Chapter 482: Bombarding the Sky Pillar

He rested on the eighth floor for about ten minutes.

Baimu glanced at the sky outside, recalled Miss Xijiana's warning not to drag things out until dark, and after careful deliberation chose to switch out the Three-Headed Dragon to rest, sending Mawile out in its place.

"Sah-rah!"

"Protest overruled—steady victory!"

"Sah-rah…"

The Three-Headed Dragon returned to its Poké Ball reluctantly, since the type energy it had expended was even harder to recover than stamina.

Bang!

A soft sound.

Mawile landed lightly, the Mega Stone on the back of its head glinting on and off.

"Kyuu~"

It blinked its bright big eyes, took quite a while to gradually adjust to the surroundings, then turned its head to look at the "travel-worn" trainer. "Kyuu… doh?"

"That's right, this is the Sky Pillar. I'm counting on you from here on."

Baimu nodded—there weren't many flying-capable fighters strong enough in his team, and Mawile, which could use Magnet Rise, barely counted as one.

Still, in this situation, Metagross, which had already mastered Mega Evolution, was clearly the better choice to send out—but no matter how it tried, it just couldn't learn Magnet Rise, so he had no choice but to go with Mawile.

To be fair.

He actually would have preferred to reach the tower's peak with a Dragon-type Pokémon, which would fit perfectly with his identity as a Dragon Tamer…

Sending a Fairy-type Mawile to climb the tower somehow felt like a provocation.

But the Sky Pillar was already using Ghost-type Pokémon to guard the floors, so what was wrong with him using a Fairy-type? He remembered there were even wild Mawile in the Sky Pillar in the games!

Rounding up, this counts as a "home game" for it, right?

Probably.

Baimu held the Keystone, already prepared for Mega Evolution.

"Let's go!"

He turned his head and spoke to the empty air; the responses from the Dragapult siblings came right after, and Dragapult remained shy until the very end, finally answering with a soft cry.

Onward to the ninth floor.

A Pokémon that left him rather surprised appeared before his eyes.

"Doru~"

A pitch-black clay doll with a gourd-shaped head and body kept opening and closing its blood-red eyes, looking rather eerie in the dim environment.

"Claydol… oh right, you guys are also Pokémon that can hibernate instead of eating, not needing material nutrition."

Baimu nodded, sensed the opponent's hostility, and without hesitation pressed his index finger against the Keystone.

"Mega Evolve!"

"Kyuu!"

Mawile responded with a low cry, its entire body wrapped in dazzling blue light, and in an instant its appearance underwent a startling transformation.

Those two Claydol had clearly witnessed similar Mega Evolution scenes before and understood what was happening to the one in front of them, so they immediately raised the water-drop-shaped arms on either side of their bodies and fired strange, multicolored rays at Mawile.

Bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt—

The odd sound rang out, like an alien firing a handgun.

But the time they had spent trying to launch their attack was already enough for Mawile to complete its Mega Evolution, so facing the two powerful rays, Mega Mawile simply chose to headbutt them straight back!

Brilliant silver-white light enveloped its head; when the multicolored rays struck its body, they couldn't even disperse the silver energy layer on the outside, and instead crumbled away as it charged forward—utterly no contest.

"Kyuu!"

With a fierce cry, Mega Mawile transformed into a silver bullet car.

Rumble rumble rumble—

The floorboards shook wildly under the terrifying surge of energy!

But just as Mega Mawile was about to slam into the two Claydol, blue light flared up in the shadows all around, and Baimu could feel a powerful psychic force forming a sponge-like wall in front of Mega Mawile, blocking its advance.

Then.

That psychic force, following the Claydol's command, spread like a tide over Mega Mawile, binding its hands, feet, and jaws.

"Kyyy—dyyy—"

"Don't panic!"

He pulled out a flashlight and swept it around, discovering that the edges of the floor on all sides had at some point become packed with a huge number of Baltoy—and like the Claydol, they were completely unaffected by the flashlight's glare.

"They brought in reinforcements too? What the hell?"

He was certain these guys had flown in from somewhere else to back up the Claydol only after the Claydol made their move.

Two opponents had been forcibly turned into a swarm of opponents.

Of course.

It had also never been stated that a floor only had two enemies—the "gamblers" on the seventh floor had already proven the guardian Pokémon numbered more than two, so two Claydol plus a swarm of Baltoy was nothing to make a fuss about.

But…

"Don't you underestimate my Mawile either!"

Baimu declared in a ringing voice.

The trapped Mega Mawile, as if answering his words, shouted along with him: "Kyu!

Doh!

Boom!

The invisible psychic force trembled constantly; the Mega Mawile that had once broken free from Lugia's Wind Bind tried to tear it apart step by step, forcing the Claydol to direct the Baltoy to keep tightening the psychic force, pressing down on it—

"Ruru~"

The sudden appearance of the shadow and the cry startled one of the Psychic Claydols, and only when it saw Dragapult did it realize there was another Pokémon hiding in the dark.

Unfortunately, reacting now was too late — Dragapult, which had crept over using Phantom Force, had already swung its massive tail into it, sending it flying.

Peng!

In a puff of explosive smoke, the giant Psychic Claydol looked just like a shuttlecock that had been smacked away.

And with one of the main controllers suddenly gone, the Baltoy imprisoning formation collapsed on the spot, causing Mega Mawile's body to once again ignite with silver-white flames.

"Iron Head!"

"Chiyu!"

Mega Mawile leaped up violently, slamming into the remaining Psychic Claydol's chest like a missile; after sending it flying it still hadn't stopped — relying on Magnet Rise, used at some unknown point, it made a sharp turn midair and, like a lawnmower, kept crashing into the other Baltoy, beating them into clutching their heads and scurrying away in disarray.

All Baimu silently watched Mega Mawile unleash its might, and wasn't surprised to see this scene — what he was more concerned about was something else—

It seemed Mega Mawile's presence was excessively strong, causing both the Greenfield Gym Leader twins from before and the Psychic Claydol just now to seem to forget it still had opponents.

So much so that it smoothly let Dragapult find an opportunity to attack.

Could this count as a non-move manifestation of 【Spotlight】 and 【Follow Me】?

More crucially, if Mega Mawile's trait could be utilized in a Pokémon Contest, it would very likely be very useful for raising the score of the first examination.

Hmm…

It might be that this situation appeared precisely because it frequently participated in Pokémon Contests, gradually becoming dazzling and eye-catching enough.

Stepping onto the "stage," it is the protagonist!

Thinking this way, calling it the effect of 【Spotlight】 isn't wrong either.

Mega Mawile, like a rampaging Tauros, charged about in circles before finally returning to All Baimu's front, slightly panting but in good shape.

Real combat really is the best experience tutor.

Since the last Gym battle, Mega Mawile's control over Mega Evolution had clearly improved, and once this tower-climbing trip ended, there would surely be more results.

"Go!"

All Baimu didn't dare keep wasting time — first, he wanted to make the best use of his "tools," and second, he worried that once night fell there would be more trouble.

When dusk arrives, night isn't far off.

The tenth floor.

When he set foot on this floor, he deliberately looked up a few times and found that besides the tenth floor, only the eleventh and twelfth areas remained; to go higher, one had to take the long spiral staircase clinging to the inner wall of the Sky Pillar, and in the haze he really couldn't make out how many steps there were.

In any case, it was very long.

All Baimu didn't keep paying attention to that, his gaze sweeping around the tenth floor, when he suddenly discovered that Mega Mawile, which should have been on his right front side, was gone.

An illusion?

He pulled a Max Potion tablet from his pocket and stuffed it in his mouth; the cool flavor surged into his brain, yet gave him no sense of relief — instead it felt like being punched, painful.

In a haze, a vague mumbling of incantations sounded in his ears, purple light faintly spreading before his eyes, his brain seeming to be gradually dulled.

【A novel app that has run stably for many years, comparable to the old version of the source-swapping app that bug-chasers all use — huanyuanapp.】

He'd been hit!

A thought flashed through All Baimu's muddled head, and then he nearly lost the ability to think.

Until a strong numbness surged from his abdomen throughout his whole body, like ten thousand needles stabbing wildly all over his body at once, he couldn't help but cry out.

"Pain! It hurts!"

As the cry rang out, his vision blurred, the purple light replaced by bright yellow light, his body convulsing involuntarily, but his head gradually cleared.

Before him was a strange Pokémon wearing a wizard's hat; the latter, like him, was covered in spike-like yellow light, eyes seeing stars and body convulsing, clearly suffering the torment of an Electric-type move.

Dusclops!

Damn! This kind of Pokémon isn't supposed to know Hypnosis, right? It uses special abilities to create illusions!?

His gaze shifted, and he quickly realized Dragapult and Mega Mawile were also being electrocuted, clearly having been afflicted by Dusclops's illusions as well.

And none of them had managed to withstand it.

Resistance to psychic power needs improvement…

Wait.

Why isn't it over yet!?

Although normal thought had returned to his body, All Baimu felt he was about to be electrocuted into losing control of his bladder and bowels, which made him for a moment suspect that Porygon2, which he kept in his phone as an emergency measure, was taking personal revenge.

Fortunately.

Porygon2 ultimately still let him keep his dignity.

"Hit it!"

All Baimu shouted, and Mega Mawile, equally electrocuted into a daze, immediately grabbed him, spun around rapidly several times like a windmill, and hurled him out fiercely.

Whoosh—

Dusclops turned into a meteor and vanished in the lower half of the Sky Pillar.

Mega Mawile looked down with lingering fear; it had thought that after Mega Evolving it was nearly invincible, and the battle with the Psychic Claydol just now had proven this — even without Dragapult's support, it could break free of psychic restraints.

Who would have thought that after climbing just one more floor, it would fall for it on the spot.

Arrogance must not be indulged.

Mega Mawile silently thought this, while Dragapult was somewhat doubting its life as a Dragon — hiding with invisibility and still getting hallucinated, a Ghost-type Pokémon getting hallucinated!

If word got out, would it still have any face left?

One person and two Pokémon silently digested everything that had just happened, and when looking at the higher floors, for the moment didn't dare rush… nightfall approaching was one thing, but without being more vigilant, something like what just happened would very likely happen again.

All Baimu took a deep breath and, with the two Pokémon, carefully made his way to the eleventh floor.

Same as the ninth floor.

The gatekeeper Pokémon here had long been waiting.

It was a Dusclops.

He froze for a beat, and at the instant the Mega Mawile beside him tried to charge over, he shouted, "Wait!" — Lan

In a flash.

The Dusclops raised its broad palms, and a pitch-black hole appeared in the center of both its palms; a terrifying suction force immediately radiated from within.

It was a fake Black Hole!

Boom!

Baimu, whose body was involuntarily lifting into the air, quickly sent out Aggron, grabbed its tail with one hand, and with the other pulled out a Poké Ball to recall the invisible Dragapult into its ball.

And Mega Mawile had already grabbed his trouser leg and climbed all the way up onto his back.

Baimu then exerted his strength, vaulted onto Aggron's back, and relied on the fellow's absurd weight to barely withstand the Dusclops's Black Hole — Lan

That said, the Black Hole the Dusclops created was actually the entrance to the space inside its body; once sucked in, it would be very hard to get out.

Like the Banette that Furong had before, which had used the big mouth on its belly to imprison vicious Ghost-type Pokémon — that was derived from the Dusclops's Black Hole. The key point was that the one before them right now had an even more exaggerated grasp of the Black Hole's suction than Furong's.

"Gurrroar…"

Aggron let out a low growl, indicating that it too was about at its limit, its body being pulled toward the Black Hole against its will.

And judging from the light peeking through the cracks in the rock, dusk and sunset were about to give way to night — the Dusclops's Black Hole suction might well step up another level.

Baimu licked his lips, stared fixedly at the Dusclops's single eye, and after a brief moment of thought shouted:

"We're going all out! Double Iron Head, get ready! Iron Head, get ready!" — Lan

"Gurrroar!"

"Churr!"

The two Pokémon answered loudly; although the deep, infinitely sucking Black Hole looked terrifyingly fearsome, there was not the slightest trace of fear on either of their faces.

Aggron slowly began to take heavy steps, and a startling momentum gathered rapidly along with a brownish-yellow light.

A short while later.

Rock-type energy transformed into a dazzling light that swirled around its body, giving it the rough appearance of a giant energy-rock, and rumbling like a giant energy ball.

On its shoulders and back, Mega Mawile's two massive jaws continuously blasted silver energy backward, as if venting pressure while boosting Aggron's forward charge. — Lan

The Dusclops in the distance, holding the Black Hole in its hands, seemed to change expression, but at this point it couldn't stop even if it wanted to; it could only steel itself and increase the Black Hole's suction, trying to suck all of Aggron and Mega Mawile's energy in —

The next moment.

Baimu raised his hand and, like a cavalry commander, shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Charge!"

"Roar!

!"

Aggron lowered its body like a rhinoceros, took heavy steps, and charged toward the Dusclops; the Black Hole's suction and the energy jets from Mega Mawile on its shoulders boosted its speed in an instant to a truly exaggerated level.

In an instant, the brownish-yellow energy ball and the "Black Hole" collided with a thunderous crash! — Lan

Bai Guang instantly erupted, swallowing every color.

Then, under the watch of countless Ghost-type Pokémon, an unprecedented massive explosion filled the entirety of the eleventh floor, and spread to the mid-to-upper levels of the entire Sky Pillar!

Rumble rumble —!

The shockwave kept reverberating inside the tower, making the Sky Pillar itself shake as if there were an earthquake.

Miss Xijiana, waiting outside the tower, showed a look of shock.

"This is…"