Chapter 613: The Human-Shaped Evil Dragon

"Bubble Beam!"

Yamei quickly issued the command.

The Iron Claw Lobster wasn't far from Bosscorado, and given the speed the latter had just burst out with, dodging another one would likely be very difficult.

So she believed she had to disrupt the enemy first — from line of sight, positioning, and other angles.

"Hizaa!"

The Iron Claw Lobster moved the claws beneath its body and ran toward Bosscorado's flank; its diamond-shaped mouthparts opened, and countless turquoise bubbles sprayed forth from within, suddenly plastering all over the latter's face.

Pop pop pop—

Some of the bubbles burst, but more remained, blocking its line of sight like a mask.

"Guou?"

Bosscorado instinctively raised a claw to swat them away.

Seeing this, Yamei immediately commanded: "Now! Double Crab Hammer!"

"Hizaa!"

The Iron Claw Lobster raised its ferocious great pincers; a wash of aquamarine light enveloped them, making them look as if they'd grown two sizes larger — exceptionally menacing.

It seized the momentum to raise both pincers high and smash them viciously down at Bosscorado, whose attention was entirely fixed on the bubbles!

Whoosh!

The wind sounded heavy and dull!

Then came a crisp clang of metal striking metal, and the aquamarine light flared bright!

Boom!

Water-type energy exploded, the shockwave surging wildly into a skyful of white mist!

The commentator shouted: "The Iron Claw Lobster's Crab Hammer lands! Competitor Yamei has decided to press the advantage, using a Water-type move that Bosscorado has trouble resisting for a continuous assault! For Bosscorado, this—"

A heavy claw swept the mist aside, revealing Bosscorado with two impact marks on its chest — and that was all.

It didn't even change its expression in the slightest!

"Still no effect!" The commentator stared wide-eyed, rubbing his eyelids to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

This was a super-effective Water-type move!

And it still had no effect?

The audience had already gone numb. Standing there taking hits to display one's strength may be a foolish method, but it is also the most direct one.

Until spear and shield truly clash, who knows which is sharper, which is harder?

Bosscorado had successfully shown everyone in and out of the arena its unimaginable defensive ability — and the enormous gulf between All Baimu and the competitor Yamei.

"Hizaa…"

The Iron Claw Lobster retreated step after step, utterly unable to believe that its prized great pincers had failed to break through the opponent's defense!

At the same time.

Bosscorado suddenly took a step forward.

"—Water Spout!!"

Yamei was so startled her hair stood on end, nearly cracking her voice.

How could the Iron Claw Lobster dare hesitate? Water sprayed out beneath its claws, and with a boom it transformed into a glowing azure pillar of water that rose from the ground!

Rumble rumble!

The creature was clearly preparing to leap clear over Bosscorado's head and flee to the other half of the field!

But it had already made its move.

How could All Baimu possibly let it escape so easily.

"Iron Tail!"

"Guou."

Bosscorado was seen suddenly ducking low, and the Iron Claw Lobster, which had been attempting to leap, was instantly pierced through its outer water membrane by a silver streak!

Boom!

A deafening roar!

"Bosscorado has struck! The Iron Claw Lobster was hit in the abdomen by Iron Tail — the effect is significant! The Iron Claw Lobster's situation is looking very bad!"

Amid the commentary, the Iron Claw Lobster, its water membrane shattered by the Iron Tail strike, flew high into the air, its abdominal shell riddled with cracks.

"Hizaa!"

Its pained cry drew a shout from Yamei: "Iron Claw Lobster! Hold on! Use Water Spout one more time!"

However, Bosscorado's offensive wasn't finished yet — its thick tail that had just struck the opponent stood straight up toward the sky, like a dark-gray steel needle fitted with two iron rings.

In an instant.

A mass of oppressive dark clouds churned and expanded in midair.

Yamei's heart raced—

BOOM!!

A bolt of azure lightning plummeted from the dark clouds, striking the falling Iron Claw Lobster at a speed the naked eye could barely discern — the flashing Lei Ting like a cage of lightning!

Boom!

Smoke rose in midair!

The commentator roared: "Thunder lands! Bosscorado used its tail as a lightning rod, channeling the bolt onto the Iron Claw Lobster! This hit is extremely heavy for the Iron Claw Lobster! Can it still hold on!?"

Thud!

The Iron Claw Lobster crashed onto the grass, its eyes replaced by spirals, its whole body covered in scorched-black marks with thin smoke drifting up.

Fortunately this was the Pokémon world — otherwise, that thunderbolt alone would have been enough to turn it into a fully cooked spicy crayfish.

"Iron Claw Lobster is unable to battle!"

The referee's ruling came fast.

The commentator shouted in cheers: "Got it! Baimu has taken down Yamei's second Pokémon — Yamei has only one Pokémon left! The situation has fallen into a major crisis!"

The audience erupted in cheers!

Aggron propped up its upper body, swept the fallen Iron Claw Lobster at its side to Yamei's front with its tail, then stretched out a claw and beckoned at her.

Third one — send it out already!

"..."

Yamei's face flushed red with anger. Aggron's mocking attitude of 'struggle all you want' made her clench her fists, yet she could do nothing about it.

The gap was too great!

With the same two attacks, neither Iron Claw Lobster nor Houndoom could break Aggron's defense, while every move the latter made seized the vital points of the first two!

How do you fight this?

She wanted to calm down and think of a plan, but the match wouldn't give her that much time to prepare.

When she noticed the referee eager to raise the flag, Yamei's heart panicked, and she could only throw the Poké Ball she was gripping in her hand.

Bang!

A flash of Bai Guang.

Aggron's final opponent took the field.

"Sableye~"

The short and hunchbacked Sableye appeared, a strange glint flashing in its sapphire-like eyes.

And upon seeing this Pokémon that was only a little taller than its knee, Aggron changed its previous contemptuous attitude and became somewhat serious.

After all, it feared no head-on clash — it only feared all kinds of bizarre status moves!

Status moves were one of the effective paths to the weak defeating the strong!

"Taunt."

Sure enough, the command came from the trainer too.

Aggron unleashed the move on Sableye without hesitation, a bizarre blood-red color surfacing on its body, a low growl like muffled thunder rumbling from its mouth.

The commentator was especially shocked, shouting: "Baimu has gone on the offensive! From the start of the match until now, he has finally issued a command before his opponent!"

That sounded somewhat comical, but it was indeed the reality happening in Arena C.

"Ohhh..."

The audience grew excited.

Sableye actually made Baimu and Aggron take it so seriously? Didn't that mean they were going to see an exciting back-and-forth showdown?

But unlike the passionate audience, Yamei at this moment was in utter panic, shouting: "Sableye, don't listen to its roar! Counter directly with Swagger!"

"Sableye!"

Sableye cackled eerily as it rubbed its sharp claws together, waves of red light forming between its hands.

But just before the light waves fired off, the continuously emitted roar caused a strange flash of anger across its face, and a blood-red glow enveloped its body.

Snap!

The red light waves vanished in an instant!

Sableye was stunned. "Sableye?"

The commentator hurriedly conveyed everything happening on the field: "Aggron's Taunt has been successfully released! Sableye's Swagger has been interrupted! For a period of time afterward, it won't be able to use status moves!"

Yamei's heart, along with the commentator's voice ringing through the venue, instantly sank to the bottom.

If Sableye had the Prankster ability, then even appearing later, the speed of releasing Swagger might not necessarily be slower than Aggron's Taunt.

Unfortunately, it didn't.

Having lost its status moves, Sableye no longer possessed the qualification to face Aggron, and officially entered the 'death' countdown!

"Sableye, use Shadow Sneak!"

Yamei still hadn't given up.

But Aggron, having already made its move, would no longer give her a chance. It completely ignored the huge shadow spreading beneath Sableye, raised both claws, and slammed them heavily into the ground!

"Stone Edge."

Thud!

The ground trembled, and glowing giant Shi Zhu burst from the earth!

Boom boom boom boom boom—

The already scarce grass was utterly destroyed, leaving only a scene of devastation.

At the same moment.

A huge shadow rose behind Aggron, transforming into a bizarre ghost figure that lunged at it, but no matter how the ghost figure bit and tore, it couldn't shake it in the slightest.

In fact, Shadow Sneak held it back instead, causing Sableye to be unable to dodge the rapidly spreading giant Shi Zhu.

Sableye: "Sable—"

Boom!

The hoarse cry was drowned in the explosive roar of the Shi Zhu shattering.

Clouds of dust billowed!

"Sableye!" Yamei screamed.

But she was already powerless to turn the tide, and could only watch helplessly as the dust cleared to reveal Sableye lying dead — its once lively gem-like eyes now dim and lifeless.

"Aggron~"

Aggron, quiet from beginning to end, threw its head back and let out a great roar.

Victory declared!

Beep—!!

The referee's whistle rang out across the entire arena. He announced loudly, "Absol is unable to battle! The match is over! The victor is Contestant Baimu!"

"He's taken it! One strike decides the match! Aggron has displayed its outstanding defense and offense to perfection! What a powerfully moving Pokémon!"

The commentator's voice drew thunderous cheers from the crowd.

Although Aggron stood and took hits the entire match, because its opponents were usually easily taken down by one or two attacks, the matches didn't drag on too long.

This clean, decisive offensive style made many people who'd wondered why Baimu fought this way suddenly understand.

Not take hits?

Then the match would probably be over in two or three minutes!

And similar tactics are actually commonplace all over the world—

Champion exhibition battles.

Videos occasionally circulate online of some regional champion accepting a roadside battle from an unknown trainer, and the content is strikingly identical to this match!

Taking damage willingly to showcase defense, then counterattacking to showcase offense!

The media from every outlet looked at Absol with pity, sighing as they watched her sit blankly on her knees—she couldn't help it, running into a powerhouse like Baimu.

The cruelty of battle and tournaments is precisely reflected in moments like this.

Hopefully this match won't leave her with psychological scars.

Inside the arena.

Baimu welcomed Aggron back. "Good work, nicely done!"

Honestly, if Absol hadn't been so arrogant, he hadn't planned to use this kind of tactic—after all, it was a bit too bullying.

Unlike the decisive one-shot kill tactic of three consecutive strikes, the key to this tactic is giving the opponent the illusion that "I might actually win."

But by the time the opponent truly realizes they can't win, the battle is already out of their control.

They can only grit their teeth and swallow it, forcing themselves to keep fighting.

And usually in a champion's roadside battle, the champion as the one in control can call a stop to spare the challenger's feelings, so they don't lose too embarrassingly.

A tournament match can't.

No matter how disgusting an opponent you run into in a tournament, you have to hold your nose and keep fighting.

Like Harley's rivalry with May at the Contest Hall—that guy is so disgusting you'd want to climb into the TV and beat him up,

but in a match you can't actually do that, you just have to tough it out until the end.

"……"

He glanced at Absol across the field, somewhat surprised this one could still stand—her ability to handle pressure was really something.

Or maybe he hadn't hit her hard enough?

While Baimu was pondering, the other party approached.

"I-I won't acknowledge you!"

Absol's face was pale as if drained of blood, but her tone was as hard as ever.

What nerve!

Like I need your acknowledgment?

He really couldn't be bothered to respond, turning to leave the field with Aggron.

Just then, Absol's voice called out from behind again.

"A Coordinator like you will never understand what a real man, a real battle, is! Battles aren't playing dress-up house! The strongest among you, Mi Ke Li, already lost his Champion title, and now he's not even an Elite Four member!"

Baimu stopped.

He turned slightly, his brows furrowing.

Absol, seeing this, gained momentum. "What? I'm not wrong—"

Whoosh!

The wind howled!

Her vision blurred, and a tall figure suddenly appeared right before her.

Absol's words cut off abruptly. An indescribable pressure bore down on her like a mountain, freezing her face and making it hard to breathe.

Until now, Baimu had always kept a distance of four or five meters from her, so she couldn't directly gauge his height.

For the first time.

With less than half a meter between them, Absol finally realized just how tall Baimu was—she could barely reach his chest!

But the point wasn't his height.

The point was that terrifying gaze. She could feel every vital spot on her body being locked onto by his eyes, so that the words on her lips couldn't come out no matter what, and her heart was pounding furiously!

As if her body's instincts were warning her brain that if she kept talking, there was only death ahead!

Absol didn't dare lift her head, didn't dare meet that gaze that sent cold sweat streaming down her back.

Until—

"Hah, and you think you're fit to talk about Mi Ke Li?"

The contemptuous words struck like thunder, hammering heavily into her heart. She couldn't help but stumble backward and fall to the ground, her already pale face now the color of a corpse.

She instinctively raised her head and saw a pair of cold, fierce eyes.

Absol froze.

Fortunately, the other party didn't do anything else, turning to leave with Aggron, but she felt a relief as if she'd narrowly escaped death.

"Ha... ha..."

The terrifying pressure dissipated completely, and she suddenly realized she'd been so scared she'd forgotten to breathe!

All Baimu, All Baimu!

This guy has definitely killed people! More than one!

Yamei was absolutely certain—otherwise there was no explaining how she, who feared neither heaven nor earth, could be scared to this extent!

Realizing this, she ignored the staff's concern and left in a daze.

Elsewhere.

Aggron kept glancing at its Trainer.

"What's wrong?"

All Baimu hesitated, then said: "Fine, I know I shouldn't have done that in public just now, but when I heard her mention Mi Ke Li, I really couldn't hold back."

"Guu~"

Aggron shook its head.

What it cared about wasn't that sort of thing at all.

It had simply understood the true source of why the Three-Headed Dragon was rated as ferocious by those Pokémon in the Dragon Nest—

It's because of you!

All Baimu!