Chapter 71: Bullying the Academic Slacker

The arena.

Baimu and Yoshioka stood on opposite sides, Poké Balls in hand, ready to begin.

The underlings shouted encouragement, hoping to lend their big brother some strength.

And compared to the former, who stood in place with a calm expression, the latter's face was dark, looking just like the soot at the bottom of a pot.

Right now his mood was exactly as foul as he looked. He had come to reclaim the territory they had ceded, following Lord Chester's orders — who could have imagined things would turn into a bet over teeth?

What use are teeth?

Even if he knocked out every tooth in the bastard's mouth, Lord Chester probably still wouldn't be happy.

After all, compared to a big territory that brought in money by the bucket every day, a few teeth that could be replaced for a little cash weren't worth mentioning at all.

Damn brat!

Yoshioka now only hoped he could win this battle, and that Baimu especially treasured his own teeth — or, going a step further, that he could use words to egg the other into walking into a trap.

Where does a young whippersnapper get so many tricks?

He absolutely refused to admit he was being led by the nose. He could only say Baimu was indeed a little clever.

The edge of the arena's center.

A boss, gripping a green flag and a red flag, nervously serving as the match's referee, raised the green flag high.

"On your marks —"

"Begin!"

The green flag swept down.

Baimu and Yoshioka released their Pokémon at the same time.

Bang bang!

Two brilliant beams of white light struck the ground.

Mawile stretched as if she'd had a wonderful sleep, her gaze falling on the Pokémon not far away — a body that looked like it was assembled from countless stones, with a serpentine head and stubby limbs.

"Grrrooooo!"

The sound was muffled, like the earth itself trembling.

Graveler — a heavyweight Pokémon.

Baimu was no stranger to it; Otsuka had one. But Pokémon raised by different trainers had subtle differences, and one shouldn't judge by past experience.

"I won't say much more. I'm giving you plenty of autonomy in this match, but don't forget to listen to my voice more often."

Baimu said quietly to Mawile, who was slightly ahead and to his side.

"Kiiido~"

Mawile agreed readily, though in her heart she was a little displeased with her trainer.

That sounded as if she were some headstrong creature — when clearly she was very considerate and very good at taking others' opinions!

Honestly!

And Baimu, seeing Mawile puff up her cheeks, couldn't help feeling a touch helpless.

They'd discussed this sort of thing several times over the past days. Every time, the latter would say she'd heard him, then puff her cheeks in protest. But some things, if others didn't speak up, she had no way of feeling on her own — that was what they meant by "the bystander sees clearest."

Across the field.

Yoshioka, seeing that Mawile had yet to take the initiative to attack, recalled the speed that fellow had burst out with back in the dance hall, and couldn't help ordering:

"Heavy Slam!"

"Grrrooooo!"

Graveler let out a muffled growl, suddenly leapt up, its limbs and head merging seamlessly with its torso, transforming into a massive stone ball that crashed down with a thunderous boom!

Thud!

The ground split apart with a roar, countless jagged, uneven rocks churning up, and a yellowish-brown shockwave surged rapidly outward, reaching Mawile in an instant.

But unfortunately, the latter had been keeping an eye on Graveler the whole time. Not attacking was partly because she was communicating with Baimu, and partly because she wanted to test the foe's mettle —

Infuriating!

She had clearly displayed her Magnet Rise ability, and yet he still dared use a Ground-type move? Just who did he think he was looking down on!

Mawile kicked off with her right foot, easily dodging the yellowish-brown energy shockwave. Current crackled and danced around her body, and she hovered in midair under Yoshioka's astonished gaze.

Sh-she flew?

Yoshioka couldn't believe his eyes. His Pokémon knowledge was pitifully thin, and he, who normally lived in wine and women and threw his weight around, had no idea that in this world there existed a move called 【Magnet Rise】 that could let a Steel-type Pokémon take flight.

His moment of stunned blankness caused Graveler to blank out as well. With both trainer and Pokémon so woefully lacking in knowledge, the first-strike advantage was handed straight to Baimu and Mawile across the field.

"Iron Head!"

"Kiiido!"

Mawile answered with an "I know," nimbly manipulating electromagnetic force to summon a rock from the ground, then kicked off hard with her right foot, shooting toward Graveler like an arrow!

"Rock Wrecker!"

Yoshioka, snapping back to his senses, shouted loudly. Graveler likewise thrust out its limbs, trying to summon rocks to smash down on Mawile — but a beat too late.

Mawile arrived before it in the span of a breath, twisting her body as if dancing, swinging the great black jaws behind her head to the front —

In an instant.

The jaws transformed into gleaming metallic brilliance, as if plated entirely in a layer of silver film, looking as though they weighed ten thousand catties, and finally smashed down on Graveler's head like a heavy hammer!

Thud!

A muffled crack that set one's teeth on edge!

Amid the violent explosion of typed energy, Graveler's entire skull was caved in, and it crashed down into the earth!

Dust drifted in all directions. The Crystal Squad members stared dumbfounded at the unconscious Graveler, and for a moment no one dared speak.

The onlookers were also so astonished they couldn't close their mouths.

"You—"

Yoshioka's face flushed red as he pointed at All Baimu across from him, burning to question how he could possibly have such a powerful Pokémon, taking down his Golem in a single move.

What kind of Pokémon is your Mawile, what kind of Pokémon is my Golem!

On what grounds!

"Ch'do!"

Having taken down its opponent, Mawile cheerfully flew back to All Baimu's side.

"Impressive, very impressive—look, you've scared them silly." The latter was utterly unstinting with his praise, and Mawile truly deserved commendation.

In reality, there are many factors that affect move power; Snake Head's one-punch Golem explosion could well be called a critical hit.

Such a scene was perfectly normal.

More than that, what All Baimu cared about was the opponent's breadth of knowledge—he hadn't even recognized Magnet Rise earlier; one could only say his ignorance had reached its absolute peak.

Clearly owing his current position to Pokémon, yet he hadn't bothered to study further?

Probably an illiterate too.

"Damn it! I'll let you have one win—don't get so cocky!"

Yoshioka howled resentfully through gritted teeth, recalling his Golem, thinking: since you're fast, then I'll use stillness to control motion!

He immediately switched to the absurdly defensive Shuckle.

"Come on! Withdraw into your shell!"

Shuckle tucked all four tentacles and its head into its hard shell, trying to lure Mawile into attacking it.

It has a move called 【Power Split】, which combines its own Attack with the opponent's and splits the total evenly between the two. This way, on one hand its abysmal Attack gets compensated, and on the other hand the opponent's Attack gets weakened.

This little trick had never failed Yoshioka.

Yet upon seeing this, All Baimu didn't hesitate to withdraw Mawile and switch in Chansey.

"Sing!"

What the hell!

Yoshioka's face stiffened, and he immediately tried to recall Shuckle.

Unfortunately, his action was a beat too slow—Chansey had already begun singing its gentle song, and the pink light-waves and drifting notes sent Shuckle into slumber.

"La~lalala~"

Shuckle, having tucked its limbs into its shell, had no way to dodge at all—like a fixed target, Sing would hit no matter how many times it was used.

The result was that by the time Yoshioka recalled Shuckle into its Poké Ball, the thing was already asleep.

He had no choice but to send out his third Pokémon.

"Nidooo!"

The beast bristling all over with spines threw back its head and roared, its dark-purple carapace reflecting a near-metallic sheen in the sunlight.

The Drill Pokémon—Nidoking!

This was also Yoshioka's greatest reliance for becoming squad leader—his strongest Pokémon.

All Baimu appraised Nidoking's height and build, then swiftly switched again, bringing the long-waiting Mawile back onto the field.

"It can't do anything to you—use Ice Punch and beat it down without worry."

"Ch'do!"

Mawile cried out in spirited agreement, using Magnet Rise to fly toward the Nidoking already charging at it!

"Don't be afraid! Use Fire Punch and trade blows with it!"

Yoshioka bellowed to bolster Nidoking's confidence—he ultimately didn't make the rookie mistake of using Poison-type moves against a Steel-type Pokémon, instead opting for the ferocious and super-effective Fire Punch.

Blazing flames wrapped around that massive fist, giving off a terrifying aura as if it could punch straight through the frontal armor of a main battle tank!

And on the other side.

Mawile's counter was an Ice Punch radiating cold, like a comet descending—merely looking at it made one feel a chill down the spine and want to throw on another layer of clothing.

The two collided with a thunderous crash!

Boom!

A great billow of white smoke poured out!

"Don't trade punches with it! It's pointless! Look for a chance to hit the side of its jaw joint!"

"Ch'do!"

Mawile's cry from within the smoke gave All Baimu its feedback.

A Pokémon like Nidoking is covered in hardened purple keratin almost all over, its skin as tough as rock—there really aren't many weak points.

Combining this with the knowledge in his mind, All Baimu judged its jaw joint to be a good breakthrough point.

And Yoshioka, hearing these words, couldn't help but shout as well.

"Hit it! Use Fire Punch and hit it hard! Let it land a couple of punches too, it's fine! Counterattack!"

That so-called cheerleading-style of commanding made All Baimu's mouth twitch, making him realize this guy really was worse than Ken back then.

No wonder he never managed to get promoted to squad leader, while Ken was placed on high hopes by the Hound Squad—famous enough that even the Quicksand Squad here knew all about him.

On the field.

Suddenly a tremendous "BANG!"

The white mist burst apart in an instant, and everyone looked expectantly inside—a wondrous scene followed into view.

Nidoking's blazing right fist was clamped in Mawile's massive jaws at an odd angle, while Mawile pressed its right fist against Nidoking's cheek, white frost coating half its face.

In no time at all.

Nidoking's right fist went out as well, its eyes rolling back.

In an instant, Nidoking toppled like a falling mountain with a thunderous crash!

Yoshioka's excited expression froze completely on his face, although one of his Hoothoot had fallen into a sleep state and hadn't gone down.

But who had won this match, there was no need to say more.

"You're a poor student, you lost, serves you right."

All Baimu sighed for Yoshioka.

Until now, this guy had always relied on the talent advantage of his Pokémon to fight his way to where he was today.

But the moment he ran into someone who had some understanding of various Pokémon, and whose Pokémon had stronger base stats and the like, he was completely exposed.