Chapter 606: Lily of the Valley? Sinnoh League!

Elise's battling style was as wild as ever.

The entire match was nothing but offense, still offense — she looked every bit like she meant to crush her opponent's Pokémon until they couldn't breathe.

In terms of results.

Her "tactics" were a smashing success; aside from landing a few moves at the start, her opponent's Pokémon spent the rest of the match passively taking hits until they lost the ability to battle.

Watching it, one got the sense that her opponent was just standing there in a daze.

In truth, commands had been shouted out countless times, but the Pokémon never got a chance to counter.

"No wonder she charged straight for the Champion throne after the Battle Frontier."

Baimu gave Elise's strength a thumbs-up — not only had her Axew evolved into a Haxorus, but the Gabite that had evolved in front of him had now evolved again into a Garchomp…

Among the trainers he knew, weren't there a few too many who owned a Garchomp?

Urarara, Mitsuro, and now Elise.

This was clearly Hoenn — the species that should be everywhere was Metagross.

Still, Elise's Garchomp was surely different from Mitsuro's; he was looking forward to the day the two of them faced off for real.

"Trainer Elise wins!"

The referee announced the result loudly.

The only show-off on Elise's team — Emolga — blew kisses to the audience in high spirits, drawing laughter from many spectators.

The first round of the main tournament's double battles eliminated another hundred and twenty-eight trainers.

The atmosphere at the Lily of the Valley Conference grew ever more fervent; spectators discussing the matches could be seen everywhere along the streets, and Hoenn's many battle forums were flooded with endless threads of discussion and match breakdowns.

As the most famous trainer in the tournament, Baimu had the most people breaking down his matches.

Regarding Kobei, many gave the assessment that from the very first second Trick Room came out, the match was already lost.

Others found that take hard to swallow.

They argued Pokémon battles shouldn't be that simple — the main reason Kobei lost was that he gave up, resigned to Trick Room appearing.

If Kobei had tried to shatter Trick Room, the situation would surely have reversed in an instant!

As for how to shatter Trick Room…

Of course, with aura!

That line of reasoning drew mockery from others — sure, aura helps boost a Pokémon's fighting power, but "aura fixes everything"? You must be joking.

Which regional Champion ever became Champion on aura alone?

That person got shut down and didn't dare speak further, poor thing unaware that in the Kalos region there once was a ten-year-old boy who shattered Trick Room with Hawlucha's X-Scissor.

The reasoning being that Bug-type moves are super effective against Psychic-type moves —

The writers are absolute geniuses.

And soon enough.

The next morning.

Baimu faced the second round of double battles; this time more people in the stands were holding up phones and cameras, and some had even brought professional video cameras.

The array of long lenses and short lenses drew attention.

"Really not necessary…"

He sighed, understanding that after two rounds of battling his strength had finally drawn wide attention from the battling community — the conference's various media outlets and other competitors had all come to gather intel.

Kobei, who had fallen to an information gap, served as a warning to these people.

But Baimu still had many special tactics he wanted to save for the finals — that would draw even more eyes, and the first round of the main tournament didn't carry enough weight.

Let's first see what Pokémon his opponent had picked.

He made up his mind and looked toward his opponent in the distance — a tall woman with long blue hair, dressed in an all-white bodysuit, wearing a mask on her face resembling the blue eye-rings of a Mamoswine.

Brock would definitely like this type — a tall, mature older-sister style.

Baimu tilted his head toward the stands and, sure enough, spotted Brock beside Bai Guang, his face red like a Tauros, startling Mitsuro into wondering what was wrong with him.

Suddenly.

The commentator's voice came through the broadcast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for waiting — the third match in Arena Four features Trainer Baimu from Iron Town and Trainer Lede from Snowpoint City!"

Sinnoh again!

It's like poking a hornet's nest of Sinnoh trainers! This is the third one already!

Was he really taking part in the Lily of the Valley Conference?

Or was it the Sinnoh League?!

Baimu had already grumbled about it yesterday when confirming his opponent; hearing the trainer introductions on the broadcast today, he couldn't help but curse inwardly once more.

The tournament's random matching system was messing with him!

He just hoped the third round wouldn't bring another Sinnoh native — if he kept beating Sinnoh trainers, someone might notice and organize a boycott.

Bang bang bang bang!

Four Poké Balls flew high into the air, white light flashing bright.

Porygon2 landed, and right beside it appeared a towering, massive figure.

Sunlight struck Steelix's body and reflected silver, while also casting a huge shadow that completely engulfed Porygon2.

A chorus of gasps rose from the stands; spectators in the front rows near Baimu even had to crane their necks upward.

"That size! It's enormous!"

"Even if Elite Four Bruno's Onix evolved, it'd probably be about this big, right?"

"It took up nearly half the field in one go!"

The venue was in an uproar.

Trainer Reid tilted her head slightly upward, feeling a tightness in her chest just from seeing the colossal Steelix.

Fortunately, her Pokémon did not cower before the enemy's overwhelming size—among them, Abomasnow even let out a roar, trying to intimidate the Steelix directly opposite.

"Wroooar!"

More importantly, it was to trigger its Ability!

A white mist could be seen rapidly expanding from beneath it, swiftly spreading across the entire field before rising into the air and condensing into cloud-like vapor, with fine ice particles constantly falling from within.

Steelix, being the tallest, was the first to come into contact with the falling ice particles, a look that resembled having been struck flashing across its face.

Porygon2 likewise took a painful hit from the hail, but it paid it little mind, instead fixing its gaze on the two Pokémon opposite.

Especially the Glalie beside Abomasnow—in this hail weather, the fellow was beaming all over, grinning so widely its mouth was nearly unable to close.

The 【Ice Body】 Ability!

The last piece of intelligence had finally been completely filled in!

Porygon2 was somewhat excited.

The intelligence it had gathered did not record every opponent's full roster of Pokémon in detail—Abilities, signature moves, and the like often needed to be gradually completed as the tournament progressed.

Glalie's Ability was indeed one of them.

At the same moment.

The referee waved down the dual-colored flags.

"Match begin!"

Both sides issued commands without a moment's hesitation.

Reid was the first to raise her hand and shout: "Abomasnow, use Wood Hammer! Glalie, use Icicle Crash! All attacks on Steelix!"

All Baimu's command came a beat later: "Sandstorm. Conversion 2—Steel."

All four Pokémon acted upon receiving their commands, and the fastest to execute was unexpectedly Porygon2.

Light flowed across its body surface, and the deep silver of alloy steel immediately replaced its original red-and-blue coloration, a sense of hardness surging forth.

Reid was slightly stunned by this change, the corresponding term popping into her mind—【Conversion 2】!

Yesterday, after learning who her opponent was, she had specifically gone to search for information on the Pokémon Porygon2.

In numerous programs featuring interviews with Akihabara Professors, she had learned of this remarkable move that could change its own type based on the move the opponent used.

As expected, All Baimu had brought it out!

Fortunately, she had not let Abomasnow and Glalie attack Porygon2!

Boom!

A pale-blue energy mist was sprayed by Glalie toward the colossal Steelix's head, while Abomasnow howled and leaped high, its right fist covered in an emerald-green wooden stake.

The two came on with tremendous momentum, clearly preparing to take down Steelix through concentrated fire—even if they couldn't take it down, they would do their utmost to strip it of any ability to resist.

However.

The colossal Steelix merely gazed coldly at the two opponents charging in.

It drew in a deep breath.

"Rooooar!!"

Accompanied by a furious roar, the three lateral steel bones the colossal Steelix had deliberately erected began to spin thunderously, leaving only blurred afterimages in the blink of an eye.

Furious yellow sand swirled around it, and in an instant a terrifying sandstorm formed!

Rumble rumble!

The heavens and earth changed color!

The falling icicles from above were instantly shattered, the leaping Abomasnow was also blocked outside, and the tiny, delicate Porygon2 had long since been blown off to who-knows-where.

Most critically, the white mist cluster dropping hail from the sky was also blasted apart amid the sandstorm's rampage!

"What a terrifying Sandstorm! Steelix has unleashed a powerful move befitting its size! Abomasnow and Glalie's attacks failed to land!"

The commentator was beside himself with excitement.

The Sandstorm weather replaced the hail, yet Steelix still had not stopped the sandstorm's rotation—indeed, it grew ever more intense, causing Abomasnow and Glalie to get sand in their eyes from the flying grit everywhere.

For a time, they found it difficult to see the situation around them.

Reid was the same—covering her eyes, she was shocked at how terrifying Steelix's Sandstorm was, a sense of urgency rising in her heart as she shouted loudly: "Glalie, use Protect to shield Abomasnow! Abomasnow, use Blizzard toward the sky!"

The round, rolling Glalie flew like a ghost to Abomasnow's front, a deep-blue spherical honeycomb shield unfurling before it.

And Abomasnow behind it raised its head, ignoring the漫天 flying sand as it opened its great mouth wide, gathering a gleaming ice-blue orb of light.

But before it could unleash the Blizzard, a large net crackling with electricity descended from the sky.

【Electroweb】!

Zzzt!

Glalie blocked the front but failed to cover the gap above— the spider web woven of lightning instantly wrapped Abomasnow up like a zongzi, the powerful current stimulating it into全身 numbness, and the orb of light gathered in its mouth unconsciously dissipated.

"Wroooar!"

Abomasnow let out a pained, muffled roar.

Reid forced her eyes open, barely making out the "culprit"—

Porygon2, which had been blown into the sky by the sandstorm!

So Conversion 2 had only created a thin metallic outer shell! This fellow could actually defend against the Sandstorm while launching an attack on Abomasnow!

But the wind is so strong—how on earth is it aiming so accurately!?

Reid did not know that Porygon2, under All Baimu's command, had used 【Lock-On】 in advance. The moment Glalie's protective screen before it vanished, a sense of foreboding welled up in her.

"Glalie, use Substitute! Abomasnow, break free of the Electroweb! Use Avalanche to attack Steelix!"

At the same moment.

The colossal Steelix, which had previously resembled a personified tornado, stopped the rotation of its lateral steel bones, and its erected body slowly crouched down.

The massive sandstorm gradually shrank in scale.

Blizzard King and Glalie finally managed to open their eyes wide, confirmed their opponent, and then launched their attack and defense.

But before they could make any move.

"Roooar…"

The giant Steelix let out a thunderous, muffled roar. Its thick lateral steel bones began rotating once more, kicking up no sand at all — only rings of silvery-white light forming in its wake.

A terrifying hum of gathering energy continued to emanate from within the field, causing Blizzard King and Glalie to show looks of dread.

The next instant.

"Heavy Slam."

Boom-boom-boom—!!

A streak of silver light flashed, and a deafening roar rang in the ears of the spectators!

They covered their ears, staring in shock at the giant Steelix that had, in the blink of an eye, charged from one side of the field to the other, slamming Blizzard King and Glalie hard into the wall at the field's edge!

It was like the fastest Shinkansen train in Hoenn running at full speed whooshing past one's eyes and then slamming into a building.

The visual impact and terrifying wind pressure produced by the object's massive size and mass made the vast majority of spectators in safe positions feel a chill in their hearts.

And Raid in the trainer's seating area was completely frozen on the spot.

After several seconds, he stiffly turned his neck to look at Blizzard King, whose small, twitching arm poked out from the shattered wall — its current state confirming it had no power to fight back whatsoever.

"S-Steelix's Heavy Slam was extremely effective! Blizzard King has been slammed into the wall! A terrifying strike that makes your heart tremble!"

The commentator's voice trembled for a moment before recovering.

That's right.

Only Blizzard King.

Glalie had created a Substitute at the moment of impact to avoid the direct hit, but even so, it was blasted away by the shockwave. In its mind lingered the sensation from the moment of impact — its body nearly twisting apart.

"Oh ne…"

Glalie looked at the giant Steelix, which had pulled its huge head out of the wall. The opponent tilted its head, and the sight of its gleaming white teeth looking its way made it shiver uncontrollably.

It was as if it had returned to the days when it lived atop a snowy mountain and witnessed a real avalanche with its own eyes.

A natural disaster.

Glalie equated the giant Steelix with the avalanche in its mind. It couldn't even hear its trainer's shouts anymore, standing there dumbly as if it had gone stupid.

All Baimu didn't give this silly child a chance.

"Thunder, Iron Tail."

Porygon2, also blasted away by the shockwave, swung its metallic-colored tail and, like a fisherman, cast a net made of lightning toward the nearby Glalie.

Glalie belatedly realized it needed to dodge, but it was already too late.

It was trapped in place by the Thunder.

And the giant Steelix swung its suffocatingly massive tail, slamming it down viciously onto Glalie.

For the latter.

It was as if a mountain had toppled down onto it.

Boom!

Dust swirled up!

After the wind blew it away, Glalie was revealed, deeply embedded in the ground.

It and its companion Blizzard King — one wedged in the wall, the other buried underground — had both turned into spiral-eyed fainted Pokémon.

"Blizzard King and Glalie are unable to battle! Contestant All Baimu wins!"

The referee raised high the red flag representing All Baimu.

The commentator excitedly shouted: "A crushing victory! Contestant All Baimu advances to the third round without breaking a sweat! Where is his limit! Let us wait and see!"

Boom!

The spectator stands erupted in an extremely enthusiastic response!

It was truly because the giant Steelix's presence was too overwhelming — whether it was the sandstorm that embodied a natural disaster, or the Heavy Slam that fully exploited its size advantage.

It made their hearts tremble while also letting them shout with exhilaration!

This is what battles should look like!

"Steelix! Steelix! Steelix!"

The entire arena began chanting Steelix's name, which made the giant Steelix, who had just been acting so cool, unable to resist showing a goofy smile.

"Rooar~"

It loved being adored the most.

Back in Iron Town, there were also many people who worshipped it!