Chapter 926: New Corps Level

Honeypiled Serpent.

Apple Serpent Pokémon.

Formed from fickle serpent insects gathering together, living collectively inside a giant apple made of honey.

Its movement speed is extremely slow; against Fighting-type Pokémon, which are generally highly mobile and agile, it's no different from a living target.

Indeed, that's exactly the case.

At this moment, on the screen.

The opposing Wrestle Hawk uses its agility to continuously dodge the incoming seed machine gun fire.

The pixel-style battle makes Wrestle Hawk's dodges resemble teleportation.

【You've reignited your battle spirit】

The Dragon Tamer, once a winner of the Silver Conference, is no stranger to challenging the Elite Four.

He knows better than anyone just how strong the Elite Four are.

Therefore.

【You prepared thoroughly before challenging the Elite Four—you must cross this first threshold at all costs!!】

The narrator reveals the simulated opponent's inner thoughts—and even uses first-person perspective?

How exhilarating it is!

You'd think the simulator's animation was incredibly slick!

Just pixel dots.

All All Baimu shifted his posture dismissively, just in time to see Wrestle Hawk dive down with a flying press—only to be drenched in sticky slime by Honeypiled Serpent…

Uh, syrup.

This move is called 【Syrup Bomb】, which continuously reduces the speed of anything stuck in syrup.

Meanwhile, Honeypiled Serpent's ability 【Sweet Honey】 also activates, effectively lowering Wrestle Hawk's evasion.

With this double penalty, Wrestle Hawk can't even open its wings for a moment!

The Dragon Tamer immediately presses the advantage, unleashing five Pokémon at once with 【Random Light】, sweeping it away in one blow.

【Your Honeypiled Serpent defeated Wrestle Hawk】

You know what? Honeypiled Serpent unleashing five heads at once looks just like Gidora going all out in Godzilla 2.

All All Baimu strangely felt his favorite spot had been poked again.

"No."

He quickly turned to look at the Dragonite silently clashing with the Spirit Horse, and the strange emotion in his chest subsided.

When he looked back at the screen.

Honeypiled Serpent had already defeated its second opponent—the Throw Monkey, inheriting Wrestle Hawk's traits.

Meanwhile, the battlefield had been covered in Grass Terrain.

【You've gone all out!】

Inside the screen, the Dragon Tamer's spirit soared; Honeypiled Serpent roared to the sky, preparing for the first Elite Four member's third Pokémon.

Outside the screen, someone was too drained to complain.

But honestly, Honeypiled Serpent's combat power is truly extraordinary—it hasn't shown any sign of retreating after two victories.

The future… no, the present is promising!

The moment he had this thought, Honeypiled Serpent's apple was shattered by a Freeze Punch from Poison Frog, and its body flew out of the battlefield.

Defeated cleanly and decisively.

All All Baimu: "..."

An unexpected twist.

It seems Honeypiled Serpent wasn't unscathed in its first two battles.

The replacement was the "new favorite," Alugon.

Inside the screen.

The Dragon Tamer was hitting his stride.

Poison Frog's Takedown came roaring in—but had little effect, as Alugon seized the opening and fired a close-range Cannon Beam.

The reason?

Alugon's ability, Light Metal, halved its already forty-kilogram weight—so a Takedown landing with any effect would be impossible.

Leveraging the information advantage, the Dragon Tamer easily defeated Poison Frog without much effort.

The fourth—

A black bull with thick red patches along its neck mane: Paldean Tauros·Blazing Form.

This thing looks like trash, but it's incredibly swift.

Tauros suddenly dodged Alugon's Meteor Swarm with the wild charge of a Spanish bull.

Then it slammed headfirst into Alugon's chest!

The ferocious move nearly knocked the potato chips All All Baimu had stolen from Shiny Gengar out of his hand.

But unexpectedly, Alugon didn't fall.

It held on just long enough to unleash 【Metal Explosion】, taking Tauros down with it.

Impressive!

All All Baimu had never seen an Elite Four battle deliver a Gym battle's intensity before.

No wonder he's a dual-orange-tier Dragon Tamer!

He's fundamentally different!

He watched eagerly as the Dragon Tamer sent out Dragonite to face the final Pokémon of the first Elite Four member—

Abandoned Monkey.

Without doubt.

Paldea's Elite Four only ever sends out five Pokémon.

This remains unchanged even though the current timeline is decades in the past.

Dragonite naturally defeated Abandoned Monkey with ease, even though it had a face that looked like it could turn the tide.

【You defeated the first Elite Four member】

Using only two Pokémon, he swept aside four of the Elite Four's Pokémon, and finished the last one effortlessly with Dragonite.

The Dragon Tamer's strength far surpasses anyone All All Baimu had simulated before.

Of course.

Paldea's League is also notably easier than other Champion Leagues.

Like the Dancer he simulated long ago.

She barely won two Elite Four members, yet her reward was worse than a runner-up at the Grand Conference.

Ridiculous!

The simulator's reward system is brutally crude—can defeating two Elite Four members really be compared to being a runner-up at a conference?

As All All Baimu sighed, he also wanted to see what reward the Dragon Tamer would ultimately bring him.

【You met the second Elite Four member】

The second was a beautiful woman.

She specializes in Poison-type Pokémon and sent out Tank Skunk as her first.

The Dragon Tamer sent out Spiked Spear Dragon to face her.

Perhaps due to Paldea's pseudo-legends being strong enough, the entire battle was unusually easy.

Even easier than against the previous Elite Four member!

The Dragon Tamer, using Spiked Spear Dragon's signature move 【Great Sword Charge】, wiped out three of the Poison Tamer's Pokémon.

Only when the fourth, Ultra Bad Star, used 【Fortress】 to block did the already poisoned Spiked Spear Dragon retreat.

Clearly, Spiked Spear Dragon had won its earlier battles with ease.

Unfortunately, the much-anticipated Ultra Bad Star didn't last long either, falling to Alugon's Thunderbolt—

With secret seasoning on hand, the Dragon Tamer's Dragon-type Pokémon recovered remarkably fast.

The fifth—Prolongum.

A peculiar Pokémon hailed as the father of the engine.

Legend says humans derived the inspiration for engine design from Prolongum.

Just as people learned how to make concrete from Old Craftsman.

Alugon couldn't defeat it.

The reason? Prolongum knows a Ground-type move called Hundred Thousand Horsepower, and when its eight cylinders roared, the entire screen shook violently.

All All Baimu always felt that in this state, Prolongum received extra bonuses when using collision-type moves.

Even if the elemental energy remained unchanged, other factors determining move power had shifted.

On the other side.

The Dragon Tamer did not send out Dragonite to finish.

He seemed caught up in his own delusions, choosing to race speed against Prolongum.

【You sent out Motorad, attempting to compete with it】

Immediately, Motorad surged forward with the ambition to become Paldea's ultimate racing champion, charging at Prolongum.

How could Plurom ever give up? It spat a cloud of toxic gas straight at the face of Motorfish!

And then…

There was no "then."

Motorfish had somehow learned Overheat, successfully igniting the toxic gas it had spat out—triggering a massive explosion!

Plurom passed out with remarkable decisiveness.

"Well then…"

All All Baimu shook his head.

But such bizarre scenes weren't rare in high-level battles—move counterplay was simply part of the game.

If Ash were fighting, this would happen even more often.

【You defeated the second Elite Four member. You're getting closer to the Champion title.】

Indeed.

Follow the routine: defeat three more, and the Paldea League is complete.

All All Baimu fell silent.

The third Elite Four member appeared.

He was a young man dressed in lavish attire, claiming descent from Paldea's noble lineage.

His specialty was Dark-type.

【You felt a thrill of excitement and decided to match Dark with Dark.】

Triplehorn emerged through the Trainer's wild imagination, facing off against Dreamy Cactus.

True to the "Dark vs. Dark" theme, Triplehorn didn't use a single Dark-type move.

It blasted Dreamy Cactus off the field with Flamethrower.

The follow-up Corviknight also fell, powerless against relentless Stone Edge attacks.

But thanks to its Tailwind ability activated upon entry, Mastiff Father surprisingly outpaced its opponent.

A single powerful Play Rough knocked out Triplehorn—four times weak to Fairy—and defeated the arrogant foe without a scratch.

Motorfish stepped in next.

It forced a speed clash with Mastiff Father, then swapped out just before danger struck, using U-turn.

The Noble Tera King, seeing things turn sour, tried to swap too.

But the Trainer denied him the chance—Aluminum Dragon charged in and took down Mastiff Father, worn out from the forced speed clash.

All All Baimu was slightly surprised.

The Trainer actually uses tactics sometimes!

He'd almost thought the guy planned to rely solely on raw Dragon-type power, trading Pokémon one by one until the end.

The fourth was Scumbag Croc.

The Trainer swapped again, sending in Honeycomb Snake, skillfully exploiting its Grass-type advantage to outlast until the final moment.

The fifth arrived.

Blade General—the evolved form of Axe Commander.

Its axe had become a massive, exaggerated blade, and two black, blade-like appendages now flanked its mouth like whiskers.

At first glance, it radiated sharpness.

All All Baimu thought it was ugly.

Because its hair formed a seat-like structure beneath it, it would often just sit down when idle.

As for combat power…

【Your Honeycomb Snake was instantly felled by a series of slashing strikes.】

Undeniably powerful.

The 【General】 ability boosted the power of every move it used, now that four allies had fallen.

Result: Honeycomb Snake was instantly obliterated.

Facing such a formidable foe, the Trainer finally stopped holding back—he sent out Dragonite, which had only ever fought in cleanup battles until now.

Dragonite didn't hesitate—it launched a Psychic immediately at Blade General.

Dodged?

Dodged? Then try again!

With its high mobility, Dragonite always found spots Blade General couldn't reach, then unleashed another blast.

Blade General couldn't take it anymore—it knelt and feigned unconsciousness.

The Trainer wasn't fooled.

【You know this is the setup for its signature move, 【Blade Slash】.】

He'd done his homework—he wouldn't be deceived by Blade General's feigned weakness.

So—

Blade General was helplessly kited to death by Dragonite.

Slightly ridiculous.

【You defeated the third Elite Four member.】

The Trainer's face lit up with a smile as he turned to the grand entrance of the fourth Elite Four member.

His uncle, who had brought him to Paldea for school—the Dragon Tera King, professor of battle theory at Orange Academy.

【You know—this is a Trainer versus Trainer battle!】

Pressure and motivation drove the Trainer to employ tactics from the very start.

Sunny Grass field tactic, Tail Cut tactic, Sacrifice tactic…

He inevitably sank into a true exchange vortex with his uncle—each side took turns sending out Pokémon, neither gaining clear advantage.

After all, his uncle understood Dragon-type Pokémon as well as any top Trainer!

Too bad.

This match was destined to be unfair.

Five versus six—how could he win?

When both sides are evenly matched, the Trainer with one extra usable Pokémon is destined to win.

On screen:

Familiar Dragonite faced off against Spiked Back Dragon.

The Paldea Dragon Trainer family were experts in raising Spiked Back Dragon—just fighting it taught the Trainer much.

To repay his uncle, he gave it everything he had.

【Your spirit fused completely with Dragonite. In this moment, you unleashed your ultimate technique.】

"Dragon Dive!!"

Beneath a massive dialogue box:

Dragonite was engulfed in sky-blue flames, transforming into a ferocious fire dragon, delivering a devastating impact to Spiked Back Dragon!

Spiked Back Dragon refused to yield—it flipped its body, revealing the giant sword on its back, and spat freezing breath to meet the dragon head-on!

The screen trembled violently!

All All Baimu quietly stopped eating his chips.

Seconds later:

The screen cleared—Dragonite still soared in the sky, Spiked Back Dragon lay sprawled on the ground.

【You defeated the fourth Elite Four member.】

The Trainer beamed with excitement—he felt his strength had once again ascended.

He rested briefly.

He arrived at the final test arena to face the last judge—the Champion.

【Defeat your opponent, and you will become a Champion-level Trainer of Paldea.】

The battle erupted instantly!

As the Champion, the middle-aged man had no fixed type bias—his team was a chaotic mix.

All were Pokémon unique to Paldea.

Yet the power he displayed far surpassed any opponent the Trainer had faced!

The incredibly durable Saltstone Golem tanked Honeycomb Snake's Energy Ball and countered with Salt Crystallize; the stylishly designed Azure Blade Ghost attacked like a waltz, leaving Motorfish dizzy.

The massive Gargantua Whale charged back and forth as if walking on flat ground; the land jellyfish had a bizarre form but generated annoying mycelium; the Litfoot Grasshopper moved with elegant flair, like a Masked Rider.

But the most infuriating was a Pokémon named Babu Mole.

It could use 【Resurrection Prayer】—reviving fallen allies back to battle!

Even though it could only be used once, it made the Trainer's scalp tingle with dread.

His habit of saving Dragonite for last was instantly corrected.

He was forced to send it out mid-battle to save the day.

Thanks to the Trainer's adaptability, the tide turned quickly.

Honeycomb Snake's Random Light eliminated the land jellyfish; Triplehorn took down Azure Blade Ghost; Motorfish and Litfoot Grasshopper knocked each other out; Spiked Back Dragon defeated Saltstone Golem and Gargantua Whale.

And to achieve all this, the Trainer sacrificed Dragonite.

He chose to trust the companions he'd met since arriving in Paldea—and let them decide the outcome.

Both sides' Pokémon continued to fall.

Until Spearow Dragon faced off against the revived, Prayer-awakened Cangyanrengui.

The Dragon Tamer placed all hope upon it—

【Spear Thrust】!

The inverted Spearow Dragon raised its blade toward Cangyanrengui, who swung both swords and charged forward defiantly!

【Regret Blade】!

The clash of blades resembled a duel between swordsmen; beneath the furious storm and thunderous strike that made ghosts weep, only one could stand.

【You've staked everything】

In the instant white light flared.

The narrator revealed the Dragon Tamer's resolve; his unshakable belief seemed to reach Spearow Dragon's heart, spurring it to summon renewed strength!

Zing!

Cold light descended.

【You stared at the fallen Spearow Dragon and the standing Cangyanrengui, your gaze unwavering】

The next moment.

Spearow Dragon staggered to its feet; Cangyanrengui collapsed straight down.

【You've defeated the Paldea Champion! A new Champion Trainer has been born!】

Fireworks erupted on both sides of the simulator!

All All Baimu let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Champion!"