Chapter 684: Regional Differences

The second Poké Ball was thrown.

Boom!

"Yon!"

A massive Darkrai rose from a patch of shadow on the ground.

Like the giant Steelix, this Darkrai was far larger than its kind, roughly three meters tall.

The Galarian Sunflora was barely the size of its palm, giving the impression that the Darkrai could pick it up and crush it anytime.

Baimu gave a calm command: "Meditate."

The Sunflora slowly closed its crimson eyes, and a tranquil aura spread outward.

In no time.

The smoke-like tentacles extending from each Kong Dong grew and thickened at a visible rate; orange-red energy waves surged up from beneath it!

"Shadow Ball!"

The Silver Monkey swiftly followed the order, sensing something unusual about the Sunflora, and dared not let the Darkrai approach carelessly.

A dark energy wave gathered between the Darkrai's massive palms, wildly radiating energy that made the air ripple like water.

"Yooooo—non—"

It growled low and deep; once the Shadow Ball fully charged, it hurled it forward with all its strength toward the Sunflora!

Whoosh!

The Did Did Yin Ma felt a gust of dust strike his face; watching the dark energy wave roll forward, kicking up clouds of smoke, he thought the Darkrai's Shadow Ball had grown stronger.

This massive Darkrai had spent years under the Silver Monkey's strict training, focusing solely on a few Ghost-type attacks, its destructive power matching its enormous size.

It had once broken through the siege of over a dozen Pokémon by itself!

Could the Sunflora, using Meditate, withstand this?

The Did Did Yin Ma recalled how the Circling Bear had used Counter to knock the Sunflora flying—only for it to return unharmed—and he was utterly bewildered.

Logically, he believed Baimu was strong; the outside world's admiration for him couldn't be false, the battle videos were right there.

But the Silver Monkey's power was something he had seen with his own eyes and experienced firsthand; for years he had grown safely under its protection, and how many times had he seen the Silver Monkey fight—dozens, hundreds?

No one in the world understood the Silver Monkey's strength better than he did.

Could such a big brother lose to Baimu?

A thought flashed through the Did Did Yin Ma's mind, and immediately he realized he was feeling fear.

Inside the arena.

The battle did not pause because of the Did Did Yin Ma's distraction; the dark energy wave raced forward and reached the Sunflora, its size already three times larger than the Sunflora itself!

"Sang…"

The Sunflora looked at the approaching dark wave with listless eyes, allowing itself to be struck.

Sssss—

No explosion of type energy?

The Silver Monkey and the Darkrai frowned in confusion, then saw a burst of multicolored light erupt from within the dark wave, instantly devouring all the Shadow Ball's energy.

Then the Sunflora gathered before itself a Shadow Ball even larger than before.

Compared to it, the Sunflora looked like a longan beside a watermelon.

The Did Did Yin Ma's thoughts were shattered; he stared, dazed, at the enormous Shadow Ball, completely unable to process what had happened.

Boom!

The air suddenly grew heavy.

The giant Shadow Ball rolled forward like a boulder set in motion, crashing toward the Darkrai at a speed no slower than before!

The Silver Monkey realized something was wrong and shouted: "Dodge the direct hit—use Shadow Punch to knock it away!"

"Yon!"

The Darkrai swiftly shifted its body and swung its shadow-covered fist hard at the incoming giant Shadow Ball!

Whoosh!

The two collided; Baimu slightly shook his head.

The expected energy explosion never came; when the giant Shadow Ball touched the Darkrai's fist, it instantly flooded into its body.

"Yon!"

The shadow on the Darkrai's fist vanished; it groaned in pain.

Mirror Coat's energy differs from normal attack energy—it is a special Psychic-type energy formed by doubling the energy of any attack the user receives.

You cannot judge it by color; it is always Psychic-type energy, ineffective against Dark-type but ignoring all other type advantages.

The only counters are to dodge or tank it outright.

Knock it away?

Maybe if Little Zhi came up with some wild idea.

The Silver Monkey's Pokémon training was too crude; the battles he usually faced were likely just brute-force assaults from start to finish.

As a result, he never fully understood Mirror Coat's nature.

Baimu, accustomed to battling the seasoned Shi Yuan Zhi, now saw the Darkrai as a brute swinging a giant hammer wildly.

The Did Did Yin Ma seemed to grasp it, but as referee he couldn't speak—he could only watch the Silver Monkey in anguish.

"Strange Light!"

Baimu gave no time for the Silver Monkey to think—he issued a swift command.

The Darkrai had just recovered from the Mirror Coat's energy assault; it looked up at the Sunflora and was instantly dazzled by the dazzling multicolored light bursting from each Kong Dong.

Hum!

It felt as if a heavy hammer had struck its head, its vision swirling in chaos, the trainer's voice coming from beside it but impossible to make out.

In panic, it began wildly striking the "Sunflora" before it.

In reality.

Nightmare flailed its fists at the air like a drunken giant, out of control.

The Silver Monkeys shouted repeatedly, but could not awaken it no matter what.

He pulled out a Poké Ball—

"Whirlpool."

A wave of emerald-blue water spiraled above the Sunflora, instantly transforming into a massive vortex that shot toward Nightmare.

Before the retrieval beam touched Nightmare, the massive vortex swallowed it whole.

Its large body offered no protection against the whirlpool's spinning force; it spun uncontrollably, like a toy caught in a washing machine, full of panic and desperation.

Cannot switch!

The Silver Monkeys had clearly never encountered this situation before; he held the Poké Ball he'd decided to release, staring silently at Nightmare, dazed within the whirlpool.

He could not release another Pokémon to fight, and Nightmare could not hear his voice.

What else could he do?

He could only watch.

"Continue using Shadow Ball," Baimu ordered calmly.

Sunflora swiftly gathered dark-purple energy orbs, launching them one after another like grenade shells into the whirlpool at Nightmare.

After two explosions, Nightmare's defeat was final.

Though Sunflora's current output was limited and Nightmare's Special Defense was high, its output after Meditation was already considerable.

The best user of Meditation in the team wasn't the Happiny who learned it first, but the perpetually lazy Sunflora.

Its ever-calm, lake-like mind resonated naturally with Meditation.

The Silver Monkeys recalled the fallen Nightmare; the Did Did Yin Ma coughed once, his gaze complex, and said:

"Nightmare is unable to battle. Sunflora wins."

In just over ten minutes, Sunflora had already defeated the Did Did Yin Ma's two Pokémon; even a fool could see the gap between them.

Yet the Did Did Yin Ma always felt something was off—Silver Monkeys shouldn't be this weak!

On the other side, Baimu suddenly understood.

Regarding the Confusion status.

In fact.

If the trainer kept calling out, Nightmare's chances of regaining awareness would grow over time—just like in the game, where only one in three times does a Pokémon attack itself.

But the Silver Monkeys gave up, believing the battle was lost.

Baimu believed that in a life-or-death battle, or one that decided fate, Silver Monkeys would have held on just a little longer.

But this was merely an ordinary backyard battle.

A battle that decided whether the Did Did Yin Ma could travel, gain experience, and grow stronger.

Silver Monkeys had already confirmed he possessed great power, so his enthusiasm for the battle had waned.

Losing was losing.

How could such a mindset possibly win?

How could it possibly defeat Baimu, who sought to win every single battle to the very end?

"Hmm…"

He sighed.

Though Silver Monkeys had once been the owner of the Yellow Iron Arena, frequently hosting battle tournaments and awarding prizes to Trainers, he did not possess the competitive spirit of ordinary Trainers.

In mainstream regions, Pokémon battles were a form of sport; in the Oure Region, Pokémon battles determined a person's future.

Perhaps it was precisely this difference that caused Silver Monkeys to disregard battles not directly tied to his own safety.

Too boring.

He waved to Sunflora. "Come back. You can rest now."

"Suu!"

Sunflora's eyes brightened, then dimmed again, as if nothing had happened, slowly flying back toward the villa—Druddigon and the others were outside; he could finally sleep well!

Baimu ignored it and turned to Boldore. "Your turn."

Boldore blinked in surprise—it hadn't expected to have a chance to fight against an opponent of this caliber.

Its gaze met Baimu's eyes, understanding, and stepped forward: "Grrr!"

Under the sunlight.

The silvery heavy armor gleamed brightly.

The Did Did Yin Ma gazed admiringly at Boldore—he had seen the Caiyou Tournament and knew exactly how powerful this Pokémon was.

It was overwhelming power!

Silver Monkeys had also heard of Boldore's battle record; his expression grew slightly more serious as he threw out his third Poké Ball. "Go!"

Boom!

A Machamp, like a boxer, appeared.

"Eeep!"

It swung its fists rapidly at the air, each punch creating a sharp whistling sound, like a whip cracking with sharp snaps.

The blows came so fast they left only afterimages; Machamp's gaze toward Boldore burned with fierce battle spirit.

It loved nothing more than smashing steel to pieces with one punch.

"Vacuum Wave!"

The Silver Ape gave the order.

Fast Puncher unleashed several rapid punches at Bostocudora; brown-red light shot from its fists, transforming into multiple swift, invisible air shocks!

The vacuum waves reached Bostocudora's front in the blink of an eye, moving so fast they seemed instantaneous.

Then.

Bostocudora casually swung its gleaming silver claws.

Snap!

Like swatting flies, the incoming vacuum waves were effortlessly batted aside by the silver claws, crashing into the ground beside them and leaving small craters.

"Eh-bi?"

Fast Puncher couldn't believe its eyes—those were its own Vacuum Waves!

The Silver Ape frowned and shouted: "Since ranged attacks won't work! Charge in and kick it down!"

【Kick Down】, a Fighting-type move—the heavier the opponent, the greater the power.

Bostocudora, normally four times weak to Fighting, would have lost its battle capability—or at least most of its HP—if struck by this move.

But.

The Silver Ape stared intently at Bostocudora; its calm expression suddenly stirred unease in the Silver Ape's heart.

Did Did Yin Ma stood frozen, not daring to breathe, every muscle taut.

"Eh-bi!"

Fast Puncher dashed forward on command, closing the distance rapidly; it fearlessly met Bostocudora's low sweep with a powerful leg sweep of its own!

Swish!

Dust rolled up violently under the glow of Fighting-type energy—

It swept through empty air.

Fast Puncher felt no solid object shatter or dent beneath its kick—it was as if it had merely swung its leg like a wind sweeping fallen leaves, striking nothing but air.

"Above you! Retreat!"

The Silver Ape's sharp shout triggered Fast Puncher's lower body to react before its head could even lift; it retreated with a ghostly, boxer-like sidestep.

But when it raised its head, a brilliant silver light descended straight toward it—as if predicting exactly where it would retreat!

Like a meteor crashing to earth!

Boom—!!

A massive double-layered shockwave ring pulsed outward; dust surged skyward, and the muffled explosion echoed far through the quiet residential district.

Nearby townspeople turned toward the hillside villas, quickly identifying them as Baimu's home.

Explosion?

Many changed expression and alerted others.

But just as they hastily gathered dozens of people to go investigate, a Rainbow Team member blocked them.

"Don't worry—it's just our boss fighting the Silver Ape."

The Silver Ape's visit had been reported to Shan Nian, and Shan Nian had informed the Rainbow Team; thus, every member knew the former strongest trainer of Huang Tie Town had come to challenge the current strongest trainer!

They eagerly awaited the outcome.

Behind the villa.

From the smoky battlefield came violent coughing.

Then, an inexplicable breeze blew in, gradually clearing the dust and revealing the surroundings.

Did Did Yin Ma breathed clean air, regained his composure, and looked toward the battlefield—his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Inside the circular crater,

Bostocudora held Fast Puncher aloft by a single claw, its expression as calm as ever; Fast Puncher grimaced in pain, clawing at its arm in a desperate struggle.

It glanced once at the stunned Silver Ape, then, without using any type energy, simply swung Fast Puncher down toward the ground!

Thud!

The ground trembled. Fast Puncher went still.

It was that simple...

Did Did Yin Ma forced a deep breath—he had never imagined his elder brother could be defeated so easily by Baimu; at least the previous two battles with Sun Coral had involved strategy.

The endless variety of moves was surprising, but trainers who had traveled to other regions often excelled in tactics.

But Bostocudora—it—

"I yield. Your strength has surpassed my imagination," the Silver Ape broke his silence, looking at Baimu with profound admiration. "It seems I was indeed a frog in a well."

Compared to Did Did Yin Ma, who idolized Baimu, the Silver Ape could more readily accept his defeat and admit he was far inferior to Baimu—this, oddly enough, was almost amusing.

"It's just a difference in perspective," Baimu shook his head. "Through this battle, I've realized the Oure region lacks more than just a League Conference."

Baimu now wanted to know the state of other cities and arenas.

If every trainer in Oure was similar to the Silver Ape, then the first Oure Conference—unless it barred outsiders—would become horrifically brutal.

Like the Saffron Conference in Hoenn, where only one of the top four was from Hoenn!

Oure trainers' strength would be dismissed by trainers from other regions.

He sighed inwardly, his mind in chaos.

The Silver Ape across from him said: "I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Speak."

"Take over the Huang Tie Arena in the city center. I want to give it to you—not temporarily manage it, but fully gift it to you."

"Hmm... Huh?"

Baimu suddenly looked up.