Chapter 616: Under the Spotlight of All!

Paldea League Headquarters.

After finishing the work at hand, Geeta had no intention of staying in her office to zone out any longer.

Glancing at the time, she spoke to Brother Qingmu, who was buried in work beside her: "With battles and administrative matters today, you must be tired."

"Leaving the remaining work for tomorrow is no problem; there happens to be a battle worth watching in Mesagoza, so let's call Rika and Grusha to go watch together."

Geeta interlaced her fingers, a trace of unmasked anticipation appearing in her eyes.

Brother Qingmu was stunned for a few seconds; he hadn't expected Geeta to voluntarily tell him to rest first, having thought he would have to work overtime until eleven o'clock again today.

As for this kind of "team-building" activity, he didn't exactly dislike it; after all, no matter how you looked at it, it was better than working overtime.

Moreover, even someone as laid-back as Brother Qingmu held a certain interest in Pokémon battles that could pique Geeta's curiosity.

Thinking of this, Brother Qingmu nodded lightly. "Alright."

Even though he would soon regret his decision, Brother Qingmu was indeed quite happy and anticipating it at this moment.

Soon, the two met up with Rika, Grusha, and the Senior Member, who were already waiting in the lobby, and together they headed to Mesagoza, not far from the League Headquarters.

Passing by the Pokémon Center, they even asked Nurse Joy; upon learning that Hearing Hearing Nimo's Pokémon had all recovered and that she had already left, the group quickened their pace under Geeta's urging.

Even if he were incredibly dull, Brother Qingmu sensed something was amiss.

But the situation no longer allowed him to hesitate; when Geeta led the four of them all the way to beside the Sun Plaza in the center of Mesagoza, looking at the people standing on both sides of the cleared battle arena, especially one of them...

Brother Qingmu's vision instantly went black.

No way, again?

Even with Principal Clavell's voice chatting with Geeta as he maintained order ringing in his ears, Brother Qingmu's attention shifted entirely to debating whether he should save face and flee on the spot despite his leaders' presence, or grit his teeth and watch the entire battle.

If I stand a bit to the side, I probably won't get infected, right?

At the same time.

After spending the entire afternoon confirming that Pawmi and the others had recovered to perfect condition...

Hearing Hearing Nimo, who would pant after running just 100 meters, sprinted with all her might into this Sun Plaza.

Before Hearing Hearing Nimo could speak to Luo Mu, who was clearly waiting for her over there, Arven, Penny, Mela, Shizuka, and Paul, who had been guarding this spot, surrounded her.

Although congratulations from partners, friends, and classmates were certainly joyful, Hearing Hearing Nimo's entire mind was currently focused on the person opposite her.

After all, they were friends who had attended classes together frequently throughout the year, interacted well privately, and had even traveled together briefly once.

Arven and the others also noticed Hearing Hearing Nimo's absent-mindedness; exchanging a tacit smile, they offered their congratulations and then stepped aside, watching as Hearing Hearing Nimo walked onto the empty side of the battle arena.

At this moment, quite a large crowd had gathered around the Sun Plaza.

Even because the morning live broadcast had just ended, people discovered that the figure who had been battling on television and in the live stream earlier, earning the title of Champion-class, had appeared right beside them.

With the superposition of all these factors, excited people spread the word from one to ten and ten to a hundred; in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the Sun Plaza, layer upon layer.

Even as time passed, due to the continuous spread of news, many more people were attempting to rush over from other cities.

"Teacher Luo Mu."

The moment Hearing Hearing Nimo spoke, the noisy discussions around her immediately fell silent.

Although no one made any request, the people present voluntarily stopped their clamor.

"You've come, Hearing Hearing Nimo."

Luo Mu, who had been facing away from Hearing Hearing Nimo, turned around and smiled at his outstanding disciple.

"What needs to be done next, I suppose I don't need to say much, do I?"

"Yes!"

Hearing Hearing Nimo nodded excitedly, her eyes filled with unstoppable anticipation and joy.

"I have been looking forward to this day for a very, very long time!"

From this moment on, she finally stood in the same realm as Luo Mu and possessed the qualification to challenge him!

Regardless of the final result, she wanted to know the gap between herself and Luo Mu, and whether she had successfully caught up to his footsteps!

Hearing Hearing Nimo believed that once she knew the answer, she would definitely be able to continue growing and evolving.

Looking at Hearing Hearing Nimo, who had grown so excellently, Luo Mu smiled with relief, then glanced at the surroundings.

"Do you see the crowd? This is a Pokémon battle between two Champions, and also a graduation battle between master and disciple."

"The vast majority of them are fans who watched the morning live broadcast and have recognized your current strength and status."

"Even without any promotion, this matter spread to everyone's ears in just a single afternoon, resulting in such a large gathering."

"The stage has long been set; come, prove to me—"

"Whether your strength, now that you have blossomed and borne fruit, is greater..."

"Or whether my strength, holding nothing back and going all out, is greater."

"Convey your growth to me through this battle, and then try to surpass me!"

Luo Mu aimed the Poké Ball, which had returned to its original size, at Hearing Hearing Nimo; an aura and presence that could be called "absolute confidence" swept outwards like a storm.

"... I will go all out, Teacher!"

Aiming her Poké Ball at Luo Mu in return, Hearing Hearing Nimo used her left hand to steady her slightly trembling right arm.

This was not fear or a lack of confidence; on the contrary, it represented Hearing Hearing Nimo's emotional fluctuations having reached an extreme point of excitement.

Hearing Hearing Nimo closed her eyes and took a deep breath; when she opened them again, only a fanatical pursuit of Pokémon battles remained in her gaze.

Clavell, who had already coordinated with Luo Mu, stood outside the boundaries of the battle arena and declared as the referee: "A full 6-vs-6 battle between Champion Luo Mu and Champion Hearing Hearing Nimo is about to commence; both sides may only use Terastallization, and when all members of one side lose the ability to battle, the match will end."

"Please send out your first Pokémon!"

"Tauros!"

As if echoing the surging heart of its Trainer, Tauros—the key combatant who had shone brilliantly during the Champion consecutive battles and handled many tricky opponents for Hearing Hearing Nimo—raised its head high and let out a loud, spirited moo.

"Wow, it's that Tauros!"

The audience, who had watched the entire live broadcast, immediately recognized the Pokémon Hearing Hearing Nimo sent out, and cheers erupted throughout the crowd.

To these cheers, Hearing Nimo was clearly somewhat overwhelmed.

Standing in a corner of the crowd to watch the battle, Geeta smiled faintly, murmuring in a voice only she could hear: "Accept it; these applause and cheers are a hymn of praise belonging solely to you, awarded for completing this series of achievements."

"The glory of a Champion is precisely such a heavy, yet heart-stirring thing."

Compared to the heated scene when the Hearing Nimo Sect sent out their Pokémon, Luo Mu's side had instead fallen behind in terms of the bystanders' reactions.

He had initially considered whether to use his second-team members—Feng Su Gou, Politoed, Moltres, Meng Lei Gu, Ursaluna, Regice, and Seeing Seeing Kapu Finneon—to confront Hearing Nimo's team.

But very quickly, Luo Mu rejected this idea.

Leaving aside Feng Su Gou, whose strength had been steadily improving but whose growth rate could no longer catch up to Pawmi and the others, whom Hearing Nimo had wholeheartedly trained during her travels.

Strictly speaking, Ursaluna, Regice, and Seeing Seeing Kapu Finneon were not Pokémon that Luo Mu had raised from the very beginning himself.

It wasn't that they couldn't fight, nor that they couldn't win.

But sending them out as the lineup for this master-disciple inheritance battle made Luo Mu feel that he would be unable to convey everything he wished to express to Hearing Nimo.

So indeed, he had to deploy his main force.

Even if, for Hearing Nimo, who had just become a Champion-rank Trainer, this might be somewhat excessive.

But Luo Mu thought that Hearing Nimo herself must also hope for exactly this.

"Serperior."

On Luo Mu's side, the Serperior, possessing a noble demeanor, a graceful figure, and an overbearing gaze, coiled on one side of the battlefield; merely being there exerted unimaginable pressure on Tauros and Hearing Nimo.

"Serperior, huh; it seems that at the very start, Luo Mu will gain an advantage from type matchups."

Hassel attempted to analyze, but Rika beside him cut him off.

"Don't bother analyzing; haven't you noticed just how much that Serperior has improved compared to a year ago?"

"Alas, if this old man had fought a Serperior in this state last year, perhaps he wouldn't even need to switch and would have been utterly crushed straight away."

The great senior spoke these dispiriting words with a beaming smile.

Brother Brother Qingmu remained silent, yet he was actually the least surprised among the few people present.

After all, he had once seen Luo Mu's Pokémon in the Alola region fighting against the island guardian deities there and even holding the upper hand.

Geeta did not join the others' chat either; she simply gazed thoughtfully at Luo Mu's profile and the figure of Serperior, then smiled with a sense of relief, sighing endlessly in her heart.

"As expected, this year you have not regressed or stood still; instead, you have completely renewed the inevitable shortcomings and the foundation you lacked time to build during that slightly 'rushed' journey of a year ago, and on this basis, you have once again completed an 'evolution'."

"Just how strong have you become now?"

Harboring expectations that had already overflowed, Geeta reined in her thoughts and began to watch the battle with full concentration.

"Dash forward, Close Combat!"

As if sensing something in the surroundings, although burdened by pressure, Hearing Nimo spiritedly issued the command to Tauros.

"Moo!" Tauros lowered its head, planted its sturdy front legs, and became enveloped in an intense aura constructed of dazzling orange-yellow light; like a crazily burning meteor, it kicked up powerful air currents and charged toward Serperior on all fours!

"Next, Leaf Blade."

Logically speaking, against a Tauros charging in such a state, Luo Mu should have given an instruction to evade.

Yet he made a decision akin to "a mantis trying to stop a chariot with its arms."

Some were puzzled, but the answer was revealed immediately the next moment.

Wrapped in orange-yellow light, Tauros carried waves of air and arrived with a howl in an instant.

Without a second word, that pair of sturdy horns fiercely rammed straight toward Serperior's body!

In response, Serperior's serpentine body seemed to turn into a spring, leaping high; with its back against the sunset's afterglow, its tail transformed into a emerald-green long blade, making no attempt to deflect the force, and slashed directly and accurately toward Tauros's head!

Tauros reacted quickly as well; bolstered by the power of "Close Combat," it tilted its head, intending to block Serperior's Leaf Blade with its horns, and then launch a continuous fierce assault with "Close Combat" at close range.

But the reason imagination remains imagination is that reality is often full of unexpected twists, never offering a consistently definite answer to reference.

Boom!

The deafening roar of Leaf Blade colliding with the horns!

"Moo—" The instant it made contact with Leaf Blade, Tauros stumbled, its forelegs nearly dropping it into a half-kneel on the ground.

The reason was none other than the power transmitted from its horns was simply—

Had its constitution not been good, and had there been even a hint of holding back, it feared its head would have been smashed into a huge pit by that single tail strike right to its face!

The Water Breed Tauros, skilled in power, was actually completely suppressed by Serperior in terms of strength!

Meeting Tauros's shocked eyes with its own, Serperior revealed a smile that could be described as "condescending."

"Gaka."

Little calf, do you think the efforts I've made, sparring daily with big fellows like Swampert, receiving infinite energy enhancement, and frequently exchanging blows with Lei Guan Wang, accumulating day by day a vitality far surpassing my past self, are something you can shake?

While smiling, Serperior showed no mercy in its actions, continuously adding greater force to its tail, pressing Tauros's bovine head ever closer to the ground.

But Tauros was, after all, a core member of Hearing Nimo's team; upon realizing it was at a disadvantage in the contest of strength, it did not lose its head and charge blindly, but instead used its horns to deflect the sharp Leaf Blade, and taking advantage of that moment of displacement, immediately stumbled back several steps.

Hearing Nimo hesitated for a few seconds but still did not recall Tauros immediately; instead, she intended to try once more, reasoning that if it failed, it would not be too late to switch to Goodra or Diejie Diejie Mengmeng, who had better compatibility against Serperior.

"Giga Impact!"

Since she had resolved to probe once and then switch immediately, Hearing Nimo naturally chose a move of tremendous power that carried some side effects which could be mitigated by switching.

A white-and-purple cross-shaped starry airflow began swirling before Tauros's nose; the biting air currents constantly whipping up around it and the throbbing, terrifying energy filled Tauros with an overwhelming sense of oppression.

The next instant.

Having regrouped, Tauros let out a long lowing sound and once again headed straight for Serperior.

To this, Luo Mu could only sigh, "You've made a wrong decision, Hearing Nimo."

"Frenzy Plant."

Serperior still held its head high arrogantly, yet the tip of its tail plunged into the ground like lightning.

In that instant, the entire Sun Plaza began to tremble; the ground cracked open with a rumble, and countless tree roots, dancing wildly like wooden dragons, surged madly from the fissures, sweeping toward Tauros in an overwhelming tide.

Through its time spent with Lei Guan Wang, Serperior's understanding of Frenzy Plant had reached a remarkably formidable realm; every single root it spawned was thicker than Tauros's entire body, and even if Tauros struggled to push aside a few, immediately even more roots would surge in.

In mere moments, Tauros was bound by these tree roots, enduring a suffocation akin to being constricted by a python.

"Oh no!"

Realizing the danger, Hearing Hearing Nimo's expression changed, and she immediately raised her hand to recall Tauros.

—Would Luo Mu give her this chance?

The answer was obviously, no.

He had stated from the very beginning that this was a battle fought with full strength, leaving no room for holding back.

"Slam."

The third command after the battle began was calmly spoken by Luo Mu; amidst a booming roar, the beam shot from the Poké Ball in Hearing Hearing Nimo's hand was blocked by a single tree root meticulously controlled by Serperior, while the remaining roots, like runners in a relay, dragged the helpless Tauros and frantically slammed it against the ground.

After a brief moment, the numerous tree roots slowly retracted into the earth, and the cracked ground closed back up.

The sight of Tauros lying unconscious—defeated so crushingly by Serperior without even having time to trigger its "Anger Point" ability, let alone stack its "Contrary" ability—cast a shock over Sun Plaza, rendering it unprecedentedly silent.

Many people stared with wide eyes, their mouths agape wide enough to fit an egg, completely overwhelmed by the "pressure" emanating from the rather young man whose clothes fluttered in the gale whipped up by the thrashing tree roots.

At this moment, they finally realized why Hearing Hearing Nimo, who was undergoing her Champion Assessment at the Paldea League Headquarters, would challenge him, why he was Hearing Hearing Nimo's master, and the meaning behind the words "no reservations, full strength."

(End of Chapter)