Chapter 607: The Battle for Weather

The cheers of the crowd made Steelix especially pleased with itself.

"Roar!"

It raised its head and let out a great bellow, looking down from on high as it smugly displayed its mountain-like towering figure, madly drawing everyone's attention.

This guy!

Baimu looked at Steelix, caught between laughter and tears, but had no intention of stepping forward to stop it; he simply watched Porygon-II fly back and said, "Good work!"

"Pory~"

Porygon-II's smile was radiant.

His original intention in having it battle consecutively was to promote Porygon, this miraculous Pokémon, but judging by the current situation, the audience clearly paid more attention to the super-giant Steelix.

A failed promotion?

Of course not.

He was well aware that the media and competitors who had come specifically to watch the battles would certainly not overlook Porygon-II's contributions.

These two doubles matches had perfectly demonstrated Porygon-II's support capabilities.

Whether it was the Trick Room that decided the match in one fell swoop, or the Electric Net that halted the Blizzard and trapped the opponent, both played absolutely crucial roles.

For the upcoming third round, it was time to show off its offensive capabilities.

Baimu shook hands amicably with the admiring Ladd, took out a Poké Ball and prepared to recall Steelix, but was refused by the latter.

"Roar~"

Steelix's massive head shrank back, then turned reluctantly to look at the audience adoring it.

So fond of being popular, huh…

Baimu sighed helplessly, beckoned and said, "Fine. Lower your head, I'll ride you back."

Steelix paused slightly upon hearing this, then revealed a delighted expression, lowered its head to let the Trainer step up, and once he was steady, strutted proudly toward the exit.

In an instant.

A noisy crowd followed Steelix outward, and Miss Liuqi and the others couldn't get close even if they wanted to.

The corridor outside the venue was completely blocked by the crowd; Steelix slowly moved forward in high spirits, and Baimu on its head barely managed a smile as he responded to the calls from those around him, feeling oddly like an animal in a zoo.

The uproarious scene drew curious glances from other passersby.

"What a huge Steelix! What is it doing? A parade?"

"Who's that Trainer on its head?"

Amidst the buzzing discussion.

It wasn't until staff from the tournament's administrative office came to clear the path and, by extension, persuaded Steelix and Baimu to stop this parade-like activity that the lively crowd finally dispersed.

Steelix was still a bit reluctant to part, but it no longer gazed longingly and pleadingly; it obediently returned to its Poké Ball.

Baimu's expression turned odd. "Being flattered back in Iron Town got you addicted, huh?"

Before setting out on the journey, Steelix had only simply enjoyed digging holes everywhere, but now, several months later, it had actually become a creature that loved to steal the spotlight.

Time and environment could indeed change not only people, but Pokémon as well.

Nothing wrong with that.

Most of the Pokémon in his team were "free of desire," only hoping to continue moving forward with him until they reached the very peak of Trainers.

Especially calling out Bastiodon — it originally had a little hobby of caring for plants and flowers, but now, influenced by his travels abroad, it had completely cast that aside.

Every day, just like an old monk, it was either watching the sunrise and sunset on the balcony, or going to the seaside to admire the tides.

A Pokémon that had only just reached its young adult stage.

Baimu said it would be a lie to claim he felt no guilt at all, but he had no choice but to come out and see the world; staying in one corner forever would never reach the absolute peak.

He only hoped that after returning to Ore, Bastiodon could reignite its desire to build a territory.

"Baimu!"

Miss Liuqi and the others approached, drenched in sweat; they had almost been crushed to death.

Baimu replied apologetically, "Sorry, I was a little willful. Let's go back together for lunch?"

In the second round, Alice had competed before him, and likewise without any suspense, she had defeated her opponent with the massive advantage of a King playing against Gold.

——

Because fifteen fields were battling simultaneously.

That afternoon.

Baimu and Alice welcomed the final third round.

Currently, fewer than seventy participants remained; under such circumstances, the probability of encountering a competitor considered to have the bearing of a champion greatly increased.

As it happened, his opponent was precisely such a somewhat well-known Trainer.

"Reiji…"

Baimu saw that his opponent's face was at most thirteen or fourteen years old, recalled the data he had looked at during lunch, and thought to himself that finally, it wasn't a Trainer from the Sinnoh region.

A Hoenn tournament should naturally have more Hoenn people!

According to Porygon-II, Reiji's strength was highly regarded by many online; the first three matches he fought were also extremely brilliant, extremely similar to Tetsuya who had once participated in the tournament.

Unfortunately, this person's luck wasn't as good as Tetsuya's — would falling in the Top 64 in his first tournament leave a psychological shadow?

After all, for him, whether a participant was somewhat well-known or far-renowned made no difference.

Without Elite Four-level strength, there was only losing.

While he was pondering.

Reiji was likewise observing Baimu — this could be said to be the strongest opponent he had to face since becoming a Trainer.

He had watched all three of the opponent's matches since entering the tournament, and had even specifically gone to watch the Contest Battle segment of the Pokémon Contest.

Honestly, it was terrifying.

He felt that the Four Heavenly Kings of Hoenn were nothing more than this.

Strength, tactics, command, and the all-important ability to inspire his Pokémon — Baimu lacked none of them. So this was what a seasoned trainer was like!

Gu Li Si didn't want to let pessimism take root in himself, but after seeing Baimu in person, he still couldn't help a jolt of dread.

What followed was excitement.

That's right.

Gu Li Si clearly felt the emotion surging in his heart at this moment was called excitement, and it let him understand he had never feared battling this powerful opponent.

If that's the case, then he could win!

He believed that as long as his fighting spirit wasn't suppressed, his Pokémon would naturally inherit his momentum and defeat every enemy.

"The second match about to take place in Arena One is between Trainer Baimu from Iron Town and Trainer Gu Li Si from Twinleaf Town!"

The commentator shouted excitedly, "Both of these trainers are seen as favorites to take the championship, so what kind of match will they put on for us! Let's wait and see!"

Both sides took their positions and threw their Poké Balls.

Bang bang bang bang.

A string of sounds.

"Pory!"

Porygon2 took the field as usual, and this time the Pokémon partnering with it was Blissey.

"Happy~"

Across from them, a Sigilyph that looked like some sort of eerie totem flapped its wings in the air, and beside it stood a two-legged giant beast, Rhyperior, clad in heavy brown-red armor with one long and one short spiral horn atop its head.

The orb that seemed to be Sigilyph's eye flashed with an eerie light, and Rhyperior let out a low growl it could barely contain:

"Rhyrrr!"

After confirming everything was in order, the referee loudly announced: "The battle begins!"

The Pokémon on both sides moved at once.

The fastest to act this time was Sigilyph, which took the lead in erecting a translucent square energy shield in front of itself and Rhyperior.

"Light Screen!"

Clearly Gu Li Si understood very well what shortcomings needed to be made up against the two Pokémon Porygon2 and Blissey.

And once the defense was complete, it was time for the offensive moves to take the stage.

"Rhyrrr!"

Rhyperior growled low and raised its thick arms that seemed heavy like cannons, aiming at the distant Porygon2 and Blissey.

A faint pale-brown glow coated them, and countless grains of sand appeared out of thin air, gathering together at extreme speed to take shape.

In the blink of an eye.

Countless glowing shattered stones embedded themselves into the hollows of Rhyperior's arms, throbbing ceaselessly like a shotgun ready to fire.

"Pory!"

Porygon2's body elongated in a Bai Guang, its feet turning into round wheels, and it spun around to catch the leaping Blissey.

It looked just like an electric wheelchair, carrying Blissey as it dodged to the side.

"Rock Wrecker!"

A savage grin appeared on Rhyperior's face. Its meteor-hammer-like tail slammed heavily into the ground, and the muscles of its arms, contracted to the limit, suddenly swelled!

Full salvo!

Boom! Boom!

Accompanied by heavy muffled sounds like beating war drums, flames seemed to explode in Rhyperior's palms, and countless stones blasted out like cannonballs leaving the barrel!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Amid the sharp sound of cutting wind, glowing rocks large and small formed a dense rainstorm, smashing down toward Porygon2 and Blissey.

But what Gu Li Si hadn't expected was that Porygon2, through nimble maneuvering that withdrew to the edge of the battlefield, successfully dodged every flying stone.

The stones that missed smashed into the ground and shattered into powder, the large ones thudding heavily, the small ones making a cracking sound.

The commentator shouted loudly: "All of them missed! Porygon2 dodged Rhyperior's Rock Wrecker with agile movements!"

Gu Li Si paid no attention to the commentary, but when he caught sight of Blissey with blue glinting in its eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

"Not good!"

He looked toward Sigilyph.

Sure enough.

The latter's body suddenly stiffened, then uncontrollably crashed down to the ground.

【Gravity】!

One of Blissey's signature moves!

"Sigilyph uses its psychic power to fly!" Gu Li Si shouted.

Sigilyph certainly possessed the Flying type, but the real reason it could fly lay in its tremendous psychic power. He believed its psychic power was enough to handle the gravity field Blissey had created with its own psychic power—

The fallen strange bird, covered in a blue glow, convulsed violently once.

Then it stopped moving.

Gu Li Si's pupils contracted sharply. He had clearly used this aspect before to break through the Gravity condition!

Could it be… that the Psychic-type Sigilyph failed to overpower the Normal-type Blissey in a psychic power contest!?

This isn't scientific!

He looked across and saw Baimu issue his second wave of commands:

"Texture · Grass, Sunny Day."

Gu Li Si couldn't hear clearly, but he understood he couldn't just sit and wait for death — he had to drag out the duration of the gravity field. "Rhyperior, use Sandstorm!"

"Thud-thump!"

Rhyperior raised both arms high and roared, and in an instant it was as if an endless tide of yellow sand surged out from beneath its body, swirling around it to form a terrifying sandstorm.

The Sigilyph closest to it flapped its wings a little, but simply wasn't blown skyward by the sandstorm.

Yet the flowing sand that should have done it harm passed right through its body as if it didn't exist at all.

Without a doubt.

This Sigilyph's ability was Magic Guard.

Porygon2's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.

The trainer's prediction was right!

Leaves rapidly grew across its surface, like a special forces soldier's jungle camouflage, covering up its original bright red-and-blue paint.

Blissey sat on its back, hands pressed together, letting out a prayer-like cry.

"Happy~"

A wave of golden light released from its body gathered in the sky above, forming a massive light source that continuously radiated intense rays.

The raging wind drove the sky full of yellow sand sweeping in, only to be melted away by the fierce light.

Unfortunately.

The sandstorm did not disperse because of this.

The two weather effects even clashed fiercely across the center of the field as a dividing line; the Sunny Day that Blissey had used as a follow-up failed to completely drive away Rhyperior's Sandstorm the way Steelix's Sandstorm had crushed Hail.

Clearly unlike the Hail triggered by Abomasnow's ability, Rhyperior was continuously generating sandstorm after sandstorm to clash head-on with Sunny Day.

This forced Blissey to keep releasing golden light waves into the sky to maintain the intensity of the sunlight.

Commentator: "Rhyperior and Blissey have entered a weather war! Neither can do anything to the other!"

All Baimu frowned slightly.

Such a prolonged weather tug-of-war is the sort of thing that only happens in the anime world—like two Pokémon firing their ultimate moves at each other in a beam struggle.

But what he was concerned about wasn't whether it was reasonable, but that Blissey couldn't outlast Rhyperior.

There's a gap between off-type and same-type moves, let alone a weather move like Sunny Day that Blissey rarely uses.

The two sides appeared evenly matched at this moment, but in reality Blissey was losing ground step by step; it wouldn't be long before the field was overtaken by the sandstorm.

However.

At this very moment, with Rhyperior tied up by the weather move and Sigilyph still unable to rise due to gravity.

The most suitable output environment for Porygon2 is right now!

He gave his partner an affirming look. "Go! Solar Beam!"

"Pory!"

Porygon2's eyes suddenly blazed; the sunlight pouring down from above rapidly gathered into its eyes, making them shine in an instant like two floodlights of tens of millions of lumens!

Hum!

Li Si was nearly blinded by the intense light and hurriedly raised a hand to shield himself; fortunately, the sand from the sandstorm partially blocked it, sparing him from momentary blindness.

He anxiously looked at Sigilyph, still unable to rise, and shouted: "Sigilyph, use Psychic! Help Rhyperior block it!"

Being unable to rise doesn't mean being unable to use moves.

Li Si judged that Porygon2's Solar Beam would surely target Rhyperior, which was locked in a stalemate with Blissey, rather than Sigilyph, which resists Grass-type attacks, so he hurriedly had it put up a block—

Facts proved his judgment wrong.

Boom!

Only a muffled explosion was heard.

Two golden pillars of light shot from Porygon2's eyes; wherever they passed, they gave off that unique burnt smell of dust under a blazing sun, and the seemingly terrifying sandstorm around Rhyperior was pierced through in an instant!

Under Li Si's disbelieving gaze, the blazing Solar Beam landed on Sigilyph, whose psychic power had only just been released to Rhyperior's vicinity.

Boom!!

The ground exploded, dust and smoke billowed everywhere!

Sigilyph's Psychic hadn't even been fully released into position before it was struck by the Solar Beam!

"Sigilyph!"

Li Si shouted; the rolling smoke was swept away by the sandstorm's wind, revealing Sigilyph still sprawled on the ground, covered in dust.

It showed no reaction at all.

The commentator's voice rang through the entire venue: "The Solar Beam hit! Does Sigilyph still have fight left in it?! The weather war between Rhyperior and Blissey isn't over yet!"

The audience erupted in excited cheers, their eyes fixed on Sigilyph, each with their own thoughts.

Suddenly.

Sigilyph flapped its wings.

Its not-bad Special Defense, its Flying type that resists Grass-type attacks, and the Light Screen it used at the start had all combined to let it survive the Solar Beam.

Li Si broke into a smile. "Nicely done! Now it's our turn to—"

Boom!!

Another thick golden pillar of light engulfed Sigilyph, and the smoke from the blast swallowed Li Si's fading smile.

Under Sunny Day, Porygon2's Solar Beam charge time was so short as to be almost nonexistent; if one Solar Beam didn't finish off Sigilyph.

Then two would.

Keep firing until it's down.

All Baimu's expression was exceptionally calm.