His fists clenched, enveloped in thick black aura that resembled smoke, carrying a dark and unsettling aura, not quite death, but close enough to send chills.
Using a technique called Dark Blockade, he aimed to attack with strange thoughts that would paralyze his target, similar to being struck by lightning.
His two fists, glowing like ghostly lights in a graveyard and rippling with the evening breeze, struck swiftly.
The black smoke puppet dissipated almost instantly under the force of his assault.
The black smoke puppet wasn't struck directly by Ging's attack; instead, it chose to disperse to avoid the hit.
Watching this, Ging felt a flicker of emotion, it reminded him of a similar enemy he once faced, one who could split their body to dodge attacks, much like this puppet.
'What a shame.'
"I've already seen your ability to disperse, how could I miss that?"
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind the black smoke puppet, fists cloaked in a thick, dark aura of mind power.
Ging had mastered many mind power techniques thanks to his talent, but the double clone was his go-to move.
It was simple to use, versatile, and often surprisingly effective.
With attacks coming from both front and back, the black smoke puppet had no time to react, and its dispersed form was about to be hit.
"Boom!"
The puppet froze mid-move, the parts that were struck solidifying into a dark, ink-like mass.
After this, its movements became clumsy and uncoordinated, this
Was the effect of the dark blockade.
Once the fight settled, Ging stepped back and watched as the black smoke puppet quietly reassembled itself.
Unlike Beyond, he wasn't the first to rush into battle, so there was no need to hurry.
Facing such a strong yet resilient opponent, his first thought was to use this chance to practice.
Despite days at sea and numerous attacks from creatures, he hadn't had a good opportunity to truly train.
The other team members on the ship were a different story. They had no room for such luxuries.
This journey was serious business, especially now that they'd entered unknown waters filled with unpredictable dangers.
Every bit of aura counted, and wasting physical strength was out of the question.
So, no one was competing with Ging.
Now that he finally had a "sandbag" with decent power that could recover repeatedly, he naturally wanted to push himself further.
Compared to the marine creatures or thunderbirds he'd faced before, tonight's sea monster had truly energized him.
That was Ging's bold nature shining through. If it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn't dare take such risks and would just want to finish the fight quickly.
Before long, the ship was alive with the sounds of battle echoing endlessly.
After some time passed, everyone began to relax and let go of their unease.
The black smoke puppet's strength was about half that of the person it was copying, but it had an extra ability to reorganize itself.
Fortunately, it didn't mimic the thoughts that troubled them the most, which greatly reduced the danger.
Just as everyone was starting to breathe easier, the primarina in the sea made their move again.
A sharp, piercing scream echoed through the air, freezing many people in place and causing some to make mistakes.
This was the primarina's main form of attack.
The black smoke puppets engaged enemies up close, wearing them down, while the primarina themselves attacked with their haunting voices.
However, these primarina couldn't scream for long.
Suddenly, Lapras appeared on the sea, his warm eyes fixed on the primarina, his body glowing with a bright blue light.
A cold wind blew, biting and sharp, as if it could freeze the very air.
It was his ice skill, Icy Wind.
At the same time, centered around his dragon form, countless thoughts surged into the seawater, instantly turning large portions into ice.
The icy-blue aura surged forward without stopping, quickly encasing the sea monsters in the freezing wind's grip.
Using his ice skill, Absolute Zero, Lapras crushed the monsters under a layer of clear, silent ice, turning them into lifelike sculptures.
The black smoke puppets still fighting nearby lost their power and gradually dissipated into the air.
A steady flow of experience poured into the dragon.
After days of sailing and battles, Lapras had now reached A+ level, not far from S-level.
Sailing the sea gave the dragon a unique advantage, so it took on many fights.
The entire Lake Mobius had become his experience pool.
A notification sounded: "Ding! Pokemon bred!"
As Larry focused his mind, a new Pokemon appeared before him.
It stood tall and elegant, with long, curly azure-blue hair tied into three small sections by a white pearl hairband, and pink starfish ornaments decorating its temples.
It had deep blue eyes framed by long, thick white eyelashes, and its body was slender and graceful, pure white in color.
It wore a light blue, wavy shawl that draped gracefully, with a ring of similar wavy patterns resembling a short skirt around its hips, and just below that, a "en" of sharp thorns.
Its dark blue tail was strong and flexible, ending in a forked tip with a white section, also adorned with a ring of wavy decorations.
This was Primarina, one of the three starter Pokemon from the Alola region!
Larry's eyes flickered with a brief surprise upon recognizing the new Pokemon as Primarina, but the feeling quickly faded.
After all, there had been some guesses beforehand, and given the situation, few Pokemon fit the bill as well as Primarina did.
As its name suggests, Primarina is inspired by the mythological creatures known as primarina.
They resemble mermaids but use their enchanting songs to lure ships at sea, often bringing disaster in their wake.
That's why it was emphasized earlier that these creatures aren't just mermaids, they're primarina.
Unlike ordinary mermaids, primarina actively hunt by singing to draw in their prey.
Matthew had fallen victim to one of these illusions, which led him to a deserted spot.
Considering this area is the primarina's territory, it's no surprise that primarina inhabit it.
Following tradition, after all binding agreements and oaths were made, fresh details about the primarina were released:
Name: Primarina; Characteristics: Wet voice; Type: Water and Fairy.
Larry immediately noticed something unusual about the Primarina's characteristic.
Normally, its trait should be Torrent, which is common among water-type Pokemon, especially the three starters.
But this Primarina's characteristic was Liquid Voice, a hidden, or dream, characteristic.
So far, only his Ditto had a dream characteristic, making this Primarina the second one with such a rare trait.
Larry wondered if this had something to do with the strange sea monster rumored to dwell in this unknown sea.
Maybe this place, or even the mysterious Dark Continent beyond, increased the chances of Pokemon having dream characteristics compared to the six known continents.
Looking over his collection, Larry realized he had plenty of Pokemon but no starters, until now.
Primarina was his first starter, and it happened to be one of the final evolutions of the three starters from the Alola region.
What made it even more special was that it could learn a unique vow skill called Water Pledge, which only the three starter Pokemon could master.
These oath skills came in three types: Water Pledge, Fire Pledge, and Grass Pledge, each exclusive to their respective starters.
Interestingly, when combined, these oath skills created unique effects on the battlefield.
For example, using Fire Pledge and Water Pledge together would summon a beautiful rainbow, creating a Rainbow Field that doubled the effects of the user's skills, though this couldn't stack with certain other effects.
Pairing Water Pledge with Grass Pledge would transform the battlefield into a Wetland Field, drastically reducing opponents' speed by 75%.