Mythical Pokémon Era: Global Ascension — Part 24

Especially the speed of its scythe swings. The Pokédex used a single sentence to describe it.

—Its movements were simply too fast for the eyes to see clearly.

An ordinary person's naked eye simply could not keep up with Scyther's speed. They could only vaguely make out a streak of green lightning flashing low across the battlefield.

Almost the instant Scyther launched its attack, Roy spoke with foresight.

"Thunder Punch!"

Riolu threw a straight punch, colliding with Scyther's scythe-arm.

Both sides took a step back, their strength evenly matched.

"Fury Cutter!"

"Keep countering with Thunder Punch!"

Blade light tore through the air as lightning clashed head-on with the slashes.

In just a few seconds, the two had exchanged dozens of power collisions.

This was a high-speed offensive and defensive battle that allowed not even a pause for breath. The spectators could see only blurry afterimages.

Under such circumstances, neither side had the time to use any status moves.

Trying to seal off my Agility and Lightning Body Tempering...

Roy understood his opponent's intentions perfectly.

A hard-hitting fighting style did not mean one lacked brains.

With Agility and Lightning Body Tempering, Riolu's explosive power under the double buff was terrifying enough to surpass the realm of a Novice-level Trainer.

But put another way, all they had to do was deny him the chance to stack his buffs.

If the monsters never gave Daigo the chance to transform into Ultraman Tiga, the whole show would have ended long ago.

The high-speed battle continued. In this situation, neither Trainer could interfere and could only trust their own Pokémon.

As its stamina steadily drained, Riolu suddenly shifted from offense to defense, looking somewhat strained.

At that moment, the commentator said at a rapid pace, "Riolu's power is gradually weakening. Scyther is using its own Bug-type move, Fury Cutter, while Riolu is repeatedly using Electric-type moves that aren't its specialty. The strain is too great..."

Aside from Agility, which had been exchanged through the system, Riolu's most practiced move was its own Fighting-type move, Rock Smash.

Without a type advantage, Riolu would not fear Scyther at all in close combat with Rock Smash.

—Meng Duoduo and Scyther had a clear plan: stick to Riolu in high-speed close combat and make the most of their type advantage.

"None of the recommended students are idiots."

Life was hard, and Roy sighed.

Why were all his opponents so smart?

The intelligence exposed in his last match had immediately been targeted, leaving him no opportunities at all.

In the end, I still couldn't save my trump card for the finals.

Roy regretted it inwardly, but his command came without hesitation.

"Riolu, take them off!"

Finally receiving its Trainer's permission, Riolu gave an excited low cry. It crossed its arms in front of itself, took a Fury Cutter head-on from Scyther, and was sent flying more than thirty feet away. It performed a backflip to dissipate the force and landed steadily again.

In each of Riolu's hands was a cloth bracelet.

"What does that mean?"

Meng Duoduo was confused, and Scyther did not charge in immediately either.

At this distance, if Riolu tried to use Lightning Body Tempering or Agility, Scyther could easily interrupt it.

Though he could not understand the meaning of Riolu taking off its bracelets, it was better to play it safe and have Scyther observe the situation in case there was some trick involved.

Under everyone's gaze, Riolu stretched both arms out to either side, then gently loosened its fingers.

"BOOM—!!"

The seemingly weightless bracelets hit the ground like massive boulders, smashing two deep craters into the field as dust rose into the air.

"Holy shit!!"

"??????"

"What happened? That was the weight of a bracelet?"

"Is that some kind of special item? I've never seen anything like it!"

The enormous contrast stunned countless spectators. The venue erupted as cries of disbelief rang out one after another.

Roy was startled as well.

He remembered that when he had first picked up the bracelets, he could not feel any weight at all. He had assumed that the Weighted Bracelets only took effect when worn.

Could it be that the Weighted Bracelets did not only take effect when worn, but simply had no negative effects on him as the system's host?

He had not expected them to cause such a huge commotion.

"It's here."

Lin Shixian stomped his foot excitedly. His earlier guess had been proven right.

Meng Duoduo stared blankly. Recalling the details of Roy's previous matches, he swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice, "Y-you... You've had Riolu wearing those things this whole time during its matches?"

Roy ignored him completely and gave his order with a cold expression.

"It's time to end this match."

"Quick Attack."

Riolu leaned slightly forward, took one step, and suddenly shot forward.

Its speed was fully two levels faster than before.

Scyther only had time to raise its arms in front of itself before an overwhelming force crushed through its guard and sent it flying straight back.

It rolled across the ground for dozens of meters, smashing several craters into the field before barely managing to steady itself.

At this distance...

It was over.

Meng Duoduo's heart turned cold.

Sure enough, Riolu once again entered the explosive state of Lightning Body Tempering + Agility.

"Crush it! Thunder Punch!"

Along with Roy's voice came the thunderous sound of Riolu charging, reaching everyone's ears.

Some veteran Trainers with exceptional dynamic vision could vaguely see an invisible shockwave forming in front of Riolu.

—A Sound Barrier!

It was proof that the Pokémon's speed was approaching the speed of sound.

Countless people mentally erupted in disbelief.

And they called this a dark horse?

This was a fucking monster!

A battle between Novice-level Trainers had actually produced a Sound Barrier. What kind of joke was this?

For most second-year students, whether they could even reach this level was a question mark.

That outrageous speed decided the match.

Scyther could not even dodge. It took a Sonic Thunder Punch directly to the abdomen.

Double damage plus sonic kinetic force plunged Scyther's consciousness into pitch-black darkness. Its entire body was blasted into the wall at the edge of the arena, smashing a massive crater into it.

Beyond that wall were the spectator stands. The seated audience screamed in alarm, and one child who had come to watch their older brother and sister compete was scared straight into tears.

Such things rarely happened in higher-level leagues, where the safety measures were extremely thorough.

But no one had expected an entrance test to unleash combat power so far beyond the norm.

"Sc-Scyther has lost its ability to battle. The winners are Riolu and Competitor Roy."

Even the referee's voice caught slightly.

How many matches had he officiated? How many recordings had he watched? What kind of scenes had he not seen before?

Well, he really had never seen this one.

The entire venue fell silent for several seconds. Then—

Earth-shaking cheers and hoarse roars nearly brought the whole stadium down.

Principal Fang and Professor Xing looked at each other. It was a good thing for the school to gain such outstanding talent, but at this moment, neither could find the words to speak.

Elite Four Xiao remained silent, as if he had made some sort of decision.

In the competitors' room, Xiao Bin, who had watched Roy's rise with cold detachment and remained unmoved all along, finally turned completely serious.

"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable!"

The commentator's voice came belatedly, barely able to conceal his excitement. "I have hosted the Sheng Hai New Star Cup for more than twenty years, and I have never seen a Novice-level Trainer unleash such combat power. He... he only made his debut as a Trainer one week ago!

Sheng Hai University has welcomed a dazzling new star! I have already become his fan, and I cannot wait to see his next match.

Competitor Roy, student Roy—he isn't merely a dark horse. I have every reason to believe that he is the biggest favorite to win this year's freshman championship!"

It had to be said that the commentator's ability to control the atmosphere was unmatched. Hearing his impassioned praise, the cheers in the venue surged to an even greater height.

"Damn, where did this monster rookie come from?"

"I think the commentator is still being too modest. What do you mean, favorite to win? With this strength, he's guaranteed to take the championship!"

"That's what I think too. Xiao Bin's Abra is clearly no match for him!"

"Elite Four Xiao's kid is already excellent, really. Too bad he ran into someone completely unreasonable."