Chapter 509: Great Blade, Kill Through!

Thanks to the Little Blacksmith's efforts, Luo Mu understood what it was trying to convey.

With this, the case was finally solved.

A complete chain of logic immediately formed in Luo Mu's mind.

While traveling outside for training, the Little Blacksmith passed through a bamboo forest, was surrounded by that group of Bisharp, and had its most precious hammer stolen.

Coincidentally, among the materials used to forge that hammer was the item necessary for the Bisharp clan's evolution, the "Leader's Credential," which, judging by its appearance, was likely the broken blade of the evolved form, General Pu Dao.

One particular Bisharp swallowed that hammer forged from rare materials, not only obtaining the Leader's Credential but also significantly increasing its own strength.

Finally, it unified the clan, reached the pinnacle, evolved into "General Pu Dao," and began robbing people along the road.

"Since that is the case, we cannot stand idly by in this matter either."

After pondering for a moment, Luo Mu spoke.

This matter could barely be considered caused by the "cause" that was the Little Blacksmith, and now the Little Blacksmith also wished to take revenge on those Bisharp and General Pu Dao, making the reason to intervene more than sufficient.

Luo Mu looked at the Little Blacksmith, Ceruledge, and Volcarona; without him needing to say anything, all three Pokémon raised their spirits high, expressing their determination to take on ten opponents.

"You two stay outside the bamboo forest and warn passersby not to approach until I come out."

"Of course, if any Bisharp manage to flee out, there will be very few of them; even with type disadvantages, I believe you can successfully stop them."

Luo Mu gave instructions to Rod and Phil, made no further preparations, and directly took the Little Blacksmith and the other two, striding confidently toward the bamboo forest.

Rod and Phil exchanged a glance, took out their Poké Balls, released their partners, and faithfully carried out Luo Mu's instructions.

Meanwhile, not long after entering the bamboo forest, Luo Mu directly encountered the first wave of Bisharp.

There were three of them; they were rummaging through a victim's blue backpack, pulling out anything metallic and putting it in their mouths to chew.

Come to think of it.

Listening to the chewing sounds, it seemed quite crunchy.

Bisharp appeared to be standard humanoid Pokémon, clad in metal armor resembling Japanese samurai, with aggressive blades on their heads, limbs, and abdomens; especially the yellow blade atop their heads, which slightly reflected the light filtering through the gaps in the bamboo forest, looking sharp enough to cut anything.

The arrival of Luo Mu and the Little Blacksmith's group, making no attempt to hide their footsteps, naturally attracted the attention of the three Bisharp.

Three pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward them.

Some scrutinized the backpack Luo Mu was carrying.

Others greedily fixed their gaze on the hammer in the Little Blacksmith's hand.

And there was a slightly cold gaze that made one's back turn chilly.

Just like the Houndour pack, unrestricted growth in the wild had naturally brought out their characteristics as "Dark-type" Pokémon.

"Kiri! Rikiri!"

The leading Bisharp, the very one casting that cold gaze, seemed to give orders, instructing its two kin.

In an instant, two Bisharp acted as if receiving a command; one launched a surprise attack on the Little Blacksmith and Ceruledge, seemingly believing it was sufficient to deal with them alone.

The other targeted Volcarona, likely because the temperature faintly emanating from Volcarona's body made them realize it might be a Fire-type Pokémon that countered them.

As for Luo Mu, he directly received the "care" of the leading Bisharp squad leader, earning the privileged treatment of being attacked.

Thank you so much for thinking so highly of me.

Noticing that the Bisharp's target was his backpack and that it actually harbored no killing intent toward him, Luo Mu muttered a complaint in his heart, then without hesitation stepped back one pace, positioning Ceruledge in front of him.

The Bisharp squad leader's charging assault was extremely fluid and swift; in practically the blink of an eye, it arrived before Luo Mu.

It did not use a move, having considerable confidence in its physical abilities, believing that a human was not worthy of it employing a technique.

But under Ceruledge's counterattack, its expression changed instantly.

Seeing Ceruledge pull out a fiery red mask as if performing a magic trick and donning it, then gripping a thorny vine staff formed of energy, it swung straight at the Bisharp!

The thorny vine staff, entwined with a fire dragon, made the Bisharp clearly sense something was wrong as a mix of heat waves and air pressure rushed toward its face.

The Bisharp's face changed; it had no choice but to raise its arms, which were suddenly enveloped in a dark red glow.

Those arm blades suddenly extended, and under the swirling dark red energy, they resembled two blood-colored scythes reaping lives.

"Kiri!"

The Bisharp let out a low roar, crossed its arms, and the move "Night Slash" collided with Ceruledge's "Thorny Vine Staff."

In the Bisharp's expectation, even though it was counterattacking in haste, at worst it would just be shaken back and retreat a few steps.

But reality was completely different from its imagination.

With a crisp "Bang," the Bisharp's pupils contracted sharply; staring at the rapidly enlarging thorny vine staff in its vision, its brain had yet to react.

By the time it was solidly struck by the thorny vine staff, the instant the scorching sensation and pain arrived, simultaneously feeling the powerlessness in its drooping arms, the Bisharp finally understood what had happened.

Its strength and that of the small Pokémon were simply not on the same level.

It hadn't even reacted before its attack was violently shattered, and the entire Pokémon was sent flying backward faster than it had run forward.

Watching this scene, Luo Mu blinked, silently sighing that Ceruledge's title of "Violent Loli" was indeed accurate.

Ceruledge was a special case; the battles on the other fronts were not as overwhelming as here.

The Little Blacksmith fully utilized its agility advantage, dodging the Bisharp's attacks, then smashed its hammer onto the opponent's head just like striking a wooden fish.

As for Volcarona, its approach was simpler and more brute-force.

Despite not even being one month old since birth, with all resources and treatment maxed out, even without Victini's assistance, its firepower remained quite astonishing.

It used the move "Ember" with the momentum and power of "Flamethrower," creating a fierce pillar of fire that was extremely effective against the Bisharp, forcing it into a continuous retreat.

Before long, thanks to the active performance of the two Pokémon, the Bisharp squad leader's two underlings also followed their leader's fate one after another.

Looking at the three Bisharp lying on the ground groaning, Luo Mu wore a thoughtful expression.

Some might feel the power scaling has collapsed; aside from Ceruledge, on what grounds could the Little Blacksmith and Volcarona defeat Bisharp?

After all, in the game, evolving from Pawniard to Bisharp requires a full 52 levels.

This is already extremely close to some late-blooming Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, or even the lineup of the Elite Four in a first playthrough.

However, based on the intelligence Luo Mu had observed so far, Pawniard does not necessarily need to reach level 52 to evolve.

Not to mention whether there is a detailed ranking system here; as far as Luo Mu knew, once they grew to a certain stage, nearly any adult Pawniard could directly evolve into Bisharp.

These three Bisharp losing so easily was, therefore, only to be expected.

"Kanu!"

The Tinkatuff waved its club triumphantly—no, its hammer—with the air of one who, though aged, still possesses arrows sharp enough to pierce.

Ogerpon shot a dissatisfied glance at Luo Mu, the trainer who had pushed it out to take the hit, its starry eyes filled with helplessness.

There was no help for it; since Luo Mu was so weak, let Peng-Peng protect you.

The Volcarona, victorious in its first battle, hopped excitedly like a puppy, though its three pairs of short legs weren't very capable of hopping high.

After knocking out the three Bisharp, Luo Mu led Tinkatuff and the others to press forward.

Along this path, they knocked out who knew how many Pawniard and Bisharp, leaving Luo Mu clicking his tongue in wonder.

That General Pu Dao was truly domineering; when Luo Mu had traveled through this bamboo forest in the past,

the variety of wild Pokémon within the bamboo forest had been quite numerous, yet now they had all vanished, driven to the edges to become the private territory of these Bisharp and their kin.

Luo Mu also understood clearly that defeating more Bisharp and Pawniard was meaningless.

As long as the General Pu Dao leading them remained, even if these fellows were knocked down, once their stamina recovered, they would swarm forward again.

Therefore, Luo Mu's target had always been the General Pu Dao, the "leader," from the very beginning.

To capture the bandits, first capture their king; such was his plan and objective.

General Pu Dao's location was not hard to find; even without the system guiding the way, Luo Mu could locate it accurately and without error.

Just like in a certain militaristic nation from before his transmigration, the so-called "Great General" was typically found at the very center, surrounded by subordinates.

Finding it was simple: just push straight through everything in the way.

Perhaps it was the first time the Bisharp clan had encountered a trainer like Luo Mu, pushing through their hundred-strong swarm with just three Pokémon; before Luo Mu could force all the "Great General's" subordinates to their knees, the "Great General" could no longer hold back and made its entrance ahead of schedule.

Compared to Bisharp, General Pu Dao's transformation was immense.

Aside from the red armor on its legs and shoulders retaining some semblance of its original form, many other areas had undergone drastic changes.

Hanging from its waist was a black-and-white striped sash, with two sharp blades extending outward to the left and right, while its yellow hands and elbows were adorned with spike-like ornaments resembling jewelry.

General Pu Dao's gaze was exceptionally sharp; its face bore a "promax" version of an eight-character mustache, which was in reality an extremely long black blade.

Its head was most distinctive: not only did it possess a mane of black long hair nearly matching its height, but the axe originally atop its head had transformed into an exceedingly exaggerated and massive "guillotine blade."

At this moment, General Pu Dao had shaped its hair into a stool-like object and sat upon it with an air of serene detachment, exuding an aura of looking down upon all from above.

Luo Mu recognized General Pu Dao's Ability at a single glance.

It was absolutely not "Defiant" or "Pressure," but rather "Commander," an Ability he had battled against before and lamented why Geeta did not place it at the end of her team.

The effect of the "Commander" Ability was truly unique.

【Upon entering battle, General Pu Dao's Attack and Special Attack gradually increase based on the number of allies currently knocked out; the more allies defeated, the greater the boost.】

This statement alone was sufficient to explain its value.

In the game, there was an upper limit to the boost, but in reality, the extent of the increase depended entirely on General Pu Dao's own constitution.

Not to mention that along this journey, Tinkatuff and the others had defeated who knew how many Bisharp and Pawniard; the sharp aura now swirling around the great blade atop General Pu Dao's head was clear, glaring evidence of this.

Luo Mu narrowed his eyes.

He understood the logic, but to be honest, General Pu Dao was truly ugly.

It completely failed to meet Luo Mu's aesthetic standards.

At this moment, General Pu Dao did not yet know it had already been despised by the human before it.

Its gaze swept sequentially over the four intruders, finally resting on Tinkatuff, revealing a hint of surprise in Emperor Yan Di's eyes.

That was the crucial day that changed its destiny, a day General Pu Dao would never forget.

That hammer was precisely the one carried by this Tinkatuff.

So that was it; had they come seeking revenge? General Pu Dao guessed Tinkatuff's intentions with eighty or ninety percent accuracy.

Tinkatuff also glared furiously at General Pu Dao.

Although the opponent had changed greatly, it would absolutely not mistake that aura.

This General Pu Dao was the chief culprit that had stolen its hammer!

Tinkatuff felt its hammer itching, needing to knock something to relieve the itch.

However, its rationality was at least still online.

Although it had changed greatly compared to back then, the opponent had also become stronger; the gap of two evolutionary stages still existed.

If it rushed forward, it would merely be offering its head up for nothing, just like Bai Bai.

Suppressing its angry mood, Tinkatuff did not act rashly.

Luo Mu was very satisfied with its rationality and issued orders: "Ogerpon, you are responsible for General Pu Dao; Tinkatuff and Volcarona, you two cooperate to clear out the minions."

Although General Pu Dao had its strength boosted by "Commander," it had not yet exceeded Luo Mu's expectations.

As for those Pawniard and Bisharp it had beaten into submission, there was even less need to mention them.

"Ga-E-Peng!"

The moment battle commenced, Ogerpon seemed to change into a completely different persona.

Letting out an impassioned battle cry, it surged forward with imposing momentum, wielding its Thorny Vine Club straight toward General Pu Dao.

General Pu Dao narrowed its eyes, slowly rose to its feet, as dark red energy swirled around the great blade atop its head.

Once Ogerpon approached within a certain range, General Pu Dao, maintaining its composed demeanor, directly displayed the prowess that had beaten the entire Bisharp clan into submission.

"Fight!"

General Pu Dao let out a low roar, suddenly dipping its head downward! The great blade slashed forth! Boom—! The heavy blade immediately collided with Ogerpon's Thorny Vine Club, sending sparks flying in sheets.

Unlike Bisharp, General Pu Dao, relying on its own strength, solidly blocked Ogerpon's club strike.

Both sides immediately engaged in fierce combat.

On the other side, the Tinkatink and the Volcarona began cooperating with tacit understanding, clearing away those foot soldiers.

Although the successive falls of the Pawniard and the Bisharp would bring a boost in power to General Pu Dao.

Yet compared to this increase in power, the Tinkatink believed that Ogerpon cared more about whether the battle would be disturbed.

The Volcarona continuously unleashed "Ember" comparable to "Flamethrower," or used "String Shot," which was so incredibly tough that even the sharp blades of the Pawniard and Bisharp required considerable effort to cut through, thereby interfering with them.

Seizing the opportunity, the Tinkatink leaped from the Volcarona's back, struck the bullseye with a single hammer blow, and began its own rhythm of striking the wooden fish.

In no time at all, the surroundings were littered with rows of fallen Pawniard and Bisharp.

Most of the time, Luo Mu let the Tinkatink and the Volcarona judge the situation themselves to hone their combat skills and instincts, only issuing commands at specific moments.

The combat experience of the Tinkatink and the Volcarona was improving at an extremely rapid pace; the results could be described as remarkable.

Then, at a certain moment, just as the hammer in the Tinkatink's hand slammed fiercely onto the head of a Bisharp entangled in string, a sudden change occurred.

A rich, milky white light burst forth.

(End of Chapter)