Chapter 607: Gible Spine Dragon, Known as Little Chief Rem

After hanging up the call with Geeta, Luo Mu naturally stood up from the sofa.

In that phone call just now, his exchange with Geeta could be completely summarized in a single sentence.

"Luo Mu actively requested Geeta to restore his status as a Champion-level Trainer," and that was all.

Restoring his status as a Champion-level Trainer meant he could walk freely within the Paldea Pokémon League Headquarters without any obstacles; even going to spectate the currently fiercely ongoing Champion Assessment posed no problem.

As for whether he would be exploited like Brother Brother Qingmu, Luo Mu felt that after the Champion Assessment concluded, Geeta's interest would shift entirely to Hearing Hearing Nimo, so the impact on him would not be significant.

Oranguru seemed to have anticipated this occurrence long ago; smiling with its eyes, it communicated via telepathy, "Go early and return early, Young Master."

From the moment it saw Luo Mu tidy himself up early in the morning, change into formal attire he rarely wore, and groom his hair which had resembled a bird's nest upon waking, Oranguru had vaguely sensed something was coming.

Though he claimed orally to be considering it, he had actually made his decision long ago.

"Mm, I'll be back shortly."

Smoothing out the wrinkles on his clothes, Luo Mu, unaware of what Oranguru was thinking, nodded lightly, then turned to look at Dragonite, whose mouth was covered in cream from eating desserts, and smiled helplessly.

"I'll have to trouble you to give me a ride, Dragonite."

"Boo-wuu~"

Dragonite blinked its large, bright black eyes, deftly licked the cream off its chubby claws clean, and made its preparations.

Luo Mu also instructed the Pokémon gathered in the living room, who seemed eager to try: "Everyone just watch the live broadcast at home; there likely won't be any battles scheduled today."

Luxray and the others responded sporadically, but there was one Pokémon—or rather, one that did not belong to the farm nor was it captured by Luo Mu, but was merely lodging here—that chose to sing a different tune.

"Luo Mu, take me along to see as well; I am very curious about this peak battle between you humans."

The Zygarde Core jumped onto the living room's coffee table, interest swirling faintly in its eyes.

Since arriving in the Paldea region from Alola, its daily routine had basically been: eat—bask in the sun and sleep—split cells—eat—bask in the sun and sleep—split cells.

Although as an Order Guardian who must remain hidden in the shadows it was long accustomed to such days, thinking that since it had already developed in a new place, it might as well learn more about the human race, it still wished to try some new things.

The Zygarde Core did not mean that after watching battles to its satisfaction, it planned to go out and fight itself for the thrill of combat.

After all, the number of cells currently split in Paldea was still far from meeting the requirements to transform into its 10% Forme.

Furthermore, it could not create a huge disturbance for its own selfish desires, nor could it loudly summon cells located in other regions or on other continents.

Luo Mu glanced at the Zygarde Core, surprised that the other party had once again actively expressed a request.

Thinking that this fellow could turn invisible anyway, and without Team Flare's specific tracking black technology, there was absolutely no possibility of exposure, Luo Mu allowed the Zygarde Core to go along.

Just as he turned a blind eye to the Zygarde Core's appetite, which surpassed even Moltres.

After all, this fellow's cells were truly quite convenient; those already distributed throughout the farm, under the research of Lei Guan Wang and the Zygarde Core, could even be used as surveillance cameras.

Before leaving, Luo Mu took another look at Terapagos, which still seemed to show no signs of movement.

He silently pondered that although some time had passed since its resurrection and the surrounding environment was very safe, Terapagos should have already perceived it.

Yet even so, the other party still had no intention of communicating with the outside world, and it completely refused to eat any food.

Could it be that only by performing Terastallization right before its eyes could Terapagos's interest be aroused?

During the time Luo Mu was setting off.

Hearing Nimo, having successfully commanded Pawmi to crush Dragalge, hurriedly recalled it into its Poké Ball, giving Pawmi as much time as possible to recover its stamina.

The physical and energy consumption of sweeping six, plus the "Electro Double-Edge" that crushed Dragalge and exhausted all its electricity.

No matter how strong Pawmi was, ultimately it was not like a Legendary Pokémon such as Moltres, possessing astonishingly vast reserves of stamina and energy.

At the very least, during the remaining battles against Grusha, the battles against the Elite Four in the fourth room, and even the first half of the battle against Geeta, Pawmi would need time to rest.

Grusha's next two Dragon-type Pokémon could only be handled by relying on other partners.

Perhaps considering that due to Luo Mu's influence, Hearing Nimo understood the "Dragonite" species well.

Grusha's final Dragon-type Pokémon was not "Dragonite," but another Pokémon he had raised that matured late—Salamence.

Both possessed the Flying type which countered Diejie Diejie Mengmeng, so whether it was Dragonite or Salamence, the difference was not significant.

Aside from Goodra, every single Pokémon in Hearing Nimo's main team had a single type that would be countered by the Flying type.

This was also because she captured Pokémon basically based on affinity, without deliberately arranging defensive synergies.

Therefore, when challenging Brother Brother Qingmu, she unhesitatingly sent out Pawmi; leveraging the absolute favorable matchup of Electric against Flying, she masked Pawmi's Fighting type weakness and avoided her most likely point of failure.

But this point had obviously been seen through by Grusha, who utilized and targeted it.

Indeed, this person currently has not comprehended the responsibility of being a "teacher," with his mind entirely focused on "winning" the battle against Luo Mu's disciple, Hearing Nimo.

Truly, a very terrible adult.

But Salamence's body structure gave Hearing Nimo a glimmer of hope; hesitating for a moment, she chose to send out the Aqua Breed Tauros, which would be countered by the Flying type.

After nearly two full rounds of rest, the aftereffects generated by the Aqua Breed Tauros's "Anger Point" had already healed, and its bodily functions had recovered to their peak under the combined treatment of potions and Diejie Diejie Mengmeng's pollen balls.

Unlike Dragonite, Salamence is a crawling Pokémon that walks on four limbs or flies using those pair of blood-red wings.

It lacks dexterous hands, which also means that apart from kiting in the air, Salamence cannot, like Dragonite, grasp Tauros's horns with both hands, use Tauros's strength to dissipate force, or even block Tauros's charge with one hand while fiercely attacking Tauros's vital points with the other hand with absolute advantage.

The current Champion Assessment match is still being broadcast live, and many students at Grape Academy are watching; no matter what, Grusha, who cares about saving face, would not resort to staying in the sky to kite, stubbornly wearing Tauros down to death.

Precisely because of these few points, Hearing Nimo found a clearance route that incurred the smallest damage without paying a huge price.

In the fierce battle against Salamence, the Aqua Breed Tauros's "Anger Point" was triggered once again; the high-pressure water jet spraying from the horn on its head knocked Salamence flat onto the ground.

And the Aqua Breed Tauros, enduring the type disadvantage, charged like an enraged bull, continuously inflicting successive blows upon Salamence.

Moments later, everything settled.

At the cost of gaining wounds left by Salamence's sharp claws and fangs, and being struck multiple times by Draco Meteor, the Aqua Breed Tauros once again "exploded its species," helping Hearing Nimo win the most difficult battle.

Next... it was time for the battlefield healer to make its entrance!

"Diejie Diejie Mengmeng!"

Within the luminous effect of the opening Poké Ball, star-shaped sparkles of a cubic shape were faintly intermingled.

An elegant Fairy-type Pokémon, bearing a red scarf like Mikasa or Ayano, and whose body color differed from its kin, presenting as pink, appeared in the center of the field.

Aside from healing its partners, Diejie Diejie Mengmeng had maintained nearly complete combat capability.

This was the one-on-one situation Hearing Nimo had created by holding back her ace move specifically to counter Turo's inevitable Terastallization, paying the price of Pawmi being temporarily unable to fight and Tauros needing rest again due to a second activation of its "Anger Point."

"Diejie Mengmeng~"

Ribombee danced gracefully, shaking off inconspicuous scales in the light as its wings, thin as a cicada's, fluttered; its eyes were filled with determination.

With her partners falling one after another to pave the way for this situation, she would definitely not let it go to waste!

"Even though I strove to stop you, it has ultimately progressed to this stage; truly, you surprise me. You are indeed that person's student."

Turo sighed slightly; all his "little tricks" ended here. Next, he would devote his full heart and strength to preventing this wonderful battle from reaching its conclusion.

"Baxcalibur!"

Accompanied by a sudden drop in the room's temperature, a Dragon-type Pokémon resembling a Spinosaurus or Godzilla appeared.

With each of its breaths, cold air continuously spread throughout the room.

Huge sword-like dorsal fins grew on its back, their edges as sharp as ice blades, reflecting a faint, barely perceptible cold glint under the lights.

This was the late-blooming Pokémon unique to the Paldea region, renowned alongside Dragonite, Salamence, and Goodra.

Sharing the same typing as the sole legend of the Frozen World, a Dragon and Ice giant dragon—Baxcalibur!

Known as Little Kyurem!

It was Turo's ace; the moment it appeared, its overwhelming pressure had already begun to spread.

"Place the Tera Orb upon the crown!"

"O great dragon, descend!"

The instant he sent out Baxcalibur, Turo chose to Terastallize immediately!

In contrast, since Hearing Nimo had no means to replenish the Tera energy within her Tera Orb, and the League would not provide such assistance during the Champion's consecutive battles, she could only have Ribombee frantically boost itself with Quiver Dance during the interval while Baxcalibur Terastallized.

Meanwhile, Baxcalibur completed its Terastallization.

A majestic and domineering flying dragon's Tera Crown stood atop Baxcalibur's head, signifying that its Tera Type was—Dragon!

Facing the Fairy-type Ribombee, a Dragon Tera Type might seem laughable, but in reality, for Baxcalibur, it had no negative effects, as its original typing neither resisted Bug and Fairy nor was super effective against them.

Although Fairy types are immune to Dragon-type attacks, Terastallization was not merely for aesthetic purposes.

Even if the energy itself had no effect, there was still the shockwave generated by the energy's excitation.

When using the move Dragon Claw, even if the attached Dragon-type energy was ineffective, the increase in raw power was very real.

The instant Baxcalibur finished Terastallizing, Turo immediately ordered, "I won't let you complete your Baton Pass! Ice Spinner!"

Baxcalibur raised its head and exhaled a cold breath; sharp, crystal-clear ice pillars formed, carrying a sound that tore through the air as they headed straight for the petite Ribombee.

Turo had observed Hearing Nimo's battle against Rika from start to finish while standing right beside them.

Therefore, he knew exactly what would happen if Hearing Nimo managed to complete her "Baton Pass strategy."

If anyone was to blame, it was you for incorrectly choosing to reveal a strategy that would work better in this specific situation while dealing with that rash young lad from the Sada family!

The corners of Turo's mouth lifted slightly.

"As expected, it wouldn't be that easy."

Not only did Hearing Nimo not feel disheartened, she became completely fired up.

For her, pressure was the catalyst that promoted progress!

Pokémon battles were meant to have countless possibilities like this; that was precisely why she was so immersed in them!

"Moonblast!"

"Diejie Mengmeng!" Ribombee elegantly spun in mid-air to dodge the ice pillars shooting toward it, then mobilized its energy to conjure a beautiful illusory full moon above its head; pink energy, like spiritual nectar pouring from moonlight, formed a pink sphere of light before Ribombee.

Ribombee fired its Moonblast, shattering the onrushing ice pillars one after another, while continuing to perform Quiver Dance.

Seeing that Ice Spinner could not hit Ribombee now that its speed had increased from Quiver Dance, Turo simply commanded Baxcalibur to release a massive wave of cold air, attacking with a wide-area "Blizzard" that left Ribombee no room to dodge.

The effect of this move was obvious; even without being weak to Ice, Ribombee, originating from the tropical Alola region, was indeed not adept at handling cold climates, and a layer of white frost immediately condensed on its pair of butterfly wings.

Yet, this frost melted away under the scales Ribombee shook off, looking incredibly miraculous.

"The Scale Dust ability prevents moves' additional effects from working, which naturally includes Blizzard's 'freeze' status."

Already feeling somewhat cold, Rika pondered thoughtfully; at this moment, she somewhat wished she could wrap a scarf around her neck and half her face like Grusha.

As for Brother Brother Qingmu, the sub-healthy middle-aged man was already shivering uncontrollably.

Although it was the last member to join the team, Ribombee's strength had not fallen too far behind that of its partners.

The fierce battle against the Terastallized Baxcalibur even left Iono, the commentator, dazzled and overwhelmed.

Finally, when facing Turo and Baxcalibur's desperate, all-or-nothing "Mighty Cleave," Hearing Nimo's maneuver was nothing short of a stroke of genius.

Facing that reckless attack, "Mighty Cleave," which was released at the cost of fully exposing its own weaknesses.

Without needing Hearing Nimo to act as a turret controlling the Poké Ball, she directly commanded Ribombee, who had never received a Baton Pass, to suddenly use the move Baton Pass; while avoiding the powerful impact that posed a great threat to Ribombee, Ursaluna appeared on the battlefield once again.

After gritting its teeth to endure this strike, Ursaluna without hesitation launched a wholehearted, leaping tackle against Baxcalibur, which had completely exposed its weaknesses!

Accompanied by a loud boom, the third battle of the Champion Assessment concluded, the dust having settled.

(End of Chapter)