Hydreigon roared. Having its attack cut off by Riolu had already made it seethe, and its other "companions" lunged in first!
Ghetsis commanded a lot of Pokémon, each formidable—and several even overlapped with Alder's lineup.
For example, that "Afro Buffalo" in front—Bouffalant!
It lowered its head and thundered forward with Head Charge, its signature, devastating tackle!
Thud!
Bouffalant slammed into a wall of iron—no, a steel wall that didn't budge an inch!
"Moo?" Bouffalant's pupils shrank. It hadn't expected anything to tank that blow. The "steel wall" standing before it was, in truth, Duraludon!
"What is that?!" Even Ghetsis was taken aback.
Hikaru: "Duraludon! Its body is built with quake-resistant structure—ordinary hits can't shake it in the slightest!"
"Throw it out!"
Duraludon bellowed. Its Metal Claw clamped down on Bouffalant. The strong brute tried to heave Duraludon up—after all, this steel dragon's Ability was Light Metal, so it wasn't actually that heavy.
You wanna toss me? I'll toss you first!
That's what Bouffalant thought—when Duraludon's eyes flashed!
It hadn't even used a move yet.
As for that "metal claw" just now… that was just the name of its paw—not the move.
BOOM! A violent Steel Beam detonated point-blank into Bouffalant's chest, ripping a scream out of it.
"Rock Smash."
With a one-handed chop, Duraludon drove the HM-move down. Against Bouffalant, Rock Smash hit supereffectively!
Having spent so long in a future city digging through ruins and chewing scrap, Duraludon had mastered Rock Smash to perfection.
Ghetsis's Cofagrigus skittered in fast, its coffin-lid yawning open to swallow Hikaru. As a Ghost-type, it was supremely confident—human… "attacks" don't work on me!
"Night Slash."
A razor arc of light flashed. The coffin-lid split with a deep, clean gouge. Cofagrigus shrieked, but the follow-up slashes came down like a storm!
Night Slash. Night Slash. Night Slash!
When the cold-bladed knight of steel finished its flurry, Cofagrigus collapsed, carved all over and unable to battle. Even so, Iron Valiant didn't trust it; she hefted the coffin and used Fling!
KRASH! The hurled coffin smashed into a Seismitoad lurking in the shadows, chunking its HP!
"Pokémon I've never seen—you're carrying more than six on you!"
The last person to carry over six on hand was the Champion, Alder!
Ghetsis was rattled. Hikaru smiled. "I'm not an officially registered Trainer. Not using the storage system has its perks."
"Then—!"
Roars rang out in waves as Walking Wake, Torterra, Lilligant, and the fire-sputtering Larvesta popped in one after another, suppressing Ghetsis's charging Pokémon across the field!
Ghetsis's Bisharp blinked—and a slender, elegant cut was already there. After a blistering close-quarters exchange, its body locked up; its steel blades were sheared apart by glittering Leaf Blade!
It tried to wheel and counter, but Walking Wake simply Crunched down on its head—and then a point-blank Flamethrower lit the whole arena, deleting the Bisharp outright.
As for Seismitoad and the other Eelektross, Torterra and Larvesta kept them pinned. Seismitoad barely has weaknesses; Eelektross famously has no weaknesses thanks to Levitate. However, the former's one weakness is Grass.
Four-times-weak Seismitoad ate a Torterra Wood Hammer and almost blacked out on the spot. Their base power wasn't so far apart, and once Torterra triggered Ancient Power, it began to edge ahead.
"Damn it—Rock Tomb!"
Ghetsis ordered Eelektross to gather stones and pelt Larvesta.
For a Bug/Fire that's 4× weak to Rock, stones spell doom.
But the little larva gathered a green radiance—then blasted the incoming rocks to gravel in a single surge.
That move just now was Solar Beam!
Two of the team can use Solar Beam; Larvesta had long since learned it. Its gaze sharpened.
Flames wrapped it tip to tail; its aura spiked like a GX card going live. It became a burning meteor and rammed Eelektross!
Flare Blitz—eat this!
"It's not over—Rotom, Super Form Change!"
"Help Deoxys!"
Hikaru tapped the C-device. The Rotom that had been jammed by an electromagnetic lock popped out in a huff!
Rotom—Transform!
Rotom Wash!
The washer-form Rotom lugged its hose straight into battle—one Hydro Pump blasted a lunging Bisharp skyward away from Deoxys.
"Iron Valiant, I'm counting on you too."
[Order received. Executing.]
Having downed Cofagrigus, Iron Valiant also joined the fight against the Shadow Triad. With her Fairy/Fighting typing, those light-blades outclassed Bisharp's steel sabers; she practically OHKO'd one the instant she arrived!
She is a future robot—her starting level is very high.
"Grrraaah!" Hydreigon grew impatient. Its "allies" were this frail? This wasn't the "legion that destroys all." Time to win its master some face.
And its opponent was merely a former pushover it had casually defeated.
An unevolved Pokémon—nothing to fear!
"Not so sure about that."
Hikaru's line made Hydreigon scoff.
Really? Then try me. If Fighting-types scared it, it would've fallen ages ago. Don't worship type matchups too much. Even among Fighting-types, there's a pecking order!
All three heads charged three energies at once—flame, lightning, frost: Tri Attack!
KRRAK! Three streams of power ripped the scene apart. Even Hikaru had to evade. But within those torrents, a small blue figure darted and weaved, feet feather-light—Riolu slipped between the sweeping beams like water.
Light flashed in Riolu's eyes.
Mind's eye—open!
A silvery fist flew second yet landed first. Bullet Punch hammered one of Hydreigon's heads in a pelting flurry!
Only one of Hydreigon's heads is "real"; the other two are "false," yet can eat, roar, and use moves.
Watching Drayden's Hydreigon before, Riolu had been thinking: if you disrupt one head early, then the second, could you throttle Hydreigon's power output?
Ghetsis roared, "Earth Power!"
He no longer cared what Earth Power might do to the Abyssal Ruins—collapse the ruins, bury the King's holy remains—whatever.
So long as he got the Ancient Crown!
Hydreigon heeded, stirring the ground's energy—Riolu wrapped itself in crackling electricity and shot skyward!
Magnet Rise!
Earth Power whiffed. Riolu's Thunder Punch smashed the central head. It counter-roared with Hyper Voice!
The blast of sound ripped the air, swatting the blue pup away. The left head reared and spewed Dragon Pulse!
Riolu's eyes flashed. Slipping its fire, it fired back its own Dragon Pulse!
"Why can't I hit this thing?!"
It wasn't just Ghetsis roaring—Hydreigon roared too. Their heart-voices overlapped in a single howl.
The injured head rose again. To Riolu's disbelief, that head gathered a warped energy—
Fire Spin!
A twisting inferno dragged Riolu into a sea of flames. Hydreigon's roar held glee. Bound and immobile, the little pest would taste the finest torment—
BANG!
Before the thought became deed, the Fire Spin tore open—Meteor Mash smashed the spouting fake head!
"SKRAAA!!" Hydreigon screamed, stunned.
Bursting from the vortex—untouched.
"Hah!" Riolu's eyes blazed; invisible power pooled in both hands, pupils burning like stars.
Mind's Eye + Detect!
Detect—completely nullify the foe's strike!
Then, riding the lingering flame—
A follow-through kick!
Riolu learned "Blaze Kick"!
Growing mid-fight, learning through move-clashes, pushing forward under special insight—the blue pup, wreathed in fire, seized Hydreigon's right head, and with tremendous force, hurled it aside!
Fling!
Dark malice gathered in Hydreigon's gaze. Its stats surged—one of its signature lines of play.
Nasty Plot, Dragon Dance, and then—
But across from it, the same boost aura flared around Riolu.
Psych Up!
"Grrraaah!" The dragon was truly enraged. Feeling the pain of both false heads—the left likely fractured, the right dislocated—this "lowly" creature, a mere unfinished runt—
To inflict such agony—unforgivable.
It would tear everything apart!
As Ghetsis cackled, a tear split the firmament. Scorching meteors rained from the far side of space-time!
"Awooo…"
Here it comes—Draco Meteor.
Riolu had guessed it: if Drayden's Hydreigon knew the move, this one surely would. So it had prepared a theory to answer it. Now came the practice.
It steadied its breath and linked minds with Hikaru.
Pick the timing. There's only one opening.
The blue-clad martial artist's words echoed in Riolu's heart.
Win the strong as the weak—make the finite infinite!
As the sky-filling meteors hammered the Abyssal Ruins, light kindled in Riolu's eyes.
Mind's Eye. Detect. It tracked the meteor paths, slipped through the shockwaves and interference, popped Aura Spheres to shatter falling rocks—and layered in Substitute.
Every meteor impact, every rippling shock, struck only a decoy.
By spawning a Substitute at the instant of impact, it shaved its own life to dodge incoming danger—appearing as if it had "ignored" the hit.
You can only make four Substitutes. So it'd packed a Wiki Berry to restore stamina.
Thus, in the instant it reached striking range—
"Close quarters? You think it'll be that easy?!" Ghetsis laughed. "I've already read you! You lesser lifeform!"
Assurance!
A move that doubles in power if the target has already taken damage this turn—and "damage" includes the HP you spend to create a Substitute!
Using Subs to approach through Draco Meteor? Clever—expected.
Too bad—Hydreigon's a mixed attacker!
Its physical power hits just as hard as its special!
An unseen evil edge carved across the space and landed on the charging blue pup—but right then, Riolu's fighting spirit surged.
Bigger—brighter—a Focus Blast burst from Riolu's chest!
A near point-blank Focus Blast!
If Aura Sphere isn't enough, there's a move with even greater might.
The supreme secret learned from a member of the Fighting-type Elite Four—hard to land at long range, but at close range, a single shot can decide the match!
Compared to Focus Punch, Focus Blast has one key advantage:
Even if you're struck, your focus doesn't break—this move won't fail!
With a death-cry, Hydreigon toppled. Riolu, battered and shaking, raised one arm in triumph, eyes blazing.
No one wins forever. Our hearts rise after failure and vault the "impossible" wall.
My life restarts now—and I will become a new hero!
[Help Riolu complete its fated duel.]
[Quest complete]
[Released Orb ×10, Unknown Medal ×1, Unknown Emblem ×1, Ancient Fighting Gem ×5, Trial Reward ×1.]
[Hero's Medal: Honor for a hero; once, survive a lethal blow at 1 HP.]
[Badge of the Brave: Emblem of the dragon-slaying hero; Courage +100%, All Stats +50%.]
[Ancient Fighting Gem — greatly heightens Fighting-type aura sense and power.]
[Trial Reward — one free move slot learned!]
(End of Chapter)
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[Thanks for Reading!]