Carbink's First Battle

In the vast clearing, spectators were scattered about in twos and threes.

The boy opposite Su Hao tossed a Poké Ball in his hand, a confident smile on his face.

Ye Fan and his Stufful had already defeated five opponents.

Now, Trainer and Pokémon stared at Su Hao with surging momentum.

Ignoring the blazing looks from across the field, Su Hao calmly tossed out Carbink's Poké Ball.

After leaping from its Poké Ball, Carbink gracefully gave the Stufful before it a slight bow.

"Na na na~" (Please take care of me~)

"Stuff!" Stufful ignored Carbink. Instead, it sharpened its claws and looked toward the boy behind it, full of fighting spirit.

The nearby spectators enthusiastically began to cheer.

"Go!" "Go, Stufful~! Get another win!"

As the off-field crowd overwhelmingly supported the boy and Stufful, their confidence only grew stronger.

Su Hao paid no attention to the cheers and directly gave Carbink its first command. "Carbink, use Harden!"

"Na na!" After responding, Carbink immediately circulated the Normal-type energy within its body and applied it to its surface.

A colorless glow flowed over Carbink's body, raising its Defense.

The moment Su Hao called out his command, the boy reacted and directed Stufful to charge toward Carbink.

Unfortunately, the distance was too great, and Stufful had yet to learn any Ranged Moves. It could only watch helplessly as Carbink completed its Harden boost.

By the time Carbink finished using Harden, Stufful had finally closed to within a meter of it.

Seeing that Stufful had approached Carbink, the boy immediately gave his command.

"Stufful, use Scratch with all your strength!"

"Stuff!" Stufful coated its claws in Normal-type energy and attacked Carbink with all its might, its two paws striking in alternation.

Su Hao calmly watched the scene before him. "Carbink, take it!"

"Na na!" Carbink trusted Su Hao completely, so it did not hesitate to abandon the evasive movement it had prepared.

"Clang—!" A crisp sound rang out from where Stufful and Carbink collided.

"Holy shit!" The spectators beside them suddenly blurted out an expletive.

Stufful, having unleashed its full-force strike, stared blankly at Carbink.

Carbink's gray mineral body was completely unscathed. Instead, the Normal-type energy coating Stufful's claws had shattered.

Just as Su Hao had expected, Carbink's Defense was absurdly high. After using Harden once, it had taken the full-force attack of the Level 7 Stufful before it without a scratch.

Pokémon: [Stufful]

Type: [Normal]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Run Away]

Level: [7]

Moves: [Scratch, Lick, Baby-Doll Eyes, Fury Swipes]

Stufful's full-force attack, despite being two levels higher than Carbink, had failed to even break through its Defense.

Su Hao silently raised his assessment of Carbink's Defense once more, while quickly saying aloud, "Carbink, use Ancient Power and finish it!"

The stunned boy across from him also came to his senses and immediately ordered Stufful to dodge.

After receiving the boy's command, the bewildered Stufful finally reacted. Just as it tried to adjust its body to evade the move—

"Na na!" (Go!) Upon hearing Su Hao's command, Carbink immediately began gathering Ancient Power. In just three seconds, it created a basketball-sized stone in front of itself and fired it directly at Stufful while it was still adjusting its posture!

The stone flew straight toward the Stufful that had no time to evade.

With a loud "Boom!", Stufful, struck squarely in the face by the stone, died on the spot.

"Stufful!—" Seeing Stufful get instantly defeated, the boy who had been brimming with confidence before the battle cried out in disbelief.

Unfortunately, Stufful was now Out of Battle and unconscious, unable to respond to him.

The surrounding crowd also began discussing it in disbelief.

"Holy shit, what is up with that Pokémon? That Stufful just easily defeated five Pokémon in a row, yet its full-force attack couldn't even break through its Defense!?"

"Yeah, does anyone know what Pokémon that is? I feel like I've never seen it before."

At that moment, a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses stepped out from the crowd and spoke.

"As far as I know, this should be a Pokémon unique to the French Alliance—Carbink."

"Carbink is not commonly seen in this country."

"Carbink's Defense is extremely outstanding, and it is often used as a team's defensive core."

"But according to the records, Carbink shouldn't have such exceptional offensive power."

"That is all I know."'

After hearing the glasses-wearing boy's explanation, the boy holding the Out of Battle Stufful turned an inquisitive gaze toward Su Hao.

Su Hao nodded. "That's right. My Carbink's Defense is indeed exceptional."

After receiving Su Hao's confirmation, the boy breathed a sigh of relief and reassured himself that it merely had better Defense. Once Stufful grew a little stronger, it would surely be able to break through that Defense!

It was not that the boy had not considered why Carbink could still one-shot Stufful. In the end, however, he concluded that Stufful had simply grown tired after fighting six consecutive battles.

"I lost this round. I'll take Stufful to the Pokémon Center for treatment." After saying this to Su Hao, the boy saw Su Hao nod in response and ran toward the Pokémon Center.

Having earned its first victory, Carbink bounced over to Su Hao and began acting spoiled through Su Hao's Wave Power.

"Na na~~ Na na na!" (Trainer, Trainer~ I won!)

Looking at Carbink bouncing around before him with an expression that clearly begged for praise, Su Hao smiled. He scooped Carbink up with one arm and stroked the diamond on its head. "Mm, you won! You did great!"

At the same time, Su Hao began checking Carbink's information.

Pokémon: [Carbink] [Mutation 6.5%]

Type: [Rock, Fairy]

Gender: [None]

Ability: [Clear Body]

Level: [5→6]

Moves: [Tackle, Harden, Dazzling Gleam, Meteor Beam, Reflect, Light Screen, Ancient Power, Defense Curl (New)]

Having defeated a Stufful two levels above it, Carbink leveled up, just as Su Hao had expected.

Carbink, still in Su Hao's arms, suddenly said, "Na na na." (Trainer, after defeating that little bear, I suddenly feel like my body has become sturdier, and my energy has increased too.)

Su Hao thought that this was the improvement brought by leveling up.

"You aren't mistaken. This is my ability. As long as we keep defeating opponents, we can grow stronger and stronger," Su Hao explained to Carbink.

System: ?

"Na na~" (So that's how it is~)