Chapter 404: Grass-Type

A massive mushroom cloud accompanied by violent ground tremors.

A wall-like shockwave swept everything away; the sandstorm used to obscure vision mixed with shattered stones flying everywhere, whistling like bullets, striking the forest, smashing into trees, and some slow-moving spectators inevitably got hit by a few, crying out in pain.

The aerial Lotoom swayed in the sky, struggling to stabilize itself against the gale.

It somewhat regretted it.

It had wanted to prove to Baimu that Lotoom wasn't a troublesome Pokémon, but this guy pulled off something this huge—it nearly scared it to death.

Big explosions happen often, but ones this powerful are rare.

Fortunately, New Zi Jin's foundation was solid, and the battlefield area had been specially reinforced as a safe zone; otherwise, with both earthquakes and such a massive explosion, it might have blown open the sewers and exposed the deepest layers of New Zi Jin.

Of course.

Most of the power remained confined within the battlefield; what leaked out was merely sound and dust, and even small stones didn't fly far.

Most Pokémon moves have the characteristic of concentrated force, meaning that as long as you're not within the core damage radius, the residual blast won't cause serious harm.

At least for humans in the Pokémon world—running away was mostly just to avoid getting covered in dirt; getting hit by stones still hurt plenty.

Baimu, clad in his lava armor, naturally stood his ground without retreating, merely covering his nose and mouth to avoid inhaling too much dust.

He was more concerned about Yasha's condition.

The trainer was closest to the battlefield; without lava armor, he might have been blown clean away by the shockwave, though the chance of injury was low…

But what if?

Never mind that the battle wasn't over—this "friendship" match had gone too far; injuring someone would be unacceptable.

The battlefield was too confined.

Baimu couldn't help sighing inwardly; if both of them were on the League Conference's battlefield, there'd be no need to worry about this—the main arena's length alone exceeded a hundred meters, and with width and area, it approached ten thousand square meters.

With such vast space, even a colossal Steelix could unleash itself freely.

But this battlefield in Central Park…

Its area was truly small, allowing five or six such fields to be set up within New Zi Jin without interfering with other facilities like lawns, flowerbeds, or streets.

A light breeze blew.

The thick dust gradually dispersed.

Revealing a devastated, ruined battlefield—more than half of it had sunk inward, revealing a terrifyingly irregular giant crater—

Probably dug out by Steelix.

Add to that the fact that Metagross had already shaken the ground once, and the already weakened soil layer, hollowed out, collapsed outright under the explosion's impact.

No wonder the ground had shaken so violently earlier!

Yasha's figure appeared in the distance; though his clothes were caked in dust and he sat on the ground, staring blankly at the crater, he didn't appear injured.

"Cough… cough…"

Baimu fanned away the drifting smoke, searching left and right until he spotted Metagross and Steelix lying prone at opposite ends, both with spiral eyes, completely coated in dust and gravel—clearly mutually destroyed by the explosion.

No wonder Yasha was so stunned.

Steelix, as the one who unleashed the explosion, was naturally in worse shape than Metagross—not only buried under gravel, but also emitting thin wisps of smoke from its mouth and joints.

But upon closer inspection, one could detect a hint of satisfaction on its face.

As if to say: I'm down, but it was worth it.

Hallucination?

No.

Baimu knew clearly this was because Steelix had fought a worthy opponent after a long time, won, and was now elated.

This thing hadn't had a proper, full-scale brawl with a qualified opponent in a while; now it had not only fought two main Pokémon from a former champion, but actually defeated them.

Even Bonsly hadn't received such glorious treatment—how could it not be happy?

But what delighted Steelix most was that its trainer had acknowledged its decision, allowing it to use Explosion in a final, desperate bid, sacrificing its last remaining HP to take down Metagross.

Perhaps stepping down temporarily was a better option.

But it refused.

Since it had entered the battlefield and gained the chance to fight a powerful opponent, it wanted to keep fighting until it defeated all enemies or fell itself.

Baimu had sensed Steelix's fierce will, which was why he deliberately created an opening before choosing to use Explosion.

The returning aerial Lotoom loudly announced:

"Metagross and Steelix are both unable to battle!"

"You did well."

He and Yasha each recalled their fallen Pokémon into their Poké Balls.

Steelix was unconscious, but praise was certainly due—it had defeated two powerful opponents.

To be honest,

As a contestant in the Saffron Conference, Yasha's record was better than runner-up Man Chong's, yet overall, he gave Baimu the impression that he was not as strong as Man Chong.

Of course, he knew a large part of the reason was that his own Pokémon had grown stronger.

Even though high-level Pokémon like Steelix didn't gain much from leveling up, their individual stats had improved dramatically compared to before—that is, their effort values had increased significantly.

Thus, even though its level still hadn't surpassed seventy, its combat power was no longer the same as before.

But setting that aside, Baimu still felt Yasha was inferior to Man Chong.

Was it because his ace hadn't fought?

He recalled Yasha's Meowth—though small and unevolved, its combat power was just like Pikachu's: a glitch Pokémon far surpassing its evolved forms.

Unfortunately, Meowth had just finished battling Boni's Froslass; otherwise, Yasha would have sent it out.

Baimu couldn't help feeling disappointed.

At that moment, the spectators who had fled earlier returned, staring in awe at the crater—such a destructive battle they'd only ever seen on TV or computers; who would have thought they'd witness it in person today?

Could a Dao Hall battle even be this thrilling?

Can this still go on?

——Of course it can.

Baimu pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket.

"You started it, so you must end it too—I'm counting on you!"

Boom!

Light flickered.

The Sunflora fell into the deep pit but failed to float up immediately; instead, it bounced like an ordinary stone, rolling several times before coming to rest at the very bottom of the crater.

"Sss…"

It slowly extended its smoky tentacles, turned its head, and looked up with an expression of profound grievance.

You don't even warn someone before sending them in?

"Uh, I thought you heard me."

Baimu said awkwardly, then quickly changed the subject, "Huh! Don't just stand there! The opponent's coming!"

In the distance, Zhe Ye released Lizardon and deliberately chose the remaining flat ground outside the crater, allowing Lizardon to gain elevation to counter Sunflora.

The moment it landed, the burn marks on its body suddenly burst into flames!

Hoom!

"Chuuu!"

Lizardon knelt on the ground, grimacing in pain.

"Hold on, Lizardon! Use Photosynthesis!" Zhe Ye shouted.

After the sandstorm was dispersed by the explosion's shockwave, the trainers' voices became clear again.

Lizardon lifted its head; the six yellow fruits on its back glowed with white light, followed by a shimmering flash of yellow across its body—the burn marks seemed to be healing.

"Hypnosis!"

A sudden blue light flared from Lizardon's body, cutting short its Photosynthesis after less than a second; not only was the move interrupted, but its movement was also bound, causing it to hover slightly in midair.

And the source of the blue light was unmistakably Sunflora, deep in the crater.

Zhe Ye gasped, "Lizardon!"

Under normal circumstances, Lizardon's speed would make such a strong control move impossible to land—but Photosynthesis isn't a move you can use while moving.

Zhe Ye's hasty command to use Photosynthesis was essentially handing Sunflora an opening.

Of course.

It wasn't his fault—Lizardon in burn status was in critical condition; if it didn't use Photosynthesis to recover even a little, it would just faint. Besides, his knowledge of Galarian Sunflora was limited to Pokédex data.

The Pokédex entries differed too much from actual usage—who knew Sunflora's psychic control was so fierce?

Added to that, Lizardon's geographical advantage had given Zhe Ye a false sense of security…

Allowing Baimu, who held the advantage of information disparity, to easily repress Lizardon once more.

With just one move.

Zhe Ye clenched his fists, "Lizardon, break free! You can do it!"

Slowly rising from the crater, Sunflora drifted toward Lizardon—though slow, its approach was visibly closing the distance, creating such pressure that Lizardon, struggling desperately, began to hallucinate.

It seemed not Sunflora was approaching, but a terrifying shadow of black mist.

The shadow loomed as if ready to devour it, revealing sharp claws and a gaping, bloodied maw—

"Chuuu—Chuuu!"

Lizardon's body trembled; a green light oozed from its surface, overpowering the blue light of Hypnosis!

Boom!

A burst echoed through the air—it had broken free from Hypnosis's hold and regained freedom; a surge of power welled within it, dulling even the pain of its burns.

Green light blazed like fire; now Lizardon looked like a Super Saiyan.

It gazed at Sunflora nearby, its jade-yellow eyes filled with sharp, piercing light.

"Chlorophyll Ability!"

Zhe Ye's shock turned to joy—this was the signature Ability of the original Grass-type starter trio. In games it might seem underwhelming, but in the anime, it had once turned a furious, berserk Magmar into a rage-fueled Infernape, even achieving near-invincibility.

Looking back at his long battles, Chlorophyll had triggered only rarely… maybe there was still a chance to turn the tide!

"Leaf Storm!"

He shouted aloud, and Lizardon stirred into motion.

The next instant.

"Strange Light!"

The hovering Sunflora suddenly transformed into a massive glowing orb, its bizarre rainbow light swirling like a dazzling kaleidoscope.

The emerald leaves just rising from Lizardon's body froze; its pupils lost focus instantly, and the gathered Leaf Storm shot uselessly into the sky.

Whirrrrrr—

The burning green light amplified Leaf Storm's power, but could not free it from its confused state.

Zhe Ye's smile froze solid.

More painful than despair was the brief hope he'd just felt—he stared at Baimu, calm and distant, who showed no surprise at all that Lizardon had triggered Chlorophyll.

But without doubt, the confusion state was the final straw crushing Lizardon.

Because its Chlorophyll wasn't like Infernape's Blaze—it could greatly boost Grass-type moves' power, but couldn't grant the miraculous "lock health" effect.

So no matter how Zhe Ye shouted to awaken Lizardon, the combination of burn and confusion left it no chance to recover—it didn't even wait for Sunflora to use Bad Luck before "suiciding" itself.

Thud—it slammed into a rock at the bottom of the crater, rolled its eyes, and fainted instantly.

Slightly mocking.

But the strange light was indeed useful, especially against this kind of berserker Pokémon whose abilities had suddenly surged but whose stamina was nearly gone.

Baimu had no intention of being so blunt as to make Sunflora fight Lizardon head-on.

Never mind whether Sunflora could win or not—Sunflora wasn't built for brute-force offense anyway. Why force it to trade blows with the opponent's main force?

The aerial Rotom descended and announced loudly:

"Lizardon is unable to battle! Sunflora wins! The ultimate victor is—Sunflora's side!"

Moments later.

Applause began sporadically, then gradually grew enthusiastic.

Some Trainers who had originally wanted to fight Baimu or Tetsuya now looked at the massive crater in the arena and chose to back off.

Can't beat it, can't beat it.

"Phew…"

Baimu exhaled in relief—it was finally over.

Through this battle, he had gained a rough estimate of his current strength.

Steelix ranked only fourth in raw power within his team, yet it had defeated two of Tetsuya's Pokémon in a row, proving his strength surpassed that of a typical Championship winner and even exceeded that of an ordinary Gym Leader.

But how far was he from a Pokémon Master?

In truth, in the earlier versions before the anime journey, there was a clear chasm between Pokémon Masters and ordinary Trainers—their battle power disparity was terrifying; unless one was someone like Darko with Legendary Pokémon, a typical Championship winner was just offering themselves as food.

I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to fight Queen Boni…

He thought wistfully, yet felt a pang of regret that the Pokémon World Championship had not yet begun.

I suppose the first one won't happen until Ash travels to Alola.

Baimu recalled Sunflora.

"You did well. Finishing strong—that's great, don't you think?"

The Poké Ball remained silent; inside, Sunflora clearly had no intention of responding to him.

This guy holds a grudge.

He turned his gaze to Tetsuya, who was approaching around the crater, and walked forward to greet him: "Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tetsuya, and thank you for your Pokémon."

"Not at all—I should be thanking you. That was an incredible battle."

The disappointment of defeat had long faded from Tetsuya's face; smiling, he extended his hand. "Just call me Tetsuya, Baimu. You and your Pokémon have left me in awe."

"You flatter me."

The two exchanged polite compliments, then headed to the Pokémon Center to heal their injured Pokémon.

While waiting and chatting, Tetsuya couldn't help mentioning his regret at not forcing out Baimu's third Pokémon, and extended an invitation: "If you don't mind, come have dinner at my place tonight? I'm sure my sister would be delighted."

"I'm sorry, I have something to do tonight. How about tomorrow instead?"

Baimu needed to buy a phone for Gulpin, and he wanted to eat dinner at the Food Plaza—there was a shop there he was very keen on—

【Golbat's Smile】Faron Branch.

Run by the disciple of his "fellow disciples," his former simulation target, the Chef·Locomoco.