006 [Dragon Slayer] (Please vote!)

"Qiao Ran, this is very dangerous! As your homeroom teacher, I can't allow this to happen!"

The homeroom teacher sternly stopped Qiao Ran. Letting a student who had only just started out face a Pokémon like this was extremely dangerous.

From the instant battle between Vulpix and Garchomp earlier, it was clear just how powerful these rigorously trained Pokémon were.

This was absolutely not something students could compare to.

"It's fine. If the gap really is too great, I can surrender immediately. And Teacher, your Pokémon can stop this Garchomp too, right?"

Even as Qiao Ran spoke, he directly threw out his Poké Ball.

"Wait—" The homeroom teacher had no time to stop him. Seeing Qiao Ran's action, he immediately reached for his waist, intending to send out a Pokémon and forcibly intervene in this dangerous battle.

However, just as the homeroom teacher was about to act, the dean of students, who had remained silent beside him, walked over and stopped him.

"Don't interfere yet. Keep watching."

"..."

The homeroom teacher fell silent. He seemed about to argue, but when he saw a girl in a school uniform with long black hair appear behind the dean, his eyes flickered sharply.

"Al... right."

The homeroom teacher completely gave up on stopping them. Although Qiao Ran, who had been watching the teacher's movements, had no idea what had happened over there, he quickly withdrew his gaze.

Qiao Ran knew that the homeroom teacher would probably not approve of what he was doing, so if he wanted to achieve his goal of battling the other side, he had to act first and explain later.

It looked like this battle could continue now!

Qiao Ran's Poké Ball traced an arc through the air, releasing dazzling pink light effects. At last—a tiny, incomparably adorable Pokémon appeared on the field.

"Go! Dianxi!"

At Qiao Ran's command, the Pokémon opened her eyes.

She had beautiful red eyes and an incredibly petite body. Her lower body was made of ore, while a great many pink crystals covered her body like a pink headdress, sparkling with crystalline rainbow hues under the sunlight.

She stood with poise, like a princess of a kingdom.

"What Pokémon is that?? I don't think I've ever seen it before??"

"So cute..."

The crowd erupted into discussion. The girls were unanimously captivated by this Pokémon, but the boys raised objections.

"But she looks so weak... Aren't cute Pokémon like that usually really weak?"

Some people even started jeeringly asking Qiao Ran where he had caught her. These students did not know much about Pokémon, so they assumed she was simply a species they happened not to recognize.

"I caught her in the grass a few days ago. Yeah, yeah, just a few days ago. Which patch of grass? The one on the hill behind the school, probably. I was just lucky. Diamonds? They're not diamonds, they're glass. Colored glass."

Scratching the back of his head, Qiao Ran spread misinformation with ill intent in response to his classmates' questions. However, perhaps it was just his imagination, but Dianxi, standing in the field, seemed to secretly turn her head, puff out her cheeks, and glare at him.

I don't live in the grass! And I'm not glass!

Qiao Ran froze. Had what he just said upset her?

Although Qiao Ran had described Dianxi as some wild monster by the roadside, the truth was completely different from what he had said. She was not some so-called "wild monster," but a Legendary Pokémon—a Mythical Pokémon, and one with the power of Mega Evolution.

After Mega Evolution, her base stat total could even reach a terrifying 700, only 20 points lower than Arceus in its usual state. Although base stats could not represent everything in this real world, they were more than enough to demonstrate Dianxi's formidable strength.

Beneath that adorable exterior lay terrifying power.

She was the princess of the Diamond Ore Kingdom. Whether speaking or eating, she displayed the refined upbringing of a princess. More than that, she was also the only Pokémon with the ability to create "Eternal Diamonds."

Qiao Ran's actions drew everyone's attention. In particular, that glittering Pokémon supposedly covered in colored glass was impossible to look away from. Yet on this battle field, one person's anger was steadily growing.

"Why... Why is no one paying attention to me anymore?"

His Garchomp was clearly more imposing and stronger, so why was no one looking this way?

Clearly, I was the one who...

"Garchomp! Dragon Pulse!"

Anger rose in Chang Mengda's heart, and evil followed. He immediately gave his Garchomp an order. Receiving it, Garchomp opened its mouth and fired a powerful blue-purple shockwave straight toward Dianxi.

Chang Mengda's sudden attack caught everyone off guard. Even Qiao Ran had not expected this guy to launch a sneak attack before the homeroom teacher officially declared the battle started.

"Danger!"

"Ah!"

"What a powerful blast... That cute Pokémon is definitely done for."

The students all cried out in alarm, worrying for Dianxi. The girls especially, those who had been charmed by Dianxi's appearance, could not bear to watch and closed their eyes.

That Pokémon might be cute, but what could she possibly do against a Dragon-type Pokémon?

Her fate would only be the same as Vulpix's earlier.

"It's over... Hahaha! It's finally over!"

Chang Mengda shouted excitedly. He had tremendous confidence in Garchomp. Qiao Ran defeating Mightyena could still be attributed to luck, but Garchomp was different. This was a Pokémon on an entirely different level.

In a battle between students, it could never lose!

The fierce shockwave struck Dianxi head-on with unstoppable momentum, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Boom!"

A thunderous crash echoed through the arena. Looking at the devastated field, the homeroom teacher gripped his Poké Ball and stepped forward, ready to announce the result.

"It's finally over..."

"Wait. No, it isn't over yet."

However, a clear female voice suddenly rang out, stopping the homeroom teacher. It had come from the black-haired girl standing behind the dean.

As she spoke, her eyes remained fixed on the center of the dust-filled arena, gleaming with a strange light.

Following her gaze, the homeroom teacher saw it too. Within the dust—the tiny Pokémon was still standing there perfectly fine, as if she had never moved an inch, as if she had not been attacked at all.

Dianxi still stood in the field like a princess. She patted the dust off herself, blinking in confusion as though she could not understand what her opponent had just done.

"No... Impossible! This can't be possible!"

Chang Mengda was on the verge of collapse. What the hell was going on with this Pokémon??

It was not just him. The other students could not understand it either.

What... was going on??? They had clearly seen that cute Pokémon take no defensive measures at all!

Just as the entire venue fell silent once more, Qiao Ran finally spoke.

"In that attack just now, you made two mistakes."

He raised two fingers, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"First, although Garchomp is known as the shame of dragons, its physical attacks are still decent. Yet the Dragon Pulse you just used was a special attack. You voluntarily gave up Garchomp's greatest strength to use its weakness. That's a major taboo for a trainer."

"Second, my Dianxi is Fairy-type. If you've ever attended school, you should know that Dragon-type attacks have no effect on Fairy-types. That's another major taboo for a trainer. You don't even understand type matchups. I'm deeply disappointed in you."

"And third—Dianxi! It's time for us to counterattack!"

Qiao Ran stared at his opponent, straightened his fingers, and pointed toward the Garchomp across from him.

"The counterattack begins!"

"Let Moon Power bloom!! Moonblast!!!!"

Which hair color looks better, 0v0?

Section 6: 006 Dragon Slayer (Please Vote!)

At Qiao Ran's words, Moon Power began gathering before Dianxi. Pure beams of light drifted through the air, creating a scene so beautiful it seemed almost unreal.

Yet beneath that extraordinary beauty lay incomparably powerful force. Moon Power—one of the powerful Fairy-type moves—not only possessed power on the same level as moves like Thunderbolt, but also had a one-in-three chance of lowering the opponent's Special Attack by one stage. It was an essential move for decisively defeating opponents.

Most importantly, this was a Fairy-type move used by Dianxi herself. It not only received a 1.5-times damage boost, but could also deal terrifying double damage to the pure Dragon-type Garchomp.

"Finish her, Dianxi!"

"Don't be afraid! Garchomp, use Slash!"

Watching the moonlight gather before Dianxi, Chang Mengda gritted his teeth and decided to clash with her head-on.

Due to the size of the field, Garchomp did not have much room to dodge. After all, this was an arena meant for students, and the possibility of large Pokémon battling here had not been considered. Therefore, Chang Mengda knew that even if he tried to evade, the chances of succeeding would not be high.

He might as well face her head-on!

They would settle this once and for all!

"Take her down! Charge, Garchomp!"

Chang Mengda's final command made Qiao Ran glance at him once more, but that was all.

Garchomp charged at Dianxi and extended its claws. Its claw spikes lengthened, and a Slash landed on Dianxi's body. Yet Dianxi merely shook her head without any reaction. The hard claws struck her diamond body without even leaving a scratch.

Seeing this, Qiao Ran timely added a taunt.

"Forgot to tell you, Dianxi is Rock-type in addition to Fairy-type. Normal-type moves deal half damage, you know. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"What?!" Chang Mengda was dumbfounded once more.

This... was all within your

calculations too?!

Meanwhile, Dianxi's Moon Power condensed into a small white sphere and flew toward Garchomp.

Everyone present could swear that all they saw was a tiny ball. But when it slammed into Garchomp's body at considerable speed, the towering dragon let out an unprecedented scream.

Double-effective Moon Power was not easy to endure.

"Roaaargh!"

Garchomp let out an unpleasant howl, bracing itself against the ground with its thick, long arms. Its whole body nearly collapsed onto the ground as it panted heavily, looking as though it was about to give out.

However, being about to give out and already being done for were very different things. Garchomp had actually endured it.

"It didn't go down in one hit...?"

Qiao Ran revealed a somewhat surprised expression. "Hmm... So there really is a level gap?"

This was beyond Qiao Ran's expectations, but still understandable. After all—although Dianxi's innate qualities were exceptional, she was actually just a little baby at level 5 right now.

That was right, only level 5.

As a reward from last night, Qiao Ran could draw one of his previous partners. These partners naturally came with their old movesets and held items. However, in exchange, all of them started at only level 5, and even their affection had to be built up from scratch.

In stark contrast to Dianxi was the opponent's level... Taking the chance, Qiao Ran secretly pulled out his Rotom Phone and scanned the opposing Garchomp. The screen immediately displayed the opponent's level—26.

Level 26!

This was practically bullying the weak with the strong!

Seeing that number, Qiao Ran was so angry that his whole body trembled. In the blazing heat, cold sweat covered him, and his hands and feet turned icy. Could this competition even go on? Tears of indignation streamed down his face. This match was filled with oppression against Dianxi. When would Dianxi finally be able to stand tall?!

And his Vulpix was only level 12, yet the opponent had directly sent out a Pokémon of this level!

Damn it!

"Dianxi, finish her."

Following the fine tradition of taking an opponent's life while they were down, the furious Qiao Ran, a slave to victory, gave the order to finish Garchomp. Dianxi nodded and used Moon Power once more. Although Dianxi did not have the speed advantage, under Moon Power's bombardment, Garchomp soon fell.

"Boom!"

Garchomp's huge body crashed onto the ground, familiar spirals appearing in its eyes.

The sound of Garchomp falling woke everyone from their daze. Like people roused from a dream, they cried out in astonishment.

What... had happened?

Garchomp... lost?

Not only could Chang Mengda not believe it, even the onlookers could not believe it. But when they saw that adorable Pokémon still standing in the field, they had no choice but to accept reality.

Lost!

Garchomp had really lost!

At the same time, a string of numbers appeared on the Rotom Phone. Dianxi's level rose one level at a time, finally stopping at level 10.