Chapter 187: How About It, Want a Position? (4K)

The appearance of the Flame Bird was unexpected even by Luxray and Dragonite; Dragonite's advancing steps halted, and it hesitantly looked toward Luo Mu.

The Flame Bird has taken my spot; shall I still fight?

Luo Mu fell silent for an instant, locking gazes with the Flame Bird's battle-filled eyes, and a guess arose in his heart.

Is the Flame Bird intending to fight? Luo Mu sensed from the Flame Bird that it had made some sort of resolve.

Seeming to perceive Luo Mu's mental activity, the Flame Bird, with its back to Luo Mu, nodded slightly.

At this moment, Lei Si's uncalm voice rang out: "Luo Mu, it is..."

Having felt the Flame Bird's scorching battle intent, Luo Mu blurted out: "It is the Flame Bird, and it wants to fight. Lei Si, are you willing to battle it?"

"Yes! Please, allow me to battle the Flame Bird, I beg you!"

Lei Si, usually gentle, calm, and wise in Paul's eyes, now revealed a side he knew nothing about.

It was expectation, it was admiration, it was the hope of climbing toward the peak.

Dragonite had already been left behind by Lei Si; at this moment, he only wished to battle this living legend!

Lei Si felt that any other trainer in this situation would make the same choice.

Hearing Lei Si's words, Bidoof turned back to look at Lei Si, its face full of shock.

You want me to fight it?

That Flame Bird radiated heat so intense that just looking at it made it feel like it would explode; the pressure from a superior being made it feel a bit numb.

That Dragonite at least looked somewhat simple and harmless; he had even specially trained Ice-type moves. Bidoof felt that battling Dragonite would be more reasonable than battling the Flame Bird.

The battle commenced with both sides' agreement; Paul acted as referee, his gaze fixed tightly on Lei Si and Bidoof, expecting them to defeat this Pokémon named the Flame Bird.

"Aqua Jet!" Lei Si calmly issued the command; in any case, he must first test the Flame Bird's true strength.

As a Pokémon living by the water, Bidoof possessed considerable affinity for Water-type energy and moves; its entire body was wrapped in violently flowing currents, charging toward the Flame Bird with an unstoppable momentum.

Luo Mu's method of commanding the Flame Bird was different again; he intended to fully utilize the Flame Bird's characteristic of possessing immense energy and stamina.

"Sunny Day!"

Both sides issued their commands at the same time; now it depended on whose move speed and attack speed were faster.

"Kraa!!"

The Flame Bird let out a high-pitched cry to the sky, and the already clear heavens shone down with intense sunlight. At this moment, Bidoof also sprinted to the Flame Bird's front and crashed straight into it.

"No good!"

Lei Si's heart skipped a beat, thinking silently that they were in trouble.

Under Sunny Day conditions, Water-type energy would become inactive, and its power would be greatly weakened; the Flame Bird had seized the initiative!

Zzzzt—

At the point of contact between the two, thick steam immediately rose; Bidoof's move, which should have been super effective, had its power forcibly halved by Sunny Day and the Flame Bird's surface temperature, leaving only a strike with decent force.

But this little power was completely beneath the Flame Bird's notice.

Luo Mu's voice arrived at the right moment; at this time, his mood was strange, never expecting that one day he would be commanding the Flame Bird to battle another trainer: "Heat Wave!"

Unlike Dragonite's Heat Wave that dried hair and was controlled and gentle, the Flame Bird's Heat Wave was explosive and filled with the scent of gunpowder. It flapped its wings once, and a terrifying heatwave blew the dazed Bidoof away, instantly covering its entire body with burn marks.

Bidoof didn't even have time to counterattack; it fell directly to the ground, losing the ability to fight.

One hit. Instant knockout!

Lei Si and Paul were instantly plunged into shock; they never expected the gap in power to be so vast.

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow; he was not surprised by this result.

The Flame Bird had been eating and drinking well every day on the farm until it became chubby; recently, it had Politoed competing with it for the weather and Swampert sparring with it to practice, so its strength had increased significantly compared to when Luxray and the others first caught it.

Bidoof was indeed no threat to the Flame Bird.

"Come back, Bidoof. You worked hard."

Lei Si recalled Bidoof, his voice tinged with a hint of guilt; if he had chosen to probe with a ranged move, would Bidoof have had a chance to react and dodge the Flame Bird's Heat Wave?

Taking out a second Poké Ball, Lei Si threw it; a dazzling red light gathered into a yellow Pokémon.

"This is my partner captured in the Johto region; I entrust it to you, Ampharos!"

Lei Si looked at Luo Mu and the Flame Bird; the fire of fighting spirit still burned. This time he decided to go all out from the start, releasing Ampharos's specialized ranged special attack moves.

"Thunder!"

A massive amount of electricity gathered on Ampharos's head, upon the black-and-yellow striped horns that seemed not yet fully grown, crackling loudly, then transformed into a huge bolt of lightning that rushed toward the Flame Bird with a roaring sound.

This time the Flame Bird moved; it spread its wings and chose to dodge Ampharos's Thunder, displaying a leisurely flying posture in the air, easily evading Ampharos's Thunder.

"Not over yet, keep using Thunder, make it run itself ragged!"

Lei Si's face showed joy; in his view, the Flame Bird's choice to dodge Thunder certainly meant the Flame Bird dared not take Thunder head-on like it had taken Aqua Jet just now.

Legends are not invincible; he still had a chance to win!

Mighty lightning broke through the air, the roaring sound never ceasing.

Although dancing elegantly in the air to dodge the lightning, the Flame Bird did not hold Ampharos's Thunder in high regard.

Let alone comparing to Luxray, even the ferocious Sea of Thunder used when Dragonite defeated it back then was unknown how many levels higher than Ampharos's Thunder.

The Flame Bird made a sharp stop in the air, turned its direction, and sprinted directly toward Ampharos.

Luo Mu's second command also arrived: "Brave Bird!"

Azure flames gathered into a phantom bird image; the Flame Bird swooped low toward Ampharos with the momentum of an eagle striking the sky, while Ampharos, seriously controlling Thunder, was already too late to react, getting knocked flying far away and falling to the ground unconscious.

Still one hit, instant knockout!

Paul grabbed his trembling right arm with his left hand, telling himself his brother still had a chance; Turtwig looked at him with worry, then stepped back a few paces; the feeling that Flame Bird brought it was too terrifying.

Lei Si silently recalled Ampharos; he felt his thoughts had been completely seen through by the opponent; two short commands struck straight at his weak points. Was Luo Mu really just an ordinary farm owner?

"I entrust it to you, Rhyhorn!"

Lei Si sent out Rhyhorn, his partner captured in the Kanto region.

However, under the comprehensive advantage of its stats, Golem was baked by Moltres's terrifyingly powerful Flamethrower into an overheated state; its rock-formed body burned red, radiating heat that made the air shimmer slightly.

Having lost three Pokémon in a row to Lei Si, Luo Mu frowned slightly.

His memory of the character Lei Si was not particularly clear; he only knew that in the future, Lei Si had challenged the Battle Pyramid of the Battle Frontier and failed against the Frontier Brain, Brandon, which caused Shinji's training methods for Pokémon to become extreme.

Originally, he had not understood the reason for Lei Si's loss to Brandon, but now he vaguely began to understand.

Lei Si's battle style was too steady, pursuing only the safest tactics, hoping to win by simply avoiding mistakes as much as possible, lacking any distinctive feature.

It was just like an ordinary Trainer one could see anywhere.

Lei Si's fourth Pokémon was a Swalot he had caught in the Hoenn region; hoping to gain an advantage using Toxic, he despairingly discovered that the poison was burned away by the scorching heat waves surrounding Moltres before it could get close, leaving behind only a foul stench in the air.

Swalot, defeated!

When sending out his fifth Pokémon, Lei Si's expression had become visibly ugly; this fifth Pokémon was Staraptor, considered one of Lei Si's strongest main forces, second only to his Drapion.

Such a Staraptor indeed showed impressive results at the start, its long-honed flying skills toying several times with Moltres, which had previously relied only on instinct to fly.

But after its battle with Swampert, although Moltres's flying skills were not yet on par with Dragonite's, they had made great strides; having adapted to Staraptor's aerial maneuvers, Moltres's Flare Blitz easily caught up to Staraptor, turning it into a ball of burning flame as it plummeted down.

Lei Si mechanically recalled Staraptor and mechanically sent out Drapion; this battle frustrated him even more than the one at the Trainer Beach.

Back then, Dragonite had defeated him through sheer hard power, and Lei Si's several commands had resolved the crises brought by Dragonite, which made him, upon later reflection, secretly rejoice with the illusion that he might be able to contend with that Dragonite again.

But under Luo Mu's command, Moltres was like an insurmountable wall; not only could Lei Si not break through, but his forces were also depleted by more than half.

This feeling and realization made Lei Si feel terrible, because he clearly understood that Luo Mu's personal ability as a Trainer had completely crushed him.

This was something he had never experienced on the stage of the League Conference; even the winner of that League Conference at the time had not brought him this sense of powerlessness.

Just then, a beam of light shone into Lei Si's silent world.

Shinji's eyes were slightly red; he had never been so emotional before, but at this moment, he only wanted to shout loudly: "Brother, Drapion, do your best!!!"

"Shinji..."

Lei Si was stunned, and his chaotic state of mind rarely calmed down.

Luo Mu looked at the two brothers with a strange expression; why did he feel like Lei Si and Drapion would shout about friendship and bonds, then burst forth with power to attack him, the great demon king?

But miracles do not come whenever one wishes; although Lei Si calmed down and commanded Drapion to fight meticulously, it was utterly useless against Moltres's absolute strength.

As Lei Si and Drapion exerted all their strength to find an opening, using Cross Poison to attack the back exposed by Moltres in a momentary gap, fierce flames erupted from Moltres as the center.

Overheat, originally translated as Burn Out, Moltres's trump card move.

Like a volcanic eruption, flames shooting up to the sky turned half the horizon red; this was a powerful move from which even Moltres could not exempt itself from the cost, an ultimate strike released at the price of burning energy.

Drapion could not block it and was instantly swallowed by these golden-red flames capable of burning mountains and boiling seas.

Dragonite, watching from the back row, showed a momentary look of astonishment, solely because Moltres's growth seemed to exceed its imagination; was this the unique talent possessed by Legendary Pokémon?

The flames gradually extinguished under the heavy rain actively summoned by Dragonite; Lei Si politely declined the umbrella offered by Luo Mu, standing under the curtain of rain, soaked through and looking utterly disheveled.

Shinji, with a face full of worry, wanted to hold an umbrella for Lei Si, but suffering from his height being just a little short, he could not lift the umbrella over Lei Si's head and could only stand under the rain, sweating profusely in his anxiety.

Luo Mu had already called over Comfey to treat Lei Si's six Pokémon that had lost their ability to battle; he did not go forward to counsel Lei Si because the other party simply did not need it.

After all, in the final round, Lei Si had still made certain changes, and this change might perhaps guide his future onto a path known to no one.

Lei Si, whose body was being constantly struck by the heavy rain, did not feel depressed; on the contrary, he felt unprecedentedly clear-headed at this moment.

It was solely because he realized the missing piece of the puzzle he lacked; he was evolving under this heavy rain.

"Hahaha, hahahaha."

Suddenly, Lei Si let out a hearty laugh.

Shinji was startled by this sudden laughter, and a somewhat rebellious guess floated in his mind.

Had his brother become mentally unstable due to the crushing defeat?

Laughing loudly, Lei Si took the umbrella from Shinji's hand and came to Luo Mu's side; looking at his Pokémon receiving treatment from the small and cute Comfey, his smile subsided, and he said gratefully: "Thank you for treating them."

Luo Mu nodded indifferently and said: "It was just a simple effort; have you figured it out?"

Lei Si replied: "I roughly have some feeling of it, but it still needs polishing."

Shinji, who had followed over, heard the conversation between the two and looked completely bewildered; what were they talking about?

Lei Si patted Shinji's hair, and his hand, covered in water vapor, soon made Shinji's hair strands droop down, drawing a dissatisfied glance from Shinji.

Lei Si smiled again, looked at Luo Mu, with obvious respect in his eyes: "Luo Mu, what do you think were my shortcomings before?"

Luo Mu pondered and said: "Too ordinary, I suppose; step-by-step battles, while stable, will only make you lose without any power to fight back when facing opponents of the same level or stronger."

"On the contrary, I quite liked your fighting style when using Drapion; aggressive yet calm, meticulously seeking opportunities, very good."

"Haha, as expected." Lei Si's mouth curved upward; his guess was correct—since Moltres clearly possessed the strength to one-shot his Pokémon, why would Luo Mu still command Moltres to feed it moves to him? "You are just like a teacher; thank you for your guidance."

Luo Mu gave him a strange look and said casually: "I am a teacher; I am currently teaching at Grandma Ju Zi Academy."

Before the stunned Shinji and Lei Si could speak, watching the gradually dispersing rain clouds, Luo Mu went to Moltres's side.

Under the approving and welcoming gazes of Luxray and Dragonite, Luo Mu took out an unowned Poké Ball and asked with a smile: "Since you've been commanded by me to participate in battle, how about it, do you want to have an official position?"

Moltres, which was cleaning the dust stained on its feathers from the battle, paused its movements; it had not expected that Luo Mu would be the one to proactively propose this.

But after eating that piece of cake, hadn't it already made up its mind long ago?

In the scales of Moltres's heart, freedom was completely outweighed by bonds.

Once, volcanoes all over the world were its home; its state of mind was like a lonely, standing volcano—solitary yet boiling.

Now, under what could be called a farcical accident, it had found a belonging unique to itself.

There was delicious food, a good big son without blood relations, and humans and partners who treated it extremely well.

Moltres did not hesitate; devoutly, it lowered its head, crowned with burning flames, and pressed it against the red-and-white painted Poké Ball.

It thought that this choice would definitely not be wrong.

Happy Lunar New Year!

(End of Chapter)