Miracle of Life

A Dark-type Mightyena had been restrained by some Psychic-like move?

A miracle?

No.

Baimu understood that Chansey had not yet reached the level of defying natural laws. That was the miraculous power of Legendary Pokémon.

What it had used was either Disable—the petrification trick Psyduck loved to use in the anime—or some Psychic status move that ignored type matchups.

[Telekinesis]!

That was right. It had to be that.

Clutching the wound on his arm, he quickly pulled himself free from beneath Mightyena and got to his feet, checking on Chansey.

Blue light covered Chansey's eyes. Pain and determination mixed on its adorable face, as though its psychic power had reached its limit but it was still holding on.

It had not harmed Mightyena, but holding it in place was enough.

"Thank goodness..."

Baimu let out a breath, turned toward Jian, who was still standing there in a daze, and charged at him despite the blood streaming from his arm.

Unfortunately, Jian was too far away to be caught in Chansey's control.

He needed a stab.

"Y-You! Don't come any closer!"

When Jian saw Baimu approaching, he cried out and turned to run, his voice twisting sharply.

They were not that different in size, and Baimu even had an injured arm. Yet just seeing him charge over filled Jian with an unavoidable sense of dread, as though a savage beast were eyeing his head.

Even now, he could not understand why Baimu was so difficult to deal with.

He had only started training Pokémon a week ago. His Pokémon were clearly lower-level than Jian's, and Jian had even fed Mightyena and the others his last-resort medicine, yet he still could not win.

"Stand still!"

At that thought, a trace of viciousness surfaced on Jian's face. He roared and pulled a small knife from his pocket, though the bravado in his expression was plainly hollow.

Then suddenly—

He shouted excitedly, "Bewear! Take down that Chansey!"

Baimu turned his head slightly and was stunned to see the Bewear that should have been asleep rise again as though doing a sit-up, clearly breaking free from its sleeping state.

Likewise—

The Aron in front of it also woke from its haze.

At first glance, it seemed the situation might turn around again. But in his excitement, Jian slowed down, rapidly closing the distance between them once more.

By the time he realized they had already run quite far away, and that even if Bewear defeated Aron and Chansey it could not immediately come help him—

Baimu was already there.

"Disarm!"

He suddenly threw the dagger in his hand. Driven by tremendous force, it became a streak of cold light and plunged straight into Jian's wrist.

"Argh!"

Jian screamed, and the knife in his hand instantly fell to the ground.

In a panic, Jian clutched his bleeding wrist and tried to pull out the dagger. But that delay allowed Baimu to reach him. He launched a flying kick and sent him crashing to the ground!

"Urgh!"

Pinned beneath the crushing weight, Jian let out a muffled groan before breaking into a shrill scream.

Baimu had planted himself directly on his back and, without the slightest hesitation, wrenched his arms with all his strength. Like dismantling a robot figurine, he kept going until two crisp cracks rang out and Jian's shoulders shattered.

But it was not over.

Baimu pulled the knife from Jian's wrist and stabbed the backs of both his knees. Dark red blood quickly soaked through his gray uniform.

"AAAAAAAHHHH—"

Jian let out an earth-shaking scream. Tears and snot quickly smeared across the face that had once been full of arrogance.

"Shut up!"

Baimu slapped him across the face, leaving his cheek red and swollen. "Crying like a ghost over such minor injuries? What a waste of that big body!"

Given Jian's build, they should at least have been able to trade blows for a few rounds.

Who would have thought he was worse than a pig headed for slaughter? At least a pig's struggles could give someone a headache. Jian's resistance was pathetically weak.

Had becoming a Trainer and throwing his weight around made him forget how to fight?

Baimu grabbed his hair and forced him to look toward Bewear, saying coldly, "You were so eager for your Pokémon to save you. Fine. Open your eyes and watch closely!"

In the distance—

After waking up, Bewear shook its head, trying to clear its mind, then lunged at Chansey, who was restraining Mightyena with blue light.

"Bewaa!"

But just as it leaped, a silver flash shot forth and slammed into it like a heavy hammer, sending it flying. It rolled several times across the ground before staggering back to its feet.

"Ugh..."

It raised its head and looked at its attacker, Aron, not far away.

Just like Bewear, its face was full of exhaustion, as though its strength had reached its end and could run dry at any moment.

But—

Why were that Pokémon's eyes still so bright?

Bewear's muddled mind, still affected by the medicine's aftermath, could not understand it. After such a vicious battle, pain and exhaustion wrapped around both their bodies. At this very moment, when they wanted nothing more than to fall asleep on the spot—

Why did Aron's gaze remain so brilliant, as though none of this had ever happened?

It was as though—

All pain and exhaustion had become insignificant for some reason. As though victory was certain to come in the end. As though an incomparably wonderful tomorrow awaited it.

For no reason, Bewear hated that look.

"Bewaa!"

It roared hysterically and used every ounce of strength in its body, crushing Aron beneath itself like a black wall. Then it tried to lift Aron up and smash it viciously into the ground.

But it failed.

Because beneath Bewear, a shimmering blue radiance from the Miracle of Life lit up.

Countless firefly-like lights spun around Aron. Its puppy-like body rapidly grew larger, its rounded head taking on the shape of a mountain ridge. More bony protrusions formed along its back, combining with segmented Steel armor.

In an instant—

A fierce, ankylosaur-like creature appeared beneath Bewear, its pale blue eyes filled with joy and confidence!

"Bewaa!?"

Bewear was startled. Just as it tried to do something, an immense force hurled it into the air!

When it landed, Lairon slammed its claws into the ground, causing the sand beneath Bewear to collapse into a sunken, wildly spinning quicksand vortex!

"Bewaa!"

Bewear inevitably slid in. The more it struggled, the deeper it sank, and soon half its body was buried in the sand.

It wanted to strike back at Lairon with Ice Beam, but the energy in its body had long since been exhausted. It could not even use half a move.

Thus, it could only watch helplessly as sand and gravel gradually swallowed it.

And soon, Mightyena was dragged into that terrifying Sand Tomb by Lairon to keep it company.

The two Pokémon looked at each other, then lost consciousness in the blink of an eye and fell completely unconscious.

In the distance—

Jian watched this scene in despair, with only unconscious wails and groans spilling from his mouth through the unbearable pain.

"Thank you. My Aron found the opportunity to evolve."

Baimu spoke words of gratitude, but his expression was icy cold. He dragged Jian by the hair, ignoring his cries of agony as he walked back toward Chansey and Lairon.

The two hurried over as well.

"Lucky..."

"Lairon!"

Chansey anxiously looked at Baimu's blood-soaked arm, while Lairon wore an equally worried expression.

"I'm fine. It's just a flesh wound."

Baimu smiled at them, tore open his sleeve with his teeth, and showed them the arm guard beneath it, riddled with several bite holes. "I prepared in advance."

It looked like he had lost a lot of blood, but no bones or tendons had been injured.

Only then did Chansey and Lairon relax.

There was still the afternoon...