Lucario's Bullet Punch transformed into streaks of light as it launched its attack, while its opponent, Ampharos, activated Cotton Guard. Instantly, Ampharos's fur puffed up, turning it into a fluffy, spherical mass.
When the Bullet Punch struck, its penetrating force was dispersed across Ampharos's entire body by the Cotton Guard's cushioning effect.
"Luca!"
Lucario suddenly realized its fist was stuck—trapped as if sinking in quicksand, firmly held by the Cotton Guard's grip.
The cotton was laced with static electricity, and the electrostatic pull locked Lucario's arm in place.
Worse, it even caused Lucario to fall into a paralyzed state.
Ampharos smirked triumphantly. Its Cotton Guard wasn't just for defense—it had trained relentlessly to weave static electricity into the technique.
Caught off guard, Lucario had fallen right into the trap.
As Ampharos released the Cotton Guard, crackling electricity surged around its fist. With a sharp CRACK!, a Thunder Punch slammed into Lucario with a boom.
Paralyzed, Lucario couldn't move, and was sent flying by the Thunder Punch.
Julian had been monitoring the battle closely. The moment Lucario was paralyzed, he noticed.
"Gengar, go help Lucario," Julian said.
Under normal circumstances, even paralyzed, Lucario could've handled this Ampharos. But this was a free-for-all battle, and the situation was constantly changing and was very dangerous.
A single misstep could mean severe injury… or worse.
Especially now that Lucario's movements were restricted by paralysis.
Moltres: "Isn't paralysis supposed to have a chance of still letting you move? Maybe your Lucario just has bad luck."
Moltres watched Lucario try several times to raise its hand, only to fail because of the electric currents running through its body. The paralysis odds really did seem rigged.
"Yeah, this guy's luck has always been terrible," Julian replied without changing expression.
Perhaps because their Aura bond was so strong, the moment he said that, Lucario snapped its head up and looked up at him.
Julian: (●一●)
Then, under Julian's gaze, Lucario somehow pulled out a Cheri Berry and ate it, curing its paralysis.
Julian was stunned: "When did it prepare a Cheri Berry?"
"Gen~"
Gengar: "It had asked me for one earlier."
That was also why Gengar hadn't moved yet when Julian asked it to help Lucario.
"Well prepared, no wonder it's my Pokémon," Julian commented with satisfaction.
In official matches, a Pokémon is only allowed to carry one held item—even berries count as one.
Bringing multiple held items doesn't work, since only one can be active. But berries are different—they're consumable.
But this was a no-rules, life-or-death brawl—where breaking the rules 'was' the rule.
Before engaging Ampharos, Lucario had preemptively asked Gengar for a Cheri Berry—the very berry Gengar always carried in bulk.
Naturally, Lucario hadn't taken off the Muscle Band it was originally equipped with.
After all, it knew its trainer's cursed luck better than anyone. Always be prepared.
And look, the Cheri Berry came in handy.
With paralysis cleared, Lucario extended its arms, and a bone staff materialized in its grip.
Bone Rush!
The staff became a blur of afterimages, each strike landing on Ampharos's vital points. In mere seconds, it had landed nearly a hundred blows.
Ampharos didn't even get a chance to reactivate Cotton Guard.
---
Meanwhile, Altaria was panting heavily, its feathers disheveled. The round, dopey-looking Dragonite in front of it was terrifying—no matter what Altaria tried, it couldn't land a scratch.
On the contrary, Dragonite had nearly plucked it bald.
For a Pokémon that prided itself on its feathers the most, this was mortifying. Altaria deeply wanted to destroy Dragonite—but it was utterly outmatched.
It shot a desperate glance at its trainer, Aso: 'Why aren't you Mega Evolving me?! With Mega Evolution, I could actually fight back!'
…Only to see Aso sprinting for his life, chased by a Steelix.
Altaria: 'Oh… okay, never mind then.'
Just then, Dragonite unleashed a Dragon Pulse toward Altaria.
The intense Dragon-type energy filled Altaria with dread.
The attack engulfed Altaria, leaving it a smoking wreck as it plummeted from the sky, its consciousness fading fast.
At the same time, Kartana raised its Sacred Sword, slicing clean through Flygon's Dragon Claw, and, under the latter's horrified gaze, the blade severed its head.
Altaria, who was just about to faint, happened to caught a glimpse of this—and instantly jolted awake, adrenaline surging through its exhausted body.
…Only for Dragonite to appear right in front of it. And—
WHAM!
A devastating Mega Punch landed on its skull, completely knocking it out of the battle.
---
"You wasteful brat."
Julian clicked his tongue as he watched Kartana execute Flygon.
That was an Elite-level Pokémon after all—alive, it could've been traded for valuable resources.
Sure, the corpse could still be exchanged for a decent amount, but hauling around dead bodies was disgusting, and Julian was too lazy to store a corpse in the system space.
Then he saw Kartana turning its gaze toward the other Pokémon and immediately shouted, "Kartana, return!"
Killing one was enough. The other Pokémon were all his spoils of war.
He had been heartbroken with even one dead. The rest had to be captured alive.
Kartana obediently returned to Julian's side.
"Stay here and watch. Don't steal your teammates' opponents," Julian said.
This was a rare opportunity for a full-scale battle where every Pokémon could test their skills—Julian naturally couldn't let Kartana mess that up.
He also glanced at Kartana again—its injuries still hadn't fully healed. He didn't want it getting hurt again because of the earlier fight.
Kartana crossed its arms coolly: "I'm fine. Weaklings like that can't even touch a single hair on me."
Hair?
Where on your whole body do you have hair?
"Ghahaha—"
The chubby Gengar snickered behind its stubby hands.
"Someone's approaching."
Moltres suddenly warned. Though not a Psychic-type, its sheer power granted it sharp enough senses to detect intruders from afar.
With over a dozen Elite-level Pokémon battling, the noise they made could be heard across the entire island.
It was perfectly normal for other Trainers to come investigate, after hearing the commotion.
"Gengar, go check it out," Julian said.
This was within his expectations.
Gengar vanished into the shadows.
Kartana made a move to follow—it still hadn't had its fill of cutting things down.
"You stay here and protect me," Julian said.
Kartana pointed at Moltres: "Isn't it here already?"
Julian replied flatly, "It's not as reliable as you."
Kartana's eyes curved in satisfaction as it smugly crossed its arms again: "Since that's the case, I guess I'll reluctantly protect you."
This time, Moltres didn't argue. After suffering Julian's "disciplinary slaps" one too many times, it finally understood—if it argued, Julian's slap might land on its face again at any moment.
*****
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