After a moment's hesitation, he let out a breath and decided to just enjoy the show. A short while ago, Larry had been the one watching him battle.
Now, the roles had reversed. Now Ging stood there, arms crossed, expression unreadable, watching Larry's Pokémon fight with the same admiration and awe that Larry had once shown him.
Ging casually pulled out another fruit from his robe, this time, it was a pear. He gave it a quick wipe on his sleeve, then took a bite, chewing leisurely like he had all the time in the world.
Anyone paying close attention would notice something strange: not a single tear or burn could be seen on Ging's clothes. He looked exactly the same as when he first arrived. The fight so far had been nothing more than a warm-up for him, just stretching his muscles.
Dealing with the Gildrosia was a bit of a hassle, sure, but only a little. For someone like Ging, who stood at the very top of the Six Continents' power scale, they were hardly worth worrying about. As one of the so-called Major Disasters, Gildrosia could be considered the weakest of the group.
At best their threat level, will probably classified by the V5, as only B+. By comparison, threats like Hell's Bells were classified at level A.
It's worth noting that even Chimera Ants had a B-level danger rating, putting them on roughly the same level. These classifications weren't based on raw strength alone, they were the result of evaluating four key factors: brutality, numbers, reproductive ability, and destructive potential.
The real danger with the Gildrosia came from how easily they could spread and how much damage they could cause.
Their parasitic nature made them especially tricky; give them enough human hosts and they could multiply rapidly, building up an army in no time. But even more concerning was their destructive potential, not just their personal combat strength, but the kind of chaos they could unleash on the surrounding environment.
For example, if a single Gildrosia made its way into a city and wasn't handled immediately, the situation could spiral out of control fast. More would appear, people would get infected, and in no time, the entire city could be destroyed. Their ability to multiply so fast could snowball into a full-blown disaster.
In terms of individual strength, they weren't exactly weak either. It just seemed that way because they had the misfortune of running into Ging and Larry. If it had been almost anyone else, they might not have made it out alive.
And that was just one small forgotten ruin of a labyrinth. If this was the kind of threat lurking in a minor ancient maze, what kind of horror would the real Ancient Labyrinth in the Dark Continent hold?
As the last of the Gildrosia was brought down by the Arcanine, the battlefield looked like a graveyard, nothing but broken, scorched bodies. Not a single one of them remained intact. Without exception, their remains were all burned and blackened from flame attacks.
The threat had been completely neutralized.
Larry's Pokémon had only spent some mental energy and taken almost no damage at all. And thanks to this "leveling session," they were now stronger than ever. Gardevoir, Kirbymon, and Lucario had all leveled up from A to A+.
Meanwhile, Pokémon like Arcanine and Gengar, already at A+, were now even closer to breaking into the S-rank threshold.
Every one of them had grown from this battle. Seeing that, Larry couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of future encounters like this. But he also knew there was no need to rush things, once they stepped foot in the Dark Continent, there'd be no shortage of threats and opportunities to grow stronger.
It seemed that Larry's near-total wipeout of the Gildrosia hadn't gone unnoticed. Somewhere deep within the ancient ruins, something stirred.
All at once, a bone-chilling aura surged into the sky, thick and suffocating, like the breath of some ancient beast waking up. Its source was in the very heart of the labyrinth… something else was coming. Something stronger.
Even from the deepest part of the ruins, the chilling aura spread far and wide, blanketing the entire area like an invisible storm. It was the kind of presence that could paralyze a normal person with fear, or even scare them to death.
Ging's expression shifted slightly. His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the source deep within the labyrinth. At first, there was a flash of surprise in his gaze, but that quickly gave way to excitement.
Much like Chairman Netero, Ging had a personality that thrived on challenge. Netero found joy mainly in combat, while Ging's curiosity extended far beyond that, he was fascinated by anything difficult, obscure, or unexplored.
Until now, he'd assumed the Gildrosia were strong, sure, but not nearly as dangerous as he'd hoped. They felt a bit underwhelming for something supposedly tied to the ancient labyrinth city. He'd started to believe this place was just a knock-off version, a failed replica of the real thing.
But now, with this overwhelming aura suddenly rising from the depths, Ging realized there might be more to this ruin than he initially thought. And that made things interesting.
Larry also felt it. The moment that surge of bloodthirsty intent hit the air, it was like a switch flipped.
It was different from the lingering hostility of the Gildrosia, this was deeper, heavier, filled with rage. Looking around at the mangled remains scattered across the battlefield, Larry could guess what was going on.
"So the boss showed up after we wiped out all the little ones, huh?"
This aura wasn't something to take lightly. Judging by its intensity alone, it had to be at least S-rank.
Just when Larry thought he'd finished grinding experience for the day, life handed him a bonus stage. He didn't know exactly how strong this "boss" of the Gildrosia was, but one thing was clear, it was a serious threat, something feared and possibly even considered unbeatable.
Unfortunately for it, every opponent Larry had met lately was stronger than the last. First Ging, who was basically a walking cheat code, and then himself, backed by a team of elite Pokémon.
At this point, it was hard to say who was the hunter and who was the prey.
Pyon, who had the weakest combat abilities among them, froze up when the aura first hit. Her face went pale for a second. But then she took a deep breath and composed herself.
That alone showed how much Ging and Larry's presence reassured her. They were the kind of people who made you feel like everything was going to be okay, even when walking straight into the heart of danger.
At the same time, Pyon silently vowed to step up. She didn't want to be the useless one tagging along. If she couldn't fight, then at least she'd crack the secrets of this place faster, dig deeper, do more.
"Shall we go take a look?" Ging asked casually, his tone light, but it was more of a formality than a real question. They all knew there was only one answer.
"Yeah," Larry said, a grin forming on his lips. "Let's go meet the strongest thing down here."