A pink-haired woman with a rich, magnetic voice—almost like a classic "professional public persona" tone—appeared at the tournament grounds.
And the moment she showed up, she triggered cheers from all around!
"Psychic Gym Leader Tulip?"
Pink hair, a soft shawl, a pale purple dress, and high heels—her face was, frankly, done up with a full glam beat.
She was a top-tier Psychic-type specialist, ranked near the top among Gym Leaders in terms of strength. Not only did she have her own cosmetics brand, she was also an outstanding model.
She had serious popularity in Paldea, known as the "Psychic Makeup Wizard," and in the center of Alfornada you could see advertisements for her brand.
"People call her the second-strongest Gym Leader, right after Grusha. If you go by the intended Gym challenge order, she's number seven."
"She's coming to compete in this bullfighting tournament? As a model and makeup artist, shouldn't she be insanely busy—oh. Got it."
Hikaru spotted Dendra cheering for Tulip and instantly understood everything.
Dendra and Tulip were childhood friends—practically inseparable since they were kids. Their relationship was extremely close. But Dendra was a hot-blooded sports nut, while Tulip clearly had the better business brain, so they constantly battled and made bets—whoever lost had to do what the other said.
Because Dendra was so stubborn and kept trying to brute-force things with Fighting moves, she usually lost. She was a professional fighter, yet her loss count was weirdly high.
"Against Psychic types, you're supposed to use Bug types. If she just carried a Heracross or a Lokix, she wouldn't be getting wiped out every single time."
If you thought their constant "letting each other win" was because of some "subtle relationship" beyond friendship—no. That wasn't it.
From the story dialogue, Dendra-sensei, that all-gas-no-brakes jock girl, genuinely wanted to win.
Tulip: "Dendra's been talking about you a lot lately, saying she won't lose in the tournament, so she's been super motivated. I've gotten quite curious about you too."
"After you were invited… Top Champion Geeta already informed all the Gym Leaders about the new Elite Four appointment. I don't know what everyone else said, but personally, I'm very curious about you."
"So, to see what you're really like—and also to look after Dendra—I made time to participate in this tournament."
"Please take care of me!"
"See what you're like" was just an excuse. The main thing was probably wanting to test Hikaru's strength.
Or maybe she simply couldn't stop worrying about Dendra, so she joined her friend in the bracket—planning to climb to the top together.
Or she planned to beat Dendra in the tournament, then make the poor sports girl go do some stretching routine or something…
"Likewise." Hikaru shook his head and sent Falinks out.
Then he saw Tulip's Pokémon: Girafarig.
I see. Another Pokémon that hadn't been discovered to evolve yet.
If it evolved, that Girafarig would become Tulip's ace—Farigiraf!
Hikaru: "First a motorcycle, then an elephant, and now even a giraffe is here!"
Tulip smiled. "You're taking this pretty seriously. Don't worry about it. This tournament is for everyone to have fun, so as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's what matters."
Tulip kept smiling.
"Mean Look."
Girafarig's eyes flashed with a dark gaze, preventing Falinks from escaping!
"Sorry, but I don't really like Pokémon that move too fast. And since most contestants bring speed-up or evasion moves… using Mean Look to stop them from fleeing is really fun."
Tulip's smile turned slightly strange. "So, how will you respond? You're just going to come at me like that?"
Hikaru stared at Falinks, blocked by Mean Look and unable to reposition quickly, and thought to himself.
Mean Look's "can't escape" effect doesn't only impact switching.
Some Pokémon that specialize in this move, while locking onto their target, will manifest many eye-like patterns around them to keep staring. It makes the opponent feel fear and freeze up.
Falinks were a bit tense now, and the Mean Look Girafarig had used just now felt very much like that kind of pressure!
"You deal with Dendra like this all the time, don't you?" Hikaru asked casually.
Poor Dendra-sensei—getting toyed with in the palm of Tulip's hand.
Tulip only smiled, saying nothing. Beside her, Dendra looked completely confused—like she remembered something, but also like she didn't—making her look even more airheaded.
"Making a jock think is kind of asking too much…"
"Hikaru, be careful! Tulip's Mean Look is really nasty! She's definitely going for Zen Headbutt!" Dendra called out from the side.
Tulip's expression didn't change—still smiling—but she looked faintly displeased.
Your childhood friend warning a guy she just met to watch out for your moves… That sounds weird, doesn't it?
And she even leaked your next play!
Hikaru's expression turned complicated, but he quickly erased those strange feelings and replaced them with a serious, focused stare.
Tulip startled slightly, her confidence shaken just a bit by that pressure.
"…This aura. Just his eyes are making me tense. So he really is Elite Four level? The rumors are real?"
"Let me see…" Tulip murmured. She pictured herself defeating Hikaru, showing off a little in front of her childhood friend, getting to brag—wouldn't that feel amazing?
Then Hikaru spoke, solemn and steady.
"Do you know what Mean Look actually does?"
"You're joking, right? I know exactly what it does—that's why I told Girafarig to use it. It stops switching. It stops fleeing. It can even stop you from moving…"
Tulip felt something was off. Then she saw the corner of Hikaru's mouth lift.
That odd feeling turned into unease.
Why is he smiling?
You can't escape—what's funny about that?
Tulip: "Fine. Gravity."
This intense unease needed a powerful move to suppress it.
A crushing wave of Gravity surged across the entire battlefield!
Heavy gravity filled the field. Pokémon with Levitate or Flying type could be hit by Ground-type moves. Moves that launch you into the air also became unusable.
At the same time, move accuracy would increase!
"E—Eeta!" Falinks huddled together in formation, bracing themselves as their bodies suddenly felt much heavier.
Tulip was preparing the Gravity + Zen Headbutt flinch strategy—but then she heard Hikaru's voice.
"Falinks have a signature move called No Retreat. Normally, it's a secret technique used with a do-or-die mindset. In other words, it's a 'you only get one shot' kind of move."
"Dendra-san has Falinks too, right?" Hikaru hooked a thumb toward Dendra in the distance.
Tulip's unease intensified. "I know. So what?"
This was supposed to be a fun tournament. Why did it suddenly feel so terrifying?
Tulip felt an unknown pressure bearing down on her. That "I've got this in the bag" feeling was awful—because usually it was hers.
And now it belonged to someone else.
It was like there was some secret she didn't know!
"Correct. It's a secret." Hikaru "read" Tulip and cut straight through her. "You're a fake Psychic. I'm the real deal. You can't hide your thoughts from me."
Of course, that was a bluff. Hikaru didn't actually have telepathy.
But you could tell what the seventh Gym Leader was thinking just from her expression.
So now it was time to shock her.
"Listen. I didn't become Elite Four just because I can battle."
"I also have some… specialized knowledge."
"Falinks, No Retreat formation! Use No Retreat!"
Hikaru commanded the move. Falinks hollered and screamed, raising their fighting spirit with a suicidal intensity as their stats began to climb.
No Retreat!
All stats rose by one stage—but the user could no longer switch out or flee!
"And if you used No Retreat, then what?" Tulip still didn't understand.
Fighting is disadvantaged against Psychic. Sure, offensive Psychic telekinesis-style moves were banned in the bullfighting rules, but Zen Headbutt wasn't affected by that at all!
Hikaru's smile widened.
"Let me teach you what 'infinite do-or-die' really means."
"Falinks, No Retreat formation—use No Retreat again!"
What?
A do-or-die move, used again, should fail.
Tulip froze.
Dendra did have Falinks, but hers were weak—well, compared to these Falinks, Dendra's looked like they lacked a certain… crazed momentum.
But what was going on with this No Retreat—huh?!
It succeeded!
Tulip's expression shifted dramatically. She had never seen anything like this!
"After No Retreat… you can still use No Retreat again?!"
Oh no.
Something is seriously wrong.
That was Tulip's first thought.
"Exactly." Hikaru glanced at Dendra too, who looked just as stunned, and gave them both a simple explanation.
"Normally, No Retreat can only be used once."
"It applies a 'can't escape' status effect to Falinks—so it's a true do-or-die technique."
"And in that situation, even if you try to use Ghost Tera to exploit the 'always escape' effect of being a Ghost type… you still can't keep using No Retreat."
"But there's one exception."
"When Falinks are already trapped in a state where they can't escape!"
"Then the move can ignore its restriction and be used repeatedly!"
"Because when you've already lost the option to retreat—when behind you is your homeland, your family…"
"That resolve to fight to the last will climb without limit!"
"At that point, every battle is a battle to die for—and a battle you must win!"
Hikaru snapped his fingers. Falinks' power kept rising!
We figure we can't run anyway!
We figure this is the last battle!
We figure the move can keep being used!
No Retreat was used six times!
If you can't crush the greenskins in one decisive push, the greenskins get bigger, stronger, and craftier as the war drags on.
Fighting more battles creates a bigger WAAAGH, which creates an even stronger warboss—if the greenskins win in the end, that warboss becomes absurdly powerful!
This is recorded in Warhammer 40K as well!
"Falinks, for Rome! Change formation!"
Attack, Special Attack, Defense, Special Defense, Speed—
All stats +6!
This kind of stat boost can only be ignored by a handful of abilities, or by landing critical hits!
However—!
Hikaru: "Falinks' Ability: Battle Armor! They can't be hit by critical hits in battle! Which means, right now, Falinks are invincible Pokémon!"
This bullfighting tournament really let anything in—motorcycles, elephants, giraffes—are you all even supposed to be here?!
"We're not done. Use Focus Energy!"
They centered their minds, gathering breath and force, sharply increasing their critical-hit ratio!
And the battlefield still had Gravity active!
"Under Gravity, accuracy rises a lot! So tell me—who was Gravity cast for?"
Using the opponent's field effect for your own advantage.
Isn't that the ultimate cuckold play?
"Charging stance. The invincible formation!"
Hikaru pointed straight at the panicking Girafarig!
When you WAAAGH, all kinds of weird buffs start happening!
Falinks' morale surged, unstoppable and unbreakable!
We figure we're loyal!
When the world falls into crisis and there's nowhere left to retreat, only a WAAAGH can flip the war!
Now we're the biggest, the strongest, the most badass—and the fiercest Pokémon legion!
The moment of "We Think Therefore It Is" has arrived!
"Eeta eeta, WAAAGH!"
"Roman Legion, crush it!"
"Against that giraffe, use the strongest Bug-type finisher—Megahorn!"
(End of Chapter)
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