Chapter 935: The Bug King

Interaction Square.

Central open area.

Trainers and Pokémon scattered across various locations had now gathered here, their expressions ranging from anticipation to curiosity.

"Someone actually challenged the Elite Four!"

"I heard he's a participant from the World Championship, ranked very high."

"World Championship! I know that! It's been blowing up online lately—it's the tournament to decide the world's strongest champion!"

"World's strongest? Did Miss Jukai agree? Hahaha!"

People chatted casually, the Bug Pokémon chirped and buzzed, their gazes locked firmly on the two figures surrounded by the crowd.

Compared to the unsettling aura radiating from All All Baimu, the confident, sunny, and handsome A Liu was undeniably more eye-catching.

Especially since he was widely recognized as a "handsome man."

Mm.

Recognized as such in Sinnoh.

A Liu placed his left hand on his hip, a slight smile curling his lips, and called out loudly: "Friend! I'll make an exception this time! Normally, I never accept challenges outdoors!"

"Thank you very much."

All All Baimu responded, operating on his phone.

Hum—

A low hum grew louder, approaching from afar.

Out of nowhere, Aerial Rotom flew in, spotted the two below, and announced loudly:

"Match confirmed as Super Ball-level battle. Contestants—A Liu vs. All All Baimu!"

Although A Liu belonged to the Advanced Ball tier, the match level appeared to be determined by the lower-ranked participant.

Upon hearing his name, A Liu froze for a moment.

How…

Did that sound familiar?

Before he could ponder further, Aerial Rotom announced the battle rules: Double Battle, two-on-two.

"Both sides, choose your Pokémon!"

A Liu snapped back to focus and exchanged a glance with his Scizor.

"Forget it—leave it to you! Ancient Dragonite!"

A Poké Ball flew out.

Pop!

A flash of white light.

A massive dragonfly, its body a military green streaked with red patches, hovered in midair.

It moved erratically, flickering up and down, left and right, its head tilting intermittently as if studying its prey.

Its two pairs of translucent forewings vibrated at high frequency, yet produced an almost inaudible hum.

Ancient Dragonite, the Dragonfly Pokémon.

Bug/Flying type.

Musashi had once trained one, but it was clearly nowhere near the level of A Liu's—just the size difference alone made it obvious.

In the not-so-distant Sinnoh era, this creature, only two sizes smaller than a glider, would have been a guaranteed Leader Pokémon.

The kind with glowing red eyes.

All All Baimu withdrew his gaze and tossed the Poké Ball already glowing in his hand.

"Go."

Pop!

"Mee~"

A shiny Milotic lazily lifted its head, its graceful posture instantly capturing every eye.

What an astonishingly beautiful Pokémon!

Its shimmering golden scales glowed with a rainbow-like radiance under the bright sunlight; its bilateral, fin-like appendages, clear as sky-blue water; its deep blue eyes, like the most precious gemstones.

For a moment,

the Interaction Square fell into an eerie silence.

Even A Liu was moved by its beauty; it took over ten seconds before everyone snapped back to reality upon hearing Aerial Rotom announce the battle's start.

Everyone had seen Milotic before.

But never before had one shone so brilliantly that people were left speechless, their minds entranced—this was unprecedented.

"Such a beautiful Milotic! Its color's different from normal ones—is it dyed?"

"Idiot! It's a shiny Pokémon!"

"Won't it enter the Super Contests?"

"I remember now! The winner of last year's Sinnoh Super Contest! He's All All Baimu! No wonder he looked familiar!"

The crowd erupted into a noisy, bustling uproar.

Inside the arena,

A Liu and All All Baimu issued their commands simultaneously.

"Quick Attack!"

"Rain Swords Dance."

Hum!

With a sharp hum, Ancient Dragonite, wreathed in white light, darted toward the Milotic glowing with blue radiance!

In the blink of an eye,

it closed the distance, its eyes glowing with bloodthirsty red, its mandibles like blades slicing toward the Milotic's pale yellow body!

"Nah!"

"Mee~"

Milotic twisted nimbly, barely avoiding the strike.

But instead of continuing forward due to momentum after missing, Ancient Dragonite abruptly halted.

Then, with flawless smoothness, it executed a 180° horizontal roll followed by a 360° vertical spin, leaving a white angular trail in the air before diving sharply downward!

True Dragonfly Flip!

Thud!

Milotic's head slammed into the ground, its fin-like tail flaring upward.

On the other side,

Ancient Dragonite, now airborne, glowed with orange light.

A Liu shouted quickly: "Ultrasonic!"

"Nah!!"

It let out a low cry, hovering and spinning again.

Its translucent wings vibrated in cross-motion, generating concentric rings of sonic waves spreading downward.

Hum!!

But suddenly, a colorful, bubble-like energy shield appeared, enveloping Milotic and blocking the falling sound waves.

"Figured it out, huh."

A Liu felt a pang of regret.

He loved this combo—Quick Attack to the head to stun, then follow up with Ultrasonic to induce confusion.

That way, Ultrasonic wouldn't miss nine times out of ten.

But he'd used it too often; most who knew him were already prepared.

This guy came prepared.

Undoubtedly.

A Liu had recognized All All Baimu.

The battle between All All Baimu and Johai, former Sinnoh Elite Four member, had spread widely; eager to improve, A Liu had watched it repeatedly.

Because he, too, longed to battle Elite Four from other regions—facing familiar opponents no longer satisfied him, which was why he entered the World Championship.

Months had passed.

A Liu had encountered countless Pokémon he'd only read about, and trainers from other regions were full of hidden talent—it was exhilarating!

Thinking of All All Baimu's strength, his fighting desire surged.

The world believed Bug types were weak—let him show them how his adorable Bug Pokémon would win the championship and silence the doubters!

Nineteen-year-old A Liu's passion had not cooled; his Champion dream still burned.

In midair,

Ancient Dragonite, glowing once more with orange light, grew restless, stirred by its Trainer's passion, ready to charge into battle.

Huh~

A gentle breeze stirred.

Fine rain arrived at last.

Spectators all looked up, realizing the clear sky had been obscured by clouds without anyone noticing.

Raindrops gradually soaked the earth.

They began withdrawing with their Bug Pokémon, voices filled with astonishment and admiration.

Too fast!

The ancient dragonfly's assault was breathtaking.

Meanwhile, Milotic seemed powerless to defend, yet as if predicting its moves, it blocked the supersonic waves with Mystery Guard.

Brilliant!

The Elite Four's battle is even more thrilling to watch live!

Inside the arena.

Milotic slowly raised its head.

The ancient dragonfly's unpredictable flight path was one of its greatest advantages; the Trainer had warned it beforehand to be cautious.

But knowing wasn't enough—it didn't act on it.

If it had used its tail fin to block Quick Attack, it could have defeated it without a scratch.

Too bad…

Its ability is 【Speed Boost】, activating periodically.

In other words, this battle cannot be dragged out.

The longer it drags, the more likely something will go wrong!

Milotic turned its head to meet its Trainer's gaze and saw him give a barely perceptible nod—its heart eased.

"Shadow Clone! Max Absorb!"

A Liu's voice came from across the field.

Buzzzz!

The ancient dragonfly flapped its wings sideways, instantly splitting into a dozen decoys that surrounded Milotic.

Then they spun rapidly, forming numerous glowing emerald rings.

Beams of lightning-like energy fell from within the rings; Milotic dodged desperately but still took several hits.

Repeated boosts from Speed Boost increased the ancient dragonfly's move execution speed and made its transitions smoother.

"Mii!"

Milotic writhed in pain as the green beams greedily drained its stamina.

Spectators wondered why All All Baimu wasn't giving orders.

Because he was waiting for an opening.

Shadow Clone may hide the ancient dragonfly's true body, but finding it is simple—

The real one sweeps away raindrops when it flaps its wings; the decoys cannot.

Rain passes straight through the clones.

Of course.

Most people couldn't use this observation method.

More importantly, even if you knew which was the real one, timing the strike was still difficult.

All All Baimu suddenly spoke: "Direct front! Black mist!"

"Ghk!"

Milotic shot its head upward and exhaled, showing no trace of its earlier agony.

Instantly, dark smoke engulfed most of the arena.

The decoys directly ahead were swallowed whole and vanished with a pop.

A Liu shouted urgently: "Clear the fog!"

The real one frantically flew upward, but its wings inevitably picked up some of the smoke.

One touch and it's ruined.

The ancient dragonfly's speed visibly dropped.

Hoo!

A pale white gale howled in, dispersing the thick black mist.

Speed Boost activated again; the orange glow surrounding the ancient dragonfly made A Liu breathe easier.

But he was too quick to rejoice.

Gasps erupted around him.

Milotic had silently leapt high above, closing the distance to the ancient dragonfly.

"Enchanting Voice!"

"Miiii~"

Milotic sang a high note, sending countless colorful musical notes flying toward the ancient dragonfly.

A Liu: "Dodge!"

"Ngh!"

The ancient dragonfly darted up and down like a flash, avoiding the notes.

But it had only activated Speed Boost once, and the notes were too numerous—it soon found itself with nowhere to flee.

Boom!

A cloud of smoke exploded in the sky.

"Mii~"

Milotic landed.

The ancient dragonfly tumbled down as well, moving unsteadily, as if drunk.

A Liu's pupils shrank: "Confusion?!"

Enchanting Voice?

For a moment, he couldn't recall what kind of move that was.

In fact,

All All Baimu had only just drawn this move recently.

Since he was unfamiliar with it, he assumed it was a new move from Scarlet and Violet, checked its effects online.

"Enchanting Voice," a Fairy-type Special Attack move.

It deals damage and causes any Pokémon that has raised its stats to become confused.

But this added effect only triggers if the opponent's stat boost happened very recently—likely with a turn-limit restriction in the game.

Similar to 【Revenge】.

But everyone knows, game battles are turn-based; animated battles are not.

The boundaries between turns become blurred.

Thus, as long as the timing is precise, even a stat boost from Speed Boost will be affected by Enchanting Voice.

All All Baimu tested this on Platinum Silver Mountain and just now used it.

Otherwise, he would've used Hypnosis instead.

Even though Hypnosis is easier to dodge, without the accuracy boost from Coil, the ancient dragonfly would've easily avoided it.

At this moment,

The battlefield's situation shifted drastically.

A Liu lost control; he didn't hesitate—upon seeing the ancient dragonfly become confused, he swiftly threw a Poké Ball to recall it.

His lightning-fast move prevented Milotic from landing a finishing blow.

"Impressive."

He said with a serious expression.

All All Baimu remained calm: "Flattery, please continue."

Pop!

The Poké Ball opened.

A Liu didn't hesitate—he chose his second Pokémon—

The horned Pokémon, Heracross.

Even after seeing Milotic's mysterious Fairy-type move, he still sent out a Fighting-type Pokémon.

He clearly had great confidence in Heracross.

And the source of that confidence—

"The will of a firefly can become radiant light!"

A Liu solemnly raised his right hand; the Key Stone on his wrist glowed brilliantly, resonating with the Mega Stone attached at the base of Heracross's horn.

In an instant,

The glow of Mega Evolution blazed forth!

The crowd gasped, but All All Baimu wasn't surprised at all.

After the Kalos region's Mega Ore mining began, Key Stones and their matching Mega Stones were naturally distributed by regional Leagues.

For A Liu, an Elite Four member, having one was perfectly normal.

It was more unusual that Iris didn't have one in the Eight Masters Tournament.

Hoo!

Violent energy whipped up a gale.

The super-evolved Heracross, transformed from a rhinoceros beetle into a horned beetle, let out a deafening roar.

"Haa!!"

Several slits opened along its abdomen, spewing thick white mist, like a mech cooling itself down.

Its once slender arms now resembled two massive iron maces.

Its eyes blazed with intensity, complemented by the yellow patch on its forehead and the two antennae on either side, radiating unwavering resolve.

But.

All All Baimu had somehow already recalled Mewtwo.

Immediately, a red-and-blue figure shot out from his pocket and landed on the battlefield.

It was a round, toy-like duck.

"Papli!"

Blue light flashed in its eyes, and orange-red glow ignited beneath it.

【Download】 Ability activated.

Based on the evaluation of Heracross's Defense and Special Defense, its Special Attack increased.

"Porygon2…"

Liu Liu recognized this Pokémon.

Therefore, he knew Porygon2 had the unique ability to freely change its type, making Fighting-type moves largely ineffective against it.

"Jump! Needle Arm!"

Liu Liu ordered.

Heracross exploded upward with a powerful thrust from its legs, its abdomen spewing another burst of air.

Boom!

In an instant.

It was airborne.

While mega evolution granted it physical attack power second only to legendary Pokémon, it had lost its wings.

Still, by expelling mist from its abdomen and arms to cool its body, it could briefly hover.

The armor on its forearms clicked open like wings.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless emerald-green energy orbs shot forth, like missiles erupting from a launch bay, tracing perfect arcs through the air and hammering down on Porygon2 like a storm of rain and wind!

The 【Multi-Attack】 ability kept its consecutive offensive moves perpetually at peak power!

The sheer density of attacks left Porygon2 no room to dodge.

Besides, it never intended to dodge.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Needle Arm rained down furiously on the ground, shaking the earth and raising clouds of dust, while Porygon2 was already buried beneath an endless barrage of light projectiles.

But before Liu Liu could peer through the smoke to assess the situation, the hovering Heracross suddenly plummeted down.

Its abdomen still spewed mist, but it could barely even leap.

"Haa!!"

"Gravity?"

Liu Liu hesitated slightly, then continued issuing orders: "Swords Swords Dance!"

He planned to finish off Porygon2 in one decisive blow—Heracross's physical attack gave him that confidence.

But as the smoke gradually cleared,

All All Baimu raised his arm and made several strange gestures, filling Liu Liu with a sense of dread.

Brilliant light flared from the other side.

Visible golden energy poured into Porygon2, whose entire body had turned deep purple-red, and whose forehead now bore a single eye emblem.

Forming an upward-pointing arrow.

"Supreme Psychic—Break! Destroy! Wave!"

In an instant,

Heaven and earth changed color.