Self-Defeating

"Ogerpon..."

Her gaze fell upon the now-empty crater. Ogerpon looked at the Thorn Whip Stick in her hand with a complicated expression, then loosened her grip.

At her movement, the energy-made Thorn Whip Stick gradually scattered into motes of light, as though it were seeing the freed Munkidori off on its final journey.

Ogerpon quickly sorted through her tangled emotions and silently counted in her heart. Two more. It'll be over soon...

Su Hao moved closer at that moment, curiously tapping the Terastal Ghost Mask floating before Ogerpon before reaching a conclusion.

"It should make a pretty good shield. Very few Pokémon could break through a mask that hard and hit the body behind it, aside from wide-area attacks."

Those sword-and-shield heroes were outdated. From now on, Ogerpon would be the new club-and-shield hero, wielding a Thorn Whip Stick and carrying a Ghost Mask shield in front of her.

Wouldn't swinging a spiked club feel much better than stiffly waving a sword around in your mouth?

Ogerpon was drawn in by the future Su Hao described.

To be honest, she had forced herself to bring down that strike earlier through her Vengeful Heart. Yet now, she suddenly realized that swinging the Thorn Whip Stick felt pretty good too—especially when she smashed both her enemies and the ground to pieces. It was incredibly stress-relieving.

Ogerpon's mindset slowly began to change, just a little.

After that brief interlude, Su Hao and Ogerpon continued rushing toward the force field. At this point, the entire field looked as though it had been eroded by sunlight from outside, its surface mottled and fractured.

As they hurried toward the wall of the force field, Su Hao called to Ogerpon beside him, "We need to hurry. Once the force field disappears, many wild Pokémon outside can