Drapion's defeat was only to be expected. After all, even Golurk had been defeated.
This Steelix was absurdly strong!
The girl's identity became increasingly intriguing. She had actually overwhelmed him to the point where he could not fight back at all. Even Trainers such as Lance and Lorelei, who were renowned as "geniuses", had the ability to do that.
Even if there was a very high chance that this Steelix had not been raised by the girl herself, the fact that she could make such a Pokémon submit to her meant she undoubtedly had a special identity.
"Give up. You can't possibly defeat this Steelix. Even the Elite Four or the Champion would not make it feel the slightest fear. Come with me to Terra Valley. As long as you stay there for a year or so, your soul will surely be purified," The girl said.
'Soul… sigh, here we go again…' The moment Tetsuya heard that, he immediately abandoned the idea he had just had of going to Terra Valley to investigate. If he had to stay there for a year or more, he would accomplish nothing. He could not afford to waste his time like that.
Although he had many ways to escape, there was no guarantee that the people of Terra Valley did not have some special means of preventing others from leaving. If he wanted to investigate Terra Valley, it certainly would not be now. At the very least, he needed to be capable of defeating this Steelix first.
Now Tetsuya prepared to make one final attempt.
"Miltank, use Helping Hand. Weezing, use 'Poison Gas'. Houndoom, standby," Tetsuya commanded.
The endless yellow sand blotted out the sky. At this point, aside from Mamoswine, the strongest combination attack he could still use was Weezing's gas explosion. If even this tactic failed to accomplish anything, he would have no choice but to give up.
The scenes of Golurk and Drapion being defeated moments earlier were still vivid in everyone's mind. Weezing and Houndoom understood just how powerful this Steelix was, making them more cautious than ever before.
Weezing released Poison Gas, and cloud after cloud gathered together, covering an unusually wide area this time. Icy Wind followed with a howl, sweeping the Poison Gas toward the Sandstorm.
Tetsuya immediately used his psychic powers to enfold the Poison Gas. All of his hopes rested on this single attack, and there could not be the slightest mistake!
Combining the power of Tetsuya, Gengar, and Weezing, they barely managed to bring Steelix's Sandstorm to a temporary stalemate.
However, Tetsuya quickly began to struggle. He personally experienced just how powerful this Steelix truly was…
"Houndoom, now!"
Tetsuya shouted. Houndoom let out a long howl before launching Fire Blast, immediately followed by its strongest Fire-type move, Overheat!
Fire Blast detonated first, followed immediately by Overheat's raging flames, which completely ignited the Poison Gas.
…Boooom!!!
A tremendous explosion shook the space. Tetsuya had no choice but to throw himself to the ground to avoid being struck by the shockwave.
The deafening roar echoed throughout the valley for a long time. Yellow sand and dust became completely indistinguishable, making it impossible to open his eyes. The sky had long since been obscured, leaving everything shrouded in darkness.
"Steelix… end this!"
The girl's voice suddenly rang out. Tetsuya found it unbelievable. He had psychic powers, yet under these conditions even he could not concentrate enough to perceive the state of the battle. There was no way this girl could know the situation on the battlefield unless she had absolute confidence in her Steelix.
At that very moment, Weezing and Houndoom had no idea where they should even launch their attacks.
Soon, the yellow sand and dust gathered together before slowly settling around Steelix. The sand seemed to be a part of Steelix's body itself, completely under its control.
As for Weezing and Houndoom, they had already collapsed. Even Miltank, which had used Helping Hand, had not escaped unscathed. Tetsuya forced himself to remain calm as he recalled all of his Pokémon.
"Now… you can come with me," The girl said. Her words carried an invisible pressure, as though they were an unquestionable decree.
"Before I go… may I ask who you really are?" Curiosity compelled Tetsuya to ask.
"I am the maiden of Terra Valley. This Steelix is our guardian deity. We are responsible for protecting these forests and mountains," The girl replied.
Tetsuya nodded. "Oh, I see… So you are a 'hidden' Family, too. You're the successor?"
"…That's right. We can leave now, can't we?" The girl replied.
"Hai, but not now." With that, Tetsuya focused and used Teleport. Concentrating his thoughts, he traversed a thousand meters in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he had already arrived on the other side of the mountain!
'Tche, what a Family.'
With just a single Pokémon like that, an entire Family or Clan could stand unshaken. It was enough to show how important truly powerful Pokémon were in this world. A single Steelix had overwhelmed him so completely that he had been unable to fight back. If he had such a Pokémon himself, he could easily establish a force of his own.
While he was still deep in thought, he suddenly felt the ground tremble as it began to collapse beneath him. Startled, Tetsuya had no choice but to use Teleport again to reach a rocky area. Looking back at where he had just been standing, he saw that it had already turned into a patch of quicksand. Dugtrio and Diglett poked their heads out from the ground.
Fortunately, he knew Teleport. Otherwise, he truly would not have escaped. Just as the "maiden" of Terra Valley had said, the entire mountain range was under their protection, especially the Ground-type Pokémon.
Only now did Tetsuya understand why the girl had appeared so promptly earlier. Ground-types must have informed her of his presence. As long as he remained within this mountain range, he was constantly under the surveillance of the Terra Family.
Tetsuya sent out Golurk.
"Let's go."
Tetsuya climbed onto Golurk and flew into the sky. Once they were airborne, those Ground-type Pokémon could no longer do anything to him.
'Terra Family…'
---◓---
After flying for an entire day, he finally left that area behind. Only then did Tetsuya let out a sigh of relief before landing.
He had now reached the territory of Fuchsia City. It was still an untouched primeval forest. Even Fuchsia Gym was difficult to locate among the crisscrossing trees. The entire forest was like a natural labyrinth.
At this point, both Tetsuya and all of his Pokémon were exhausted. It was impossible to move around carelessly in such a forest, or they would easily become lost.
The battle from the previous day still lingered vividly in his mind. Tetsuya released all of his Pokémon. Every one of them was injured, with Drapion, Weezing, and Houndoom, who had confronted Steelix head-on, suffering the most severe wounds.
Tetsuya took out Potions and treated each Pokémon's wounds before using other medicine to help them recover. They really had become a group of patients this time, and he had no choice but to remain here and recuperate for several days…
'…'
Failure itself was not frightening. No one could go through life without experiencing failure.
What was truly frightening was losing confidence!
Ever since these Pokémon had begun following Tetsuya, they had never suffered such a crushing defeat. They had exhausted every ounce of their strength and unleashed every move they knew, yet they had not been able to injure Steelix in the slightest.
Every one of the Pokémon hung its head in dejection…