Chapter 532: Is It Normal for a Dojo to Close for a Month?

Noticing the special trait on the Blood Moon Ursaluna, Green reacted instantly, immediately directing his Ursaluna to change its battle strategy and lock its attack targets onto the "vital points" of the Blood Moon Ursaluna that were not protected by mud.

As a Trainer, Green was quite pure; not being rigid, he would seek out every gap to attack, flexibly changing his train of thought.

Even if some of his commands seemed slightly "unscrupulous" to onlookers, he himself did not care in the least.

Before victory, schemes and methods were merely means to reach an end.

"Stone Edge!"

Countless fluorescent blue Shi Zhu erupted from the ground, like a array of lances, their sharp tips pointing directly at the weak spots of the Blood Moon Ursaluna.

The relationship between Ground and Rock types was extremely close, so the Stone Edge unleashed by the Ursaluna was impressive, with both power and momentum being quite formidable.

After repeatedly smashing the Shi Zhu that attempted to sneak-attack it with its Xiong Zhang, the Blood Moon Ursaluna also began to feel a surge of true anger.

After once again smashing a Shi Zhu that erupted from the ground, it let out a roar and stomped fiercely on the ground.

Explosive energy poured into the earth, surging forward through the cracking ground to crush any Shi Zhu attempting to rise, erupting beneath the Ursaluna's feet with scorching, frenzied energy.

Boom! Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, the Ursaluna was directly flipped over by this volcanic-like burst of explosive energy, letting out an instinctive roar of pain.

"Earth Power," aside from Hyper Voice, was a Ground-type special attack move frequently used by the Blood Moon Ursaluna.

As for its power—

one only needed to look at the current state of the Ursaluna to understand.

Green gazed at the Ursaluna, which had not managed to straighten its waist amidst the dust and smoke for quite some time; he now had to admit that he had somewhat underestimated the Blood Moon Ursaluna.

Even though their strengths were similar, according to what the old man had said, as a special individual whose changes were nearly impossible to replicate, the Blood Moon Ursaluna still hid many trump cards that even he had not anticipated.

But fighting like this made it more interesting, didn't it?

Feeling a long-lost sense of pressure, Green, disregarding the strong wind messing up his hairstyle, enthusiastically issued a command.

"Stomp!"

"Cross Chop."

Luo Mu also responded quickly.

The two colossal creatures clashed once again.

Amidst the fierce battle, Green couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.

Those claws of the Ursaluna could probably easily leave marks even on the hard bodies of Steel-type Pokémon, let alone when digging holes.

However, considering that the Blood Moon Ursaluna was also a Ground-type Pokémon and knew Stomp, which implied it also knew Earthquake, even though Dig could introduce more new tactical possibilities, the risk was still too high.

Once hit by an Earthquake while underground, the loss would be far greater than being struck by that previous Earth Power.

On the other side, Ash, watching the battle, stared blankly at the clash between the Blood Moon Ursaluna and the Ursaluna, feeling that with every tremor of the ground, his very soul was being continuously shaken.

Was this what a battle between top-tier Trainers looked like? Compared to this, his own battles were merely child's play. The Pikachu on his shoulder also wore a look of shock, clearly overwhelmed by this scene of immense power.

With every move causing the earth to shake and the mountains to sway, could he, Pikachu, ever become this powerful one day?

Longing for the future!

After nearly ten minutes of intense fighting, the struggle between the Blood Moon Ursaluna and the Ursaluna had entered a white-hot stage.

Both Pokémon bore various scars on their bodies.

Among them, the Ursaluna's injuries were heavier, while on the Blood Moon Ursaluna, the hard "armor" composed of mud on its right shoulder showed signs of cracking.

That was created by the Ursaluna enduring a "Hyper Voice" and forcibly landing a "Double-Edge."

This incident further solidified the Blood Moon Ursaluna's belief that its past choices had been correct.

Trainers in the human world are all monsters; a Pokémon they trained could fight me to such a standstill immediately after evolving—is this the so-called miraculous power of breeding? Fortunately, over the past hundred years, I was just an ordinary shut-in bear; if I hadn't met Luo Mu, I could have remained a shut-in even longer.

The two Pokémon panted heavily, their eyes filled with vigilance as they looked at each other.

The Ursaluna awaited Green's next command.

The Blood Moon Ursaluna, however, thought that the time was about right; although it was daytime and the power would be slightly weaker than on a cloudless night, the only way to create a gap was to rely on this one move.

As expected.

Luo Mu's command was issued immediately after.

"Blood Moon Ursaluna—"

The Blood Moon Ursaluna raised its head, its right eye lighting up with an exceptionally conspicuous green glow, as if anticipating something, and it licked the corner of its mouth.

"Blood Moon!"

The moment Luo Mu's voice fell, the Blood Moon Ursaluna stopped concealing itself and began to emit terrifying energy fluctuations without any reservation.

"... Blood Moon?"

Carefully chewing over these two words, Green instantly realized that this was the name of a move.

After all, one could tell just from the commotion originating from the Blood Moon Ursaluna!

A Touch of Solemnity flashed in Emperor Yan Di's eyes, and without hesitation, he declared: "Ursaluna, full-power Giga Impact."

After all, the Ursaluna had formerly been a single-type Normal-type Pokémon, and the moves it had trained the most were also Normal-type moves.

Compared to the Ground-type attributes it had only recently started handling for a short while, for the Ursaluna, Normal-type moves could unleash greater power.

Surging airwaves rose out of nowhere, transforming into a massive swirling current of white and purple that enveloped the Ursaluna's body, while a terrifying aura instantly locked onto the Blood Moon Ursaluna! On the Blood Moon Ursaluna's side, amidst countless clouds composed of energy, an illusory blood moon appeared, emitting energy fluctuations that made one's heart palpitate, as if it were about to suck in all the surrounding light, causing the light around it to dim significantly.

Boom! Crimson light suddenly surged, and accompanied by a roar that seemed to tear through the firmament, a pillar of blood-colored light burst forth from the blood moon like a flood breaching a dam, rushing irresistibly straight toward the Ursaluna.

Wherever the pillar of light passed, everything was dyed crimson; the air emitted cries of anguish under the penetration of the light beam, as if unable to bear the burden, while the debris stirred up along the way instantly turned into powder under this force and vanished without a trace.

"Giga Impact" and "Blood Moon" collided with a thunderous crash.

Everywhere within sight was stained with red light; Luo Mu, gazing at the back of the Blood Moon Ursaluna releasing "Blood Moon" and the Ursaluna clashing against it, suddenly recalled a night not long ago.

At that time, the Blood Moon Ursaluna seemed to have fought a battle against Hearing Hearing Nimo's Ursaluna.

The result was that "Blood Moon" pierced through "Giga Impact," delivering a fatal blow to the Ursaluna.

And now—

Even though it was already showing signs of decline, the Ursaluna was not blown away by the "Blood Moon"; instead, amidst the airwaves raised by a second earth-shattering explosion, it stood firmly in place, covered in scars.

It can still fight! Moon Moon Bear stared intently at Crimson Moon Bear, its chest overflowing with fighting spirit.

Currently, it was immobilized after unleashing its full power in "Final Impact."

But given a little time, it could move again and launch an attack.

It reasoned that Crimson Moon Bear, having unleashed such a terrifying attack, should be in a similar state to itself.

Gazing at Moon Moon Bear's back and the pair of heterochromatic eyes of Crimson Moon Bear looming in the dust, Green subconsciously exhaled.

"Blood Moon," huh?

What a terrifying move; from now on, he must anticipate it and not force Moon Moon Bear to tank it head-on.

Just as Green's eyes flickered while silently planning his next combat strategy, Luo Mu's voice cut through the silence with undeniable presence.

"Final strike, Hyper Voice."

Crimson Moon Bear's massive body moved once more.

Green's pupils contracted; even someone as unflappable as him felt a tremendous upheaval in his heart.

After using such a terrifying move, it doesn't even need rest to "cool down" its body!? Regarding the use of Hyper Voice, Crimson Moon Bear had already turned it into an instinct.

Under a roar that shook the mountains and forests, Moon Moon Bear, battered by countless sound waves as tangible as solid objects, could no longer hold on; before the stun duration even ended, it completely lost consciousness.

Crimson Moon Bear felt a bit regretful about this.

It had even said that if "Hyper Voice" wasn't enough, it would fire off another "Blood Moon."

Moon Moon Bear's massive body collapsed with a boom; Green, standing with one hand in his pocket, fell silent for a second before closing his eyes.

It had been a long time since he last tasted the flavor of defeat, even if the final blow was forged by an information gap.

But isn't handling information gaps precisely what a Trainer is supposed to do?

Green opened his eyes again; a well-hidden trace of unwillingness flashed in Emperor Yan Di's gaze as he calmly raised both hands.

"I lost."

He didn't say "The Great Me," but "I," signifying that Green, the Trainer shrouded in legend, acknowledged Luo Mu.

You are worthy of being my opponent.

Professor Oak, who had been watching the entire time, felt a mix of emotions.

As expected, only outstanding Trainers like these could make his aloof grandson genuinely acknowledge them from the bottom of his heart.

League Year 798, November 13th.

Inside Professor Oak's Laboratory.

Forced to listen for nearly the entire morning as Green, acting even more familiar than usual, bragged about his various past "feats," Luo Mu, silently picking at his rice, felt his brain buzzing.

Is this chatterbox really the Green from his impressions? Was he swapped? One could only say that a Green capable of fluently translating the silent man from Mount Silver's string of ellipses is probably no "normal person" either.

Luo Mu had originally planned to depart in the morning.

But after the battle, an even more enthusiastic Green forcibly kept him behind, insisting he finish lunch before leaving.

Initially, Luo Mu silently complained, wondering if lunch was going to be some fancy instant noodles.

As a result, staring at the table before him now, filled with Kanto specialty dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, Luo Mu still felt quite surprised.

It was hard to imagine that Green, who carried himself like a young master, could actually cook so well.

It just felt like quite a contrast.

Ash had gone home to eat, while Tracey, after hastily finishing lunch with Professor Oak, was busy preparing his thesis again.

Only Luo Mu and Green remained at the dining table, while the Pokémon ate lunch in the more spacious backyard.

As Luo Mu helped clear the bowls and wash the dishes, Green, still wearing an apron, suddenly spoke up: "Are you really not going to be a Trainer anymore?"

Luo Mu paused in his movements and nodded.

"Being a Trainer isn't my main profession; being a farm owner is."

"For me now, Pokémon battles are more like a personal hobby."

"The current me doesn't reject battling anyone."

At most, I might just get lazy when something comes up and find some excuse to bail.

This last sentence, Luo Mu only recited silently in his heart.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Green's stern face.

That would be for the best.

It wasn't easy to find an opponent who intrigued him this much; if it went to waste, that would truly be a pity.

As this thought surfaced in his mind, Green suddenly realized that, in essence, he really was no different from that guy Red.

Expecting strong opponents, wanting to battle strong opponents, constantly striving toward the peak.

Putting down a porcelain plate so clean it lacked a single water stain, the slightly germaphobic young master Green abruptly said: "If there's a chance, let's have an all-out, full-team battle."

".?"

Luo Mu looked at Green with shock and vigilance.

Why bring this up suddenly! Just imagining a 6VS6 against a powerful Trainer like Green made Luo Mu feel that it would definitely be exhausting.

The Pokémon might be fine, but for him, it would absolutely be a dual torment of mental and physical strength.

Can't I just refuse!? ". Next time for sure, next time for sure."

Luo Mu tried to muddle through, and fortunately, Green didn't press the matter, treating it merely as a verbal agreement between the two.

He would wait for a suitable occasion to formally engage in an all-out Pokémon battle with Luo Mu.

While cleaning the stove, the chatterbox Green came back online; this time, he chatted with Luo Mu about the stories between himself and Red, his rival since becoming a Trainer.

Toward the end of their chat, Green even said that if his hands got itchy, he would without hesitation run to the summit of Mount Silver to fight Red, who was living there like an ascetic monk in cultivation.

Listening to him talk about Red, Luo Mu, somewhat curious, asked: "Then, staying all day on the extremely cold summit of Mount Silver, how does he solve the problem of food?"

This question directly stumped Green; after pondering for a long time, he said uncertainly: "If one only eats Berries, a human should be able to survive, right."

"After all, that guy brought a Snorlax with him; he doesn't look like someone short on food."

Skeptical of Green's answer, Luo Mu simply recounted how he had, on a whim, climbed to the peak of Mt. Silver and met someone who had nearly starved to death up there.

Upon hearing this, Green fell silent for a few seconds, then stopped what he was doing with his hands and burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha, that really sounds like the kind of stupid thing he would do!"

At first, it did sound a bit far-fetched.

But upon further thought, Green realized that the boring battle maniac might indeed have trained so hard he forgot about the lack of food, nearly meeting disaster on the freezing peak of Mt. Silver.

Decided: next time he went to Mt. Silver, he would mock him mercilessly! Grinning, Green tried to squeeze more information out of Luo Mu.

Unfortunately, Luo Mu had only met him once, so there was nothing more to extract; Green had no choice but to give up.

After the kitchen was thoroughly cleaned, Luo Mu washed his hands, pulled out a white paper towel to dry them, and then said, "Well, I'm off. Thank you for the meal today."

Already accustomed to bidding farewell to friends, Green waved casually. "If I get the chance, I'll come visit your farm."

Luo Mu looked at Green in confusion. Wasn't he supposed to take over the Gym? "What about the Pewter Gym?"

Green replied without changing his expression. "It's probably quite common for a Gym to close for a month of rest, right?"

(End of Chapter)