Nergigante formally joined the fight.
Her eyes burned with fierce battle intent.
No orders needed—she surged first, unleashing Elder Fragment at Hariyama.
Wings raised like shields, rows of regenerative spines bristling outward.
She charged like a loaded dump truck.
"Use Push!" Hala shouted.
Hariyama met her head-on.
Palms that could shatter boulders slammed into Nergigante's wings.
Her regenerative spikes shattered—but the shards embedded into Hariyama's flesh, leaving wounds that would fester.
Two titanic moves crashed against each other; Nergigante's Fragment was forcibly halted.
She braced up and struck back with Elder Palm!
Twenty minutes of awakened trait and stacking buffs made her match-worthy now.
A Pokémon and a dragon—again colliding palm to palm.
The shock threw Nergigante back.
She steadied herself with a wingbeat and came again.
A twenty-level gap still mattered.
But with species advantages and raw resilience, Nergigante was no weakling.
They tangled, trading blow after blow.
Both sides bled. Both sides bore deepening wounds.
Hala's surprise grew.
If monsters could be scored, Bai Chen would be a ninety—
This dragon before him was a hundred.
This had stopped being a duel; it was a grind of attrition.
And the strangest thing—
The dragon's power only rose with time.
"We can't drag this out! End it now!" Hala barked.
"Hariyama—use successive Close Combats!"
Hariyama abandoned defense and hurled a torrent of brutal palms at Nergigante's wings.
The ten-thousand-ton mass scraped the arena and slammed the dragon into the outer wall with a thunderous crash.
Dust swallowed the field.
Hala watched, worried.
Hariyama's breath came ragged—its stamina draining.
She's taken heavy hits and was hit by Close Combat—she shouldn't still stand…
Hala glanced at Tapu Koko above, who watched in silence.
He had not yet declared a victor.
"Looks like only Bai Chen remains!" Hala announced.
"Use Whirlwind—clear the smoke!"
Hariyama swept a gale with its fan-like palms.
The dust vanished—and Bai Chen's voice came through the clearing.
"I see your opening."
The smoke whipped away.
Nergigante knelt, her right palm pressed to Bai Chen's back.
Bai Chen assumed the Iai stance—poised to draw and strike.
"Nergigante still has fight left?!" Hala muttered, stunned by her endurance.
Hala barely had time to order a counter when the duo moved.
Nergigante launched Bai Chen with bone-rattling acceleration—
He became a cannonball, adding Quick Attack speed in midair.
In his perception, the crimson thread between him and Hariyama had snapped taut.
The weak point: Hariyama's right leg.
"You won't be able to see through this one!" someone jeered—time slowed.
"Hunting Art—Iai Qi-Blade Slash!"
Shing—!
The blade cut through the air and through muscle—
Red qi burst forth in three sizzling detonations.
Bai Chen flicked the sword home.
Hariyama's legs lost their strength.
It crumpled, collapsing to the ground.
Bai Chen let out a long breath.
Victory—finally. A hard-earned win.
But silence stretched—and then Hariyama rose without a sound.
Hala's order dropped like a guillotine.
"Use Last-Ditch Resurgence!"
"Skill—Protect!" Bai Chen managed, shielding himself in time.
Last-Ditch Resurgence—a desperate move: the lower the HP, the greater the power.
Bai Chen was battered. The fourth Protect? He'd already used it three times this battle—
The chance to activate a fourth was less than one percent.
Even if luck smiled, the Z-Move that followed—reduced to a quarter power or not—would crush them both.
We're this close…
He stared at the Bond Stone on his wrist, frustrated.
If only I could trigger the Bond Move…
But the Bond Stone had remained dormant through the fight.
At that moment, Tapu Koko cried out from the sky.
Hala blinked.
"Pause the duel?"
Tapu Koko swooped down, faster than Bai Chen could react, and snatched the Bond Stone from his wrist.
"Hey—that's mine!" Bai Chen shouted.
Tapu Koko ignored him, folding its shell-like wings and dancing in midair—an odd, rhythmic wobble.
Bai Chen felt something shift—a lock within the Bond Stone snapping open.
A warm current poured into him.
Tapu Koko flared its wings and returned the stone, now glowing brilliant blue, to Bai Chen's hand.
The Bond Stone pulsed with luminous power as it floated to his wrist.
Tapu Koko called at him from above—Bai Chen couldn't understand the words, but the meaning was clear.
Use your Bond Move.
He nodded, heart pounding.
Nature's colossal force poured into him—an energy that felt capable of toppling any foe.
He looked up at Hala and shouted.
"Hala—let this final strike be the finish! Bond Move versus your Z-Move!"
If you want to read more, join my Patreon/kazama677
60+ advanced chapters available.
I will drop 1 bonus chapter for every 40 Power Stones.
Bonus chapter for every 10 reviews/comments
Daily chapter Updates