Mu Sen's Doom

"You guys? How is this possible?"

Surrounded, Mu Sen stared around in disbelief. He simply could not understand why. Why had he fallen victim to Giovanni three times?

Giovanni spoke coldly:

"Once, twice, but not a third time... kill them!"

At Giovanni's command, Max and his Machop were the first to act. He was simply too earnest.

But he was also very brave and fierce. Even fighting one against ten was easy for him.

His Machop, however, had only hatched recently and was not particularly strong. He could only hold off one Pokémon.

It was not just Mu Sen. The people around them also noticed Max and were very surprised.

"How come this guy's helping someone else too?"

"Yeah, hadn't his Pokémon still not hatched last night? I thought he was dead!"

"Mu Sen's gang is finished!"

In a distant corner, Axin could not help widening his eyes when he saw Giovanni suddenly summon more than twenty boys.

He immediately recalled how these boys' expressions had changed drastically after Giovanni exchanged just a few words with them earlier.

Although he did not know how Giovanni had done it, this could only mean that Giovanni still had a secret no one knew about-a powerful secret.

Meanwhile, Mu Sen did not care whether Max was dead or alive, nor did he care what anyone else thought. All he knew was that they were in danger.

He glared viciously at Giovanni and shouted:

"Come out and fight me one-on-one if you've got the guts!"

"Idiot." Giovanni sneered, then coldly ordered the others:

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and attack!"

Under Giovanni's sweeping gaze, the remaining twenty-odd boys who were still frozen in place felt their scalps prickle.

Especially when the Weedle beside Giovanni stirred as well.

"Yes."

"Yes, Boss Giovanni!"

More than twenty boys and their twenty-odd Pokémon had no trouble ganging up on a dozen or so boys and their Pokémon.

Especially with Giovanni, the strongest of them, watching menacingly from the side.

Mu Sen's face flushed red. He pointed at Giovanni and viciously ordered the Charmander beside him, "Charmander, go kill that guy!"

Charmander had suffered at Weedle's hands before and had long been displeased with both Weedle and Giovanni.

Once Mu Sen gave the order, he immediately charged at Weedle and Giovanni.

He easily drove back the one or two Pokémon blocking his path. He was a Starter Pokémon, after all, and had some strength.

Yet Giovanni and Weedle remained unusually calm in the face of the aggressively charging Charmander.

They could not help it. With their strength up to par, they had nothing to panic about.

Giovanni called to Weedle:

"String Shot!"

Without a second thought, Weedle opened his mouth and spat strands of silk at Charmander.

Behind him, Mu Sen shouted:

"Charmander, use Ember."

"Whoosh!"

Charmander puffed out his cheeks, opened his mouth, and spat out little bursts of scorching flame.

The brilliant flames landed on the silk, instantly setting it alight and burning it to nothing!

Fire-types had a considerable advantage over Bug-types.

The same went for their moves. The flammable silk ignited at a touch.

At the sight, Mu Sen laughed wildly:

"What a trashy Bug-type! Its silk is completely useless! My Starter Pokémon is stronger after all."

Some nearby boys who had chosen Bug-types felt dejected upon hearing this.

The twenty-odd boys Giovanni had gathered also began to hesitate.

Yet Giovanni continued directing Weedle calmly. "Keep going. Alternate between Poison Sting and String Shot."

Weedle would never doubt his own strength, much less Giovanni, so he began using his moves nonstop.

This was almost the same as his usual training. He had attacked moving targets before too, so he handled it with ease.

Mu Sen roared savagely.

"Charmander, show this bug what strength means! Ember..."

Mu Sen had that sort of temperament, and his Charmander was even worse. With utter disdain, he opened his mouth and repeatedly used Ember.

The scorching embers did indeed block every strand of silk and every poison needle.

But Weedle used large quantities of poison needles and silk every day, and ate plenty of Poison-type food and leaves. His reserves were far beyond Charmander's.

Sure enough, after only a dozen or so exchanges, the flame on Charmander's tail weakened considerably, and he no longer had the same vigor as before.

"Is that Charmander running out of steam?"

"Looks like it?"

"Feels like he's gone limp!"

Hearing the clamor around him, Mu Sen roared:

"Shut up! My Charmander is the strongest! He's a Starter Pokémon!"

After the furious Mu Sen roared at them, the boys who had spoken really did fall silent for a while.

But Charmander truly was in poor shape.

"Cough, cough!" Charmander coughed dryly twice. As though misfiring, he spat out a puff of black smoke without producing any more flames.

Giovanni seized the opportunity.

"Now! Use your densest silk to seal his mouth and bind his limbs."

Weedle immediately spat out several extremely dense strands of silk.

The targeted training he had done over the past dozen or so days paid off now.

Weedle easily sealed Charmander's mouth with silk and bound his limbs, restraining him on the spot.

Charmander struggled frantically, but Weedle's silk, which had transformed every day, was extremely tough. He could not break free at all.

Mu Sen cried out in horror:

"Impossible! How is this possible?"

The nearby boys also seized the opportunity to kick him while he was down, especially those with Bug-type Pokémon.

"My Charmander is the strongest! He's a Starter Pokémon..."

"So Starter Pokémon aren't that strong after all? I reckon even my Caterpie could do it!"

Mu Sen's eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly struck by an idea, he shouted to Charmander:

"Use your tail! Burn the silk with the flame on your tail!"

The frantically struggling Charmander immediately moved to obey.

But Giovanni had already given Weedle an order. "Poison Sting!"

Poison needles shot out one after another, every single one striking Charmander.

Before Charmander could scorch the silk with the flame on his tail, he let out a scream as the poison needles riddled him with holes.

The potent poison turned Charmander purplish-black, and he foamed at the mouth.

For a Starter Pokémon to end up like this was, honestly, quite a waste.

But Giovanni did not feel the slightest regret, because his Weedle was the strongest.

Giovanni told Mu Sen coldly:

"Trash. You took a perfectly good Pokémon and raised him into trash too."

Provoked by Giovanni, Mu Sen could no longer control himself. Losing again and again left him unable to stay rational.

He charged madly at Giovanni, roaring, "I'll kill you!"

Giovanni simply watched him coldly, making no move to engage him in hand-to-hand combat.

Only when he was almost upon Giovanni did Giovanni speak coldly:

"Poison Sting!"

Whoosh, whoosh!

Weedle released a volley of poison needles, sending Mu Sen down the same path as Charmander.

Mu Sen did not have Charmander's constitution. After taking that barrage of poison needles, he collapsed, unable to get up, foaming at the mouth.

His body swelled from the poison, looking just like a purple balloon!

He struggled twice, then died at Giovanni's feet!