Chapter 412: Battle Machine

Two Pokémon stared at each other with predatory intensity.

Both sides were adjusting their breathing—one had just frantically dodged a thunderbolt in haste, the other had struggled under a powerful foe for ages, barely found an opening, then suddenly erupted in a massive burst.

Both were exhausted.

As trainers, Tessen and Baimu were equally in sync, neither issuing commands, each catching their breath.

Of course they weren't idle either. The former even shifted into proper Gym Leader mode like a cutscene had started. "Hmph hmph hmph! Baimu, my boy! Looking back over all my years as a Gym Leader, you're among the strongest trainers I've seen!"

"…You flatter me."

Baimu replied quietly.

He felt a bit nauseous.

Although Mega Aggron entering its Poké Ball could relieve his mental burden, the Poké Ball going in and out made his heart tighten and loosen, tighten and loosen—like 3D motion sickness, endlessly uncomfortable.

Do other trainers who can Mega Evolve feel this way too? Probably just inexperience!

But fortunately he could endure it, still within tolerable limits.

Looking at the situation calmly and objectively, Porygon's inferiority to Manectric in every respect was plainly obvious.

After all, its level had only just reached fifty so far, a gap of at least over a dozen levels compared to Manectric, not to mention EVs and the like.

How could Porygon's few months of effort compare to the other's years of accumulated hard work?

Baimu's golden finger could only let it improve a little faster, save some effort and learn a few more moves.

Moreover, Porygon hadn't even received many of the simulator's level and move rewards until now—most of its progress came from its own diligent training, making the gap with Manectric even larger.

However.

That didn't mean Porygon had no chance of winning.

Manectric had been locked in combat with Mega Aggron for so long that its condition was visibly worse than at the start, and Trick Room had drastically cut its speed—effectively halving its strength.

Compared to that, Porygon had just dodged a "fatal" move and was in peak condition, lying in wait to take Manectric down in one strike!

"Conversion!"

"Ice Fang!"

As if someone had sounded a silent horn, Baimu and Tessen issued commands in unison.

In an instant.

Porygon's leg attachments were enveloped in blue light, transforming from polygons into two massive round wheels—but looking closely, the edges of the wheels were lined with fine, dense gear teeth, just too small to easily see.

At the same time, the crouching Manectric suddenly lunged at Porygon, baring sharp fangs radiating an eerie chill, its face utterly ferocious.

"Furrrr!"

A howl brimming with murderous intent echoed across the field.

In a flash, Porygon's leg gears spun wildly, kicking up clouds of dust and sand as it zipped forward like a remote-controlled car to evade!

Manectric's pounce missed, and it stared in disbelief at Porygon, which had shot forward then suddenly drifted into a sharp tail-turn to face it head-on.

"What the—!?"

Tessen's expression mirrored Manectric's exactly, but he quickly recalled what Professor Akihabara had once told him—Porygon's signature move, Conversion.

It had a body-altering effect.

Back then he'd thought the move was interesting and might be useful for his own machines, but on second thought he was here to recruit a "network admin," not building blocks, so he dropped the idea.

Never expected the day he'd be driven to distraction by Conversion himself.

"Signal Beam!"

"Dodge it! Psychic!"

Both shouted, waving their hands.

Under Trick Room, Porygon used its gears to perfectly inherit Manectric's high speed, allowing it to drift and dodge the emerald beam the latter fired while launching a psychic assault.

"Pory!"

Pink-purple light waves spread out, transforming into invisible ripples that surged forward. Manectric's speed plummeted and it couldn't evade, its body involuntarily lifting off the ground as it took repeated energy impacts from the psychic waves!

Hmm! Hmm!

Two fierce, consecutive tremors!

"Grrr!"

Manectric felt itself being kneaded and squashed like a ball by an invisible hand of will, then slammed hard into the wall at the field's edge.

Boom!

A dull thud.

The giant wolf-like Manectric crashed to the ground.

Unfortunately.

Because Porygon was currently in its Texture 2 altered Ground typing rather than its native Psychic type, Psychic's power was greatly reduced, and Manectric had previously used Charge to boost its Special Defense—so the damage wasn't enough to knock it out.

The yellow-furred wolf with its somewhat Egyptian-style head braced itself on all fours and stubbornly got back up.

"Nicely done, Manectric! Show these young whippersnappers we're not so easily taken down!" Tessen laughed heartily, deeply gratified by its indomitable will.

Manectric threw its head back and howled, as if to bolster its own courage. "Furrrr—!

"

This thing's too damn tanky!

Baimu clicked his tongue inwardly, then thought with frustration, "Download not boosting Special Attack really hurts…"

When Porygon entered the field, its Download Ability had already triggered—boosting whichever defensive stat the opponent was weaker in. Based on what he'd seen through the Pokédex display, he'd determined Download ultimately boosted Attack.

"Pory!"

Watching Manectric refuse to fall, Porygon was so anxious its leg gears were practically sparking.

"Don't panic! If once doesn't work, try again! Don't underestimate it! Psychic!"

He shouted a reminder, and the trainer's command instantly "snapped" the somewhat agitated Porygon back to clarity, its internal battle-analysis module further activating to suppress part of its emotion module.

"Pory!"

Porygon's eyes lit up with blue light, and it released an invisible psychic force at Manectric with pinpoint precision, but halfway there it was disrupted by a jade-green beam fired from the latter's tail, triggering a violent explosion.

Boom!

Smoke curled and drifted.

In the anime, the writers established that elemental energies also have a counter-relationship; when two sides clash waves, the one being countered will clearly be at a disadvantage. Ash once exploited this point by having Hawlucha use Cross Chop to shatter Trick Room.

But clearly such a thing counts as sheer luck even in the anime, so Watson didn't do that.

"Again!"

Baimu continued shouting.

Porygon shot forward with a whoosh, smashing through the smoke and appearing before the panting Manectric; its gaze, once sharp as a sword's edge, now held nothing but the coldness of a battle machine.

"Dodge it!"

In Watson's startled shout, overwhelming psychic force surged forward from Porygon like a tide. Manectric tried to evade, but its hind legs began trembling violently.

Although electrical currents stimulated its legs to ease the muscle pain, this was hardly some miraculous panacea—there was a limit to how much even electricity could help. And this collapse directly caused it to be caught by Porygon's Psychic for the second time.

Clamped by the invisible force, Manectric first floated up, then suffered psychic shockwaves from Porygon that struck repeatedly around its body!

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Boom!

In the end, Manectric was once again hurled into the wall by psychic force. The abnormally heavy thud between flesh and thick wall seemed to herald that its stamina had reached its limit.

However.

With its four paws trembling ceaselessly, it still tried to rise.

"Fuu... wuu..."

This guy...

Baimu couldn't help but be somewhat moved, but he wasn't about to sit and watch Manectric do a third sit-up. He shouted: "Give it the final blow! Psychic!"

Dealing with a tenacious, unyielding Pokémon like Manectric—giving it everything is the only way to truly respect it.

"Pory!"

Fully in battle mode, Porygon closed in on Manectric, its eyes blazing blue like lightbulbs, as psychic waves transformed into an invisible giant wave crashing down upon Manectric!

After three consecutive Psychics, even its own psychic power felt like it had swung wildly through empty air to a great degree.

Seeing this scene, Watson clenched his fists and cheered without a care for his image:

"Overheat!"

Overheat!?

Baimu froze for a moment, then his face changed drastically as he shouted: "Porygon, hold on!"

In an instant.

Red light glowed on the surface of the head-lowered Manectric, flames erupted beneath it like a volcano, clashing against the incoming psychic giant wave!

"Fuwoo!

"

Rumble rumble rumble rumble—

The battlefield seemed to tremble ceaselessly, and the hearts of the three people present trembled along with it.

But this wasn't over yet. A crimson-red surge of heat erupted a second time from within Manectric with sudden force, its air-distorting high temperature suppressing the invisible wave formed by Psychic, and rapidly closing in on Porygon!

"Pory!

"

Porygon let out a sharp cry, nearly mobilizing every ounce of its psychic power in an attempt to release it.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to the output of a single move; no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't overcome this terrifying surge of heat being released. It could only use its psychic power to detonate it directly!

Boom!

Amid an earth-shattering roar, a ball of flames rose up!

Baimu raised a sleeve to shield his face, his hair whipping in the gale stirred up by the heat. He never imagined Manectric still had a move like this hidden away.

Did it learn it from Ash's Torkoal?

Its power was practically on par with the Overheat used by Jasmine's Slugma, maybe even a touch stronger.

Truly worthy of being Watson's current ace Pokémon.

"Porygon!"

He shouted, looking toward the field shrouded in smoke, his ears pricked up as he listened carefully—and he actually found Porygon in a corner of the field, half its body covered in black ash.

Though it looked a bit miserable, this guy's eyes were quite bright, and waves of Bai Guang also rose from its body, turning the black ash back to its original magenta and cyan-blue coloring.

Baimu knew this was Porygon using Recover on its own.

The ventilation fans in the gym kicked in, quickly clearing the smoke, and Manectric collapsed against the wall came into everyone's view.

"Manectric is unable to battle! Porygon wins! The Gym Leader side has one Pokémon remaining!"

Assistant Walt immediately raised the green flag for the challenger's side.

Watson looked at Manectric, then at Porygon whose condition was gradually recovering. He recalled the former with a Poké Ball while scratching his head. "Thanks, Manectric. There's nothing you could do against a tough opponent like that. You worked hard."

Then he laughed heartily: "Hahahaha! So close! I thought using Overheat could trade for Porygon! Impressive, impressive!"

"Mm-hmm..."

Baimu nodded in response, then looked at Porygon as it rolled back to his feet on its gears.

"Pory!"

It let out a forcibly lowered cry; the emotion module that had been suppressed by the battle module resurfaced, and its eyes brimmed with an emotion called excitement.

We won!

It defeated the Thunder Beast!

The Gym's first battle didn't disappoint the Trainer's expectations!

"Nicely done!" Baimu naturally wouldn't stint on praise. Replaying the battle in his mind, he commended again: "You're really amazing! Porygon!"

"Pory!"

Porygon beamed with joy—who doesn't like being praised? Even it was no exception.

Baimu patted its head, but in his heart he recalled the aura this fellow had abruptly shifted into during the battle.

As Professor Akihabara's first work in the field of artificial Pokémon, Porygon was indeed equipped with a growth-capable emotion system, but when it truly entered battle, the other combat-applicable modules within its body would temporarily suppress the "unnecessary" emotion system.

The reason traced back deeply to the fact that Professor Akihabara was a pragmatist when he first designed Porygon. Having seen all manner of Pokémon resist their Trainers' commands, what he needed was an individual that could faithfully carry out the Trainer's instructions without ever overstepping.

Professor Akihabara back then probably understood machinery well, but most likely didn't understand Pokémon.

It was only when Porygon was truly born that the Professor slowly came to realize the power of certain emotional capacities, and so on the foundation of Porygon he created Porygon2, advancing it further toward a more lifelike Pokémon.

The pity was that although he altered the emotion system on subsequent Porygon, he never changed the setting that gradually suppresses the emotion modules during battle.

All to differentiate it from Porygon2.

But it has to be said.

This approach brought Baimu considerable benefit, drastically shortening the time needed to synchronize with Porygon. He didn't have to worry about the latter missing timing due to fear, hesitation, dread, or other emotions—it could accurately execute every command it had recorded.

And by the time the moment truly arrived when a Pokémon needed to unleash mental power, the awkward early phase was usually already past, and it could evolve into Porygon2 to further boost its strength.

Truly killing several birds with one stone.

During the battle just now, Porygon had clearly triggered numerous combat modules, so it was able not only to measure the optimal attack distance in advance, precisely predict where attacks would land, dodge the opponent's strikes, and counterattack at the first opportunity.

More importantly, upon discovering it couldn't withstand the opponent's attack, it made the optimal judgment—

Detonate the energy.

To prevent overheating from completely suppressing Psybeam and causing most of its power to pour back onto itself.

So although Porygon had looked miserable earlier, in reality it had only taken the aftereffects of the moves, and could fully recover with Recover.

From this one can also see that a Pokémon like Porygon truly has limitless potential.

At least in battle, as long as Professor Akihabara's design remains sound, it will surely be more popular than the mischief-loving Ghost-type Pokémon Rotom.

At this thought.

Baimu raised his gaze and happened to see Watson take out his last Ultra Ball.

"Since my strongest Pokémon has been defeated by you, then let me show you my hidden strength! Hahahaha!"

The old man laughed heartily and tossed it out. "Go! Wash Rotom!"

Boom!

Bai Guang flickered.

An orange washing machine dropped onto the field, then abruptly levitated, letting out a cry that made Porygon tremble all over.

"Wooo!"

Ro—to—m!

"Pory!

"

Porygon stared at the Wash Rotom in the distance, fury blazing in its heart!