With Cynthia and the others no longer at his side, Jason felt a bit at sea for a moment.
But he quickly found a target.
Beat a Titan, get a Herba Mystica.
And test his current combat strength.
Call it training, too.
After all, with Cynthia gone, Jason was already planning to leave Paldea and explore other regions. He'd also promised the cutie Liko he'd visit her at her academy.
So his first target: the South Province (Area Three) Titan of the cliffs—Klawf.
Reality, however, is harsher than the plan.
Getting to the Titan's lair was far more treacherous than any map suggested—especially for one particular member of Jason's team.
"Gast, get over here!"
At a cliff edge, Jason yelled back at the palm-sized black blob a few dozen meters behind him.
The blob was Gast.
Right now, this Ghost-type was acting worse than the timidest Squawkabilly.
It had plastered itself flat to the ground, limp as a rag, and no matter how Jason shouted, it refused to budge another inch.
"Ke—… I'm not going! Over my dead body!"
Its protest was weak but firm.
It had a severe fear of heights; one glance down any drop and it felt like its soul would fly right out of it.
Jason's head throbbed.
A Ghost-type with acrophobia?
He forced patience, walked back to it, and tried reason. "You're a ghost. You float. You can't fall to your death. What are you afraid of?"
Gast buried its head deeper, trembling like a leaf.
Logic failed; Jason tried bribery.
He pulled out a glittering Pokéblock and waved it in front of Gast. "Cross this stretch with me and it's all yours."
Gast raised its head with great effort, glanced at the Pokéblock, then at the nearby precipice. Fear won over appetite; it tucked its head right back in.
"So you won't take soft or hard," Jason muttered, patience finally gone.
He rolled up his sleeves, intending to peel it off the ground and discus-throw it across.
But the Haunter was like a taffy tile superglued to the floor—suddenly boneless and sticky—leaving Jason nothing to grab.
Just as Jason was about to blow his top, a silent figure appeared behind Gast.
Iron Valiant.
It looked at the Haunter lie flat, then at Jason's helpless face, as if it understood. A soft "vmm" sounded; twin lightblades slid out along its forearms, gleaming a pale pink.
Without a word, face impassive, it bent and held one cold-edged blade just behind Gast's backside—no contact, precise angle.
"Ke—!"
A chilly prickle from behind froze Gast stiff.
It could feel that blade less than a centimeter away.
Survival instinct steamrolled every other fear.
It let out a shriek of a pitch it would never reproduce again in its life, sprang up like a cat on a tail, squeezed its eyes shut, and turned into a black streak—racing across that death-defying ledge with speed comparable to Extreme Speed.
Jason and Iron Valiant watched, dumbfounded, as it vanished ahead.
After a beat, Jason turned to Iron Valiant and gave a heartfelt thumbs up. "You really do have a way with problems."
Iron Valiant retracted its blades, impassive, as if it had done nothing at all.
After a comedy of stops and starts, they finally reached their destination.
On a near-vertical cliff face, they found their target.
The Klawf was larger than Jason had imagined—like an orange-red mini box truck, wedged sideways on the sheer wall with eight stout legs. Sunlight flashed like metal off its massive shell and claws.
It had spotted the intruders. Eyes peeking from under its shell fixed on them.
"Clak!"
No testing, no talk.
At the invaders, the Titan swung a claw bigger than Jason was tall, smashing down from the wall with brutal force!
Jason: "???"
So direct?
"BOOM!"
The claw crashed down, the ground bucked like it took a shell. Stone spiderwebbed, shards blasting out in a deadly spray.
Thankfully Jason was quick, hauling Iron Valiant and Gast out of the impact zone.
"What crazy power," Jason grimaced, and barked orders. "Iron Valiant, take it head-on! Gast—find a window for Night Shade!"
Iron Valiant answered low, no hesitation. Blades out, it turned into a white streak, not back but forward—meeting that massive claw mid-swing.
"CLANG!"
Pink blade and red claw crashed, sparks spitting.
But the Titan's strength was monstrous. Valiant's slash left only a faint chalk line on the claw—and the shockwave skidded it back several meters.
For the moment, even the fast-cutting Valiant could only weave and parry the storm of blows, finding no chance to counter.
And the other "DPS," Gast… well, "unsightly" would be kind.
It cowered behind a waist-high boulder, peeking with half a head. One look at those mountain-splitting pincers and its eyes welled with tears.
"Ke… Jason, this one's really scary…"
It stretched out two stubby hands, rubbing and rubbing, finally gathering a ping-pong–sized Shadow Ball—only for nerves to spike and the energy sputter out with a "pfft" in its own hands.
Gast: "…"
Helpless and wounded feelings all in one.
Why did going out with Jason always mean running into the biggest, scariest beasts?
All it wanted was to tag along quietly behind him—why was that so hard?
Seeing there'd be no help from that quarter, Jason sighed.
Guess it was on him.
He watched, caught the instant after a heavy smash when Klawf's body lagged in recoil.
Now!
Light flared around Jason—and in less than a second, a Lucario nearly 1.2 meters tall, blue-black fur and keen eyes, stood in his place.
"Aura Sphere!"
As the form locked in, Jason called the shot. Palms together; a sapphire sphere swelled and fired at a razor angle—nailing a leg joint Klawf used for leverage.
"Clak!"
Not expecting a flanker, the Titan howled in pain, movement stuttering.
In high-level duels, inches decide outcomes.
Valiant seized the flicker. It slipped past the sweep of the other claw and carved up from below—Psychic blade etching a bold white scar into the shell.
The fight flashed white-hot.
Lucario Jason, playing Fighting into Rock, became a ghost on the field—Aura Spheres knifing from odd angles at joints and underbelly.
Valiant became a surgeon's scalpel—quitting brute trades, stacking shallow cuts with speed and precision.
The two meshed seamlessly.
But the Titan was still a titan. That armor was thick, and on the vertical wall it moved more freely than on the ground. Their damage landed… but not decisively.
Frustrated, Klawf spat a sheet of sticky foam. It blanketed half the field in a heartbeat.
Jason flipped back clear, but Valiant—too close on offense—caught foam at the feet and slowed hard.
"Clak!"
Opportunity flashed in Klawf's eyes. The intact claw swung high for a finishing blow on the trapped nuisance.
At the exact breaking point—something snapped.
Gast, who'd been shivering behind its rock, saw Iron Valiant in mortal danger. No one knew which wire crossed or where the courage came from, but for the first time those little eyes held no fear—only a reckless resolve.
It squeezed its eyes shut—maybe that way it wouldn't see the horror—and shrieked, "Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke!" Then it bolted from cover.
No move. No body block.
It chose the one thing no one could have predicted.
It dove headfirst into Klawf's gaping mouth just as the Titan primed a victory roar.
Silence dropped. Jason froze mid-strike. Valiant froze facing death. Even Klawf froze.
There was suddenly something cold, slick, a little toothy in its mouth—and it tasted… the strange tang of pure terror.
A heartbeat later, a riot of rainbow light detonated inside its maw.
Gast, inside Klawf's mouth, cast Confuse Ray.
Those huge eyes went spiraled on contact.
Deep confusion.
"Clak… clak?"
It swayed, then lifted both giant claws high—and hammered itself in the head.
"THUMP! THUMP!"
Jason and Valiant pounced.
"Comet Punch!"
"Psycho Cut!"
Man and mon layered a dazzling string of strikes onto a Titan already self-critting.
Under the twin pressure—enemy blows and its own—Klawf finally lost grip, tore free of the wall, and crashed to the ground, defeated.
Only then did Gast wobble out of the unconscious crab's mouth—face a picture of post-mortem shock, body limp as noodles.
Jason couldn't help a laugh, drifted over, and patted its cool "head." "Nice work—though, uh… unique approach."
In a little cave the Titan had guarded, they found the Herba: Sweet Herba Mystica.
Jason's second herb.
Since he planned to leave Paldea, he'd sweep up everything he should collect.
Sweet Herba looked like a giant sugar crystal, radiating an irresistible scent.
Jason went field-to-table—pulled bread and fixings, built a stack of sandwiches, and crushed a shard of Herba to sprinkle over the lot.
Iron Valiant accepted a sandwich without expression and ate in small bites. Its eyes flickered faintly—betraying very good mood.
Gast, for its "heroic" stunt, got a jumbo sandwich. It hugged a sandwich bigger than itself, nibbling as tears streamed—half from the taste, half from delayed terror.
"Rest a bit, then we move. Next target!"
Gast stared, aghast. "Ja-Jason… the next one isn't going to be as scary as that thing, right?"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 50 Chapters Ahead of Others!