The battle resumed with Regieleki making the first move. One moment it was floating steadily in the air, and the next, it flashed and disappeared from everyone's vision.
"Pikachu!"
"On it!"
Pikachu turned his Lightning Rod Ability to the limit, in case Regieleki used another electric move. At the same time, his eyes darted across the room, following the trace of the Electric Golem.
Even after the boost from Agility, it only allowed him to barely follow Regieleki's movement. From his point of view, it was as if a yellow streak of lightning was flashing all over the battlefield.
"In that case…"
Pikachu murmured as his body became covered in white light. With this, he should be able to match Regieleki- at least in terms of movement speed.
The move he used was Extreme Speed, a move he learned when he reached level 51. It is an upgraded version of Quick Attack, with a higher base power of 80. Not only that, it also allows the user to move at much faster speeds.
"There!"
Pikachu locked on to Regieleki's path and leapt forward. A grin stretched across his lips when he saw said Pokemon stop in surprise.
"Gotcha!"
Pikachu shouted, his head leaned forward in preparation of headbutting it. But after a second…he felt no impact.
"It dodged?!"
He muttered in disbelief. He canceled Extreme Speed and flipped forward, landing on the ground and stopping his momentum. After turning around, he saw Regieleki in the distance, also staring at him.
"BZZT! PRIORITIZING HIGHEST THREAT."
White energy emerged from the Electric Golem. Then, he disappeared- his speed so fast that even Pikachu didn't catch any traces this time.
Pikachu felt a heavy impact on his stomach, and the next thing he knew, his body was gliding across the air.
"This feeling…did I just use a Reviver Seed?"
He flipped and landed on his feet just before he crashed, his tiny feet dragging a long line across the dark soil.
"What was that at the last moment? His speed suddenly increased so much I didn't even see a trace of him attacking. It was almost the same as…when I used…Extreme Speed."
Pikachu's eyes widened in horror. No way! That guy was already ludicrously fast, but it still knows that move?!
He was about to rush back and warn everyone, when a figure stopped in front of him.
…
On the battlefield, the other Regis have also started to attack.
Regidrago released a massive beam of Dragon Energy. It was so large it encompassed all of the Team Omnipotent Travelers.
"Azumarill, Riolu, take care of all the incoming attacks. Ninetales, start preparing for Aurora Veil. Everyone else, stick together and try your best to prevent Regieleki from disrupting us."
""Okay/Understood!""
Dante's command snapped out everyone who was staring intently at the Electric Golem floating in the distance.
The 5 seconds long battle that just happened was still being processed by them.
From their perspective, Regieleki suddenly disappeared, then Pikachu did too. And when they saw them again, Pikachu had landed far from his initial position.
Regieleki also appeared elsewhere, spouting something about the highest threat before he attacked Pikachu- an attack that was so fast even the quickest Pokemon in their team had been unable to dodge it and was sent flying far into the distance.
"Dad, can we even stop it?"
Eevee asked, her voice trembling. This was the first time since she was born that she saw her Dad and the others get defeated. And the opponent did it so easily, too. It did not even get injured when faced with the all-out attack of the others.
"Don't overestimate the enemy, little Eevee. Or underestimate the strength of our team."
Dante said. At this time, the beam of energy released by Regidrago finally arrived.
Azumarill stepped up to meet it. He stretched his arms to the side, using Power-up Punch to double his Attack. Then, pink Fairy-type energy coated his fist…and he punched.
SCHWARZ!
Azumarill's fist and Regidrago's attack collided.
Like a candle burning at 100x the speed,the dragon beam began to shrink, starting from the point where Azumarill hit it and straight back towards Regidrago.
Under the astonished gaze of Cofagrigus and the other Regis, the beam completely dissipated. But that was not the end. The force from Azumarill's punch continued onwards, hitting the surprised Dragon Golem.
It rolled countless times in the air, only stopping when it crashed against the cold, metal body of Registeel.
"That's…"
Cofagrigus' mouth hung open in disbelief. Especially when he saw Regidrago faltering and having a hard time hovering back in the air, his eyes nearly popped out.
"Impossible! An attack of that level...who are these Pokemon?"
His expression twisted into a scowl. After empowering these Regis for more than 3,000 years, they should have obtained strength stronger than even other Legendaries. But how come they are struggling to take down a group of normal Pokemon?!
On the battlefield, Dante nodded when he saw the result of Azumarill's punch. After Huge Power and the attack boost from Power-up Punch, as well as Ursaring's Cheerleader Skill, his Golden Bunny's attack had reached a whopping 230.
This was the reason he didn't bother to focus on the other Regis. Only Regieleki really posed a threat to them. And speaking of the Electric Golem…
Regieleki stared at Azumarill whose arms were still outstretched, its eyes flashing nonstop. It locked onto him, designating him as the highest threat.
"Head's up! It's about to take action!"
Dante warned. However, even though they were prepared, no one was still able to catch a trace of Regieleki when it disappeared…but they didn't need to.
CRASHH
A loud bang was heard from above their heads. Looking up, Eevee's eyes widened in shock. On a large floating piece of rock, Regieleki's body was half-embedded.
"Now!"
Before she had time to process what happened, her Dad's shout sounded in her ears. Suddenly, large pieces of stone began to appear all around. They flew straight towards the immobile Regieleki, creating a large cloud of smoke as the rocks collided together.
"Tsk, it escaped."
Dante clicked his tongue. He turned towards the distance, where Regielki was once again hovering in stand-by, now with a wary posture.
"W-woah! What was that, Dad?"
Eevee's eyes sparkled. When Regieleki disappeared, she had already braced herself for one of them to get knocked out again.
"That…is called using your brain."
Dante smirked as he flicked Eevee's forehead. Although it's a pity they weren't able to take Regieleki out, the fact the Electric Pokemon got stopped and even suffered damage was more than enough.
The rocks that hit Regieleki is from the move: Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock lets the user create invisible, floating pieces of stones around a target area. The size and hardness of the stones depended upon the Special Attack of the Pokemon who used it, as well as their familiarity with the move.
Among their team, only Mawile had learned this move. And although she was familiar with the process of making stones, she still has a Special Attack of only 119.
For Regieleki to be unable to break it, that meant only one thing. This electrifyingly fast Pokemon has very low defenses. And low defenses meant it's very susceptible to status attacks and debuffs.
"Mawile, keep placing the rocks all around us. Make it hard for that thing to come near."
Although Regieleki also had long-ranged moves, it doesn't matter. Azumarill and the others can easily disperse those attacks. Speaking of which...
Dante glanced at Azumarill's side. From the moment Regieleki had attacked, this golden bunny of his didn't even bat an eye, trusting them to have his back. In contrast, Riolu only sheepishly turned back to defense after he met Dante's gaze.
However, it wasn't as if he was able to provide much help anyway. Azumarill alone was proving to be more than enough to defend the team from the other Regis.
Regirock hurled large boulders, Azumarill punched it back. Regice let out an icy-cold beam of energy, Azumarill punched it back. Registeel released Flash Cannons, Azumarill punched it back.
No matter what type of attack, just a single punch from Azumarill would be enough to invalidate it. And the force of the punch would send the attackers tumbling backward, making them unable to attack consecutively.
CRACKKKK!
Dante turned towards the sound. Just right in front of them, Regieleki suddenly appeared. Its arms coated with white energy rapidly spun around its body. And all around, the hidden rocks were sucked towards its position and then crushed like a blender.
"Ursaring!"
"On it, Dad!"
Ursaring opened his mouth and roared. The air in front of him vibrated with force, quickly reaching Regieleki's position.
Unfortunately, although this move had already reached the speed of sound, Regieleki was even faster. It zoomed away, easily escaping the range of the attack. Then, it returned from another direction, once again using Rapid Spin to crush the rocks around.
"What should we do, Dan? At this rate, it will only take at least 20 seconds to destroy all the traps I laid."
Mawile asked as she continued to make stealth rocks. Sweat stained her forehead as she continuously pushed her body beyond the limit.
"Sorry, Mawile. Try to hold on as long as you can. Ninetales, how much longer till you're ready?"
"Dad, I'm ready now!"
From above the skies, snow had started to fall. Before this, Ninetales had repeatedly been using Nasty Plot until her Special Attack reached the limit. And now that she's done, they can finally start their counterattack.
"Whew, perfect timing. Pikachu, get up here. It seems your surprise appearance isn't necessary anymore."
"Aww~, and I did my best to hide too."
Below their feet, the earth rumbled and Pikachu's head popped out. He glanced at Dante and snickered, as if privy to some kind of secret. After a moment, he coughed to regain his bearing and saluted.
"Officer Pikachu reporting for duty!"
"Have you finished boosting your special attack?"
"Aye aye, sir!"
Dante didn't say anything else. He just turned to Ninetales and nodded. With his signal, the icy fox closed her eyes.
The snow began to expand and get heavier, almost covering the entire battlefield. And at the same time, an Aurora appeared in the dark night sky, its green-blue color shining upon Dante and his team.
Around their body, a hazy veil similar in appearance to the aurora appeared. Its presence gave off a comforting aura, as if it would protect them from all harm.
"This sight never ceases to amaze me. I'll definitely make mine look as beautiful some day."
Pikachu murmured and then waved his hand. With his gesture, white, blocky walls of light appeared around Dante and the others' body. In contrast to the Aurora Veil, this layer of protection gave an appearance akin to a minecraft armor.
When he saw this scene, Dante smirked.
"With this, the second phase of the Juggernaut Plan can now commence."