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Gym Leader Norman moved.
Without any redundant commands, or even a single exchange of glances, that behemoth—Slaking—transformed into a gray afterimage.
Boom!
The ground shook violently; a clear vibration traveled up through Ariel's feet, as if an invisible giant hammer had struck the very core of the earth.
He steadied himself, his gaze piercing through the swirling dust. The sight he beheld made his heart skip a beat.
A Team Magma member had just thrown a Poké Ball, and a pitch-black Mightyena had only just begun to materialize. Before its fangs could even fully bare, a palm larger than its entire body descended from the heavens.
It wasn't a skill—not Hammer Arm, nor Focus Punch. It was just a simple, unadorned slap.
The air was brutally compressed, letting out a dull sonic boom.
"Awoo..."
Mightyena's cry of pain had barely escaped as half a syllable before it, along with its Trainer, was pinned to the ground by that giant palm.
The ground shattered like tofu, and a clear handprint caved in. Within that indentation, flesh and Pokémon energy particles were mashed together, indistinguishable from one another.
An instant kill.
No, using the term 'instant kill' felt a bit too refined to describe this.
This was crushing; this was a massacre!
Ariel subconsciously swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Beside him, Sen—the man who had just been snarling and roaring at him—now had a deathly pale face. His lips trembled, unable to utter a single coherent sentence.
This wasn't a battle between Trainers at all; this was a catastrophe.
Slaking's movements didn't stall for a second. Having landed the blow, its thick legs exerted sudden force, and its massive body turned with an irrational agility.
Another Team Magma member released a Weezing, and the purple sphere quickly spewed out a thick poisonous mist.
This was a very conventional tactic: using status conditions to restrict the opponent.
But in the face of absolute power, tactics seemed so laughable.
Slaking didn't even dodge. It simply took a deep breath, its chest visibly swelling, and then suddenly opened its huge mouth.
"Roar—!"
An indescribable airwave erupted. It wasn't sound; it was pure physical impact.
The poisonous mist was instantly blown away, swirling back to slam violently into the Weezing and its Trainer.
That team member was blown away like a rag doll, crashing into a distant wall and sliding down, motionless.
"Monster..."
Ariel squeezed the word out through his teeth.
He had seen powerful Pokémon and had personally raised Pokémon with extraordinary potential.
But the scene before him completely overturned his perception of strength.
Base stat total of 670.
This number was incredibly clear in his mind at this moment.
This wasn't just a cold statistic; it was a living sense of oppression forged from blood and shattered bone.
Only, this didn't follow common sense.
Ariel's mind raced.
Slaking, Truant ability—move once, rest once. This was an iron rule etched into its genes.
But this one before him, from the moment it struck until now, its movements were fluid and seamless without the slightest delay. Where was there even a hint of laziness?
How on earth did Gym Leader Norman do it?
Ariel's gaze involuntarily shifted toward that man.
Norman still stood where he was, his expression steady, as if the bloody scene before him was just an ordinary Gym practice match.
He seemed to sense Ariel's gaze but did not look back.
His entire focus was Locked-On to another person—Tabitha.
The Team Magma grunts weren't even considered cannon fodder before Slaking; they were cleared out in an instant.
For a moment, the vast forest fell silent, leaving only Slaking's heavy breathing and the sound of water dripping from the distant rock walls.
"Ha... Haha... Hahahaha!"
A sudden burst of laughter broke the dead silence.
Tabitha, this seemingly rugged man, instead of being enraged by the tragic deaths of his subordinates, was clapping his hands, his eyes flashing with an almost fanatical light.
"Beautiful! Truly beautiful!"
He praised, his tone full of admiration.
"To actually be able to suppress Slaking's Truant ability to such an extent... No, this isn't suppression; this is another form of guidance!
Concentrating several turns of laziness together in exchange for a short period of unlimited explosive power! Remarkable! Norman, you truly are a genius!"
Norman's brow furrowed slightly, and he did not respond to the flattery.
Ariel's heart stirred.
So that's how it is!
It wasn't that he overcame the laziness, but that he delayed it!
Like overdrawing a credit card, he was pre-authorizing future rest time to trade for current sustained combat effectiveness.
The price, presumably, was also quite massive.
How profound an understanding of the Slaking species did this require, and what kind of rigorous and precise training was needed to achieve this?
The powerhouses of this world were indeed none of them simple.
"To witness such a perfect work of art, even if I fail here today, it will have been a worthwhile trip."
Tabitha's smile became increasingly flamboyant as he suddenly waved his hand, taking a Poké Ball from his waist.
"As a return gift, I'll let you see the partner I'm most proud of!"
A red light flashed.
A scorching airwave rushed toward them, and the temperature inside the cave rose sharply.
A giant hound, pitch-black all over with menacing bone spikes, appeared in the field.
It had demonic horns, interlaced fangs in its mouth, and every breath brought out sparks of fire.
Those crimson eyes stared fixedly at Slaking, filled with violence and fighting spirit.
Elite Four Level, Houndoom!
Ariel's pupils suddenly constricted.
That aura, that energy fluctuation, was far beyond what the Pokémon of those previous Team Magma members could compare to.
If Slaking was the incarnation of power, a heavy mountain range, then this Houndoom was a messenger of destruction, the hellfire that burns everything to ash.
The air seemed to be ignited.
Slaking's massive body sank slightly, adopting a defensive posture. This was the first time since its appearance that it showed a solemn expression.
Norman looked at that Houndoom, and his gaze finally changed as well.
"Tabitha, it seems the Team Magma has invested heavily in this operation."
"Likewise,"
Tabitha grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"To have the Gym Leader of Petalburg Gym personally take action, wouldn't it be too rude not to make more preparations?"
Before his voice had even faded, Houndoom moved.
Its feet made no sound, its pitch-black figure dragging a scorch mark across the ground, moving so fast it was just a blur.
"Elite Four Level..."
Ariel's eyelid twitched.
Gym Leader Norman, the guardian deity of Petalburg City, was at the peak of an Elite Four Candidate.
Yet Tabitha, an Executive of the Team Magma, had a Pokémon that had firmly stepped into the Elite Four domain.
The gap between them was not just a little bit.
Norman, however, looked as calm as usual, as if the creature standing before him wasn't some Cerberus from hell, but a docile Poochyena.
He just raised his hand, the movement casual and understated.
"Slaking, finish it."
Before the words were out, Slaking's massive body moved.
There was no flashy starting stance, no redundant roar—just the purest, most primitive violence.
The ground beneath its feet cracked like a spiderweb in an instant, and its massive body turned into a white afterimage, charging straight out.
It was ridiculously fast!
Tabitha's pupils shrank, and he immediately ordered: "Flamethrower!"
Houndoom opened its bloody maw, and a thick pillar of orange-red fire shot out. The temperature inside the cave spiked, and the rock walls hissed as they were scorched.
The flames accurately hit the charging Slaking, swallowing it whole.
However, in the next second, a scene occurred that horrified Tabitha and all the Team Magma members.
Slaking crashed out from within the flames!