“Electivire, Ice Punch!”

“Rhydon, Rock Armor! Fire Punch!”

The moment the crowd heard Reiji call for Fire Punch, fresh chatter broke out around the field. Ice Punch hit Rhydon for double damage, while Fire Punch only hit normally. How was he supposed to win that exchange?

Reiji ignored the noise completely.

A thick layer of pitch-black stone armor spread over Rhydon’s body in an instant. Then it stamped down with both feet and charged straight at Electivire with the crushing momentum of High Horsepower behind it.

“Rock Armor? What is that?” Reggie only had time to see the black armor spreading over Rhydon before the two beasts slammed into each other.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The impact triggered a violent explosion right between them. The shockwave blasted outward in every direction, knocking the spectators off balance and sending the whole crowd stumbling backward into one another.

Reiji and Reggie were closest to the blast, so they could only lower their stance and grit through the rolling waves of force.

“Pelipper, clear the dust!”

The moment the aftershock eased, Reiji released Pelipper and had it blow away the smoke and grit kicked up by the explosion.

Once the dust thinned out, everyone could finally see the enormous crater that had opened in the middle of the field.

That alone told them how terrifying the clash between the two Pokémon had been.

Rhydon and Electivire lay on opposite sides of the crater, both slowly dragging themselves back upright.

That was exactly why Reiji had chosen Fire Punch.

If there could be an iceburst, then naturally there could be a fireburst—maybe even a thunderburst too.

And if both sides were going to explode on contact anyway, then the real deciding factor was defense. Rhydon had Rock Armor layered over every inch of its body, from its fingertips to its toes. Electivire simply couldn’t compete in a contest of durability.

Even without Rock Armor, Rhydon’s physical defense sat at 120. Electivire’s was only 67. Electivire had no business trying to trade explosion-style blows with it.

“Rooaaar…” Rhydon hauled itself back up and looked at its right arm. The Rock Armor there had been blown off, and even the callused hide underneath showed signs of scorching.

Hanhan immediately softened the remaining armor, rebuilt a fresh layer over the damaged arm, and let it cool back into place. Once the heat dropped, the armor naturally hardened again—just not as quickly as it would have with water cooling it.

It hadn’t even needed Protect. Rhydon had tanked the fireburst with nothing but its natural toughness and Rock Armor. Even so, the blast still tore the armor apart, which showed just how powerful it had been. Without that thick hide under the armor, Rhydon would definitely have taken serious damage.

And if even Hanhan had paid that much for the collision, then Electivire must have paid far more.

Still, Rhydon had already lunged forward again, its fist igniting with fresh fire. It had no time to worry about what price Electivire had paid.

“Rooaar!” Electivire forced itself to its feet through the pain in its arm, but the collision and resulting blast had ruined it. One arm was useless.

“Electivire, it’s coming! Move! Move already!” Reggie shouted, panicking as he saw Electivire still staring at its arm. Then he realized the truth: it couldn’t even lift it anymore.

“How is that possible? It was only one Fire Punch! How could it end up like this?”

Back when Poliwhirl had gone all out and caught Rhydon off guard, it had still taken out one of Rhydon’s arms despite Rhydon being at Elite Four level.

Electivire wasn’t even there yet, and it didn’t have Rhydon’s absurd hide either.

Rhydon’s charge had been amplified by High Horsepower, and the punch itself had been backed by that fireburst. The fact that Electivire had only lost the use of one arm already counted as a light injury. If it had been any weaker, it might have been torn apart outright.

“Rooaar!” As Rhydon closed in, Electivire forced up its remaining arm and threw out another Ice Punch.

But Rhydon took it head-on.

The superheated Rock Armor met the freezing fist with a loud hiss, white steam pouring off the contact as the attack rapidly cooled the armor instead.

Against an attack that barely mattered, Hanhan’s whole body surged with a yellow-brown aura, and it drove one heavy punch straight into Electivire’s face.

Electivire took the hit, and its head slammed into the ground hard enough to crater the field beneath it. Stars burst across its vision. It couldn’t even focus properly anymore.

Rhydon, of course, didn’t care.

Its style of battle was pure violence.

Nothing fancy. Nothing elegant. Just brute force, one crushing blow after another.

Honestly, it was even more violent than that little tadpole.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

When Electivire couldn’t get back up, Rhydon grabbed one of its furry legs and started swinging the hundred-kilo body like a warhammer, smashing it over and over into the field.

That was the truth of battle.

If your opponent couldn’t even break your defense, then all those “clever tactics” were just wishful thinking.

To avoid status problems, Reiji had even drilled one rule into Hanhan: keep your mouth shut in battle.

That was specifically to avoid inhaling any status move or powder attack.

As long as it didn’t open its mouth, a fully armored Hanhan had almost no real weakness left except speed. In close combat, it was nearly unbeatable.

“Electivire…”

Once Electivire finally blacked out, Rhydon let go and snorted out two streams of white vapor from its nostrils. It tossed Electivire to Reggie’s feet like a dead dog, then walked calmly back to Reiji’s side.

As Rhydon returned, the spectators around Reiji instinctively backed away. No one wanted to get close to that walking monster. What they had just seen was terrifying enough to chill them all the way through.

Rhydon was already over two meters tall to begin with. Wrapped in Rock Armor, it only looked larger and heavier. One sweep of its gaze after that display was enough to send the loudmouths scrambling even farther back.

Even Shun and Poliwhirl behind Reiji swallowed nervously. Shun stammered, “Rei—Reiji-nii… is that really the same Rhyhorn?”

“It is,” Reiji said with a laugh, patting Rhydon’s side—then immediately jerking his hand back. “Ow. Damn it, take the armor off already. That’s scorching hot.”

“Rhy…” Rhydon actually looked a little embarrassed. Hanhan grinned sheepishly. How was it supposed to know Reiji would just slap a hand on his armor?

Cracks spread all over the stone shell. Rhydon gave itself a light shake, and the whole armored layer broke away and fell to the ground in chunks.

Reiji nodded in satisfaction. “Nice work. I’ll give you extra food later.”

“Rhy.” Rhydon nodded and was recalled into its Poké Ball.

Only then did the spectators finally breathe again. The Trainer was bad enough, but the fact that he had tamed a beast like that was even worse.

And yet, for all Rhydon’s brutality, it still didn’t dare square up with Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl had beaten a psychological scar into it long ago. The moment it saw those fists coming, Hanhan folded instantly.

“There are still two battles left,” Reiji said with a grin, looking at Reggie, who was recalling Electivire with an ugly expression. “Still want to keep going?”

Reggie had clearly been rattled by that explosion. He probably never expected Reiji’s Rhydon to be even more savage than Electivire.

That was the trap facing anyone unfamiliar with Reiji’s style. Trying to trade punches with his Pokémon was basically suicide. They were trained specifically to keep fighting after those explosive collisions.

For most opponents, surviving the blast at all was already the best-case scenario. Thinking about the rest of the battle after that was pointless. Once a Pokémon lost an arm, around seventy percent of its combat strength went with it. Electivire was proof enough.

“Of course I’m fighting,” Reggie said. He had been stunned by Rhydon’s burst of power, but he wasn’t the sort of Trainer who would surrender. If he did, then everything he and Paul had pursued—power, pure power—would mean nothing in front of these so-called bonds.

“You know,” Reiji said lightly, “when you were shouting at Electivire to get up, that was a bond too. Didn’t you notice?”

“That’s impossible. My feelings for Electivire…?” Reggie stared down at his own hands in disbelief. He had shouted. He really had. Then he turned toward his younger brother.

“Yes, big brother,” Paul said from behind him. He had heard every word. It was his first time ever seeing Reggie like that.

“Less talking,” Reiji cut in. “Second round.”

He didn’t see what was so shocking about it. Hot-blooded Trainers were always like that. Even he, a thirty-something old man, sometimes shouted in battle. It just felt too embarrassingly chuuni to do it too often.

“The second round…” Reggie repeated, but didn’t argue.

In truth, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Somewhere along the way, without noticing, he really had formed bonds with his Pokémon. Yet he’d gone on treating them like tools and never realized it.

How ridiculous did that make him look to other people?

Bang—Bang—

They both threw again.

For Reiji’s side, Poliwhirl came out immediately. Judging from the strength of that Electivire, Poliwhirl was the only safe choice.

If Poliwhirl had been the one facing Electivire earlier, it would have had a much rougher time than Rhydon did. If Reggie’s whole team was at that kind of level, Reiji really didn’t have many options.

Reggie’s second Pokémon was another monster.

“Raaah…”

The moment Gabite hit the field, it took in the wrecked battlefield, fixed its eyes on Poliwhirl, and roared at its new opponent.

Shun swallowed hard. “Gabite… a Sinnoh pseudo-legendary. Dragon and Ground.”

The earlier monster had at least been one of Reiji’s Pokémon, and however ferocious Rhydon was, it was still just an ordinary species.

Shun had been thrilled seeing Reiji-nii win with such a terrifying powerhouse.

But this pseudo-legendary wasn’t theirs.

It belonged to the enemy.

A Dragon-type pseudo-legendary, one of the strongest kinds around.

Could Poliwhirl really win this?

“Don’t panic,” Reiji said when he noticed Shun stiffen up. “Trust Poliwhirl.”

This was just a young pseudo-legendary. He had already gone up against Lance’s dragon brats before. Somebody else’s wasn’t going to scare him.

In the anime, Paul ended up with a Garchomp, so Reggie owning a Gabite wasn’t surprising at all. For all he knew, Paul’s future Garchomp might even have come from this one.

Seeing another pseudo-legendary stirred a lot of thoughts in him.

After all, it was still a pseudo-legendary. He had been traveling all over as a Trainer and still didn’t own one.

But he already had his little tadpole now. That old obsession with pseudo-legendaries had faded a lot since his first days after transmigrating. His heart had cooled. The desire just wasn’t what it used to be.

“Poli!” Poliwhirl noticed Shun’s concern, turned back, flexed its muscles at him, and basically said relax, I’ve got this. Then it winked at Reiji too.

“Heh.” Reiji knew exactly what that meant and gave it a thumbs-up. He chose to trust Poliwhirl.

“So that’s what a bond looks like…” Reggie watched the exchange between Trainer and Pokémon and realized he’d never really had that kind of moment himself. He didn’t even know what it was supposed to feel like.

“Come on,” Reiji said, curling his fingers in a taunting beckon. “You attack first.”

“Everyone, back up! I’m clearing the field! Gabite, Draco Meteor!”

That move name alone was enough to make the spectators panic. Anyone who watched enough televised battles knew what was coming. Get hit by one of those falling meteors and you might not be getting back up.

The entire crowd retreated more than ten meters before finally stopping.

Gabite threw back its head, opened its jaws, and launched an orange sphere into the sky. It burst high above them and split into dozens of meteor-like projectiles that came crashing down toward Poliwhirl.

“Poliwhirl, Belly Drum. Then full power—Ice Punch!”

The instant it heard Belly Drum, Poliwhirl understood exactly what Reiji wanted.

It ignored the meteors overhead, drew in one deep breath, and slammed its drum belly hard enough to max out its attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The meteors from Draco Meteor began crashing down, smashing the ground apart in a storm of explosions. Poliwhirl only glanced up once, memorizing their rough angles and landing points. Then it pushed its moisture sensing to the limit, coated its fist in frost, kicked off so hard the ground burst underfoot, and charged straight for Gabite without a trace of hesitation.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Running at full speed, Poliwhirl covered the distance in the blink of an eye. The meteors only began detonating behind it after it had already passed their landing points.

None of that mattered anymore.

By the time Poliwhirl reached Gabite, it drove one final step into the earth, shattered the ground beneath its feet, and launched an Ice Punch upward from below.

Gabite’s eyes widened in shock.

The punch smashed straight into its belly and blasted it flying.

Whoosh—

Gabite shot backward so fast it screamed past Reggie and Paul before either of them could even react.

Boom!

Crash… crash…

Gabite slammed into the battle field’s protective wall, smashed right through it, and kept flying. Bricks and chunks of stone scattered everywhere.

Even the wall hadn’t stopped it.

Who knew where the hell it had landed.

That was what a +6 attack boost meant. Add in the burst from Waterfall movement and a four-times Ice-type weakness, and this was exactly what happened.

That wasn’t a joke.

That was the meaning of quadruple effectiveness.

Even as Gabite disappeared out of sight, Reiji silently hoped it was still alive. He and Poliwhirl might have overdone it a little.

That had been the kind of full-power punch Poliwhirl usually saved for Elite Four-level opponents, and it had just landed on a Gabite that hadn’t even reached level 48 yet.

Yeah.

That was probably bullying.

“Gabite! Gabite!” Reggie finally turned and saw the hole punched through the wall. He sprinted out through the gap and found his Gabite frozen solid.

Trapped inside the block of ice, Gabite was already unconscious. There was no way it could continue. It needed a Pokémon Center immediately.

“Get it to the Pokémon Center. Now.” Reiji came around the broken wall too and looked at the frozen Gabite. One punch had sent it that far. Poliwhirl had improved again.

Reggie recalled Gabite into its Poké Ball, stood up, and asked, “What’s your name?”

He had lost twice to this man, both times badly. He had to know.

“Rai,” Reiji said, waving dismissively as he turned to leave. “I’m entering the Indigo League. If you want to beat me, come try there.”

What did it matter whether Reggie felt unwilling to accept it or not?

He could get stronger.

Or he could learn to be quieter.

Even without Poliwhirl’s punch today, Brandon and the three Regis would have ground Reggie into the dirt sooner or later. The ending wouldn’t have changed.

“I’ll remember that.” Reggie gripped Gabite’s Poké Ball so tightly his fingers whitened. He had thought a pseudo-legendary would be enough to keep him from losing that badly. Even if he lost, it shouldn’t have looked like this.

Instead, in front of Rai, it hadn’t made any difference at all.

Electivire couldn’t break through.

Gabite had gone down even more absurdly.

This guy…

“Big brother, hurry to the Pokémon Center,” Paul said. Watching Reggie lose so brutally had shaken him too. Reggie was the brother he admired, and now he would remember those two as well.

“Let’s go.” Reggie kept staring at the backs of Reiji and Shun as they walked away, as if he wanted to burn the image into his mind. Only after they vanished did he finally turn and head for the Pokémon Center with Paul to get Electivire and Gabite treated.

While he waited, the two battles replayed in his head over and over, along with the name Indigo League.

He had come to Kanto intending to challenge the Battle Frontier.

Now, though, this year’s Indigo League suddenly looked a lot more interesting.

With the strength he had now, the Battle Frontier would only have gotten him beaten down anyway. The three Regis were no joke. They were monsters.

And Brandon, with all three Regis under his command, was exactly the kind of opponent no one below Elite Four level should even think of touching. The same went for Victory Road.

As for Ash winning?

That’s on the writers.

Go ask them.

If Ash hadn’t beaten Brandon, how else were they supposed to squeeze that tiny flicker of surprise out of Paul’s permanently frozen face?

Just to give Paul a few extra reaction images, Ash had to beat Brandon with tears in his eyes, only to lose later to the guy with the legendaries. Reiji couldn’t even be bothered to complain anymore.

Did the writers just forget to draw the Champion in between?

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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