Holding Back

Shangzhu did not send out the Feraligatr beside him. Instead, he took out a Poké Ball and opened it.

Bang!

A yellow Pokémon with a red orb on its forehead and black stripes on its neck and ears appeared on the field.

[Pokémon: Ampharos / Gender: Male / Level: 45]

[Ability: Static / Type: Electric / Trainer: Shangzhu]

[Moves: Thunder Punch lv4 / Hidden Power (Rock type) lv3]

[Reflect lv3 / Thunder Wave lv4 / Thunderbolt lv4]

A level forty-five Ampharos!

Heiduo sat in the stands. If Shangzhu were playing the Gold version of the game, this Ampharos would have been enough to steamroll Violet City's Flying Gym. After all, type advantage trumped everything, and Ampharos had excellent base stats. In the games, it was definitely a Pokémon worth raising.

But reality was another matter...

Heiduo glanced at Feng, whose expression remained calm and unruffled. Having been a Gym Leader for so many years, Feng had to be extremely familiar with Pokémon like Ampharos.

So it was still anyone's guess who would come out on top.

"As usual, go ahead." Feng spread his hands toward Shangzhu, and Swellow flapped its wings and soared into the sky.

Swellow's base stats were not low, and it was incredibly fast, but it was frail and could not take many Thunderbolts. It might not even withstand one.

Therefore, whether it could dodge Ampharos's attacks in time would be the key to victory.

"Thunder Wave!"

Naturally, Shangzhu was not going to be polite with Feng. He immediately ordered Ampharos to use Thunder Wave.

Its effect was to inflict Paralysis on any Pokémon it hit.

If it successfully struck Swellow, the impact on it would be far greater than on a Pokémon moving across the ground.

The red orb on Ampharos's forehead lit up. High in the air, Swellow sharply noticed where Ampharos's forehead was pointing and instinctively climbed higher.

But the electricity did not come from the orb on Ampharos's forehead. It came from the orb on its tail.

Golden, dazzling ripples of electricity shot into the sky with lightning speed, aimed directly at the direction Swellow had dodged toward.

Crackle!

The beam formed from those electric ripples struck Swellow in the blink of an eye!

Tiny currents sprang up across Swellow's body!

It was paralyzed!

"Haha! Ampharos can fire electricity not only from the orb on its head, but from its tail as well!" Shangzhu said with a smug laugh. Electric-type Pokémon usually generated electricity through specialized electrical organs within their bodies.

For instance, Elekid's electrical organs were the plug-like horns on its head, while Pikachu generated electricity through the electric sacs in its cheeks. Ampharos's electrical organs happened to be the Orbs on its body.

For an ordinary Flying-type Pokémon, Paralysis might mean it had already lost half the battle. But for Swellow, a negative status condition was merely the beginning of the fight.

Sure enough, red light flared around Swellow. Its eyes turned crimson, and it radiated a chilling aura!

Shangzhu did not understand what was happening and became somewhat flustered.

Feng, who had remained silent until now, smiled. "This is Swellow's Ability—Guts! Once it falls into a negative condition, its Attack rises drastically!"

"Double Team!" Feng raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

Swellow's form flashed through the sky, splitting from one into two, two into four, until nearly twenty copies filled the air!

"Aerial Ace!"

Pokémon battles were never turn-based affairs where each side took one hit at a time. As long as your Pokémon could move fast enough, no one would complain if you used seventeen or eighteen moves in succession.

But move startup and recovery were extremely important.

"Third one from the left! Thunderbolt!" Shangzhu watched the rows of "Swellow" dive down at him without panicking in the slightest. Taking advantage of Ampharos having two electrical organs, he began gambling.

It had to be said that Double Team was an extremely troublesome move in reality. Inexperienced Trainers could easily panic at the sight of so many densely packed doubles, but as long as one observed carefully, one could always spot the differences between the copies and the real body.

Thick bolts of lightning struck one "Swellow" after another, but because Swellow had spread its copies far apart, Thunderbolt achieved nothing.

The wings of the "Swellow" glowed white, and seven or eight of them swept rapidly across Ampharos's body together!

Thud!

A muffled impact came from Ampharos's body. Shangzhu locked onto the direction of the sound and shouted, "To your left! The fourth one! Thunder Punch!"

Enduring the pain, Ampharos threw a punch at the location Shangzhu indicated. Crackling sparks wrapped around Swellow!

"Got you! Thunderbolt!" Shangzhu pressed his advantage as Ampharos's Orbs released a dazzling glow!

Surging electricity struck Swellow all at once!

"Beautiful!" Shangzhu shouted excitedly.

No! It was fake!

As someone who knew Swellow's moveset, Heiduo understood that what Shangzhu had caught was merely a tangible copy created by Swellow's Substitute!

Sure enough, Swellow's body twisted and finally shattered apart.

"What?!" Shangzhu was stunned. "How could that be a copy?!"

If it had been a Double Team copy, it would have shattered the moment it was attacked.

"Air Slash!"

At the same time, a Swellow on Ampharos's right flapped its wings, firing several wind blades that all struck Ampharos!

"Mm!" Ampharos cried out in pain again. Even though Flying-type moves dealt only half damage to Electric-type Pokémon, it could not endure being attacked continuously.

"Hidden Power! Attack your rear right!" Shangzhu hurriedly ordered.

Rock-type Hidden Power also dealt double damage to Flying-type Pokémon. Most of this Ampharos's moves were super effective against Flying-type Pokémon, but unfortunately, Shangzhu knew too little about the Gym Leader's Pokémon and their moves.

An invisible force burst from Ampharos's body and rushed directly toward the real Swellow!

"Mirror Move!" Feng chuckled, entirely unhurried.

Swellow opened its beak and fired an identical invisible force at Ampharos.

Boom!

The air trembled, and the invisible forces burst apart. A powerful gust spread in every direction.

Heiduo, seated far away in the stands, could feel a breeze brush against his face. Shangzhu, on the field, staggered back seven or eight steps and crashed butt-first into Feraligatr's arms.

Yet Feng, a man named Feng who had dealt with wind for many years, merely shook his Flying jacket and remained unmoved.

"Aerial Ace!"

"Thunderbolt!"

The two commands rang out one after another. Because Shangzhu was unsteady on his feet, he was one step slower than Feng.

The Pokémon that received their orders attacked at once.

Swellow transformed into a streak of white light and lunged straight at Ampharos, which had just begun releasing electricity from its Orbs.

Suddenly, Swellow's body stiffened!

A current erupted from nowhere across its body!

In that instant, Ampharos's Thunderbolt was unleashed!

Crackle—!!

Golden light exploded! Thunderbolt struck Swellow, but Swellow also crashed headlong into Ampharos from sheer momentum!

Both Pokémon were sent flying together, slamming into the wall beneath the stands!

Crash!

A light cloud of dust rose up, but it did not prevent Feng and Shangzhu from seeing Swellow and Ampharos's condition.

Against the wall, now cracked like a spiderweb, Ampharos was covered in wounds. One eye was shut, and it sat slumped on the ground, panting heavily. Swellow lay sprawled before it.

Although Ampharos had not fainted, it was obvious that its remaining stamina was insufficient to support another battle.

"You win." Feng casually recalled the unconscious Swellow. Paralysis would not cause lasting damage to Pokémon, and Poké Balls could help ease their injuries. "Rest well, Swellow. You did more than enough!"

Shangzhu's expression was exceptionally grim. He recalled Ampharos, quietly comforted and encouraged it a few times, then took out another Poké Ball.

Feng was the first to send out his second Pokémon.

[Pokémon: Pidgeot / Gender: Male / Level: 65]

[Ability: Keen Eye / Type: Normal + Flying / Trainer: Feng]

[Moves: Wing Attack lv6 / Roost lv6 / Pursuit lv6]

[Quick Attack lv6 / Air Slash lv6 / Uproar lv6]

This Pidgeot was so old!

Heiduo looked at Pidgeot's incomparably long crest feathers. They swayed gently in the air, looking soft and flowing.

One important indicator of a Pidgeot's age was the crest feathers on its head. The longer the crest feathers, the older the Pidgeot.

Judging from Feng's movements, gaze, and expression, this Pidgeot was very likely his first Pokémon.

"This fellow has been with me for more than thirty years, nearly forty! It was the first Pokémon I encountered when I first set out on my journey! Back then, it had just been driven from its flock after failing to seize the leader's position. It was covered in wounds, and I very shamelessly caught it... Haha, sorry, challenger! What is your second Pokémon?"

Feng's eyes shifted from nostalgia to tenderness, then to resolve. Leaning against Pidgeot, he gave off an awe-inspiring aura.

As a recognized powerhouse in Johto, Feng did not have eyes that looked like an eagle's. Yet when one met his gaze, it felt as though a fierce giant bird were staring them down, as if it regarded them as food on a plate!

If he had to use a term from Pokémon to describe it, only the Ability Keen Eye fit perfectly.

Shangzhu swallowed, but he did not shrink back. He had earned five Badges, after all. His mental fortitude was not so weak that he would become afraid merely because of an imposing aura.

"My second Pokémon is this one!"

He shouted, bolstering his own courage.

Pop!

A snail-like Pokémon with a bubbling red body and a round shell on its back slid onto the ground.

[Pokémon: Magcargo / Gender: Male / Level: 42]

[Ability: Flame Body / Type: Fire + Rock type / Trainer: Shangzhu]

[Moves: Ancient Power lv4 / Flamethrower lv3]

[Yawn lv4 / Harden lv3 / Smog lv3]

Magcargo!

Heiduo remembered that this Pokémon was supposedly extremely, extremely hot. The surface of the sun was only 6,000°C, yet Magcargo's body surface was said to reach 10,000°C.

It seemed that once that official setting was translated into reality, it had simply become a rumor.

Come to think of it, that made sense. No matter how formidable a human was, they would be instantly vaporized by temperatures of 10,000°C, right?

Even though Heiduo was nearly twenty meters away from Magcargo, it would take only a blink for him to be burned to death.