Rope's lips curled into a cold, arrogant smile.
"Hmph, just giving up like that? That's not my style."
As Rope spoke, a trickle of blood fell from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away without a word.
But Arceus had seen everything.
Arceus's expression remained vigilant and patient. But deep down, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Judging by Rope's condition, he couldn't hold on much longer. This battle, which had no clear cause but was inevitable, was finally nearing its end.
As expected, no matter how strong everyone is, they're not omniscient and omnipotent. They all experience pain and fatigue. Rope was tired and injured due to his condition. Arceus was the same. However, his pressure was significantly less than Rope's.
"I think you can leave now. In this world, losing to me isn't something to be ashamed of."
Arceus spoke sincerely, and it was indeed true. After all, in the Pokémon world, losing to Arceus, the world representative of the Pokémon world, wasn't something to be ashamed of.
But Rope only snorted coldly.
"I'd feel utterly defeated." Rope stared at Arceus with a determined gaze. "If I can't even defeat you, how can I save this world on the brink of collapse?"
At this point, Arceus was confused.
"I feel this world is in good condition and doesn't need saving."
Arceus spoke seriously, as in his perception, the world's status was constantly improving and was about to reach its peak.
Does this situation need saving? It's absolutely perfect!
"Hmph, you ignorant fool... what do you know?"
Rope looked down on Arceus with a arrogant and disdainful tone.
Arceus was filled with question marks. Wait… did this guy flip some kind of switch? Why does he act like this when he's low on health?
It was simply because Arceus and Rope were meeting for the first time and weren't familiar with each other. If it were Hoopa, Mew and the others, they would definitely take this opportunity to beat Rope senseless.
Rope's current situation couldn't be called poor acting; it was just completely ineffective. Or maybe he was deliberately acting so exaggeratedly, since he was certain Arceus wouldn't notice anything off about him and would instead be distracted by his antics. So he went all out with the nonsense.
When someone is a little off, you notice it. But when someone is extremely off, you start to wonder if they're trying to convey some deeper meaning.
In a way, this is a case of "when things reach their worst, they begin to improve."
Arceus has been completely deceived by Rope.
That said, Arceus remains patient: "Rope, I have no intention of causing conflict with you. I hope you can help me, but if you refuse, I won't hold it against you. Now... leave my presence. While you can still endure this burden."
Arceus isn't stupid. Rope had been fighting with him for so long without any issues, yet now this had happened... Wasn't it obvious? Rope simply didn't have enough control over his current state. Or rather, this state couldn't yet become Rope's permanent state. Perhaps it could in the future, but that wasn't the case now.
However, as Arceus continued to plead with Rope to abandon the battle, a sense of foreboding rose in his heart once more. This time, it was even more intense than the last time Rope had used his fire spike.
Arceus instinctively wanted to turn and run away, but he felt it would be too embarrassing. Just as he hesitated,
a towering pillar of fire erupted from beneath him and slammed toward him.
More critically, the pillar of fire encompassed Rope as well.
Arceus's first reaction was that he had gone mad. What was the difference between Rope and a rocket launcher with a range of 1,000 meters and an explosion radius of 1,100 meters?
But in the next instant, Arceus realized... Damn it, Rope was fire itself... He really wasn't afraid of fire!
So he really decided to run away.
But it was already too late. His moment of hesitation and delayed reaction had completely cost him the chance to escape.
After all, Rope was a seasoned veteran; how could he make such a rookie mistake?
If Rope couldn't hit Arceus even with this self-destructive tactic, then Rope might as well give up.
So, as Arceus glared at him with a look that said, "You despicable outsider,"
Rope was engulfed by the flames below, as if bathed in holy light. Like someone yearning for light, he was ultimately dragged into hell.
Unfortunately… Rope could barely be considered the king of hell.
"That move… was way too ruthless!"
Professor Oak couldn't help but grimace. How had he never noticed Rope's boldness before?
Self-destructing on a whim. Watching the exaggerated flames and Rope and Arceus engulfed within them, Professor Oak couldn't help but sigh.
"Cruel to others, and equally cruel to himself..."
Blue had some understanding of Rope's abilities.
"To injure Arceus, the intensity of the flames must reach a level capable of harming a Pokémon of that caliber. While Rope could endure such intensity, it wouldn't be pleasant."
"Even if it doesn't cause serious injury, the sensation wouldn't be comfortable either."
The principle is simple, and many people understand it. In fact, there are quite a few people who can reach this level. For example, Red, Blue, and Giovanni are all pretty tough on themselves.
However, Rope's level of toughness still exceeded their expectations...
After all, as the saying goes, this was Rope's first real battle. They didn't expect the battle to be this intense.
"I think the main issue is that both of these guys lack practical combat experience."
Lance shook his head at Indigo Plateau: "Though I haven't experienced battles at their level, I think these two aren't fighting very well."
Lorelei pondered for a moment before saying, "I think there's another possibility..."
"Rope and the others don't really have any better options. The way these two fight... is pretty underhanded."
Such conversations were happening simultaneously in many places, as everyone discussed the situation, the atmosphere shifting from tense to more relaxed.
And this was precisely because they all knew that
the battle before them had entered its final stages.
As before, Rope emerged victorious once again.
What was different this time was how arduous Rope's victory had been.
And… they finally had a live broadcast…