Chapter 861: Guard, Samurai!

As the Rotom Drone announced for the contestants to send out their Pokémon.

The audience on all four sides immediately cast expectant gazes toward the Shiny Gengar that had shone brilliantly in the previous two matches.

"Gengar~ Gengar~"

"Gengar! Gengar!"

Some shouted excitedly, like calling for a superstar to appear at a concert.

This also caused the Rotom Drone to pass the close-up shot to the gray fatty standing beside All Baimu, who looked exceptionally sacred, and the stadium's big screen was instantly filled with that comical smiling face.

Sordward chuckled, completely ignoring the atmosphere of the stadium, and calmly tossed his Poké Ball.

"Go! My loyal guard!"

Bang!

White light flashed.

Bisharp appeared half-kneeling, and the small patch of grass around it flew up as if slashed by a sharp blade.

This was a Pokémon specifically selected by Sordward to counter the Ghost/Poison-type Gengar; he had also seen the many methods the latter was good at through the previous two matches very clearly.

Come on!

Let him welcome victory! Let him announce to everyone the greatness of the Galar royal family that needed no further words!

Sordward's face was filled with the confidence that everything was under control.

And so.

Under the expectant gaze of everyone.

The Poké Ball that All Baimu had tossed toward the field a second ago but hadn't received attention opened with a bang, the flashing white light appearing exceptionally abrupt.

They widened their eyes and looked over.

They saw the white light that flew out land on the grass and rapidly expand.

In the blink of an eye.

The white light had already become as towering and massive as a mountain!

"Hiss!!"

The flashing silver light was exceptionally dazzling; as the giant beast raised its head, its pure metallic body, tempered by the scorching sun, stunned countless audience members whose attention had been on Gengar, and the thunderous roar seemed to explode right beside their ears!

Thud!

Many people felt a shock in their hearts.

Sordward looked up at the giant Steelix in the field, and his confident smile froze on his face.

"N-not Gengar..."

"Bisharp..."

Cold sweat overflowed from Bisharp's forehead, and it involuntarily took a step back.

The commentator said in surprise: "Contestant All Baimu has replaced his starting Pokémon! Dynamax Steelix!? No, this is a giant Steelix with a body size different from the norm!"

The sky remained clear.

The giant Steelix neither released a dark red light, nor could the rotating three gray-red clouds be seen above its head.

If one looked closely, one could find that its body size actually wasn't as big as a Dynamaxed one; it was over twenty meters long, and the part that could stand up was more than two-thirds.

Some of the audience relaxed, half-regretful and half-relieved.

Although battles with Dynamax Pokémon were quite exciting, because the range of effect of various Dynamax moves was too astonishing, no professional field would allow them to be affected as well.

"Too big!"

"If this were Dynamaxed, how exaggerated would it be! The field wouldn't be able to hold it!"

"A Pokémon's original body size shouldn't affect the body size after Dynamaxing, right?"

"Who knows!"

The audience discussed heatedly, holding up their phones to take pictures of the giant Steelix, and sent the comparison picture of it and Bisharp to their blogs.

Gengar?

It had slowly lost people's attention.

The close-up shot had been transferred to the giant Steelix a long time ago.

Gengar, who hadn't expected itself to cool down so fast, silently shrank back into its Trainer's shadow, its sincere ghost heart broken.

All Baimu tilted his head to comfort it: "Don't have too many fantasies about them from the start; our base is in Orre and Hoenn. Sooner or later you will have die-hard fans, just don't find it annoying when that time comes."

"Gengar~"

Gengar's smiling face instantly appeared on the surface of the shadow.

The Rotom Drone, focused on its work, ignored the "carnival" caused by the giant Steelix, confirmed the status of both Trainers and Pokémon, and said coldly:

"Match start!"

Beep—

Hearing the bell, Sordward quickly regained his senses, maintained his composure, and ordered: "Bisharp, use Swords Dance! Get close to Steelix!"

"Bisharp!"

The calmed Bisharp leaned forward and rushed forward.

Swish, swish!

Grass clippings and mud flew up behind it, and several glowing blue light swords suddenly appeared and rotated, while orange-red waves of boosted physical attack rose from under its feet.

Bisharp's sprinting speed was quite swift, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of the giant Steelix.

However.

Steelix didn't take any action regarding this.

Its eyes, cast in red copper, looked down indifferently at Bisharp, who was slowing down because it was guarding against its attack, just like looking at an ant.

Why?

The audience all felt strange.

The commentator asked in confusion: "Is Contestant All Baimu waiting for something?"

He guessed right.

When Sordward, who thought he had captured a good opportunity to attack, shouted his order, All Baimu also accurately spoke after Bisharp revealed its move.

"Night Slash!"

"Earthquake."

"Bisharp!"

Bisharp raised its arms, which were shrouded in dark red light.

The arm blades were influenced by Dark-type energy, like two blood-colored sickles, cutting toward the joints of the giant Steelix!

But at this instant.

The giant Steelix moved.

One could see four thick horizontal steel bones rotating with a rumble; it jumped up with an unimaginable jumping ability, causing the blood-colored blades of 【Night Slash】 to miss the joints and cut into the spike-shaped tail bone instead.

Sizzle~

Bright sparks flew everywhere!

It was just that Bisharp had no heart to focus on this; it looked up at the giant Steelix that had jumped up, and a strong sense of crisis forced its body to involuntarily retreat backward.

Unfortunately, its retreat ability was far inferior to its assault ability, and it hadn't managed to run very far at all.

The giant Steelix had already landed.

In an instant.

Boom—!!

The world turned upside down!

Piles of mud and grass clippings poured madly into the sky, exploding to a height of dozens of meters!

The deafening roar continued to spread with the intense tremors, and the earth-yellow Ground-type energy rolled up a terrifying shockwave, causing the earth to bulge high like waves and overturn in all directions!

"Bisharp—"

Bisharp crossed its arms in horror, trying to defend.

Helplessly, just as it made a move, it was smashed away and covered by the mud rushing toward it, turning into a ragdoll and falling to the edge of the field, its eyes going black as it lost consciousness.

The audience in the front row couldn't escape the impact either, and all kinds of mud spots flew over like buckshot.

There wasn't much destructive power.

But it ruined the clothes of some people quite badly, and they couldn't care about watching the match anymore, hurriedly lowering their heads to wipe them off.

Rumble—

The tremors continued for several seconds before stopping.

The Grass field was already completely unrecognizable; the bright green turf was mixed with mud, and what was presented before everyone was a mess.

The commentator shouted: "A very powerful Earthquake! Affecting the whole field! Bisharp is unable to resist! Super effective!!"

"My loyal guard!"

Sordward tried to get Bisharp to stand up in a fluster, but didn't get any response at all.

The Rotom Drone flew over and took a look, announcing coldly: "Bisharp is unable to battle! Steelix wins!"

"One-hit kill! An outcome without suspense! Contestant All Baimu has proven that Gengar's strength was no accident!"

Wow!

Applause erupted in the audience, everyone's face filled with amazement.

Although one could conclude that this Pokémon was extraordinary just by looking at the giant Steelix's body size, being able to achieve this level still exceeded the expectations of many.

What kind of place is Iron Town?

After they searched online, they found it was just a small town located in a desert area in a remote region, and they sighed in admiration even more.

True gold hidden in the gravel!

"Roar..."

The giant Steelix turned back to its Trainer, ignoring the noise of the audience.

It had already experienced the worship it should receive in Iron Town.

All Baimu praised: "Well done."

"Roar~"

Steelix's tail tip flicked.

Because Bisharp's level was unknown, its move pool was unknown, and its specific strength couldn't be determined, he chose to wait patiently.

Facts proved that he had overestimated Bisharp and Sordward; this combination might not even be at the level of the game's post-game, so there was no need to say anything more, just lie flat obediently.

Perhaps try resisting?

He cast a look of slight expectation toward the disbelieving Sordward; at least force out Steelix's Mega Evolution!

"G-give it to you! My brave samurai!"

Sordward recalled Bisharp and switched to Golisopod, a pseudo-humanoid Pokémon with a hard gray-green shell and three pairs of claws, one large and two small.

"Golisopod!"

'Golisopod', Bug/Water-type.

A Pokémon that looked ugly-cool and had decent base stat distribution, but was dragged down by the 【Emergency Exit】 ability.

This ability would force it to exit the field and switch to another teammate when its stamina was below half.

If it were the only one left, it wouldn't trigger again.

And the Bug/Water type combination happened to resist both Ground and Steel types, and the Water type countered the combination of the latter two types.

Golisopod was very suitable as a Pokémon to intercept Steelix.

Provided one set aside the other gaps between the two.

Sordward raised his hand and shouted: "First Impression!"

He had recovered from the shameful state just now; even knowing Steelix was powerful, he had to regain the dignity belonging to the Galar royal family.

Being killed in seconds in public...

Too embarrassing!

"Golisopod!"

Golisopod, receiving the order, rushed forward fiercely; the priority effect of 【First Impression】 made it exceed the previous Bisharp in assault speed, and in just one breath, it approached Steelix, like a flash.

The sharp claws attached with glowing green light stabbed forward fiercely like a harpoon!

Clang~!

The crisp sound of metal clashing!

"Iron Tail!"

As the words fell.

Whistling winds accompanied the massive shadow approaching; Golisopod, realizing something was wrong, hurriedly withdrew its claws and combined them to stand high, acting like a shield in front of it.

Bang!

The muffled sound was deafening.

It was actually Steelix's silver-glowing metallic giant tail that suddenly broke through the air and swept across, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the shield formed by the two claws, but even so, it still knocked Golisopod back four or five meters!

Its two feet left two clear grooves in the mud.

"Golisopod..."

Golisopod slowly lowered its numb chelae, looking up at the giant Steelix that cast a large shadow, its long, narrow eyes filled with wariness.

It could tell the opponent hadn't used its full strength.

Even in those eyes that looked down at it from a height, and were as scorching as the sun, there was neither the annoyance of failing to defeat it in one blow, nor any passionate desire to battle; there was only indifference toward a "dead object."

What a terrifying existence!

"Golisopod's lightning-fast First Impression! It doesn't seem very effective! But Steelix's Iron Tail was blocked by it! Worthy of being a Pokémon whose shell hardness is comparable to diamond!"

The commentator's high-pitched voice spread throughout the venue.

That's not it at all!

If Golisopod could understand the commentator's words, it would probably protest by now.

But at this moment, compared to arguing with words, Golisopod had a more arduous task—to defeat this terrifying enemy in front of it!

Sordward shouted: "Liquidation!"

"Golisopod!"

It stepped sideways, condensed a blue water sword in its right claw under its ribs, and then had its left claw hold it too, changing to dual-wielding!

Swish, swish—

The blue light surged, the blade of Liquidation rushed straight into the sky, aiming at the Steelix that was towering like a mountain in front of it and slashed down!

Bang!

Water mist exploded!

The massive water vapor instantly swallowed more than half of the field, making everything inside exceptionally hazy.

The commentator, seeing this, was about to speak, but the pale white water vapor in the field was suddenly stirred away, revealing the giant Steelix that had remained motionless from beginning to end.

It was clearly driven away by those slowly rotating horizontal steel bones.

He said excitedly: "Liquidation—very little effect! Steelix is still standing!"

"Click..."

Sordward, full of expectation, gritted his teeth secretly, and shouted as if he had broken his defense: "I don't believe it! Swords Dance! Liquidation again!"

"Golisopod!"

Golisopod roared to the sky, and several pale blue light swords appeared around its body.

It was just that All Baimu had finished watching what he wanted to see, and truly didn't want to give it any more opportunities to use moves... giving them wouldn't have much meaning either.

"Stone Edge!"

"Hiss!"

The giant Steelix roared and raised its giant tail like a steel cone, and in Golisopod's fearful eyes, it fiercely stabbed into the earth!

Thud!

Countless glowing blue sharp stone pillars erupted from the ground with it as the center!

Golisopod, habitually raising its claws to block the front, hadn't expected the attack to come from underground at all; even its shell, known for hardness comparable to diamond, couldn't stop it from being lifted up.

Bang, bang!

The glowing blue rocks exploded like bombs!

Muffled groans of pain from Golisopod immediately came from the smoke, "Golisopod..."

"Golisopod!!"

Sordward's eyes lost focus as if struck by lightning.

The commentator shouted: "It's actually a field-type Stone Edge! Successfully avoiding Golisopod's claw shield, this hit is super effective! Can Golisopod withstand it?"

There are only two ways to use Stone Edge—

Flying stones and stone pillars.

But usually, stone pillars emerge slowly from the ground one by one; like Steelix, whose attack range is relatively close, covering the surroundings and emerging all at once, it truly caught everyone off guard.

It could even be said that the secondary effect of hitting a vital spot had already been achieved!

Therefore.

The audience gazed at the stone pillars surrounding the field, where gray-white smoke was rolling, waiting for a result.

Phew~

The horizontal steel bones rotated, driving away the dust.

Golisopod, twitching slightly and trying to stand up, came into everyone's view.

Sordward was overjoyed and shouted: "Stand up! Golisopod! Use Liquidation!"

It was just a pity that his order was destined not to be conveyed, because just as he opened his mouth, Golisopod weakly lowered its chelae.

"Goo... hiss..."

Black swirls replaced its eyes.

The Rotom Drone flew over and took a look, announcing: "Golisopod is unable to battle! Steelix wins, the final winner is Contestant All Baimu!"

Sordward was petrified on the spot, his curved sword-like hair highlighting his mood at this moment. ===== CHAPTER 862 =====