Chapter 676: Champion's Ace

No place left to dodge.

What is King Stribog to do?

Shi Yuan Zhi's judgment was to trade the substitute for the real body.

Cradily unleashed 【Power Whip】, four glowing tentacles shooting out to bind King Stribog, but King Stribog seemed to shed its shell like a golden cicada — its body surface flashed with light, and in an instant it split backward into a complete body!

In the blink of an eye.

Two emerald-green tentacles suddenly bound the substitute King Stribog in front, while the remaining two lost none of their momentum and kept going to capture its true body.

Unfortunately, the opponent immediately retreated beyond the tentacles' maximum reach.

Cradily strained to extend itself but still couldn't catch its true body, so it could only turn and thrash the substitute with all its might, destroying it to remove any future trouble.

At the same moment.

Under the sandstorm's assault, many of King Stribog's clones dispersed. The phantom of the emerald rootstalk beneath Cradily kept drawing blue light up from the ground into its body, and the snow-white frost marks left on its cheek by the Ice Beam rapidly vanished.

As if it had never been hit at all.

Setting aside the Light Screen, the sandstorm weather also boosts the Special Defense of Rock-type Cradily. Right now its special endurance is more than enough to easily take King Stribog's Ice Beam.

Recovery is even simpler still.

The first clash between the two ended with King Stribog alone expending stamina.

Though a momentary advantage doesn't decide the winner, anyone with eyes could see the current pace of the match firmly held in Champion Dawu's hands.

Shi Yuan Zhi's Pokémon had been repeatedly suppressed not long after the match began.

Beyond all doubt.

Skarmory played a very important "paving the way" role — it made Shi Yuan Zhi's Pokémon switch in and out constantly, and who knows how many times the invisible Light Rock took hits.

The subsequent Flygon gave Claydol so many chances to attack — a disaster upon disaster.

King Stribog is in trouble!

Baimu mourned silently for this Pokémon that should have been the rain team's core special attacker.

Hexagonal stats are hexagonal stats, but without item boosts and Swift Swim acceleration, and with the opponent's Water Absorb making rain teams pointless, King Stribog's strength was cut by at least half.

A critical hit…

The only chance to turn things around?

Inside the field.

Smoke once again poured from King Stribog's mouth, shrouding the small half of the battlefield around Cradily.

Within the raging sandstorm, a small portion of the pitch-black smoke dispersed, but most of it still clung together like gathered cotton, refusing to scatter no matter how the yellow sand eroded it.

Cradily was unmoved.

The dual screens and sandstorm do have time limits, but once King Stribog chose to stall for time, it could directly use stat-boosting moves to buff itself.

That would be even harder to fight!

Shi Yuan Zhi naturally understood this too, so he had King Stribog quietly approach.

It suddenly emerged from the fog behind Cradily and spat a plume of pure white smoke at it.

Yawn!

Baimu froze briefly, then quickly realized something and looked toward Champion Dawu.

He saw the Yawn's cloud envelop Cradily, but Cradily paid it no heed — in an instant it shot four tentacles to bind King Stribog's remaining four and whipped them back and forth!

Bang bang!

The repeated heavy strikes combined with King Stribog's desperate struggling made it obvious this move packed serious power.

However.

King Stribog's endurance was ultimately no joke — a full Power Whip still failed to take it down.

Cradily clung tightly to King Stribog and wouldn't let it break free, while its four idle tentacles gathered a verdant seed above its head.

Pop!

The seed burst open and transformed into smoke that drifted down.

【Worry Seed】 — a wondrous move that changes a Pokémon's Ability to 【Insomnia】.

In the games it can only be used on foes, but in the anime world it's not so restricted — as long as it's aimed at oneself, it works just the same.

The vast majority of moves don't distinguish between friend and foe.

The key was that Champion Dawu used this move to counter King Stribog's Yawn. In theory it did break the move, but going from Water Absorb to Insomnia meant it could no longer be immune to Water-type energy!

Shi Yuan Zhi gambled on this!?

He watched the struggling King Stribog in surprise, saw its body suddenly light up with a flash of Bai Guang that gradually gathered into its eyes and its gun-barrel-like mouth, and instantly understood.

【Laser Focus】!

So that's it! King Stribog had this move in hand — the next attack is guaranteed to be a critical hit!

Hydro Pump was most likely its strongest move, so it would rather endure Cradily's Power Whip than fail to strip Cradily's Ability away.

Champion Dawu walked right into the trap!

Baimu's heart tightened. Champion Dawu himself below seemed to realize this too, and ordered Cradily to go all-out with Power Whip.

Cradily, with danger bearing down, summoned every ounce of strength to whip its emerald tentacles against King Stribog's body — but the indomitable will that Shi Yuan Zhi's Pokémon were known for let King Stribog hold on to the very end.

Hydro Pump was about to fire!

Baimu watching the match grew anxious as if he were right there in it, his right fist clenching tight.

'King Stribog attacks with its mouth — use the tentacles to plug the mouth!'

'Forget about looking pretty at a time like this!'

He wished he could rush onto the field himself to replace Cradily and plug King Stribog's mouth, but in the end Cradily still chose to attack King Stribog fairly and squarely with its moves, refusing to take the "crooked path."

Finally.

The long tube-like proboscis of Stunfisk flashed brilliant blue light, aimed at the cradle lily, which was rooted and unable to dodge, targeting the dark spot at its center, and unleashed a torrential column of water!

Boom—!!

The emerald-blue water surged like crashing waves, striking the cradle lily fully and continuing onward, rocketing skyward into a massive spray that pierced through the sandstorm and, bathed by the sun, scattered a faint rainbow glow across the arena!

The audience gasped in unison.

With commentary explaining, even those who understood nothing of battles knew that Champion Dawu and the cradle lily were in grave danger.

Stunfisk's Blast Water Cannon could pierce through light walls, and its Sniper ability multiplied its already terrifying destructive power twofold!

And the cradle lily had only its Special Defense boost from the sandstorm left…

Everyone watched tensely as the misty battlefield waited for the result of Stunfisk's attack.

Suddenly.

A flash of colored light passed through Baimu's vision; he blinked in surprise, "Huh?"

The next instant.

A blue beam shattered through the dust and slammed with ferocious force onto Stunfisk, bound by tentacles—outpouring an even more colossal surge of elemental energy than the previous water cannon!

Rumble—rumble—rumble—!!

The thunderous roar continued, its origin clearly coming from the cradle lily, deeply rooted into the ground.

"Mirror Coat!"

He could never mistake such a common move—the colored flash he'd seen in the fog must have been Mirror Coat absorbing the attack and reflecting it back doubled.

The cradle lily had actually withstood Stunfisk's Sniper Blast Water Cannon!

Baimu considered switching to a Shiny Meowth… ah, this guy should handle it, since it resists Water, but Galarian Sunflora probably couldn't.

Is this what a Champion's Pokémon is like?

He once again deeply felt the gap between himself and the top tier of trainers—until his main Pokémon reached the same level as Champion Dawu, he could never truly become a legitimate Regional Champion.

The arena's glow dimmed.

The sandstorm ceased; the two colored barriers beside the cradle lily vanished.

Both the weather and the dual barriers ended simultaneously, taking with them the last sliver of Stunfisk's HP.

Counting all the damage it had taken—

Stealth Rock, Substitute, sandstorm weather, two consecutive powerful Whips, plus the final Mirror Coat—it was already astonishing.

Looking at the cradle lily, thanks to its Rooted status, its HP remained nearly full.

To think one Blast Water Cannon could KO it—truly a fantasy.

Baimu turned back and thought carefully, realizing he'd been awed by Stunfisk and Shi Yuan Zhi's desperate momentum, and had underestimated Champion Dawu's ability.

Was the Worry Seed really necessary?

The cradle lily, once rooted, couldn't be switched out via Poké Ball, and knew no other moves to remove status conditions—without Worry Seed, it would indeed risk falling into crisis.

But perhaps… it was also a trap?

Overall, in the first half of the battle, the top of the Four Heavenly Kings, Shi Yuan Zhi, had gained no advantage over Champion Dawu.

Baimu had always heard Old Qingliu say that if not for Champion Dawu's rise, Shi Yuan Zhi would have long been the Hoenn Champion—but now seeing them, the gap was clear.

Either Shi Yuan Zhi was too weak—or Champion Dawu was too strong!

Baimu, who had just won a three-on-three battle using type advantages, certainly didn't think Shi Yuan Zhi was weak.

"…"

He began simulating a battle against the cradle lily in his mind.

Below.

There was no halftime break.

The Champion's title defense demanded a continuous, uninterrupted fight to the end.

Recalling Stunfisk, Shi Yuan Zhi—who had already lost three Pokémon—did not hesitate and immediately sent out his fourth.

"Roar!"

A heart-shaking roar rose from below!

Baimu snapped back to attention, seeing that Shi Yuan Zhi had sent out Flygon mid-battle—he wondered if this was meant to use the Intimidate ability to lower the cradle lily's Attack?

Not worth it!

Stealth Rock, which had spanned the entire field, reappeared—as if sentient—moving toward Flygon and exploding!

Boom!

Smoke swirled.

Then a gentle breeze scattered the dust, revealing Flygon once again, its wings flapping steadily.

Being weak to Rock-type moves, Flygon took increased damage from Stealth Rock—so if Shi Yuan Zhi's only goal was to intimidate the cradle lily, this choice was a poor one.

But Champion Dawu's Metagross had the Clear Body ability—Intimidate had no effect on it—so using it to intimidate the cradle lily, which relied on powerful Whips, was actually efficient—

"Cough!"

The familiar cough.

Shi Yuan Zhi pulled out a pistol from beneath his captain's coat, pulled the trigger, and activated his Mega Evolution.

This is…

Baimu stared intently at Shi Yuan Zhi's face on the giant screen—he remembered Old Qingliu telling him that Shi Yuan Zhi was very old.

Fighting ordinary trainers was fine, but facing young, powerful Champions and Heavenly Kings drained his mental stamina completely—that was the main reason he kept losing to Champion Dawu.

His effortless demeanor during his recent battles against Furong and Queen Boni had made him nearly forget this.

He never expected that, halfway through fighting Champion Dawu, he'd truly start "falling ill"!

So that's why he brought out Flygon early?

Baimu understood Shi Yuan Zhi's thought: rather than wait until his Pokémon was in its worst state before sending out Super Flygon, it was better to act now while it was still in good condition and unleash its full power!

The camera moved to Champion Dawu's face.

Rooting, unlike Sandstorm, Light Wall, and Reflect, lasted an extremely long time, and he still couldn't properly switch out Cradily.

But Cradily hadn't done nothing.

After enduring Intimidate, it immediately used Regeneration to recover from the severe damage caused by Blast Burn, drawing nutrients from the ground through its roots—but it required far too much time.

And when Cradily finally recovered, Flygon had completed its Mega Evolution.

The bloodstained crescent moon appeared for the third time.

In its battles against Fuchsia and Queen Boni, it had shown extraordinary destructive power, far surpassing both of their Pokémon—and this battle against Cradily was no exception.

Cradily could extend its tentacles, but even at their maximum reach, they still couldn't touch the soaring Mega Flygon.

In contrast, Mega Flygon's Dragon Breath covered a far greater range.

Two consecutive bursts of flame—without the Special Defense boosts from Light Wall or Sandstorm—Cradily simply couldn't withstand such ferocious firepower.

Its expression rapidly withered until it fainted.

Champion Dawu had also tried using Acid to nullify Mega Flygon's ability, but the opponent's evasion was too agile; at this distance, Cradily couldn't land a single hit.

Cradily, which had just been so formidable, had been defeated so easily.

The type matchups between Pokémon clearly weren't limited to type advantages—they also included their strengths and the maximum reach of their moves.

Shi Yuan Zhi had already sent out his ace.

Champion Dawu certainly wouldn't send out any other Pokémon to feed Mega Flygon.

Shiny Metagross appeared for the second time.

"Nope!"

Its roar wasn't as loud as Mega Flygon's, but it still carried sufficient intimidation—because of Champion Dawu's title: "First Mega Evolver."

Though merely bestowed by the media, it had been accepted by most trainers with Mega Evolution.

The only one currently able to challenge him for this title was undoubtedly Kalos Champion Caruni—but her ace, Mega Sableye, was Psychic-Fairy type, which was weak to Mega Metagross.

At the Champion level, even the smallest advantage would be amplified infinitely in battle.

Thus, even though Champion Dawu and Caruni had never fought publicly, everyone still believed Dawu was the First Mega Evolver.

As the source of this title, Mega Metagross's strength needed no explanation.

"Shi Zhi's Radiance, become a Bond!"

Champion's Mega Evolution catchphrase—Lotoom's aerial shot couldn't miss it. When Dawu's voice echoed through the broadcast, all spectators erupted in excited cheers.

The one-sided cheers made Baimu glance sideways.

No grandpa fans?

Old man Shi Yuan Zhi was clearly handsome!

He glanced briefly around, then quickly refocused on the match below.

Mega Metagross evolved faster than Mega Flygon; as the latter unleashed its scorching flame, Mega Metagross, having just finished evolving, dodged with a flash of speed.

Just as Baimu had thought yesterday.

Shi Yuan Zhi had specifically trained Flygon's Fire-type moves—not only to counter Mega Glalie, but more importantly, to counter Mega Metagross.

But if you can't hit, it's meaningless.

Champion Dawu, facing Shi Yuan Zhi, wore a faint smile, yet he was utterly tense.

He dared give Aran's Mega Charizard multiple chances to attack, but he wouldn't let Mega Flygon's flames touch Mega Metagross.

For a moment,

Mega Flygon launched a furious fire assault, while Mega Metagross soared through the air, pushing its speed to its limit.

Finally,

In the gap between flame bursts, Dawu seized the chance and ordered Comet Punch.

Mega Metagross spun toward Mega Flygon like a comet, trailing a pale blue tail, its four massive arms slamming into Mega Flygon's back like a locomotive's front!

Both crashed straight to the ground!

Boom!

A thunderous crash erupted as dust burst upward!