Chapter 544: Garganacl, the Most Handsome Pokémon!

The moment Rillaboom appeared, emerald light waves surged outward like a tide; accompanied by the swaying of illusory vegetation, Grassy Terrain immediately spread across the field.

Rillaboom's Ability, Grassy Surge, was identical to Tapu Bulu's, though in Luo Mu's view, its range and effect were far inferior to those of Tapu Bulu.

Just as Ai Li Qi Si had anticipated.

From the very beginning, Aloysius, the elder brother, had never considered this a evenly matched battle.

Even during the crucial opening moment, the instant for seizing opportunity and establishing advantage.

He had sent out only Rillaboom, the weaker member among his main team.

Because Aloysius frequently transmitted recordings of his "heroic feats" achieved in victories at Blueberry Academy.

Thus, Ai Li Qi Si knew every Pokémon in his elder brother's team, whether those transmitted back to reside at Grandfather's ranch or those forming his main force.

"U-turn!"

Ai Li Qi Si's pupils constricted; without hesitation, he seized the initiative.

Meowscarada agilely leaped into the high sky, its form transforming into a ball of green light, speeding toward Rillaboom to collide.

"Catch it."

On Aloysius's side, he did not even order Rillaboom to use a move, feeling that this alone would be sufficient to intercept Meowscarada.

Rillaboom faithfully executed Aloysius's command; a fierce glint flashed in its eyes as its two large hands, carrying an unstoppable will, reached straight toward the direction from which Meowscarada was charging.

In response, Meowscarada personally demonstrated what constituted a "flexible posture."

It folded its body to an unimaginable limit, forming an incredible arc; accompanied by a sharp whistle slicing through the air, it evaded Rillaboom's grab, struck Rillaboom almost in a flash, and immediately transformed into a red light, returning to the Poké Ball that Ai Li Qi Si had not recalled.

Luo Mu felt somewhat regretful about this.

If Meowscarada's Ability had been Protean, the power of this U-turn would have been even greater.

After recalling Meowscarada, which had freely dealt a wave of damage, Ai Li Qi Si without hesitation threw out his second Poké Ball.

"Bombirdier!"

Appearing once again was a Pokémon resembling a flamingo, possessing a round pink body and wings, a slender neck tied in a knot at its base, a black tip on its beak, and white coloring on its face, legs, and feet.

A Flying and Fighting-type Pokémon, Paldea's "true home bird," Bombirdier! After leaving its Poké Ball, Bombirdier stood on one matchstick-thin leg while lifting the other, its large yellow eyes staring unblinkingly at Rillaboom, making the latter inexplicably feel a chill run down its spine.

"Type advantage alone cannot defeat me."

Aloysius chuckled lightly and issued his command.

"Grassy Glide!"

As he began organizing his offense, Aloysius immediately employed Rillaboom's classic combination move.

On the "Grassy Terrain" expanded by "Grassy Surge," not only did Grass-type moves gain increased power, but releasing "Grassy Glide" also granted a priority increase of +1.

In reality, this would be a high-speed assault inconsistent with Rillaboom's bulky physique.

With a "whoosh," accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, Rillaboom transformed into a green light and slid aggressively toward Bombirdier's seemingly fragile, slender feet.

In the past, Ai Li Qi Si would certainly have panicked at this, making an instinctive mistake that would plunge Bombirdier into crisis.

But he was no longer the same as before!

Determination flashed in his eyes; without hesitation, he shouted out the ultimate technique Bombirdier had learned from Hearing Hearing Nimo's Pawmi, following Luo Mu's suggestion, specifically to handle the current situation.

"Low Sweep!"

Under Aloysius's astonished expression, Bombirdier instantly seized the opening in Rillaboom's movement; its raised foot whipped like a lash against the back of Rillaboom's neck.

This strike seemed to contain some peculiar energy; Rillaboom stumbled and fell flat on its face.

Just as it attempted to push itself up from the ground, it discovered its body had suddenly frozen—

On the Blueberry Academy side, Carmine pushed up her glasses and said, "Because 'Low Sweep' exploited the opening in 'Grassy Glide,' it has caused Rillaboom to enter a 'flinched state'; this is becoming somewhat troublesome."

"This younger brother is, I'm afraid, not as devoid of threat as Senior Aloysius claimed."

As if to confirm Carmine's words, Ai Li Qi Si seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and without hesitation chose to attack with the strongest move Bombirdier possessed.

"Brave Bird!"

Bombirdier slightly loosened its coiled neck, as if breaking some kind of seal; sky-blue flames seeped from within its belly, instantly igniting and spreading across its entire body.

Carrying immense momentum, Bombirdier spread its wings and charged aggressively toward Rillaboom from low altitude!

Boom! Flames erupted violently, and air currents surged outward.

A gale instantly swept in all directions, yet Ai Li Qi Si continued to stare unblinkingly at the center of the field.

Only when he saw Rillaboom lying on the ground, having already lost consciousness, did his eyes instantly brighten with joy.

Excellent! I finally did it!

Meanwhile, on Aloysius's side, he stood stunned for several seconds before coming to his senses.

Did Rillaboom just give itself away so cleanly? Aloysius looked deeply at Ai Li Qi Si, as if meeting this younger brother of his for the first time today.

His heart filled with contempt vanished; next, he intended to go all out against his younger brother.

"Cangyan Cangyan Rengui!"

Unexpectedly, Aloysius's second Pokémon was also Cangyan Cangyan Rengui.

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, appearing interested.

Ai Li Qi Si, however, had anticipated this and continued to have Bombirdier engage Cangyan Cangyan Rengui in battle.

Bombirdier's Ability was Scrappy; even though Cangyan Cangyan Rengui possessed the Ghost type, Bombirdier could still hit it with Fighting-type or Normal-type moves.

However, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's strength was clearly far superior to that of Rillaboom; even though Ai Li Qi Si directed Bombirdier to the best of his ability, and Bombirdier fought with all its might for its Trainer against Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, it ultimately could not avoid defeat.

Watching Bombirdier fall, Aloysius curled the corners of his mouth slightly upward.

Yes, the familiar feeling had returned.

Even though Ai Li Qi Si had grown significantly in places unknown to him, in terms of raw strength, there remained an unbridgeable gap between them.

This line of thought persisted until Ai Li Qi Si sent out his third Pokémon.

"Garganacl!"

Accompanied by a heavy thud upon landing, Garganacl, another Pokémon characteristic of the Paldea region, made its entrance.

"This Pokémon..."

On the Blueberry Academy side, Akamatsu remembered hearing about this species from Senior Elios before.

It seemed capable of producing high-quality, crystalline rock salt and was typically raised as a logistical Pokémon on ranches. Back then, he had even requested some rock salt from Elios, which, after processing, had been used to create quite delicious dishes.

Although it looked bulky, could Garganacl truly fight?

Akamatsu held a skeptical attitude toward this.

On the Grape Academy side, Hassel raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Sending out Garganacl at this moment... could it be that this kid learned something from you..."

Hassel turned his inquiring gaze toward Luo Mu beside him.

Luo Mu merely offered a faint smile in response.

Ai Li Qi Si's family originally operated a ranch, so raising a Garganacl was nothing unusual.

The moment Garganacl appeared, many students mixed within the crowd, dressed in Grape Academy uniforms, instantly turned pale, as if recalling some unspeakable memories.

Ever since that campus tournament, they had never again dared to treat Garganacl as an ordinary salt-producing logistical Pokémon.

Quite a few had even spent large sums to purchase a Nacli and raise it personally! Seeing Garganacl at such a critical moment, they even felt its silhouette was incredibly reliable.

"Great, it's Garganacl; we're saved!" "Garganacl?"

Elios frowned slightly; he had thought his younger brother, mentally unbalanced after his Flamingo was defeated by Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, had sent out Garganacl just to give up.

But having learned his lesson, he would not underestimate his opponent again; after the battle concluded, he would have a good talk with Ai Li Qi Si about the latter's mistakes during the match! "Charge forward, Shadow Claw!"

Cangyan Cangyan Rengui crossed the field in a few strides, its pair of flame greatswords wreathed in gloomy light, slashing fiercely down upon the slow-moving Garganacl, which could barely evade its speed-based attack.

Unfortunately—the effect was minimal.

"Ability: Purifying Salt; it cannot fall into abnormal status conditions, and damage from Ghost-type moves is halved."

From behind, Shinji explained this to a bewildered Joy Shizuka.

Then, ignoring Shizuka's reaction, he shifted his gaze to the center of the field.

The moment he saw Garganacl seize the opportunity to spray "Salt Cure" onto Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, Shinji knew that Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's defeat was already sealed.

The sound of blades colliding with flesh rang out continuously.

Ai Li Qi Si, however, simply stared at his older brother's Cangyan Cangyan Rengui and muttered to himself: "Whether in terms of move power, sharpness, or even the variation of sword techniques, it completely fails to compare to Teacher's Cangyan Cangyan Rengui."

With a point of comparison now, he suddenly felt that every move of his brother's Cangyan Cangyan Rengui, which had consistently ranked among the top in their team, looked so childish in retrospect.

After "Salt Cure" landed, the next steps were "Iron Defense" and "Recycle," along with the held item "Leftovers" to further enhance sustainability.

Precisely because he had once faced Shinji's commanded Garganacl directly during the campus tournament, he had specifically taught his own Garganacl the moves that the Garganacl in Luo Mu's farm back then had not yet learned.

Gradually, Elios's Cangyan Cangyan Rengui's attacks against Garganacl became like scratching an itch through a boot, while the pain brought by Salt Cure remained like a lingering dark cloud overhead, impossible to dispel no matter what was done.

After nearly fifteen minutes of torment, Cangyan Cangyan Rengui could no longer hold on; its armored body collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

Although the Grape Academy students who had watched the entire battle still felt somewhat nauseated, they had to admit that watching Garganacl win like this was truly satisfying!

"When facing us, you were so dark and despicable."

"When turning your back on us, you are so reliable and handsome."

"Garganacl, the most handsome Pokémon!" Elios admitted that at this moment, he was completely dumbfounded.

But the battle afforded him no luxury for slow contemplation; he could only raise his hand and send out his ace—

Seviper, a Normal-type Pokémon and the natural nemesis of the Poison-type Zangoose.

To put it plainly, even for Zangoose, breaking through Garganacl's current defense was extremely difficult.

In contrast, on Ai Li Qi Si's side, Garganacl still had energy left for "Recycle," while the opponent had to be cautious of Salt Cure sprays during combat, plus a fully restored Meowscarada eyeing them threateningly.

Even Elios had to admit that he had been driven to a dead end by his younger brother, whom he had always "disregarded."

Yet what he never expected was that Ai Li Qi Si would, without hesitation, recall his strengthened Garganacl into its Poké Ball, immediately send out Meowscarada instead, and stare over with burning eyes.

Looking at that demeanor, it seemed as though he wanted to engage in a fair and square ace showdown! "... Interesting!"

From this moment on, Elios completely treated Ai Li Qi Si as an opponent of equal strength; his mindset thoroughly transformed as he commanded Zangoose to launch a fierce assault.

On Ai Li Qi Si's side, he excitedly commanded Meowscarada to begin countering Zangoose's fierce attacks.

On the Grape Academy side, Hearing Hearing Nimo said with sparkling eyes: "They look so happy!"

"The audience is happy too!" Noticing the focused gazes of the surrounding populace, Professor Professor Huangbo also agreed wholeheartedly.

Professor Professor Huangbo added with a smile: "Indeed, hot-blooded Pokémon battles bring smiles to everyone!"

The figures of Meowscarada and Zangoose flashed continuously across the Sun Plaza battlefield, even utilizing the surrounding buildings and rooftops for a chase sequence.

Until, after another clash, amidst the smoke raised by colliding moves, both figures fell simultaneously, losing their ability to battle.

This also meant that Ai Li Qi Si, with one Garganacl remaining, had defeated his older brother Elios, securing victory in the final round of the competition!

Furthermore, Grape Academy, with a record of four wins, two losses, and one draw across seven battles, once again claimed ultimate victory in this inter-academy exchange match! After Clavell announced this result, overwhelming applause and cheers echoed above Sun Plaza.

Luo Mu's lips curved upward slightly; he likewise offered applause to encourage the fighting results of his seven students.

No matter how one looked at it, this record was passable.

Although they didn't achieve seven consecutive victories, Hearing Hearing Nimo and the others had worked very hard; he believed that after a period of further growth, these students would all become trainers capable of standing on their own.

By that time, he might have to consider resigning from his job as a teacher.

Bang! Bang! The sounds of several hand-held confetti cannons exploding pulled Luo Mu's thoughts back to reality; a sky-full of colorful streamers and glitter rained down, seemingly set off by someone hired by the owner of the nearby shop, "Delibird Packages."

These celebratory blasts made the cheering atmosphere even more intense.

Luo Mu's gaze pierced through the confetti, meeting Dai Ke's, who was looking back at him.

He raised an eyebrow, smiling somewhat proudly, as if to say that he had won this time.

Dai Ke, for his part, made a gesture of accepting defeat gracefully, readily admitting that he had lost to Luo Mu in the realm of teaching.

Whether it was Hearing Hearing Nimo, whose talent was so outstanding it astonished him and who might soon grow to the Elite Four level, or the other students.

Dai Ke had to admit that Luo Mu's eye for talent was indeed exceptionally sharp.

Of course, everyone at Blueberry Academy was no slouch either; in the future, they would all become pillars of the Unova region, and one might even emerge as the successor to his Champion title! Unwilling to admit defeat, Dai Ke resolved to devote himself even more intensely to his teaching duties upon his return, striving to cultivate his students into even more outstanding individuals.

He simply failed to notice that the minds of Kuri and DanYu, whom he intended to nurture with great effort, had already flown off to their rivals.

(End of Chapter)