Chapter 89: Magnetic Slingshot

"Here it comes."

The instant Slowbro's figure appeared after landing, ignoring the invisible rocks.

Baimu knew Shanne had finally gotten serious, bringing out one of his powerful Pokémon, and immediately warned Mawile, "Watch out for its psychic power! Sucker Punch!"

"Chee-doh!"

Mawile responded, electricity crackling all over its body, and shot toward Slowbro like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Its speed, like a bolt of lightning, proved it was in better condition than ever before.

But the instant it neared Slowbro, something shocking happened.

A blue light flared in its honest-looking eyes, and immediately an invisible wave surged forward like a tide.

Mawile, bearing the brunt of it, felt as if a boundless ocean had appeared before it; the huge jaw on the back of its head glowed red and frantically tore at the psychic force, but it was nothing like the ease of dealing with Espeon earlier.

The next moment.

Mawile was sent flying hard!

Whoosh!

Its body rubbed against the air with a whistling sound, but fortunately it regained its balance before landing, using the power of Magnet Rise to forcibly check its backward flight.

And when it looked up, it saw to its astonishment that the still-raging sandstorm was being suppressed by a massive invisible force.

Yellow sand scattered across the ground.

The field was no longer hazy and unclear as before.

"Mawile's offense and the Sand Tomb have been broken together! Slowbro has displayed terrifying psychic power! Can Mawile break through this airtight psychic net!?"

The host's excited voice rang across the entire arena.

Shanne's Slowbro, just like in the previous matches, crushed its opponent with its unrivaled psychic power—Baimu and Mawile were no exception.

But this did not make the latter two feel fear.

On the contrary.

They were delighted, because the opponent had finally brought out its true strength, displaying its power without holding back.

So what they had to do at this moment was use their own power, their own will, to break through that strength and seek out even the slightest possibility of victory.

In Pokémon battles, as long as the trainer and Pokémon don't give up, nothing is absolute!

"Are you ready?"

He asked softly.

"Chee-doh!"

Mawile clenched its fists and let out a resolute cry.

The electricity around its body suddenly brightened, then extended into countless materialized currents that sank into the ground; massive boulders burst from the earth, wrapped in electricity, and lined up behind it in a long single-file dragon.

This strange maneuver left Shanne a bit baffled, but he couldn't just sit by and let his opponent do something bizarre.

"Psychic!"

"Yaa-doh!"

Slowbro's eyes lit up blue, and overwhelming psychic power surged toward Mawile in an invisible tide!

But at that very instant.

A thunderous explosion suddenly came from behind Mawile!

It was the line of boulders, one after another slamming into the one ahead; as they violently shattered, each collision sent the next one flying faster and with greater momentum.

Finally, with terrifying speed and force, they shattered the boulder beneath Mawile's feet.

And Mawile's body, carried by that dreadful momentum, turned into a black streak too fast for the naked eye to track, and shot toward Slowbro!

"Crunch!"

Baimu shouted, dodging the flying debris.

Shanne's eyes went wide as he looked at Slowbro, which had unleashed its psychic power, and immediately saw a low rumble come from in front of it; a streak of dark red light tore a gap in the psychic force it took such pride in.

The ferocious jaw passed through the gap, gleaming with black light, and bit down hard on Slowbro's head!

Boom!

Energy exploded!

Choking smoke swallowed both Pokémon in an instant.

What was that just now? What exactly did Baimu do?

The host was also very surprised, and for a moment couldn't figure out what had happened. When he asked the guest commentator, the man deliberated for a few seconds and offered the conclusion that the rocks' explosions had added propulsive force to Mawile.

But that was quickly overturned by another guest.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a simple magnetic slingshot."

"Magnetic slingshot?"

"Yes. Baimu's Mawile used Magnet Rise to alter the properties of those rocks containing trace amounts of metal, temporarily converting them into magnets. Through repeated collisions, it accumulated momentum, ultimately giving Mawile an extraordinary burst of speed."

That guest's face showed amazement. "This is a very special technique for using moves. Although I vaguely understand the principle, I wouldn't dare say I could replicate it."

The host hurriedly repeated the guest's words.

And most of the audience felt as if they were listening to a lecture from the heavens.

Magnetic slingshot?

What is that? Is this something Pokémon can actually do?

—Naturally, they can.

A trump card born from Baimu's wild imagination, perfected through Mawile's repeated trials; because it doesn't succeed every time—the failure rate is higher than the success rate—it is rarely used.

This time there was simply no other choice; Slowbro's psychic power was too terrifying, and without this method they couldn't even get close.

And besides.

This kind of usage would also cause damage to Mawile.

After all, although Mawile is a Steel-type Pokémon, it is not made of one hundred percent steel; the internal shock from the kinetic energy transfer can make it feel awful for a long time, and even a careless moment could result in broken legs.

So when this move is brought out, it means Mawile is fighting with its back to the wall.

"Sucker Punch!"

Baimu didn't know how much longer it could hold on, only hoping to wear down Slowbro's stamina as much as possible.

The smoke and dust cleared.

The scene of Mawile once again lunging at Slowbro was suddenly revealed.

"Zen Headbutt!"

Sharen didn't panic, letting Slowbro confirm its condition—

Much better than expected.

He had once mentally prepared himself for Slowbro to be instantly crushed like Indeedee, but it seemed Mawile still couldn't fully transmit that force to its opponent.

What a pity.

Sharen felt pity for Baimu, but had no intention of holding back.

Between the two Pokémon, the ferocious jaws and the head shrouded in a pink halo collided viciously, once again setting off an explosion and violent shaking of the ground.

Type energy is both stable and especially unstable; it can temporarily coexist with conflicting types in a Contest, yet in battle it can explode from the slightest touch.

The fundamental reason naturally lies in the Pokémon's will.

In battle there's no need for too much flash; every time type energy is detonated, it not only creates damage the fastest but also gives a moment to catch one's breath — why not do it?

The smoke and dust were stirred apart by the two Pokémon.

Once Mawile successfully closed in, it became very difficult for Slowbro to gather its psychic power to blast it away, because the psychic power needed to cancel out Sucker Punch couldn't gather that quickly, and too little would easily be broken through.

But Slowbro's close combat was equally no worse, even suppressing the recoil-afflicted Mawile from Magnet Pull by a notch in return.

The two Pokémon fought with loud bangs, the ground constantly trembling, countless grains of sand flying about.

"Water Pulse!"

"Sucker Punch!"

Using Sucker Punch once again.

As if it had no other moves.

Because Baimu had no choice — Mawile's raw strength was inferior, and the startup speed of Thunder Punch wasn't faster than the opponent's move, making it easy to be countered on the spot.

Only Sucker Punch possessed the power to speed up its gathering when the opponent used an offensive move; only with this could Mawile clash fiercely with Slowbro—

Yet this time, Mawile's body suddenly dodged during the collision, causing Slowbro to smash its Water-Pulse-laden fist into the ground, while it also twisted its body, no longer opening its jaws wide, but slamming down viciously like a hammer!

Boom!

Slowbro's head suffered heavy, intimate contact with the ground, water waves surging skyward, the earth trembling endlessly!

《Demon-Suppressing Museum》

The sudden turn of events shocked the audience.

The host shouted, "Mawile suddenly shifted its stance and dodged the Water Pulse! With its stamina being tested, it could still do something like this!? It simply put on a show for us — uh."

The words were not yet finished.

White mist slowly drifted away.

Mawile was seen lying in the muddy ground, eyes dizzy, while Slowbro slowly stood up.

As the Pokémon that had suffered the attack, Slowbro instead held firm!

"I see, the Mawile just now was already a candle in the wind, its final move at the brink of the critical point — truly a pity; if it had held on a bit longer, it could have taken down Slowbro."

A guest let out a sigh.

And the surviving Slowbro received a new command from Sharen.

"Slack Off."