"Dodge, now!" Joji screamed himself hoarse.
But it was already far too late.
Victreebel had no time to end its Ingrain state and evade the attack.
Under the boost from Extreme Speed, Lopunny—
In the blink of an eye—
Appeared right in front of Victreebel.
Both fists were wreathed in flames as they slammed down viciously.
Szzzzz—!!!
Black smoke burst upward!
Victreebel's outer skin shriveled instantly under the scorching heat, moisture seared out of it.
The enormous impact even snapped the roots it had anchored underground.
Its whole body was blasted backward more than ten meters, tumbling to Joji's feet.
It rolled several times on the ground before finally stopping.
"Yi…ya…"
Victreebel flailed on the ground for a long while, but it still couldn't get back upright.
Its body structure meant it could only use that long, thin vine and the two huge, fan-like leaves at its sides—massive yet fragile—to prop itself up.
But its body was simply too heavy.
No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't stand again.
And on top of that—
Fire Punch hitting it for double effectiveness—
That bone-deep agony made it start to feel cowardly.
A part of it wanted to just keep rolling on the ground like this…
And avoid this battle altogether.
Just two punches—
Lopunny had forcibly bridged that huge level gap—
And carved away half of its stamina.
Sensing Victreebel's condition, Joji's expression grew uglier and uglier.
This had completely exceeded his expectations.
He had thought this fight would be a one-sided victory for him.
Instead, he'd been savagely crippled by the other side.
And the cause of the problem wasn't a difference in Pokémon strength at all—
It was the gap in battle experience and raw IQ between Trainers.
Himeko and Lopunny's Substitute tactic—
It made him look like an idiot.
"Victreebel! Can you keep fighting or not?!"
"Hurry up and finish this Lopunny for me!"
Joji roared.
On the other side—
"That's enough! You've done more than enough! Come back and rest!"
Himeko reached out, lightly patting Lopunny's shoulder as she spoke gently.
"Shu-bi?"
Lopunny turned around to look at Himeko, signaling that it could still fight and didn't need to leave.
"No. Go rest."
Himeko's face hardened, her tone turning a little heavier.
From the first match, she'd already learned the damage from Mightyena's Take Down and Bite.
And now, after using Substitute this match—
And taking that huge hit to its stamina—
Himeko understood Lopunny was already close to its limit.
If it kept going…
Maybe it really could drag Victreebel down with it.
But it would also suffer serious damage itself.
More importantly, Lopunny had already perfectly completed the mission everyone had agreed on beforehand.
There was no need for it to stay on the field and fight to the death.
"Shu-bi!"
Lopunny shook its head decisively.
Its gaze was firm.
It stubbornly insisted on continuing the fight.
"Why are you so stubborn?!" Himeko frowned, not knowing how to persuade it anymore.
Right then—
Shiko's voice suddenly rang out.
"Alright. Go rest. You did great."
Both Lopunny and Himeko heard it clearly.
And in the very next second—
Lopunny obediently pressed the button on its Poké Ball by itself, turning into a red beam and being recalled.
This…
Himeko looked awkward.
So she'd been talking herself hoarse for ages—
And in the end, it still wasn't as effective as a single sentence from Shiko, huh?
So who's the Trainer here—Shiko or her?
Forget it.
No point thinking about that.
Himeko shook her head, unclipped another Poké Ball from her belt.
A red light gathered, forming a petite, lovely girl in a short skirt—
Kirlia!
Once again, it appeared on the battle arenas.
The moment Kirlia entered, the crowd erupted again into thunderous applause and cheers.
It was here!
That absurdly strong Kirlia again!
That mysterious move it had used before—
Even now, nobody had been able to analyze the principle behind it!
Could this Kirlia be as domineering as Lopunny had been?!
Under the countless eager gazes in the venue, the battle continued!
Victreebel also finally managed—after a lot of effort—to get itself upright again.
When it saw its opponent had changed to a different Pokémon,
It felt a little more at ease.
This one looked gentle and well-behaved.
Surely it wouldn't be as violent as that pink rabbit from earlier, right?
"Victreebel! Maximum firepower—Razor Leaf! Full-coverage bombardment!"
Joji grit his teeth and gave the order.
Watching Himeko swap out a Lopunny that clearly still had fight left in it, and send out Kirlia instead—
He didn't really understand why she would do that.
But for some reason, he still felt insulted.
"Yi-ya!!"
Victreebel whipped its long vine.
Grass-type energy condensed into countless sharp leaves.
They hovered in midair—dense and packed.
With a point of its vine—
That overwhelming sheet of leaves shot toward Kirlia all at once.
The momentum, the number, the power—
They were even more exaggerated than when it had attacked Lopunny earlier!
Like a torrential downpour crashing down from the sky!
"Stop. Shatter."
Himeko spoke calmly.
But the command she gave made every spectator—and those VIP figures as well—wear puzzled expressions again.
If Lopunny's Triple-Fist Barrage earlier at least sounded like something people could grasp—
Then "Stop. Shatter." was even more incomprehensible.
All eyes locked on the battle.
In the next instant—
Kirlia suddenly raised both hands.
Then—
A scene that made everyone doubt their own life choices appeared.
Those dense, razor-sharp leaves—
Stopped.
One by one.
Perfectly distinct.
Suspended in midair.
As if someone had pressed a pause button on them!
The audience stood dumbfounded.
People rubbed their eyes hard—
Thinking they must be hallucinating.
What in the world?!
How did Kirlia do that?!
Crack—!!!
Before anyone could figure it out—
A crisp cracking sound rang out in the plaza's dead silence, painfully clear.
Then, one cracking sound after another—
Like waves—
Rolled straight into the crowd's ears.
Following the sound, people looked over—
Those leaves frozen in the air…
Had all turned into green powder, scattering on the wind and raining down across the ground!
That shocking image—
Burned itself deep into everyone's mind.
And shook everyone to the core.
This…
This was what "Stop. Shatter." meant?
(End of Chapter)
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