Previously, there were rumors from the Hall family that this Pseudo-Champion Pokémon had already broken through to Champion tier—but now it seems that was clearly false.
After all, for the vast majority of Pokémon, once their trainer died, unless they were released back into the wild or accepted a new trainer, their level basically stayed fixed at the level they had when their trainer passed away.
As for why this happens, even now Pokémon scholars had not figured it out.
Julian looked at the Luxray and asked, "Are you sure you want to get involved?"
"Lux~"
Luxray: "I promised my trainer I would protect his family."
Julian nodded and didn't say anything more.
A Pokémon's resolve was far stronger than a human's. Even though Luxray had already noticed that Metagross had broken through to that level, it still had no intention of retreating.
"Luxray, kill them all!"
Martin, holding the bodies of his wife and son, looked like a vengeful ghost. The killing intent and rage in his heart erupting like a volcano.
"Metagross, create a barrier," Julian said.
This was not an arena—there was no protective barrier here. If a real fight broke out, the aftershocks wouldn't just injure the Turner family members—they would affect the entire Luminara City.
"Meta~"
Metagross nodded and used Light Screen to create a barrier. The Light Screens acted as a standard protective barrier, perfectly containing the aftermath of the battle.
"Go!"
Julian released a Poké Ball that had been trembling all along.
"Tres~"
With a sharp cry, a fiery red figure soared into the sky. Sparks drifted down as it flapped its wings.
---
Pokémon: Moltres (Fire/Flying)
Level: 86
Potential: Blue
Ability: Pressure
Held Item: Charcoal
Gender: Genderless
Moves: Gust, Leer, Ember, Safeguard, Wing Attack, Flamethrower, Agility, Ancient Power, Incinerate, Air Slash, Roost, Heat Wave, Sunny Day, Hurricane, Endure, Overheat, Sky Attack
TMs: Protect, Take Down, Acrobatics, Flame Charge, Fire Spin, Aerial Ace, Air Cutter, Fly, Will-O-Wisp, Fire Blast, Flare Blitz, Solar Beam, Sunny Day, U-turn, Brave Bird, Hyper Beam, Temper Flare, Substitute, Sandstorm, Scorching Sands
Egg Moves: None
Note: Due to consuming a Blaze Stone, the power of Flamethrower is doubled.
Note: Due to consuming the Triple flame, there is a 50% chance that Fire-type moves will deal double damage and a 30% chance they will deal triple damage.
---
Originally, Moltres had been at the same level as Metagross. Unfortunately, Moltres did not have the Steel typing—otherwise, when Mew was extracting Genesect's energy, Moltres would have been included as well.
It's hard to say whether it could have elevated Moltres to the Champion tier, but it definitely would have reached the peak of Pseudo-Champion tier.
"Julian's Moltres—this is the first time I've seen it."
Thea looked up at Moltres soaring high in the sky, its fiery-red figure gliding gracefully, exceptionally dazzling and magnificent.
"Fire-types really are awesome."
As a Fire-type trainer, Theo couldn't help but show a proud expression, as if this Moltres belonged to him.
Luxray was surprised to see that its opponent was not Metagross but Moltres. At the same time, it was also annoyed—feeling that Julian was underestimating it.
This human must have thought it wasn't worthy of Metagross's intervention.
And indeed, that was the case—if Metagross were to fight, the outcome would be decided almost instantly.
Such a battle would offer no room for growth for Metagross, so Julian sent out Moltres instead.
In fact, Julian would have preferred to send out Aggron, but unfortunately, that guy hadn't fully recovered from the injuries it sustained in its last battle against Victor's Kommo-o.
Type-wise, Moltres didn't have an advantage—but who cared about that?
Luxray crouched low, like a hunting leopard, and in the next moment, massive yellow electric arcs burst out from its body.
The arcs were incredibly fast and numerous, spreading across the sky in the blink of an eye, dense and intricate like an Electro Web.
"As expected of a peak Pseudo-Champion—that Discharge was way too terrifying!"
Theo stared wide-eyed. Just that move alone could have instantly wiped out all of his Pokémon.
He then looked at Julian, wanting to know how he would respond.
Battles at the Pseudo-Champion level were a rare sight—not something you got to see every day.
Moltres looked at the dense web of electric arcs, and a trace of contempt flashed through its eyes. Suddenly, its body became enveloped in red flames as it dove straight into the arcs.
With Flame Charge, Moltres pierced straight through the electric net formed by Discharge, but the next second Luxray controlled the remaining arcs to strike at Moltres again.
The numerous electric arcs combined, their power merging to form a Thunderbolt.
This level of control over Electric-type energy had clearly reached its peak.
Even though its level hadn't increased while it stayed behind to guard the Hall family, that didn't mean its strength couldn't grow.
And there were many ways to grow stronger—refining your moves was one of them.
Flame Charge collided head-on with the Thunderbolt, instantly sending sparks and embers scattering in all directions. The intense impact resulted in shockwaves rolling outward one after another.
But all of them were blocked by the barrier created by Metagross.
Whenever the energy in one part of the barrier weakened slightly, Metagross would immediately channel more to reinforce it.
Unless it was broken in a single strike, the Light Screen barrier would remain incredibly sturdy.
As the shockwaves faded, Moltres was still flying in the air, unharmed—and of course, Luxray below was also unscathed.
The first round ended in a draw.
After all, Luxray was at the peak of Pseudo-Champion tier. Even if its strength wasn't necessarily much higher than Moltres's, it was definitely not an opponent that could be easily defeated.
"Tres!"
A blast of scorching flames shot out, instantly raising the temperature of the entire area by over ten degrees as waves of heat rolled through the air.
Luxray pushed off with its hind legs, leaping aside to avoid Moltres's Flamethrower. The spot where it had just been standing instantly turned into molten lava.
Glancing at the lava field, Luxray's eyes narrowed with seriousness. The power of that Flamethrower was unexpectedly intense—if it had been hit, the consequences would have been severe.
"Damn, that temperature is just unreal."
Looking at the bubbling lava, Theo swallowed hard. Even though he didn't have a Moltres himself, he still had some understanding of its capabilities.
Even though Moltres's flames were known to be hotter than those of most Fire-type Pokémon, a single Flamethrower shouldn't have been able to turn the ground into lava—and not just a thin layer of it, but bubbling, deeply molten lava.
The depth had to be at least three or four meters.
"Since when have any of Julian's Pokémon ever followed the laws of science?" Thea remarked calmly.
"That's… true."
Theo nodded in sudden realization.
None of Julian's Pokémon could be measured by normal standards when it came to combat power.
"Tres!"
Moltres glared at the Luxray below.
It had already fired several more Flamethrowers, but each time, the cat had managed to dodge them.
Luxray's mobility was exceptionally—without any restrictions, landing a Flamethrower on it was proving to be quite challenging.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister