"Bring it on, Miss Bella."
"No matter what, the final victory will be mine," Zhang said with confidence, raising a Poké Ball.
"Haha, then let's see it." Bella also raised her Poké Ball, the battle intent in her eyes burning like a flame.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"0!"
The moment the countdown ended, Zhang and Bella threw their Poké Balls in unison.
"Go! Barioth!"
"Swampert! It's your turn!"
A red light flashed, and a humanoid blue Pokémon materialized before Bella. It was a Swampert.
Her Swampert was massive, standing two meters tall, a full half-meter taller than average.
Swampert
Attributes: Water / GroundLevel: 58 (Quasi-Elite Four)Ability: Torrent (Water-type moves are powered up by 50% when HP is low.)Held Item: Swampertite
A cold wind billowed out as the towering Barioth appeared before Zhang. With a body length of 21 meters and a height of over 6, the Barioth was a true behemoth, far larger than his Tobi-Kadachi.
"ROAR!" Barioth threw its head back and roared, its terrifying aura washing over the entire stadium.
Cold, fear, and the specter of death gripped the crowd. Countless spectators felt as if they would be devoured in the next second. Barioth was a true apex predator. Even if both it and Tobi-Kadachi were at the quasi-Elite Four tier, Barioth's presence was far more intimidating, its aura infinitely more terrifying. Its golden vertical pupils scanned Swampert, making the Pokémon feel a chill run down its spine, as if death itself was beckoning.
"What a terrifying monster!" someone whispered, breaking out in a cold sweat, unable to look directly at the Barioth.
"Is that really a Pokémon?" another spectator asked, their face etched with fear. The sheer ferocity radiating from Barioth was heavy and suffocating.
"So big! And so vicious!"
"Just like that Tobi-Kadachi, it's another Pokémon I've never seen before. What is this Zhang's story? How does he have so many unknown Pokémon?"
"Powerful... and terrifying!" everyone murmured, staring at the Barioth in awe and fear.
"A Dragon-type?" Bella's eyes narrowed slightly as she met Barioth's golden gaze. Dragon-type Pokémon were almost universally powerful, from pseudo-legendaries like Dragonite, Garchomp, and Hydreigon to Dragapult.
It was a known fact that most pseudo-legendaries were Dragon-types, a testament to their inherent strength.
"A pseudo-legendary, there's no mistaking it," Bella smiled, her excitement growing. "An unknown pseudo-legendary, at that. This is getting more and more interesting." The stronger her opponent, the happier she was. Only by defeating the strong could she become stronger herself.
Whoosh!
An icy wind began to rise, covering the entire field. This was Barioth's unique ability, Chilling Wind. Upon entering the battle, it summoned a frigid gale that cut the speed of all non-Ice-type Pokémon by half and boosted the power of Ice-type moves by 50%. The puddles left from the previous battle began to freeze over, and the lingering rain from Pelipper's Drizzle turned to falling ice pellets. The rain weather was completely nullified.
"Swampert! Let's go! Mega Evolve!" Bella raised her left hand, and the Key Stone on her wrist erupted in a dazzling light.
"ROAR!" Swampert raised its own hands, and the Swampertite it held also began to glow. The two lights connected, and Swampert's form began to change.
"Dragon Dance," Zhang commanded.
Barioth, who had been about to press the attack, halted and flew high into the air to silently perform the move. Zhang knew that in the real world, Mega Evolution was nearly instantaneous. It wasn't like the anime, where it took several seconds. By the time an attack landed, the opponent would have already completed their transformation. It was better to use the time to power up.
"ROAR!" As it Mega Evolved, Swampert roared, its body glowing with the white light of the move Work Up.
"Using a setup move during the evolution process... She truly is an Elite Four-level trainer. She doesn't give her opponents a single opening," Zhang mused. "Dealing with trainers of this caliber is never easy."
At that same moment, Barioth threw its head back and roared, its body glowing as it finished its own setup. With Dragon Dance complete, its Attack and Speed were now raised by one stage.
Simultaneously, Swampert completed its Mega Evolution and its Work Up. Mega Swampert was a beast of pure muscle, its base stat total rocketing from 535 to 635, surpassing that of a pseudo-legendary. With Work Up finished, its Attack and Special Attack were also boosted by one stage.
"Mega Evolution! It's Mega Evolution!" someone in the crowd shouted, staring at Mega Swampert with shock and excitement. Mega Evolution was incredibly rare, a power only a handful of elite trainers could master. In this world, it wasn't as simple as just holding a stone. The bond between trainer and Pokémon had to be absolute, and the trainer's own willpower had to be immensely strong.
Those with sufficient willpower could even manifest it as a tangible aura, like Shilong's mountain-like presence or Bella's tsunami-like pressure. Compared to this, Dynamaxing and Terastallizing were far simpler to achieve. The difficulty of mastering Z-Moves, however, was on par with Mega Evolution.
"That Barioth should be a Dragon/Ice-type," Bella analyzed. "That means it's two times weak to Dragon, Steel, Fighting, Rock, and Fairy. So, I'll use those types of moves to counter it."
"Mega Swampert!" Her eyes glowed with a faint pink psychic energy.
"Let's go! Smash our opponent!"
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(145 chapters available now!)