For a moment, it looked like it was over. But Ging's face didn't ease. In fact, it grew more serious. Right before their eyes, countless metal branches burst from the shattered remains of the Plants, extending like veins and wrapping around the damaged areas.
They began to reconstruct the body, both the head and the legs. And in mere seconds… it was whole again. Fully restored.
Ging's lips twitched slightly, his face stiff with disbelief. This was the first time in a long while he'd actually felt a sense of pressure. The Plants's power was far beyond what he had anticipated.
From a distance, the sudden shift in the battle didn't go unnoticed. Larry immediately sensed something had changed. Even Pyon, usually composed and cheerful, instinctively covered her mouth. Her wide eyes were filled with shock.
That head had clearly been destroyed, reduced to scraps by fire-infused attacks, and yet, it was back. Not just patched up. Restored. As if nothing had happened. "…How is that even possible?" she whispered.
Larry, however, had an idea. Thanks to the data he'd unlocked earlier through the Pokédex-style interface, he had access to more background on these beings. This… this was the true nature of a Disaster.
The gold and silver fusion Plants wasn't just strong. It was nearly unkillable.
A soft "ding" echoed in Larry's mind.
"Pokémon bred successfully."
While still processing the Plants's regeneration, Larry's focus was momentarily pulled to his system interface. A new Pokémon had been created.
****
The screen displayed the new creature in detail. Its body was forged almost entirely from metal, glinting with a cool, steel luster.
Its shape was like a slightly flattened durian, spiked and round. From its sides extended three long, green vine-like appendages, each ending in a disk of metal lined with jagged thorns.
Just as Larry had predicted, the creature was a Grass/Steel-type, the Pokémon known as Ferrothorn.
Now that the conditions had been met and the constraints and vows enhanced, the system began to feed Larry all the relevant info on his newly-bred partner. But even as that data filled his mind, his attention remained locked on the battlefield.
Because no matter how many Pokémon he summoned, this fusion Plants wasn't going down easily. It wasn't just a guard. It was a storm.
***
Species: Ferrothorn
Type: Grass / Steel
Ability: Iron Barbs
Strength Rank: B+
Known Moves: Leech Seed, Gyro Ball, Power Whip, Stealth Rock...
Description: Ferrothorn is a defensive juggernaut cloaked in spiked armor. Its Iron Barbs punish any who dare make contact, wearing down foes over time. With access to powerful utility and stall tactics, it thrives in drawn-out battles, slowly draining opponents while remaining nearly immovable thanks to its high defenses and tricky typing.
***
At first glance, Ferrothorn doesn't seem all that strong. Its base stats don't even break 500, putting it at the same rank as Mega Sableye. But where Ferrothorn truly shines isn't in raw power, it's in defense.
As one of the core members of Larry's team, Ferrothorn plays a crucial role, much like Happiny, in locking down enemies and slowly wearing them out.
Its special trait, Iron Thorn, causes enemies to lose a percentage of their health whenever they make contact. That alone makes it deadly to melee attackers.
Enemies without any long-range attacks can end up destroying themselves before they land more than a few hits.
Then there's the skill set. With Parasitic Seed, Ferrothorn can leech health off opponents, keeping itself alive and stable in battle. Combined with Poison, it steadily whittles down the enemy's stamina until there's nothing left.
The move Guard adds a layer of defense that blocks even powerful finishers, preventing enemies from brute-forcing their way through. And when it's time to deal damage, Power Whip and Gyro Ball can hit surprisingly hard, especially with Ferrothorn's high defense stat feeding into the latter.
While Larry was analyzing Ferrothorn and considering how to integrate it into his team, the sound of clashing metal echoed nearby. Ging had already engaged the Gold-Silver Plants several times, but no matter how fierce the attacks were, they failed to leave a scratch. Each time, the Plants recovered almost instantly, like nothing had happened.
Larry lowered his eyes and turned his attention to the Gold-Silver Plants, now realizing this wasn't going to be a simple fight. He remembered reading its entry in the data logs, Fusion.
Looking closer, he noticed something off about the creature's head. One side was clearly gold, the other silver. It wasn't just one body, it was a combination of two. That meant at least two parasitic plants were controlling it.
Normally, a single parasite would take over just the head, while the rest of the body stayed mostly human. But with two? The entire body was likely crawling with intertwined vines and root systems. That would explain the larger size and that freakishly fast healing.
"Ging," Larry muttered, his tone serious, "there's more than one parasite in that thing."
Ging narrowed his eyes, already noticing how every inch of the creature seemed reinforced from the inside. "So that's why the whole body is filled with branches... No wonder it heals so fast."
Pyon, who had been furiously typing on her device since the start of the battle, suddenly spoke up. The bunny ears on her head drooped, and almost all of her soft pink aura was focused into her phone.
A stream of green code ran down the screen as he worked to decode whatever he could. Pyon was desperate to contribute, her fingers moving rapidly to pull up anything useful.
Bang!
Ging raised both arms and caught a thunderous punch from the Gold-Silver Plants, but the impact forced him to slide back. His shoes scraped hard against the ground, carving twin marks into the dirt as sparks flew.
He shook out his arms, then glared at the creature in front of him, completely unharmed, not even a dent.
"So we have to destroy the whole thing in one shot, huh?" Ging murmured, mostly to himself.
After a few rounds of back-and-forth, he had a pretty good idea of what they were up against. Pyon's data only confirmed it, this wasn't just a two-parasite situation. There could be even more inside.
That would explain the absurd regeneration rate. This thing wasn't just tough, it was designed to be nearly impossible to kill unless you wiped out the whole body in one blow.
Even when three attackers struck it at once, the Gold-Silver Plants managed to recover almost instantly, even when half its body was blown away.
"But...It doesn't have to be this way."
By keeping Gyo active the whole time, Ging was able to track every little shift in the creature's body. Its regeneration was still absurdly fast, but Ging, with his sharp eyes, noticed something crucial, the recovery was gradually slowing down. Bit by bit, its regeneration rate was dropping.