Chapter 339: Stirring the Taisui Earth (A Super-Long Chapter Nearly Four-in-One!!)

The final match.

The organizers gave All Baimu's Pokémon half an hour of rest.

He released Mawile and Chansey, checked each Pokémon's condition, and used Apicot Juice to replenish the type-energy they had spent.

Then came incense and a massage, letting the fierce emotions that had just surged up settle back down.

In the games, Apicot Berries restore spent PP; in real use, they speed up the recovery of type-energy — perfect for a state where a match is about to start.

The reason the semifinals went so smoothly was, first, Mawile's first-strike factor and type advantage — its burst speed left Pang Yan Guai unable to cope. Just from the fact that it needed an Power-Up Punch to finish off after tanking an Iron Head, this guy's level can't be low.

Same with Donphan — at the opening it actually dodged the Ice Storm Mawile had pre-aimed, then quickly regrouped and countered with Giga Impact. If not for the repeated boosts from Swords Dance and Power-Up Punch stacking up too much force, it wouldn't have been that easy a win.

Cradily… let's not even talk about that one — another poor soul locked down by Chansey's Telekinesis. Just from the fact that it had to use Shed Shell to break free of the psychic binding, Telekinesis clearly isn't strong enough to ignore everything. If it had used Shed Shell one more time, it might have broken out.

Too bad it scared itself out of its wits.

To be fair, Telekinesis actually has quite a few drawbacks. The biggest one is that without Chansey's sustained output, it only leaves the target floating.

That also means as long as that kind of Pokémon has the ability to move in the air, it isn't really afraid of this move — against bird Pokémon, this technique isn't all that effective.

Of course.

As long as Chansey isn't stupid, against a bird Pokémon it would definitely use Gravity — lose flight capability and the vast majority of bird Pokémon become ground-chickens.

After All Baimu's round of handling.

The weariness on Mawile's face faded quite a bit. Trading blows with Donphan's Giga Impact wasn't without cost after all — the aftershocks of those powerful moves had, in a way, put quite a burden on it too.

And seeing All Baimu's expression, Mawile suddenly grew wary. "Chee-doh?"

"I'm not swapping you out, not swapping you out — just rest easy."

He hurriedly soothed it with a couple of lines.

The thought of swapping Mawile out for Steelix really had flashed through his mind just now — he hadn't expected this guy to pick up on it. Was his expression really that obvious?

Mawile doesn't really seem like the type to read faces either…

All Baimu thought it over and figured it must be the bond increasing — to the point where a single furrowed brow tells it whether he wants to shit or fart.

If they keep going, will telepathy start happening?

Probably not — Ash and Pikachu only ever had something like that in near-death situations, and that was in a movie, when Pikachu suddenly blurted out "Because I want to stay with you forever," which was both moving and shocking.

He returned Mawile to its Poké Ball, then rubbed Chansey's fluffy head, praising its performance from earlier.

"Didn't expect you to already be able to run through a whole routine on your own — not easy."

All Baimu knew very well that the wall in one's heart isn't easy to break through.

The fact that Chansey could defeat a Pokémon with Toxic alone, without his commands, meant it wasn't far from actively using offensive moves on its own.

It's not that he necessarily needs Chansey's combat power, or that he refuses to let it shift to support — it's just that it itself wants to patch up the weakness in its heart. As its trainer, what can he say besides supporting it?

And besides, the three previous Gym challenges hadn't let it battle at all. Chansey hadn't said anything on the surface, but in reality it was deeply disappointed — so much so that All Baimu had no choice but to draw it a big pie about getting battle chances later.

"Lucky~"

Chansey showed a happy smile, the little curled tufts on either side of its head trembling.

All Baimu returned it to its Poké Ball as well, glanced around the surroundings, and started moving the tea table and sofa — after some effort, he managed to expand a space where Aggron could feel at ease.

It's just that the ceiling is a bit low…

Can't ask for too much in this kind of environment.

He released Aggron, checked its physical condition, and gave it a pre-match pep talk.

"Just one more match — don't put too much pressure on yourself. Take it easy and face it calmly. If you can learn Stealth Rock, then entering this tournament already wasn't a loss."

All Baimu patted its big head.

"Roar~"

Aggron raised its tail and gave it a wag, showing that it was very relaxed right now and didn't feel any pressure.

Entering this tournament was naturally for the fun of it and for the Pokémon egg.

Getting the egg would be best; if he can't get it, he'll be a little disappointed, but he won't particularly mind — it would just prove he has no destiny with that egg.

The key point is that battles can train the Pokémon's independent combat awareness.

From the current situation, Aggron and the others have all performed very well. Mawile is a bit on the slow side, but at least it didn't make any major mistakes — once it realized its lack of knowledge, it quickly crammed to make up for it.

He believed that once the Battle Tent's matches were over, it would definitely try to start learning to read, so as not to run into a similar embarrassing scene again.

Thinking of this, All Baimu felt a bit happy inside.

He began looking forward to the expression Mawile would make when learning to read — frowning and troubled, yet unable to stop studying.

——

Not long after.

The finals kicked off.

After confirming once more that Mawile's condition was good, All Baimu placed the three Poké Balls onto the teleportation device.

Judging from the three Pokémon in the semifinals, the finals' Pokémon probably won't be too weak either — whether they'll be stronger than the semifinals' three remains to be seen.

Opening…

Switch to a new trick and send Chansey out first?

Although a single Toxic is easily countered by the opponent's healing moves, besides that it also has Sing, Thunder Wave, and Light Screen — Telekinesis, Gravity, and Skill Swap might also come in handy.

Not to mention Stealth Rock.

The reason for not sending Aggron is also that this guy hasn't learned Magnet Rise — that move is, in effect, too critical a technique for his current team's core.

Especially given that this thing is 4x weak to Ground and lacks mobility.

After a brief think, he made his final decision.

The finals' field also appeared on the screen —

The most basic flat ground.

All Baimu saw this and his first thought was whether the choice of an ordinary field was influenced by Chansey.

The next second.

As the two machines released their Pokémon, he knew the answer.

Inside the arena.

Chansey began running the moment it landed, moving along an irregular path.

At the same time, it also caught sight of its opponent—

A Tauros that looked especially fierce.

"Moo—"

The moment it appeared, the opponent let out an extremely long, unsettling moo. The old Chansey might have been terrified hearing it, but now it barely felt anything.

A tiny flinch, and it quickly returned to normal.

Looks like the Intimidate ability.

The "well-read" Chansey quickly recognized the reason for its earlier panic, but this ability was useless against it.

Because it didn't know any physical attacking moves at all… well, except Pound, which was generally used to slap dough to make it more springy.

"Lucky…"

Chansey didn't step forward like before. It knew Tauros was different from Glalie—it would definitely come over on its own.

But who would have thought that the moment Tauros finished its moo and prepared to charge, the machine in the sky recalled the thing.

Chansey: "???"

A switch right at the start?

It truly hadn't expected such a good opportunity. It immediately raised its little hands, gathering dust and sand from the ground and air, shaping them into floating rocks that emitted Bai Guang.

After the rocks appeared, they quickly turned invisible, waiting for the destined one to arrive.

And the destined one arrived far faster than expected—the especially destined kind.

"Squa!"

A Swellow with black feathers, a red face, a red chest, and a white belly cried out brightly. Its broad wings beat as it soared freely through the sky—and freely crashed into the invisible glowing rocks.

Boom!

The glowing rocks exploded, the blast and flying pebbles furiously striking its body.

"Squa!"

Swellow cried out in pain.

Stealth Rock deals increased damage to Pokémon weak to Rock—in other words, the pain Swellow felt now was double that of other Pokémon.

But this wasn't the end.

All Baimu in the room clearly understood the reason for the opponent's opening switch: they knew Tauros couldn't deal with Telekinesis.

They just didn't know that Chansey not only knew Telekinesis, but also Gravity!

"Lucky!"

While Swellow was still immersed in the pain of being bombed by rocks, Chansey raised both little hands high, and an invisible wave instantly affected the entire field.

A terrifyingly strong gravity, like a high wall pressing down from the sky, directly crushed the airborne Swellow to the ground!

Boom!

"Squa!"

The sudden turn of events left Swellow completely unable to believe it. It had just entered the field, done nothing, and was bombed and then pressed to the ground, unable to fly. No matter how quick-witted it was, it couldn't recover in an instant.

And the opponent watching the scene inside through the machine widened his eyes even more. He never expected that after Telekinesis, Chansey had also mastered the weight. Even though he had specifically gone out to watch the match in order to better gauge the opponent's strength.

Switch? Under these circumstances, he had to switch, right?

But what if the new Pokémon that came on was also controlled into midair by Telekinesis?

While he hesitated, Chansey "cheerfully" approached the Swellow floundering on the ground, and while the latter was stunned, it unhesitatingly delivered a drop of poison to its beak.

"Squa!?"

Swellow fearfully flapped its wings rapidly, struggling for quite a while before finally managing to stand up.

It watched Chansey pull the distance between them apart. Although it was very puzzled as to why the other hadn't continued attacking, at least it was standing now—

Poof!

Swellow spat a mouthful of "old blood" onto the ground in front of it. The Toxic status reaction came faster and hit harder than it expected, but it also triggered its ability, Poison Heal.

If it could still spread its wings and fly high, it dared to swear Chansey was no match for it.

But in its current state…

Swellow thought briefly, then began trying to move on its own two claws like the Dodrio it had encountered before, and attempted to attack Chansey.

"Squa!"

It absolutely refused to lose!

Swellow looked at Chansey with bright, determined eyes, never expecting that after a brief hesitation, the latter actually showed an expression resembling "you can do it."

Such an arrogant provocation immediately made it lose its composure. It screeched and charged at Chansey, its wings rapidly flapping forward at the same time!

In an instant.

Countless pure-white wind blades whistled as they shot forward!

Aerial Ace!

"Lucky~"

Chansey instinctively twisted its body and very easily dodged this aimless Aerial Ace. If Swellow had released it while flying in the sky, the accuracy might have been higher.

With attacks that basically had no accuracy to speak of like this, no matter how many came, it could dodge them all.

On the other side.

The Kingdra was desperately trying to learn how to walk on two claws. It could walk, certainly, but not fast — there was no way it could hope to close in on that nimble Chansey.

What on earth should it do…

It anxiously tried to come up with a method, but couldn't stop purple bubbles from spilling from the corners of its mouth.

The Badly Poisoned status was different from regular Poisoned — its damage would steadily increase over time, and by the later stages, even if the Kingdra used Rest to recover its stamina, it likely wouldn't be able to recover.

The Kingdra understood this, which is why it grew somewhat frantic.

And that agitation, by making it move more, caused the poison's effect to grow even stronger.

And so.

Looking at the Chansey waiting not far away for its attack, it conceived the notion of sacrificing itself.

Since it couldn't take down its opponent, it would just have to add another sliver of possibility of victory for its teammates — just as its tutor had once taught it.

"Squi!"

The Kingdra began rapidly flapping its wings, and a violent gust instantly swept across the entire field.

【Defog】!

At that moment.

The invisible stones in midair quickly revealed themselves and shattered into countless motes of light.

Chansey stared in astonishment at the shattering Stealth Rock — even for a good student like it, it couldn't quite process what was happening.

Not only that.

The Kingdra's wing-flapping wasn't finished yet. After completing one move, it ignored the ever-increasing purple bubbles at the corners of its mouth and flapped its wings even more desperately.

Another move?

No good!

For a moment, Chansey panicked and released its psychic power toward the Kingdra.

However, under Gravity, Telekinesis couldn't be used.

"Lucky!"

Seeing Chansey's move fail, the Kingdra's spirits suddenly soared, and it flapped its wings faster and more nimbly.

"Squi!"

The sight of its opponent going all-out made sweat bead on Chansey's brow, and gentle breezes promptly descended upon the field.

【Tailwind】!

And in the end.

Chansey could only watch helplessly as the Kingdra used two moves in succession, still completely unaware of what had happened or what moves its opponent had used.

Its accumulated knowledge was ultimately still insufficient — it only knew every Pokémon's types and abilities, the two things useful for treating ailments, and had not yet developed any further understanding of moves.

Using Sing wasn't realistic either.

Its opponent was under the unique Badly Poisoned status, so Sing couldn't put it to sleep either — it would have no effect. Of course, that didn't mean the Kingdra couldn't sleep once poisoned; it just couldn't use a move to forcibly put it to sleep. The two concepts were vastly different.

By the same logic, Thunder Wave wouldn't have any effect either.

With Telekinesis, Sing, and Thunder Wave all suddenly unusable, Chansey, which had been fairly composed until now, was thoroughly panicked.

Fortunately, just as the Kingdra finished using Tailwind, the Toxic poison also caused it to faint.

"Squi… ba…"

Its two claws twitching, it collapsed onto the ground.

It had successfully taken down its first opponent, but Chansey simply couldn't feel happy about it — its unease over the lingering effects the Kingdra had left behind outweighed the joy of victory.

Something had undoubtedly changed on the field.

Chansey looked around and could clearly see a milky-white air current swirling around the edges of the field, as if stirring something.

"Lucky!"

It glanced rather anxiously at the machine recalling the Kingdra.

Inside the room.

All Baimu sensed that something was off with Chansey's condition and, without hesitation, recalled it.

"Don't panic, it's fine."

He knew the latter couldn't hear him now, but he still murmured softly to himself.

He had to admit that in the final stretch of that battle just now, when Chansey saw moves it wasn't familiar with, it had shown a bit of panic, and combined with the fact that there really wasn't any move that could stop its opponent, it had given the other side an opening to exploit.

But overall, it was no big deal.

Just clearing hazards and picking up speed — a perfectly normal counterattack sequence.

There was no reason to demand that his side alone make zero mistakes and keep crushing the opponent the whole time. Chansey's panic was caused by a bit too much pressure — in a straight fight, All Baimu didn't believe Chansey's psychic power couldn't keep the Kingdra in check.

He was sure that if he let Chansey calm down a bit, there wouldn't be any more problems afterward.

So then, who should he send out now?

After a brief hesitation, All Baimu still sent out Mawile.

Seeing Chansey recalled, the opponent immediately swapped out the Pokémon it had decided to send out, and the bull-like Tauros took the field once more.

"Moo!

"

It let out a threatening moo at Mawile.

"Chide?"

Mawile frowned slightly; emotionally, it didn't seem too affected by the Intimidate ability. It swept its gaze over the purple slime left on the ground and the unknown milky-white air currents around the field, and basically understood that it wasn't the lead.

But soon, it noticed another anomaly.

Magnet Rise couldn't be used.

Is it Chansey's gravity!

It could still recognize its companion's moves, but this made things more troublesome—its high-speed mobility basically relied on electromagnetic levitation, and its actual running speed on the ground wasn't fast.

What to do?

After Sword Dance, use Baton Pass to bring Aggron in?

Mawile had just been about to do exactly that when the opposing Tauros, already snorting white breath from its nostrils, whipped its own rump with its three tails in a frenzy to build fighting spirit and charged over.

A light breeze swirled around its four hooves, visibly accelerating the speed of its charge.

"Moo!"

Horns lowered forward, body radiating a dazzling yellow light, Tauros was like a meteor!

"Chee-doh!"

So fast!

Mawile's face grew solemn. Knowing there was no time left to hesitate, it faced the charging Tauros with fists slightly raised, feet crossing as it nimbly hopped in place.

Since it couldn't leave the ground, it picked up its boxing footwork once more.

The yellow-light-wrapped Tauros whistled in the next instant!

"Moo!"

A long moo rang out as Tauros violently raised the thick curved horn on its brow, trying to send Mawile flying.

Who would have thought the latter suddenly tilted to the right, nimbly dodging its charge and horn thrust, and swung a fist that slammed into its cheek!

【Sucker Punch】!

Peng!

The dull thud of fist meeting flesh!

"Moo—"

Tauros staggered and nearly toppled, but fortunately its footing was still steady enough to barely hold on.

Who could have guessed that while it was shaking its slightly dizzy head, Mawile leaped onto its back, grabbed hold of the rough mane on its back, turned itself into a matador, and raised a fist glowing with brown-red light before bringing it down!

Dong!

"Moo!"

Tauros let out another pained grunt, but Mawile's attacks had also roused its ferocity. Its body shook and thrashed violently, its tail constantly trying to lash the Mawile on its back, and a piercing white light flared across its body as it tried to use 【Thrash】 to shake it off.

Unfortunately the latter clung on far more firmly than it had imagined, stubbornly staying in the blind spot on its back, pounding fist after fist into its head!

Peng! Peng!

Two dull thuds in a row, each punch heavier than the last.

Tauros was gradually finding it hard to bear. With bloodshot eyes, it simply charged straight at the wall at the edge of the field!

But just before it slammed into the wall, Mawile pushed off its back and suddenly leaped backward, refusing to share that intimate contact with the wall.

And when Tauros staggered back to its feet, it was already dizzy and couldn't tell where Mawile was.

The confusion state brought on by the end of Thrash left it unable to make sense of the situation, and it went on a wild rampage across the field.

The machine in midair tried to recall Tauros, but its movements were too agile and the machine's aim wasn't great—several recall beams fired out failed to hit.

Seeing this, Mawile immediately put plenty of distance between itself and Tauros, first checking whether electromagnetic levitation was usable again. Finding the gravity state still in effect, it could only silently use Iron Defense and Sword Dance.

Three Power-Up Punches plus Sword Dance, plus one Iron Defense.

This was the gift it was leaving for Aggron—no way that under such boosted conditions, the latter still couldn't easily defeat the final opponent!

Not far away.

Tauros finally finished its tantrum, and had also exhausted the last of its stamina.

Mawile watched the other moo and collapse before being recalled by the machine, and didn't underestimate this bull-like creature. Sucker Punch plus three consecutive Power-Up Punches, and it had held on this long—its endurance was terrifyingly impressive.

With a trainer commanding it, who knows what powerful strength it could have unleashed.

But there are no 'what ifs.'

It raised its fist high and used Baton Pass to send itself back into its Poké Ball.

"Chee-doh!"

The spotlight's yours!

In the room, Baimu, who had seen through Mawile's plan, laughed heartily as he swapped Aggron in.

Bang!

"Gugyu!"

The silver-glowing giant beast landed, but the surging layers of power within made Aggron, contrary to its usual self, forcibly hold back the urge to roar.

It stared at the white great cat released on the other side and, without hesitation, slammed its fist into the earth!

Dong!

The earth quaked, and numerous massive pale-blue stone pillars burst from the ground amid violent rumbling, spreading rapidly forward until the sharpest and most majestic of them shot up right beneath the enemy!

"Meow-ow!"

A sharp howl rang out, and instantly countless blades of light flashed—the erupting stone pillar was dismembered in an instant.

【Slash】!

Blood-red light coiled around Persian's claws. Seeing the rocks scattered across the ground, it let out a slight breath of relief—had it taken that head-on, something bad might have happened.

Meanwhile, Aggron not far away watched with calm eyes, slightly regretful that it hadn't been able to one-shot Persian.

What surprised it even more was that the rocks had been shattered so easily.

Just as expected.

It still has to be close combat!

"Gugyu!"

Boldore charged toward Mienshao, its massive body bursting with extraordinary speed in that instant, and the latter, seeing the former approach, was delighted rather than alarmed.

"Meow-ao!"

Mienshao had plenty of experience battling Pokémon like Boldore, and knew exactly what their weakness was—

Fighting type!

In the blink of an eye.

Brown-red currents of energy swirled between Mienshao's twin claws; facing the onrushing Boldore, it swung its sharp talons like a raging storm, tearing at the iron armor covering Boldore's body.

Clang-clang-clang—

The crisp sound of metal striking metal and sparks kept appearing where claws met armor.

With every claw strike Boldore took a step back; the rainstorm-like assault forced it to retreat again and again against its will.

Finally.

"Meow-ao!

"

Mienshao shrieked and swung out its final claw; the surface of Boldore's body lit up with countless brown-red energy wounds all at once, as if the energy it had accumulated earlier had all erupted together, shrouded by smoke that suddenly shot up!

Boom!

Seeing Boldore howl and retreat, Mienshao's eyes lit up and it hurriedly tried to rush over to deliver a fatal blow to this fellow who was all size and no substance!

But when it pushed through the thick smoke, what it saw was Boldore's cold gaze—and a silver energy ball compressed to the extreme, causing the surrounding air to ripple violently.

【Metal Explosion】!

"Meow—"

Boom!

Mienshao's shriek was drowned out by the deafening roar; amid the silver-flickering flare, its body flew out together with smoke that shot skyward.

But within the thick smoke, a massive figure swiftly gave chase.

One could see the dust being scattered as if stirred by a giant hand, revealing Boldore charging toward Mienshao; it raised its claws high, the gleaming brown-red light transforming them into a heavy blade, which it slammed viciously into the ground just ahead of where Mienshao had fallen!

Thud!

The shockwave of the exploding energy sent Mienshao flying once more; the brute force blasted a hideous little crater into the ground, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading everywhere.

Mienshao crashed into the wall, then collapsed weakly to the ground, its eyes covered in spirals.

Beyond doubt.

Boldore ended things with brute force, taking down its final opponent.

"Gurr-roar—!

"

Its suppressed roar finally spread across the field.

Inside the room.

All Baimu stood up, excitedly clenching his fist.

"We won! No question about it!"

Before the match he had been a little nervous inside, worried his opponent might be overly strong, but Boldore, Mawile, and Chansey—these three trusted generals—had ultimately brought him the victory he craved.

How could this not make his blood surge.

Outside the battle tent.

Quite a few people were also buzzing with discussion about the Boldore on the screen.

"It took a close-range fight head-on and its condition doesn't seem to have changed at all? That's way too tough!"

"This Boldore is so strong!"

"Could it have been raised by Champion Dawu? I remember the Champion has a lot of powerful Boldore, right?"

"You're overthinking it—how would the Champion have time to take part in some little backwater competition like this!"

They chatted enthusiastically, everyone very curious about who Boldore's trainer actually was.

In some corner.

A figure carrying two large cloth sacks walked out from behind the battle tent, looking at the screen above thoughtfully.

"He actually still has such a strong Boldore and Mawile? Might as well steal them all in one go."

"I think we could use it—let's just sell them off using the name 'Pokémon raised by Champion Dawu'!"

"Heh! Look at you getting clever!"

"Hehehe!"

"Good. To avoid any complications overnight, we'll move tonight. The police officers patrolling the streets really are getting more and more numerous."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two figures were wrapped in a puff of smoke and vanished into the shadows.

——

The award stage.

All Baimu, who had been all smiles, now had his brows furrowed.

"Stolen? All the Pokémon eggs?"

"Y-yes."

The person in charge of the battle tent wiped the sweat from his face, bowing apologetically again and again. "We're truly sorry! We never expected something like a theft to happen. Please rest assured, we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer!

"And in the meantime, please return to the inn and wait a little; we will give you the compensation you deserve…"

"No need for compensation—you didn't do it on purpose either."

All Baimu waved his hand, his expression softening. Seeing that the battle tent's officials were willing to take full responsibility, he didn't press them with pointless demands.

"Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"

The person in charge bowed repeatedly in gratitude.

Leaving the battle tent.

A hint of worry surfaced on All Baimu's face. He had thought the thief who stole the Pokémon had already left, but who would have guessed the thief was so bold as to strike again.

Officer Jenny and the others are a bit unreliable, aren't they.

Better stay a little alert.

Although it most likely wouldn't be stolen from right under his nose, Baimu's cautious mindset made him accustomed to leaving himself some room for retreat in everything.

"The Pokémon egg I'd been longing for is gone… I wonder if they'll give me an egg of the same species as compensation, or maybe just a rare Pokémon egg?"

He quietly daydreamed about it.