Lou Gao stopped in his tracks and repeated the phrase. This time, his tone was far more complicated.
"It really is the perfect description. Good heavens! This big fellow fights like an ancient demon god, possesses enough strength to make even a demigod like me go numb, can withstand my Phoenix Beak Starfall, and can even alter the weather across several miles."
"And yet, it's brought down by a mouthful of liquor?"
"And it knowingly did it anyway? Who the hell am I supposed to reason with over something like this?!"
Lou Gao crouched down and carefully tapped a relatively undamaged piece of dark gold armor near Tyranitar's shoulder with his finger.
Clang! Clang!
The crisp metallic sound echoed clearly through the silent night.
"Xia, do you think, this might have something to do with the structure of its armor?"
Lou Gao's professional instincts as a master blacksmith had kicked in, and he began analyzing the situation from a craftsman's perspective.
"Look at these triangular vents, and this obsidian inner armor, Could alcohol be like a spark falling into the most sensitive powder keg the moment it touches the armor or gets inside its body?"
"Does it instantly ignite the enormous amount of Soul Power stored within it?"
"After all, its power core seems to be deeply connected to the earth itself. Perhaps alcohol acts as an incredibly potent catalyst that instantly disrupts that delicate balance of energy."
Lin Xia also crouched beside him. Together, they carefully examined Tyranitar's armor, both of them wearing deep frowns.
"Teacher, I've actually explored that possibility in depth. I've even conducted experiments."
"Oh? You tested it?"
Lou Gao's interest was instantly piqued, his eyes lighting up.
"In a completely safe environment, I used extremely small amounts of different kinds of alcohol. I even simulated alcohol's properties using specific Soul Power fluctuations. Then I tested different parts of its armor, especially these vents and the obsidian inner armor."
Lin Xia spoke with the precision of a researcher.
"The results were extremely strange."
"Strange how?" Lou Gao asked immediately.
"When tiny drops of alcohol landed on the ordinary sections of its armor, there was almost no reaction. It was like water falling onto red-hot iron, evaporating instantly."
"But when the alcohol touched the obsidian inner armor on its chest and abdomen, or the areas surrounding those triangular vents."
Lin Xia paused briefly.
"It immediately triggered an intense burst of energy fluctuations and extreme heat around the inner armor and the vents. The quantity wasn't enough to send it berserk, but the sudden surge of unstable energy was unmistakable."
"However, when I used Soul Power fluctuations that merely imitated alcohol's properties, the reaction was far weaker, or sometimes there was no reaction at all."
"What's even stranger is that while it's conscious, if I bring even a tiny amount of alcohol near its mouth, it instinctively reacts with intense disgust and avoidance. Through our mental link, I receive clear signals of 'danger' and 'unpleasant.'"
"But the moment it actually drinks it.."
Lin Xia spread his hands helplessly.
"...just like what you witnessed today, and just like what happened two years ago, it immediately ignites its entire energy core."
"Its body, or more accurately, the very source of its power, seems to have an utterly unreasonable and catastrophically severe allergic reaction to alcohol that's actually ingested."
"This reaction mechanism is completely beyond my understanding of martial souls, energy systems, or even living organisms."
"It's as if, as if there's a forbidden seal engraved into the very origin of its life."
Lou Gao frowned deeply as he listened, unconsciously tapping his knee with his fingers.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His brilliant mind raced, trying to interpret the phenomenon from every possible angle, whether forging theory, divine flames, or the fundamental nature of energy itself.
In the end, however, all he could do was let out a long sigh.
"Sigh extraordinary things are bound to possess extraordinary traits."
Lou Gao finally spoke with a heartfelt sigh, his gaze toward Tyranitar filled with mixed emotions.
"This little fellow... no, this big fellow has broken all common sense with every step of its evolution from Larvitar."
"Its very existence is probably one of the greatest mysteries on this continent."
"Perhaps this 'liquor calamity' is the unavoidable price it must pay for obtaining such world-shattering power. Or perhaps, it's the single fragile point that maintains the balance of its nearly perfect power system."
Lin Xia silently nodded, agreeing with his teacher's conclusion. At the moment, it seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.
Just then, Zhu Zhuqing, who had been quietly watching the entire time, spoke in her cool voice, carrying a trace of concern.
"Brother Lin Xia I think Tyranitar is about to wake up."
The two of them immediately turned toward Tyranitar's enormous head.
Its eyelids, hidden beneath its heavy helmet-like armor, trembled slightly. Its long eyelashes, which looked as though they had been forged from refined metal, quivered softly.
Then its enormous dark red eyes, resembling cooled lava, slowly opened, filled with confusion and overwhelming exhaustion.
The first thing it saw were three faces looking at it with concern, helplessness, and just a hint of interrogation along with the brand-new desert it had personally created, glowing pale beneath the moonlight.
"Rooo..."
A weak, hoarse growl, thick with a nasal tone and obvious guilt, rumbled from its throat.
There wasn't the slightest trace of the destructive madness or chaos that had filled its crimson eyes during its berserk state.
Instead, they were now filled with the same pitiful expression as a giant dog caught by its owner after doing something wrong. There was grievance, confusion, lingering fear, and a tiny bit of.
"I didn't mean to do it. I don't know why it happened."
Seeing Tyranitar look so pitiful, Lou Gao thought back to the apocalyptic destruction it had caused just moments earlier, then remembered the phrase "can't handle its liquor, but still insists on drinking."
For a moment, he truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The anger and frustration in his heart were instantly swept away, replaced by a complicated mixture of exasperation and affection.
He snorted heavily.
In the end, however, he couldn't resist reaching out his large hand. Carrying the last traces of annoyance along with heartfelt concern, he flicked the armor covering Tyranitar's enormous, bruised nose.
Clang!
The crisp metallic sound echoed through the night sky.
"So, you're finally awake?"
"You big fool who let your greed for liquor get the better of you!"
Lou Gao's booming voice no longer carried any blame, only the helplessness of an elder and the relief of someone thankful that disaster had been avoided.
"If you dare touch even a single drop of alcohol again, I'll throw you into the Phoenix Divine Flame and roast you for three days and three nights! Maybe that'll disinfect that lump of iron you call a body! Got it?!"
Tyranitar instinctively shrank its enormous head.
A more pitiful rumble escaped its throat as it avoided Lou Gao's gaze and especially Lin Xia's.
In the end, it could only look pleadingly toward the only person whose expression still seemed relatively gentle.
Zhu Zhuqing.
Beneath the moonlight, upon the newly formed desert, the sight of the gigantic beast admitting its mistake was both absurd and heartwarming, carrying the exhaustion and peace that followed a fierce battle.
Watching his teacher scold Tyranitar, then looking at the guilty giant Pokémon, Lin Xia finally couldn't help smiling.
It was a smile of relief, filled with helplessness and affection.
He gently patted Tyranitar's massive foreleg.
"Alright. It's over now."
"Just remember this lesson."
Then he turned to Lou Gao, his tone becoming much lighter.
"Teacher, it looks like when we get back to the city, we'll have to add another ironclad rule."
"'Guard against fire, guard against thieves and guard against Tyranitar sneaking alcohol.'"
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