Hearing Locke's words, Sneasel hesitated for a moment but eventually mustered up the courage to walk toward Metagross.
"Snea snea~" Sneasel called out to Metagross.
"Meta meta~"
Sure enough, just as Locke had said, Metagross readily agreed to Sneasel's request.
Sneasel was extremely excited, but Pawmot was very displeased. This copycat! If others learned Ice Punch, it wanted to learn Ice Punch too!
Just watch, I will definitely be the first to learn it, Pawmot thought.
Consequently, throughout the next part of the journey, the two Pokémon competed with all their might, both wanting to master Ice Punch before the other.
Metagross watched how diligent they were, its eyes curving into smiles. After all, who wouldn't like a hardworking student?
Ange followed behind, smiling as he watched the two Pokémon and listened to them practicing their punches with rhythmic grunts.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Ange and his group gradually emerged from the mist. However, they had barely taken a few steps out of the fog when a Dragonite blocked their path.
"Dra!!!"
Dragonite let out a roar. Needless to say, this was another guardian arranged by Mew. Importantly, Ange's Eye of Observation could no longer see any data for this Dragonite.
This meant that the Dragonite's level was at least 70 or higher.
The vicinity of the Tree of Beginning truly lived up to its reputation; the strength of the Pokémon here was almost catching up to some of the high-level Pokémon in Area Zero of the Paldea region.
"Metagross, is everything okay?" Ange asked with a serious expression.
Metagross's face was equally solemn, but it still gave a slight nod.
Metagross floated in front of Dragonite, and the two began a standoff.
As the signal for battle sounded, Dragonite suddenly turned into a streak of white light and slammed into Metagross. Caught off guard, Metagross was sent flying.
It was Extreme Speed!
The Dragonite before them actually knew Extreme Speed.
Having taken a hit, Metagross immediately retaliated.
As Dragonite prepared to follow up its attack, Metagross used Psychic. Its eyes flickered with a thick purple light, and the charging Dragonite was instantly frozen in mid-air.
Boom!
With a loud crash, Metagross controlled the Dragonite and threw it out, smashing it into a nearby boulder which shattered into pieces.
Dragonite's Ability was Multiscale, which reduced damage by half when its HP was full.
Because of Metagross's Psychic attack, its HP had dropped, and thus the Multiscale effect vanished.
Metagross flew into the air, its fists shimmering with a cold frost. It then plummeted like a massive meteor toward the Dragonite below.
Metagross was using Ice Punch; Ice-type moves were four times effective against a Dragon and Flying-type like Dragonite.
Dragonite was certainly not going to take the hit lying down. Red flames rose from its fist, and the moment Metagross attacked, it swung a punch.
Fire Punch and Ice Punch collided. Rolling airwaves surged outward with Metagross and Dragonite as the center. The resulting impact whipped up a gale and sent sand flying, forcing Ange to shield his eyes with his sleeve.
"Paw paw~"
"Snea snea~"
Pawmot and Sneasel cheered wildly from the sidelines, both rooting for Metagross. Pawmot shouted so hard its voice almost cracked.
When Pawmot and Sneasel realized they were doing the same thing, they froze for a moment before simultaneously huffing at each other.
After the exchange of blows, Metagross and Dragonite both flew into the air, rapidly swinging their fists. Ice Punch and Fire Punch clashed so quickly they almost created afterimages. Constant explosions echoed through the air.
For a time, the two Pokémon were evenly matched.
Boom!
After another direct clash, the two Pokémon were pushed back by the impact. Both retreated and began panting heavily.
Clearly, the intense collision had been extremely taxing on their stamina.
"Dra~"
Suddenly, Dragonite let out a roar as its body began to spin rapidly. It was using Dragon Dance to strengthen itself.
Metagross would not let this opportunity pass and immediately raised an Ice Punch to strike.
Bang!
Dragonite had just finished its enhancement when it was punched away by Metagross. Fortunately, it had reacted quickly enough to shield its chest with its arms, so it didn't take the full brunt of the damage.
Nevertheless, Dragonite's arms were encased in ice.
A pained expression appeared on Dragonite's face.
However, it didn't matter. After Dragon Dance, its Attack and Speed had increased; it would surely be able to defeat the opponent!
With that thought, Dragonite first used Agility and then swung a Fire Punch at Metagross.
What Dragonite didn't expect was that Metagross used Psych Up at that moment, copying its stat changes. Not only did it copy the Speed and Attack boosts from Dragon Dance, but it also copied the Speed boost from Agility.
The moment Dragonite attacked, Metagross used Agility to quickly dodge.
Since its stat changes were already identical to Dragonite's, Metagross's speed far surpassed Dragonite's after using Agility again.
Dragonite's Fire Punch hit nothing but air. Metagross spun around in mid-air and landed an Ice Punch squarely on Dragonite's back.
Dragonite cried out and plummeted to the ground, crashing into a large crater.
Ange thought that after taking another Ice Punch, Dragonite wouldn't be able to stand up again. To his surprise, although Dragonite was covered in wounds, it remained conscious.
Suddenly, it tilted its head toward the sky and spat out a beam of light from its mouth.
The beam soared high into the air, and a second later, countless flaming meteors rained down from the heavens.
Hey, hey, hey! Ange shouted in his heart. How much is Mew paying you to work this hard!
The move Dragonite used was the ultimate Dragon-type special move—Draco Meteor.
Furthermore, after releasing Draco Meteor, Dragonite immediately used Outrage to soar into the sky and charge toward Metagross.
Seeing this, Metagross hurried to dodge Dragonite's attack.
However, just as it avoided the Outrage attack, it was struck by a meteor falling from the sky.
Metagross had no choice but to continue using Agility, dodging the Draco Meteor strikes while simultaneously avoiding Dragonite's Outrage.
The range of Draco Meteor was so wide that Ange and the others outside the battlefield were also affected.
Pawmot used Thunder Punch, continuously striking the meteors falling toward it and shattering them one by one.
Sneasel was not to be outdone, using Metal Claw to attack the meteors heading its way.
However, its strength was a bit weaker compared to Pawmot, so it had to attack several times to break a single meteor.
Fortunately, it had a speed advantage; if it couldn't break them, it could dodge in time, so it managed to cope.
During the process of dodging, Ange quickly took out his Aura Gloves and put them on. He then tried to condense Aura into his fist and threw a punch.
Unexpectedly, after two consecutive punches, he actually shattered a meteor.
Locke had originally intended to help Ange, but after seeing this scene, it only needed to protect the sleeping Komala.
After a while, the Draco Meteor attack ended.
At the same time, Dragonite fell into a state of confusion due to the side effects of Outrage. It raised its fists and began hitting its own face, starting to harm itself.
Seeing this, Ange quickly said to Metagross, "Metagross, quickly stop Dragonite."
Metagross nodded, its eyes glowing with purple light as it attempted to use mental power to control Dragonite.
"Dra! Dra!"
However, after a roar, Dragonite actually broke free from Metagross's mental restraint.
Then again, Metagross's Special Attack wasn't as strong as its Physical Attack.
Just then, Komala rolled down from Locke's fluffy tail and leaped high into the air.
Under everyone's surprised gazes, it grabbed Dragonite's tail with its small hands, swung it in a circle in the air, and slammed it into the ground.
It was using the Normal-type move, Slam.
Boom!
With a loud crash, Dragonite lay motionless in the pit. Komala landed lightly and rolled back to Locke's side, continuing its deep sleep. It looked every bit the hidden master, full of expert flair.
Of course, that was if you could ignore the snot bubble.
() Pawmot and Sneasel both looked at Komala with admiration.
Ange walked over to Dragonite, took out Berries that could restore stamina and cure confusion, and fed them to it. He also applied Potion to its wounds. Before long, Dragonite opened its eyes.
"Dra?"
Dragonite looked at Ange and the others with a dazed expression.
"Your injuries are no longer serious. Don't be so reckless next time!" Ange said.
"Dra~ Dra~" Dragonite scratched the back of its head sheepishly, revealing a silly smile.
It really was a cute Pokémon.
"Dragonite, since we have broken through your guard, we must continue forward. Take care of yourself," Ange said.
Dragonite nodded, waving to Ange and the others as it watched them leave.
Once their figures had completely disappeared, Dragonite soared into the sky, vanishing into the clouds in the blink of an eye.
After bidding farewell to Dragonite, it didn't take long before Ange and the others finally reached the base of the Tree of Beginning and saw its full glory.
"Is this the Tree of Beginning? It's so magnificent!" Locke couldn't help but exclaim.
Pawmot and Sneasel also looked up, their eyes filled with shock.
"Let's head over," Ange said.
"Mhm~"
The group then ran toward the Tree of Beginning.
Knowing they were about to reach their destination, their excitement was palpable.
However, just as they arrived in front of the Tree of Beginning, a roar suddenly echoed from the sky.
"Roar~~"
Ange and the others looked up to see a massive Aerodactyl circling above them.
This Aerodactyl had a ferocious face, a mouth full of sharp fangs, claws shimmering with a cold light, and a long, powerful tail that whistled through the air as it swung. Its wingspan was a full five meters wide.
Ange looked up at the roaring Aerodactyl and couldn't help but think:
There's more?
Boom!
Aerodactyl descended from the sky, its sharp claws instantly crushing the rock beneath its feet.
"Roar~~"
This fellow was quite fierce. As soon as it landed, it roared at Ange and his group, as if asking: Which of you is next?
Metagross had originally intended to step up, but Komala beat it to it.
In truth, Ange's intuition told him that Metagross might not be a match for this Aerodactyl, so Komala stepping in was indeed the best choice.
Komala faced Aerodactyl, quietly confronting it for dozens of seconds.
Aerodactyl lowered its head, looking down at the small creature before it with its full aura unleashed.
However, Komala just rocked its log back and forth, completely unaffected, as if it were merely facing a Caterpie.
Finally, Aerodactyl suddenly spread its wings and took to the sky, leading the attack. It controlled boulders to rain down from above.
This was the Rock-type move, Rock Slide!
Komala rolled quickly across the ground, easily dodging Aerodactyl's attacks with apparent ease.
Seeing that Rock Slide was ineffective, Aerodactyl prepared to switch moves, but would Komala just keep taking hits?
Before Aerodactyl could strike, it leaped high into the sky. The log in its hands suddenly disappeared (stored in the System Backpack), and two ice blades appeared in its hands.
One hit, two hits!
The two ice blades struck Aerodactyl's forehead one after another.
"Roar~~"
Aerodactyl's head spun from the blow.
Komala was using the Ice-type move Ice Spinner, which was super effective against Aerodactyl.
Below, Locke was filled with confusion. Where did Komala's log go?
Before it could figure it out, Komala landed gracefully, and the log was back in its arms.
Am I seeing things? Locke shook its head vigorously.
Aerodactyl shook its head, enraged by Komala's attack. With a flap of its wings, countless sharp stone spears appeared around its body, which it launched at Komala.
This was the Rock-type move, Stone Edge.
Seeing this, Komala didn't dodge. It spat out green seeds that met the stone spears like bombs.
Komala used the Grass-type Seed Bomb.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Successive explosions rang out in the air, creating thick smoke that obscured both Aerodactyl and Komala.
Without a moment's pause, Komala leaped again, using the smoke as cover to charge into the sky.
By the time Aerodactyl noticed, Komala had already burst through the smoke, arriving right in front of Aerodactyl and raising its log high.
The log shimmered with a metallic luster as it slammed hard against Aerodactyl's forehead.
Although Komala was attacking with its log, the move was the Steel-type Iron Head.
Steel-type moves were effective against the Rock-type Aerodactyl.
With a massive boom, Aerodactyl crashed to the ground, creating a large pit.
However, Aerodactyl did not fall just yet.
It crawled out of the pit, roaring angrily at the newly landed Komala before stomping its feet violently on the ground.
The earth trembled as cracks appeared and rapidly spread toward Komala.
Komala showed no sign of wavering, raising its log and slamming it hard against the ground.
Similarly, the earth shook violently as cracks spread toward Aerodactyl.
Both Pokémon were using the Ground-type move, Earthquake.
While the Flying-type Aerodactyl was unaffected by Ground-type moves, there was no problem with Komala using it to negate the opponent's attack.
Sure enough, the two Earthquakes collided and canceled each other out.
It was hard on Ange and the others, though. When the two Earthquakes clashed, the surrounding ground shook so violently they almost fell. Ange had to lead Pawmot, Sneasel, and Locke further away.
"Paw paw~"
"Snea snea~"
Even as they fled, Pawmot and Sneasel didn't forget to cheer loudly for Komala.
While Komala was countering the Earthquake, Aerodactyl had already taken flight again.
The way it looked at Komala now was different from before; the previous condescension was gone.
It had a premonition that the little guy below was stronger than itself.
However, it was currently executing a mission given by Mew, so it would not back down.
"Roar~~"
Aerodactyl let out a roar, and physical sound waves surged toward Komala.
Since a frontal assault wasn't working, Aerodactyl decided to use some tactics. It used Supersonic, a move that could cause confusion.
Unfortunately, Aerodactyl was a Pokémon from the Kanto region and had never left the vicinity of the Tree of Beginning. Thus, it didn't recognize a Pokémon like Komala, nor did it know about the Ability called Comatose.
Comatose prevents the Pokémon from being affected by status conditions.
In general, status conditions cannot stack; for example, if one is poisoned, one cannot be paralyzed, and if burned, one cannot be frozen...
A Pokémon with Comatose is treated as being permanently asleep, so confusion naturally cannot stack with it.
Seeing that Komala wasn't affected by Supersonic, Aerodactyl thought it was simply because the move had missed, as Supersonic wasn't a high-accuracy move to begin with.
So, Aerodactyl roared again, continuing to use Supersonic to interfere with Komala.
Sadly, it still failed.
When the third Supersonic still had no effect, Aerodactyl finally realized that the opponent must have some means of preventing confusion.
Decisively, it gave up on Supersonic.
This time, Aerodactyl used Scary Face, attempting to hinder Komala's movements.
A giant, terrifying ghostly face appeared out of thin air, looming over Komala with a frightening pressure.
Immediately following this, Aerodactyl launched the Normal-type ultimate move, Giga Impact, charging at Komala with unparalleled momentum.
Komala remained motionless, as if it really had been frightened by Scary Face.
Seeing this, Ange shouted in worry, "Komala!"
BOOM!!!
With a massive crash, Aerodactyl slammed into Komala. A huge cloud of dust rose, obscuring both Pokémon.
Suddenly, a panicked cry from Aerodactyl came from within the dust.
Ange: ()???
The dust dissipated quickly as Aerodactyl's frantic wing-flapping blew it away.
At this moment, the tip of Aerodactyl's tail was being gripped tightly by Komala. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn't break free, which was why it was so panicked.
Although Komala had taken some damage, it appeared largely unharmed.
Suddenly, Komala swung Aerodactyl by the tail, spun it in a circle in the air, and slammed it ruthlessly into the ground.
It was the Normal-type move Slam again.
Once wasn't enough for Komala; it swung Aerodactyl's tail to whirl it around again and slammed it into the ground once more. Even Ange felt the pain for Aerodactyl just by watching.
And so it went—the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time.
After five consecutive slams, the defenseless Aerodactyl lost consciousness and lay motionless in the pit.
"Creee~~~"
Before Ange could check on Aerodactyl's condition, a cry suddenly rang out from the sky. A large avian Pokémon with magnificent feathers flew over their heads and finally perched on a rock opposite them, quietly watching Ange and his group.
Ho-Oh?
Ange was stunned.