Slowbro

Slowbro stared blankly at Lucario, as though in a state of amnesia. Lucario lost patience and fired a Shadow Ball, but Slowbro still looked utterly vacant. Even after taking the Shadow Ball head-on, Slowbro showed no sign of pain.

"That Slowbro is so stupid. Why would anyone send a Pokémon like that into battle?"

The Twin-Tailed Girl ate her chips and mocked Slowbro. Yet quite a few trainers, including her older brother, the young man in red, showed no mocking smiles. Instead, they watched Slowbro with grave expressions.

Noticing something wrong with her brother's expression, the Twin-Tailed Girl asked, "What happened? Is there something wrong with that Slowbro?"

"Something very wrong. If I saw that correctly, that Slowbro might have just used Amnesia."

On the Presidential Platform, Lorelei adjusted her glasses. In the battle just now, Lucario had chosen to strengthen itself with Calm Mind, while Slowbro had responded by choosing Amnesia, which raised Special Defense faster.

Gongping also realized which move Slowbro might have used and swiftly had Lucario change tactics. Countless Shadow Balls shot in from every direction.

Battling Psychic-type trainers was troublesome in precisely this way. Trainers could only rely on their own judgment to determine which moves their opponents used, and a single mistake could pose a fatal risk. Sending Lucario out to interfere with Calm Mind had simply been an attempt to break Will's silence.

He chose to keep using Shadow Ball because its secondary effect had a certain chance of lowering the opponent's Special Defense. This was the only way to break through Slowbro's defenses.

Yet Slowbro shook its head vacantly. Using Confusion to control its movements, Slowbro instantly appeared before Lucario. Contrary to Gongping's expectations, this Slowbro was not a special attacker, but a Slowbro that fought at close quarters!

A close-combat Slowbro against a special-attacking Lucario!

Had the world turned upside down?

Slowbro closed in with a punch. Sensing that something was wrong, Lucario tried to fire the Shadow Ball in its hand, only for countless strands of psychic power to wrap around its body like tangled silk. The shell behind Slowbro swayed, releasing powerful energy fluctuations.

Clearly, Slowbro was highly capable in close combat. As countless psychic threads bound Lucario and prevented it from moving, Slowbro's body began to swell little by little before bearing straight down on Lucario.

At that moment, Slowbro slammed its body viciously into Lucario, unleashing the Normal-type move Body Slam.

Slowbro's heavy body crushed Lucario beneath it. A moment later, signs of numbness appeared throughout Lucario's body. As Slowbro's attacks grew increasingly fierce, Lucario gathered Shadow Balls in its hands once more and hurled them at Slowbro without pause.

Even so, Lucario could not break through Slowbro's defenses. Instead, after several Body Slams, countless fine electrical currents surrounded Lucario's entire body. Together with Slowbro's clinging threads of psychic power, they caused Lucario increasing agony.

Compared with the overwhelming, forceful approach of Spoink's earlier Confusion, Slowbro's psychic power clung like countless fine threads, giving off an eerie, sinister feeling.

Lucario tried to drive psychic power into Slowbro's brain. Yet Slowbro, having used Amnesia, still presented Lucario with a completely blank world.

Unable to find any useful clues, Lucario's consciousness was just about to leave when an enormous rumble shook the entire blank mental world. Looking up, Lucario saw a gigantic Slowbro staring vacantly at the intruder in its consciousness. Its gaze remained just as blank, but there was nothing hesitant about its attack as it brought a fist crashing down.

The psychic power rebounded, sending Lucario flying. Slowbro then walked to a particular spot and lightly braced Lucario as it rolled out.

Slowbro brought its cumbersome body down for one final Body Slam. Lucario's expression changed, and amid the violent shaking of the ground, Lucario finally fell unconscious, unable to battle.

Throughout the battle, Lucario, despite its mastery of psychic manipulation, had been unable to penetrate Slowbro's strange defenses. Instead, its abilities had repeatedly been reflected back at it. There truly was a counter to everything in this world: the simple-looking Slowbro was, in fact, the bane of the calculating Lucario.

Lucario's defeat forced Gongping to reassess Will, the Psychic-type King. As expected of a fellow King-level trainer, once he got serious, he was not so easy to deal with.

"Scizor!"

A red light flashed swiftly. The moment Scizor appeared, its expression turned exceptionally icy as it looked at Slowbro opposite it and thought of Lucario's defeat.

To Scizor, Lucario was a formidable rival. But losing so disgracefully this time actually made Scizor even angrier.

I warned that guy long ago not to put too much faith in that so-called calculating ability. Now it's gone and lost to this idiot for nothing.

Compared with Lucario's meticulously calculated fighting style, Scizor was far more brutal and wild. Its soaring ferocity affected quite a few people in the stands. Sitting near the front, Misty still felt lingering fear. Scizor's savage appearance involuntarily reminded her of what had happened during that Gym assessment.

Turning both pincers into blades, Scizor unleashed countless howling currents of Swords Dance, forming a powerful storm of energy. At the sight, Slowbro sent a pale blue mass of psychic power toward it, only for Scizor to roar angrily and slash down, instantly smashing Slowbro's psychic assault apart.

This guy...

The red demon that had once struck terror into Team Rocket at Mt. Moon swept outward with powerful currents of Swords Dance. Under Scizor's control, the sandstorm that had been gradually dissipating gathered around its body once more.

Blade currents swirled as Scizor stared proudly at Slowbro before it, bringing a trace of fear to Slowbro's previously somewhat wooden expression.

Afraid? That's more like it. There should be a limit to playing dumb to catch someone off guard...

Thinking back on Lucario's defeat, it was still rather astonishing. Mere Body Slams had been enough to bring it down... Wait, it definitely couldn't have been Body Slam alone.

Scizor's overwhelming assault left Slowbro no room to maneuver. Its figure flashed, and it unleashed the Bug-type move Fury Cutter with tremendous force. Amid sweeping blade flashes that filled the air, Slowbro was knocked flat and sent flying.

Struggling to its feet, Slowbro stared fixedly at Scizor opposite it, pale blue light radiating around its body.

"I should have guessed long ago. Aside from Amnesia, the other move Slowbro used to strengthen itself earlier was Curse, wasn't it? But those tricks won't work on Scizor. Use Fury Cutter."

Gongping finally realized why Slowbro had been able to defeat Lucario with Body Slam in the previous battle. Clearly, besides Amnesia, it had also used a move such as Curse to strengthen its Attack and Defense. Unfortunately for it, Scizor's Swords Dance strengthened it faster!

Scizor's Ability was Technician, so the first hit of Fury Cutter already had considerable power. After a successful hit, subsequent Fury Cutters would double in power. And since the move itself was Bug-type, it dealt tremendous damage to Slowbro.

At Gongping's command, Scizor swiftly appeared before Slowbro, slashing down repeatedly with both pincers at extreme speed. Finally unable to endure any more, Slowbro slowly collapsed, unable to battle.

Faced with Slowbro's defeat, Will, who should have remained unruffled, finally showed a slight change in expression. After withdrawing the Poké Ball, he slowly stroked a special stone beneath the earring on his right side, then gave his assessment in a hoarse voice.

"Sandstorm King Gongping, your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations by far. Originally, I intended to finish this match with only four Pokémon. But now it seems I'll have to give it everything I have to defeat you."

Another Poké Ball swiftly floated into the air. Under everyone's gaze, its light gradually faded, revealing a Pokémon of peerless elegance. Then a wondrous rainbow light radiated around Will, flowing continuously toward the Pokémon that had appeared from the Poké Ball.

"Gardevoir, Mega Evolve!"

Sensing the increasingly terrifying energy fluctuations from the opposing Pokémon, Scizor also showed excitement in its eyes. Turning both pincers into blades, it slashed out a powerful hurricane toward its opponent.

Only by defeating the strong can I surpass myself!

PS: That wraps up today's six updates. I wrote all of them on the spot, and by the last two chapters, I was dizzy and groggy myself. I have work tomorrow, so there's no way I can post this many updates.