of distance and gazed at each other.

Immediately after.

The Shiny Milotic swayed its head as if drunk, then slumped back down into the water, splashing a bit as it gasped for breath violently.

The Pokémon cheering from outside the field each showed looks of regret.

"…I lost, Teacher."

All Baimu lowered his head in concession, and pulled out a Poké Ball to recall the Shiny Milotic. "You worked hard, your performance was great, rest easy."

"Mm."

Adam smiled and stepped down from the raised platform.

His Milotic also swam to the edge of the pool, and together with him came to stand before All Baimu, who had just jumped down from the platform.

"You surprised me greatly, All Baimu."

Adam said softly: "Although I have raised my evaluation of you again and again, your performance still far exceeded my expectations. To be honest, battling you truly made me very happy."

"But…"

He looked at All Baimu, whose expression seemed to hold a trace of confusion, and said with a sigh of emotion and regret: "I must lament that you are already a fairly mature and excellent trainer."

"Uh… huh?"

All Baimu was completely baffled by him.

How on earth could perfectly good praise come out sounding like criticism?

"You've been a trainer for less than a year, haven't you?" Adam asked gently.

All Baimu thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "Yes."

"Too fast."

The middle-aged gentleman raised a hand to his brow, lamenting: "If only I had met you a little earlier. The you of now already possesses a Pokémon that can hardly be separated from you… I had intended to shape for you a brand-new and complete vessel, but during the battle I realized you already possessed such a wonderful…"

When Adam said this, he was looking at Aggron.

All Baimu watched this scene, first bewildered, then his gaze met Aggron's equally bewildered one, and he suddenly understood.

"A matchless partner!"

He softly finished Adam's sentence.