Chapter 623: The Z-Move Appears!

The shockwave was like a super storm tearing the sky apart.

Boom!

All Baimu's hair and the hem of his clothes fluttered together—he nearly got blown away.

Fortunately the trainer's seats also had defensive installations; a purple light barrier greatly reduced the wind's force and let him keep his footing as he raised a hand to block the dust and grass clippings flying at his face.

Looking again, everything within his line of sight was a hazy grey-white; smoke and dust choked half the arena and showed no sign of clearing.

"The power's grown again."

All Baimu thought to himself.

If Aggron represented the team's ultimate defense, then Mawile was the ultimate offense.

With the Huge Power Ability, the moment it first tried Mega Evolution a single punch had punched straight through the shield Lugia had formed by manipulating wind pressure!

Not only did it send Lugia flying out of the waters it inhabited, it nearly flipped the whole thing over!

And now.

Its strength had long since changed beyond recognition; even though its energy level still hovered around seventy, every one of its abilities had, through long-term battles, Luminescent cooking, and scientific training, far surpassed that tier.

Even the well-traveled Mi Ke Li and Adam couldn't help but marvel, encouraging him and Mawile to keep pushing down the path of ultimate offense.

Every Pokémon had its specialty, but most trainers lacked the ability to discover, let alone cultivate, that specialty—it would be a shame to stumble upon it by luck and not pour everything into studying it.

All Baimu naturally agreed wholeheartedly with the two of them, so he had been thinking about how to fully unleash Mega Mawile's power.

And so.

An Iron Head comparable to a comet descending upon the world was born.

Much like the once-famous orbital weapon "Rods from God," it borrowed the momentum of a high-altitude fall, the kinetic energy granted by gravity, and the wide field of view to guarantee hit rate.

Even if the opponent luckily dodged, they couldn't dodge far—the explosive energy would still wound them.

Facts proved it.

Although "Rods from God" was later shown not to be as devastating as the rumors claimed, Mega Mawile's Iron Head carried real weight, and its might was as vast as All Baimu had envisioned.

How would it actually perform in real combat?

That would depend on how Mega Kangaskhan and the baby Kangaskhan fared in a moment.

All Baimu fell silent; at the same time the commentator's shout rang out above the arena:

"Terrifying! That strike shook the whole arena! Mawile's Iron Head was like a meteor falling from the sky! The entire battlefield is covered in smoke from the shockwave! How are Kangaskhan and the baby Kangaskhan doing? Did they dodge it?!"

That question echoed not only through the audience seats but also in Miss Liuqi's ears.

Although he had been entangled with All Baimu for a long time through Smeargle, Ditto and other Pokémon, the more he fought the clearer the gap between them became.

If their strength were truly equal, how could he have been pushed this passive?

The destructive power Mega Mawile now displayed had shattered his fantasy of an evenly matched fight; he could only hope that after using Protect, Mega Kangaskhan and the baby Kangaskhan could hold on.

As long as they held on, there was hope.

For a moment.

Countless people craned their necks toward the inside of the field; Miss Liuqi and the others unconsciously clenched their fists, while All Baimu and Elima were silent.

A short while later.

The billowing smoke and dust over the field gradually dispersed.

A huge, irregular crater was the first thing to meet everyone's eyes; the waist-high grass was nowhere to be seen, leaving only the occasional sliding pebble, and the edges rose high as if blessed by a meteorite.

At the crater's edge.

Clumps of emerald grass lay flattened, many roots and stems exposed; the once-neat grass field was now a scene of devastation.

Of course, not many people cared about that.

Their attention was still more on the center of the crater, watching the three Pokémon inside—

One standing, two down.

The arena fell silent.

Mega Mawile, meeting everyone's gaze, slowly flew into the air, raised its right fist, and cried out loudly, forcefully declaring its victory!

"Kyoodoo!!"

The referee's gaze fell on the unconscious Kangaskhan and the baby Kangaskhan, which had reverted to its original form; he raised the flag in his left hand. "Kangaskhan is unable to battle! Mawile wins!"

"She took it! The Kangaskhan mother and child couldn't match Mawile! Even Protect couldn't withstand that steel-fierce attack!!"

The commentator's voice stirred the heart.

Wah!

The audience erupted in an instant, cheers spreading across the entire arena.

Miss Liuqi and Xiaoguang exchanged a glance, excitedly shaking the pom-poms in their hands; Altaria and Piplup shouted and twisted as they went, especially the latter, who wished it could rush down and dance in front of Mawile.

"Prylu! Prylu!"

"Poppo! Poppo!"

One last one! One last one!

The entire match was clearly about to reach its end with Kangaskhan's fall!

Elima recalled the Kangaskhan mother and child, his face tinged with unmistakable regret, and said gently, "You worked hard. This opponent's strength far surpassed ours—don't be discouraged."

He drew a deep breath and looked at All Baimu and the Mega Mawile in mid-air across from him.

He had only one Pokémon left; although he still had an unplayed trump card, it was only good for a single strike. Taking on five was basically impossible—the outcome of this battle was already decided.

But.

Elima had never thought of surrendering.

Even if he couldn't win a hundred percent, he would still go all out with his partner—only that way could he be worthy of the sweat and effort poured out over this past year.

With taking down Mega Mawile as the goal!

He took a deep breath and hurled the last Poké Ball. "I'm counting on you! Eevee!"

"Eebee!"

The fluffy Eevee landed on the field, gazing up at the Mega Mawile with fighting spirit brimming.

The commentator saw this and immediately said: "And here it is! Trainer Ilima's final Pokémon! Eevee! What kind of battle will it put on? Will it be the horn of a counterattack, or the finale's closing note?"

The audience seats buzzed with discussion.

Many people thought Eevee couldn't possibly be Mega Mawile's match, but those familiar with Ilima noted that Eevee was Ilima's very first Pokémon — he had begun raising it when he was very young.

It absolutely couldn't be weak.

Not evolving was Ilima's way of believing there were many ways to grow stronger; he wanted Eevee to stay as it was.

Sharing the same philosophy as Ash, it earned the latter's praise during Sun & Moon.

Of course, his Eevee wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as Ash's Pikachu, and under normal circumstances couldn't pull off an Iron Tail on par with Behemoth Slash.

That it was worth being wary of, though, was certainly true.

Back when challenging the Gym, it had coordinated with Smeargle to defeat a Galarian Sun Coral that had let its guard down for a moment — its speed was just as shamelessly unreasonable as the original-series Pikachu's.

The first time he encountered it, it had given him quite a fright.

Fortunately, it had been taken out by Destiny Bond.

All Baimu's mind raced as he shouted: "Taunt!"

"Baby-Doll Eyes!"

Ilima's command came down in sync.

Mega Mawile looked at the petite Eevee, not underestimating it just because of its size, and dove downward with a solemn expression.

It hadn't expected Eevee's movements to seem even faster than its own — a pair of glossy black eyes gleaming behind it.

The next moment.

A blue glow indicating a lowered stat lit up on its body.

Mega Mawile paid it no mind, merely approaching and casually beckoning at it with a finger.

"Chuu~"

"Bwee!"

Eevee's little face scrunched up, and it quickly took the bait and entered the Taunt state.

The commentator shouted: "Mawile's Attack has dropped! Eevee has been Taunted by Mawile! It's become difficult for it to use status moves! Trainer Baimu's tactics are extremely meticulous! He's not planning to give Trainer Ilima any room to counterattack!"

Ilima saw this and shouted again: "Quick Attack to create distance! Don't go head-to-head with it!"

He had observed for a long time and believed Mega Mawile's weakness might be its speed, so he prepared to have Eevee keep a certain distance from Mega Mawile and fight through kiting.

It just so happened that Eevee's Ability was Adaptability, which could effectively boost the power of Normal-type moves.

"Eebee!"

Seeing Mega Mawile dive straight at it, Eevee immediately broke into a run and turned into a white streak of light, vanishing from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Faster than before!

All Baimu's heart stirred, and he shouted: "Pursuit it!"

A Pursuit that came out later couldn't deal damage to Eevee, but what he wanted was just the speed boost from Pursuit's release process.

Mega Mawile landed, its body spinning as the tips of its toes lightly tapped the ground.

Boom!

The ground trembled.

A pitch-black airflow materialized around it, suddenly spinning into a visible small tornado that surged mightily toward Eevee!

What explosive speed!

Ilima hadn't expected Mega Mawile to be able to faintly keep up with Eevee, and immediately said: "Speed up and change course! Run wild!"

"Eebee!"

Eevee accelerated a second time, nearly turning into a white afterimage the naked eye could barely follow, and in an instant ran from one end of the field to the other, near the crater.

Its original movement seemed to be jumping straight into the crater Mega Mawile had smashed out, but its front paws jumped in and its back paws ran back out, and it even kicked off hard to change direction.

Whoosh!

This fellow was as nimble as a wild hare, zigzagging its way to the other side of the field.

Mega Mawile consequently lunged at empty air.

Bang!

Dust flew.

Its sudden burst of speed was too hard to change direction on — in the past it could still change direction by kicking off stones, but now any stone it kicked off would just shatter, so how could it change direction?

The black airflow dissipated.

"Back to the sky!"

All Baimu wasn't going to waste any more effort — since he couldn't catch this absurdly fast fellow on the ground, he'd look for an opening in the sky.

There'd always come a moment when you couldn't run!

Mega Mawile flew skyward without hesitation, and at the same time several card-shaped planes of crimson energy suddenly appeared behind it.

"Ace!"

Swish swish swish!

The card-shaped energy tore through the air on the attack, its source unmistakably Eevee, surrounded by copious crimson energy.

This was a move whose power grew the more it was used, tied to the remaining energy of the user's type — at this moment it was at its lowest-power stage.

Mega Mawile, charging straight for the sky, didn't even look back; the two massive jaws behind its head seemed to have eyes of their own as they suddenly shot out, and with a few crisp snaps they crushed the card-shaped energy.

The commentator said: "Ace was shattered by Mega Mawile! It's back in the sky! Is that powerful Iron Head about to make another appearance?"

In reality, it can't be reproduced.

Eevee's opening round pupils are still very effective, significantly reducing Mega Mawile's output capability.

Unless...

"Sword Dance!"

All Baimu didn't hesitate — Eevee was currently being provoked and locked into changing moves; if not now to boost attack, when?

The battlefield is only so big — no matter how much you run, where can you possibly go?

I'll hit both you and that patch of field together!

"Kii~"

Mega Mawile danced gracefully in the air, phantom longswords revolving around it like a curtain of light, an unbroken stream of chilling, razor-sharp aura.

In an instant.

A towering orange-yellow radiance erupted from its body, its aura surging all the way to a terrifying level.

Yilima furrowed his brow — he had wanted to whittle down Mega Mawile's stamina as much as possible, then try to counterattack with his trump card.

But Mega Mawile had used Sword Dance to boost its attack again — there really was no way to stall any longer; stall too much and he might never get the chance to use it!

"Come! Eevee! Right here, right now — surpass the sky and the earth!"

Under the gaze of everyone, he crossed his hands and began moving as if dancing.

Brilliant radiance lit up on the wristband at his wrist, growing brighter and brighter with his fluid, flowing motions.

Immediately after.

Light also flared on Eevee's body!

"Veevee!"

"It's finally here!"

All Baimu's attention was drawn to Yilima, but to his surprise the latter's movements were extremely fast — nowhere near as slow and sluggish as shown in the anime.

He shouted: "No matter what Eevee's preparing, charge in! With everything you've got!"

"Kii!"

Mega Mawile could feel vast, surging energy continuously pouring into Eevee's body — a high-energy fluctuation enough to put it on guard.

In that case, this strike will decide the victor!

"Kii—"

It suddenly clenched both fists tight, and an intense, blinding flash erupted from its entire body!

Boom!

The air let out a muffled roar, throbbing and warping as if about to split apart on the spot.

The two massive jaws behind its head, like flame throwers, abruptly blasted out streams of pastel-colored dazzling light — shaking the air while also bursting forth multicolored stars, dazzlingly beautiful.

Charge complete.

Mega Mawile looked down at Eevee from above; the energy within the latter also seemed to have finished pouring in.

An energy wave no less than its own blazed upward, and strange upward-arrow patterns materialized in front of Eevee, seemingly symbolizing some special meaning, inexplicably making the heart palpitate.

Yilima and All Baimu locked eyes.

Eevee and Mega Mawile also locked eyes.

The air fell silent for an instant.

Then.

The two of them, along with both Pokémon, shouted in unison:

"Last Resort / Veevee!!"

"Play Rough / Kii!"

The words trailed off.

Mega Mawile plunged downward ferociously, every wisp of its pastel radiance converging into its right fist in that single second, forming a shining pink cross-star!

Eevee on the ground rocketed skyward like a missile, the terrifying natural power turning it into a small sun!

The next second.

Two stars collided!

Boom——!!

An unprecedentedly intense flash devoured the entire arena, then the storm from the exploding energy formed a shockwave that seemed to destroy everything, shaking the whole arena as it spread out in all directions!

Many spectators only felt a sudden tremor in their hearts, a drum-like muffled roar at their ears, and after that they couldn't see anything clearly at all.

Someone screamed, but the scream too was swallowed by the explosion's thunderous roar.

The light from the eruption of the two energies was absolutely beyond what the human eye could endure!

The ground inside the arena and the spectator stands trembled violently.

The defensive devices lit up early, dutifully protecting every single spectator.

The waters surrounding the arena outside also surged into waves, the ground rumbling and shaking nonstop.

Many people and Pokémon who could only watch from outside looked up in astonishment, clearly seeing a mushroom cloud combining pastel pink and gold rising into the sky above the arena!

"That's really over the top..."

"What move was that? Eevee's way too strong!"

"If only we could get inside the arena to watch."

"Forget it — probably couldn't see clearly inside either. Between All Baimu and Yilima, either one of them has the caliber to take the championship!"

"You're overthinking it! How can Yilima compare with All Baimu? Their Pokémon aren't even on the same level!"

"That's not what I meant — stop twisting my words!"

The crowd was noisy and boisterous, but the Pokémon were generally trembling with fear—they were more sensitive to energy fluctuations, and the mere residual waves of energy leaking out were enough to make them so nervous they broke out in a cold sweat.

If it were possible.

They absolutely did not want to battle the two monsters inside!