Chapter 402

Fusion Flare – this is one of Reshiram's two most important signature abilities.

At Qiao Ran's command, a huge fireball began to condense in front of Reshiram. The fireball quickly grew to a size larger than Reshiram's body, and outside the fireball, two Ring made of flames were constantly rotating around him.

"Roar roar roar roar!!!"

As a reciprocal Present, the crossed Pyro Ball soon broke through the encirclement and flew directly towards Solgaleo.

Although Qiao Ran didn't know the other party's "intelligence" at this moment, the other party seemed to have really sensed the danger. After all, the flames had a terrible double restraint on him, and even the hardest steel could not survive under this special flame.

What's most surprising is that Solgaleo, the so-called Sun god Beast that Devours the Sun, is afraid of the Fire type, which is clearly the closest to the "Sun".

Perhaps no one would have imagined that a Sun god who fears fire would appear in this world. To deal with the powerful flames, Solgaleo exerted all his strength, firing blackish-purple energy from the top of his head, attempting to use a Psychic type attack to Snipe Shot the flames. However, these ordinary skills were no match for Reshiram's well-prepared special move. In no time, the attacks were absorbed by Reshiram's Fusion Flare, while the power of the flame surge remained largely unaffected.

"Roar!!!"

In the final moments, a blue light flashed from Solgaleo's head, and its Third Eye opened. Its entire body was enveloped in dark purple energy, and like a shooting star, it narrowly missed the fireball. Its force remained undiminished, and with its immense power, it charged through the air at incredible speed, attempting to knock Reshiram down as well.

And this is precisely

Solgaleo's signature move - Sunsteel Strike.

This is a move that can attack regardless of the opponent's Ability, and it can be very effective against Pokémon with special Ability. However, this move doesn't pose much of a threat to Reshiram. Firstly, Reshiram is resistant to Steel-type attacks due to its Fire type. Secondly, Reshiram's Ability is Turboblaze, which has the same Ability as Sunsteel Strike. With this Ability, Reshiram's attacks can also ignore the opponent's Ability. This mutual disregard for each other means that Reshiram has virtually no impact.

However, thanks to the Sunsteel Strike, Solgaleo's speed reached a terrifying level. Qiao Ran tried to command Reshiram to dodge, but it was still hit squarely by the charging Solgaleo.

"... Tsk!"

Intense pain shot through Qiao Ran's abdomen; it was the same sensation Reshiram felt. Although the damage was halved, it was still Solgaleo's skill, and it couldn't be ignored.

Solgaleo landed steadily on the ground of another Floating Island after his successful attack, staring at Reshiram in the sky with a completely emotionless gaze.

Its sole purpose is to Defeat the opponent, nothing more.

Solgaleo is an extremely powerful Pokémon. As one of the final forms of the legendary Child of the Stars, it not only has the ability to tear through space and open Ultra Wormhole to travel to Otherworld, but it can also hold its own against the creator of the Ultra World.

This Trace, composed of Monster, is no less powerful, and even when fighting Reshiram, which is its elemental counter, it has shown remarkable resilience.

This is just a Trace.

However, this doesn't mean Reshiram has no chance of winning. Her True Flame still has a very high suppressive power over Solgaleo. However, this battle may not be one-sided due to type advantage. Even with type advantage, the opponent's combat power is still stronger than Reshiram's. Whether it's the release of skills or the resilience of the body, this Solgaleo is far superior to other Island deity. Those Tapu usually only excel in one aspect. For example, Tapu Lele excels in special attacks, Tapu Koko excels in speed, Tapu Bulu excels in normal attacks, and Fini excels in defense. No Tapu can be an all-rounder.

However, as one of the top Legendary Pokémon, Solgaleo not only guarantees outstanding attack power, but also ensures that its other abilities are at the top tier. Compared to many ordinary Pokémon, this Pokémon is almost without weaknesses.

"Reshiram, Blue Flare!"

Qiao Ran can only rely on the power of Reshiram's flames. As a true Hero, she left a great reputation in the Pokémon World. Legend has it that she can move the atmosphere and change the weather of the entire region simply by using the heat generated by her tail. This time, her flames can also illuminate this Torn World and make it Refresh.

--The Sun Beast that fears fire is not the real Sun. Instead, Reshiram is now in an overclocked state due to exerting all its strength, shines like a bright Sun in the air.

Her body was covered in shimmering white fur, and when she opened her mouth, a blazing blue flame shot towards Solgaleo with her breath. This blue flame was one of Reshiram's signature moves; no other Pokémon could produce such a strange, beautiful, and powerful flame.

Even a powerful creature like Solgaleo sensed danger upon seeing the flames. As Reshiram began to prepare its attack, Solgaleo stretched out its front paws and placed them on the ground, its body slightly leaning back and crouching, ready to move at any moment. The instant the Blue Flare Spit Up, Solgaleo was already running rapidly across the Floating Island.

Although Solgaleo can use its Confusion to stay airborne for a short time, this would inevitably consume a lot of energy. At this moment, it clearly doesn't have the luxury of doing so. Even though Reshiram is slightly weaker than Reshiram, it is still Legendary Pokémon in the top tier. Such a powerful move at full strength still brought a strong sense of Pressure to Solgaleo.

Solgaleo moved rapidly across the Floating Island, trying to escape the attack's range. Its Agility did indeed have a good effect; the blue flames only melted and Infiltrator the Floating Island's ground. The extremely high temperature instantly changed the shape of everything it touched, leaving red, lava-like marks at the edges.

Even from this distance, Qiao Ran could clearly feel the intense heat.

"Reshiram, change direction!"

Solgaleo's speed at full speed is not slow; however, with Qiao Ran's prediction and command, calculating the opponent's position is not difficult, especially since Solgaleo does not have its usual flying ability and there is no Trainer to give instructions.

In this Torn World, all the Pokémon Qiao Ran encountered shared a common...

Their fatal weakness lies in their lack of strategic and overall perspective. They may be able to rely on instinct to deal with local battles, but when Qiao Ran observes its movements and judges its next move, he has already seen through it completely and predicted its next action.

In a battle between Trainer, this would undoubtedly be fatal. However, as ordinary, solo Pokémon, both Tapu and Solgaleo, whom they faced today, have this weakness. Most of the time, the Trainer be just a figurehead, but in crucial moments, the Trainer can grant the Pokémon entirely new power.

When Qiao Ran relayed the location to Reshiram, she instantly adjusted the angle of her Flamethrower. With her movement, the Blue Flare drew a straight line, burning a hollow "I" shape on the Floating Island. At the end of the "I" shape was Solgaleo, which was speeding along at high speed.

However, Solgaleo's movement speed was clearly not as fast as Reshiram's head-turning speed. By the time Qiao Ran had predicted the opponent's actions, Reshiram's attack was already waiting for it at the place it was about to arrive at.

"...!!"

The blue flames, like a tidal wave, engulfed Solgaleo's body from above. Solgaleo let out a painful Growl. This flame could slice through even the hardest steel as easily as butter, and Solgaleo, enduring this pain, suffered immense damage.

After all, this was an exclusive move under double the elemental advantage. If it were a regular Steel-type Pokémon, it probably wouldn't last long before collapsing. However, Solgaleo wasn't that weak. It still managed to support itself, and its entire body emitted a blackish-purple mist. Powerful psychic energy spread from its body, and it actually used its Confusion to form an invisible barrier, resisting the last wave of Blue Flare.

Although the final reaction was merely a remedial measure, it still bought Solgaleo time. Reshiram had been continuously unleashing Blue Flare, was breathing heavily. Maintaining the continuous output of a single skill was a huge drain on her energy. The Turboblaze behind her had also calmed down. It wasn't that she didn't want to maintain it, but the enormous drain left her unable to react immediately.

The more powerful a skill is, the greater the cost of using it.

"Don't rush, take your time."

Taking advantage of Reshiram's moment of rest and respite, Qiao Ran leaped onto her back, letting her carry him away from the gradually collapsing Floating Island. Although Reshiram wasn't as violent as Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele that Qiao Ran had encountered before, the previous Blue Flare had still caused irreversible damage to the Floating Island, and her skills were fully capable of completely altering the terrain with a single strike.

"... I can continue to predict its movements. After all, if it can't fly, it only has two axes that can move. Its movement patterns aren't complicated, so they're relatively easy to predict."

"If we just do it a few more times, we can secure victory."

After a series of battles, Qiao Ran had already made plans for the next steps. What he feared most were battles with a huge gap in skill level or those that didn't follow the rules. However, this time, it was clearly not in either of those categories.

The gap between the opponent and the opponent was still within an acceptable range, and the opponent's actions and behaviors were relatively easy to judge, not deviating from Qiao Ran's predictions.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Master."

Hearing Qiao Ran's voice, Reshiram smiled slightly. With such a reliable Trainer, she could concentrate all her attention on the battle in front of her. From any perspective, Qiao Ran met her criteria for choosing Hero and was definitely a very good partner.

Moreover... his aura was so appealing that Reshiram simply couldn't resist.

In the Torn World, the battle had been going on for a long time. Qiao Ran and Reshiram used the same tactics repeatedly, trying to wear down Solgaleo's stamina. However, after using this tactic once or twice, Solgaleo seemed to have become wary. It had now learned to change its speed and direction while running, trying to interfere with Qiao Ran's predictions.

"Those Pokémon made of that strange substance actually possess intelligence...?"

Qiao Ran touched his chin in surprise. This was the first time he had heard of this; he had never heard of it before.

However, these limited experiences and wisdom were clearly no match for the seasoned Qiao Ran. Qiao Ran only needed to have Reshiram deliberately create an opening to lure the opponent into using his exclusive skill— Sunsteel Strike —which charged directly at Reshiram.

"Now! Blue Flare!"

Reshiram, who was falling from the sky, immediately turned around and Spit Up out azure flames from his mouth, which directly stund Solgaleo was trying to rush over to pick up the kill.

This time, the situation was completely reversed. After being hit directly by the Blue Flare once again, Solgaleo's body fell onto the Floating Island, lying motionless on the spot where he had been smashed.

In the small pit.

"..."

Qiao Ran stared at the other person, and after realizing that the other person seemed to have really stopped moving, a smile actually appeared on his tense face.

"Really... the result..."

His words slipped out of his mouth, but before he could finish speaking, an even more bizarre scene unfolded before him.

Upon seeing that thing, Qiao Ran's smile vanished instantly.

"...!"

A jet-black light erupted from Solgaleo's body, followed by countless wisps of dark purple gas that began to condense from all directions. This strange substance enveloped Solgaleo, and soon the eerie entity split into two, its shape continuously solidifying...

Upon seeing the shape of that thing, Qiao Ran's face darkened immediately. He immediately ordered Reshiram to launch an attack, attempting to disrupt the ongoing changes. However, as if protected by some force, Reshiram's attack did not produce any noticeable effect. And for the first time, the "thing" composed of the two separate streams of black matter was fully revealed to Qiao Ran.

Two Pokémon appeared before him.

One of them was Solgaleo, Beast that Devours the Sun with the appearance of a lion and a body as hard as steel, which Qiao Ran had seen before. The other one was a completely new face that he had never seen before.

It was a giant Bat -shaped Pokémon with round bat wings, a head that looked like a crescent moon, and a body made of purple and gold. However, like Solgaleo, its body color was a little strange, and it was covered with that strange substance.

"Lunala..."

"Lunala...???"

Upon seeing the Pokémon that suddenly appeared, Qiao Ran's eyes widened in disbelief. What was happening in front of him was clearly far beyond his imagination. Wait, it was one thing that Solgaleo, which he had finally managed to defeat, had been fully revived, but why was there a Lunala?!

This is completely wrong, okay?!

Lunala, the Moone-Eating Beast, is the final evolution of a Child of the Stars. It also possesses the ability to tear through space and create Ultra Wormhole. Moreover, its abilities are in no way inferior to Solgaleo's. On the contrary, Lunala's Ghost type and Psychic type completely negate Reshiram's original attribute advantage.

Neither Fire nor Dragon can counter Ghost type and Psychic type.

It was already incredibly difficult enough before, are we really going to have to fight two against one in a righteous battle???

Qiao Ran stood there blankly, while Reshiram stared at everything before her with a solemn expression. She sensed an extremely terrifying aura emanating from the two phantom Pokémon in front of her, and she herself had already exhausted a great deal of stamina in the previous battle, leaving her with no extra time to recover.

In other words...

A bead of sweat rolled down Qiao Ran's forehead. This situation had clearly exceeded his expectations. He had already decided to call it a day, but this time, his opponent had an even more suffocating second stage.

If it's two against one, we really can't win!

If reality were a game, it would definitely be a terrible game.

--The difficulty level set by this boss just doesn't seem right.

If you finally manage to defeat a boss, only to have it immediately enter the second phase, resurrect on the spot, and spawn twins that are even more difficult to deal with, Qiao Ran would feel like dying at that difficulty.

If this were a game, Qiao Ran could simply quit and throw everything in the developers' faces to vent his emotions. However, what appeared before him was not a game where he could instantly revive, start over, or even quit altogether.

All of this was reality, a reality so absurd it was almost unbelievable to him.

"Reshiram... it seems this time it won't be so easy."

Qiao Ran's voice trembled slightly. He was always most afraid of two things: one was that the opponent's behavior was unpredictable, and the other was that the opponent's strength far exceeded his own.

The Beast that Devours the Sun and the Moone-Eating Beast, these two Pokémon, originally Ultra Beast, are probably fighting side by side for the first time since that legendary battle. However, their enemies this time are not some Monster that threatens Alola, but a human boy and a White Dragon.

"... It'll definitely be alright. If you can win once, you can win a second time."

Although Reshiram was also startled by the scene before her, she was, after all, Pokémon had weathered many storms, and quickly calmed down. However, a strange wavering arose in her heart. If she really failed here, she would at least have to find a way to protect Qiao Ran...

One's existence will not be so easily extinguished, but Qiao Ran is ultimately different from them. However, if they want to move forward, Qiao Ran's power is also indispensable.

"Don't worry, we still have a chance. This time too..."

Take it one step at a time.

Qiao Ran extended his left hand and placed it on Reshiram's body, restoring her depleted stamina. Although the number of opponents had doubled, Qiao Ran could also use his abilities to help Reshiram recover some of her stamina. In this way, it could be roughly converted into a two-on-two situation.

I guess so.

Qiao Ran could only think this way to comfort himself for the time being, but when the battle officially began, he still realized what the real reality was.

Solgaleo ran on the ground while Lunala Fly in the sky. These two completely different attack methods were already too much for Qiao Ran to handle, not to mention the earth-shattering power they unleashed, which made it impossible to ignore them.

A purple beam of Confusion shot out from Solgaleo's mouth, while Lunala in the sky stretched out her wings, gathering purple energy around them before firing it out like a cluster cannon.

"Master! Come on my back!"

Two extremely thick beams of light shot towards them like divine punishment. This time, not only did Reshiram feel a chill, but Qiao Ran on the Floating Island was also enveloped within the range of the attack.

To prevent the worst-case scenario, Reshiram had no choice but to have Qiao Ran hide on his back. If Qiao Ran were even slightly grazed by this attack, he would be completely finished!

"Good!"

Without hesitation, Qiao Ran jumped onto Reshiram's back and hid among her white fur. Immediately, a dizzying sensation filled Qiao Ran's head. Qiao Ran knew that this was the dizziness caused by Reshiram's high-speed flight to dodge attacks. Normally, Reshiram would try to fly as steadily as possible so that Qiao Ran wouldn't feel uncomfortable, but now she couldn't care less about that.

The turbine on her tail was running at its limit, and her entire body was flying rapidly through the sky like an outstretched jet fighter.

The beams of light emanating from Solgaleo and Lunala engulfed the Floating Island where Qiao Ran had been standing, slicing it into countless fragments. As they turned, another Floating Island in the distance inevitably met its Poison Touch.

The destructive power of these beams is far greater than that of Tapu Lele, which Qiao Ran faced before. Although Tapu Lele can also violently shatter Floating Island, it is definitely not as simple as these two Pokémon. Moreover, the Floating Island formed this time originated from a mountain. With the power of these two Pokémon's skills, it would probably be no problem to destroy the entire mountain with a single blow.

"..."

Qiao Ran held his breath and hid in Reshiram's fur. He had no way of observing his surroundings. Putting aside whether he could adapt to the high-speed movement, even if he used his Aura Power in this situation, it would be difficult for Qiao Ran to simulate the surrounding environment at this speed.

Oh no...

This was another scene he had never imagined. As a human, a Trainer usually only stood in the Battle Court to give instructions, he probably never thought that he would one day use Aura Power at such a high speed.

He used to be able to easily determine the distance between himself and the target using his Aura Power, since his movement speed wasn't fast and he could estimate it at the same time. But now... because his movement speed was too fast and he didn't have complete control over the rhythm of his movement, it was practically forced displacement. This led to one result— Qiao Ran's radar completely malfunctioned.

Of course, this problem is not unsolvable, but it will definitely require a lot of training. Just like when Qiao Ran felt that his ability to resist special states was not good and he needed to strengthen his training, these aspects cannot be overcome directly by so-called "willpower".

Training in Aura Power is like working out; you only see results if you actually practice.

However, whether or not to train is a problem for later. Right now, Qiao Ran has more practical things to face.

--Reshiram cannot lose his command.

Her strength was insufficient compared to even one of the two Pokémon, let alone facing both directly. The only thing that allowed her to turn the tide in her desperate situation was his command and intelligence supply.