Chapter 101. Bronya, So Angry She Wants to Hit Someone
"Hmph, another new challenger?"
At Anti-Entropy Headquarters, inside a special test field the size of a warehouse, Xander stood on one side of the room with his arms crossed, chin lifted in arrogance, wearing a silver metal visor.
On the other side, Bronya, her expression solemn, walked in from outside.
Facing him, she flexed her gloved hand as if grasping something, then hurled it forward with force.
She wore a similar visor over her eyes.
After throwing, she mimicked him and folded her arms, which only made her already full curves stand even higher.
If an ordinary person were present, they might think the two of them, glaring from afar, had something wrong with their heads.
But in their view, the world before their eyes was completely different.
With a crackle of light, a bipedal golden cat sprang out of a Poké Ball.
It stood upright, electricity arcing around its body, eyes brimming with surging fighting spirit, looking impossibly cool.
Bronya's lips curled despite herself, and her voice brimmed with confidence.
"My Zeraora is the strongest!!"
"The strongest? Oh~"
With a scoff, Xander took out a Poké Ball of his own and tossed it carelessly.
"Let me show you what a real gap looks like.
Come out, my partner!!"
"Wooo—oh!!"
Light flashed.
Under Bronya's guarded gaze, a green Pokémon appeared opposite Zeraora.
But when she saw what it actually was, her tightly wound thoughts suddenly stalled.
Her expression froze for a beat, and she stared in disbelief at Xander—still striking a pose.
"You're going to fight me with a Caterpie?"
Pointing at the slowly crawling Caterpie, Bronya sounded utterly flabbergasted.
"What about Caterpie? Even a little Swinub can flatten Ho-Oh and Lugia.
Isn't it reasonable for my Caterpie to defeat your Mythical Pokémon?"
"What kind of crap are you spouting?"
"Tsk, see, Bronya, that's exactly why you—"
"Zeraora, Thunder Punch!"
Too lazy to listen to Xander's nonsense, Bronya ordered a direct attack.
The instant it heard the command, Zeraora shot forward.
As if it could sense its trainer's anger, blinding electricity wrapped its fist, and it smashed an unreserved punch into Caterpie's body.
A harsh bang rang out as smoke billowed.
Caterpie toppled with swirls in its eyes.
"Caterpie!!!"
A sorrowful roar.
Watching Xander rush over and kneel beside Caterpie with a grief-stricken face, Bronya could only feel a headache coming on.
Her lover was fine in every other way, but the moment it came to this kind of duel, he turned a bit chuunibyou and a total drama king.
"Don't waste time.
Hurry up and send out your real ace."
She called again, but Xander ignored her.
Cradling Caterpie in both gloved hands, he spoke in a low, mournful voice.
"Sorry, Caterpie.
It's all because I'm too weak."
"What, you still want to keep fighting?
You still want to surpass yourself?"
"..."
Bronya couldn't be bothered to reply.
She simply reminded Seele and Kaguya, who were observing from outside, to record all this so they could see who would be embarrassed in the end.
"Has husband always been like this?"
Outside the lab, Seele and Kaguya were in charge of monitoring the interior.
It was Kaguya's first time here, and this sight nearly broke her composure.
"Hm? Kaguya-sis, don't you think brother is really cool like this?"
Seele's cheeks flushed faintly.
She had already opened her phone's camera and started recording the entire scene.
"Cool?"
Kaguya suddenly felt the one needing to be wheeled into a hospital might not be just Xander.
Inside, Xander was still knee-deep in cringe acting.
His face turned resolute, like a hot-blooded manga protagonist who, having fallen to the ground, suddenly lays eyes on the keepsake from his childhood sweetheart.
He pushed himself up.
"In that case, let them witness the bond between us!!!"
"Caterpie, Mega Evolve!!!"
"Huh?"
Bronya was stunned.
Seele and Kaguya, watching the show, were stunned too.
If they had watched Digimon, they would have yelled at the screen.
"Wait, evolution too??? That's cheating!!"
"Hmph, what do you know!!"
Xander barked, "This is proof of the bond between me and Caterpie!
How could your one sentence deny it!!!"
"...Whatever makes you happy."
Bronya fell silent.
She felt like arguing further would only drop her IQ to the same level.
As white light of evolution flared from Caterpie's body, Bronya massaged her brow in a headache.
Forget it, let it evolve.
Even if it jumps straight to its final form, Butterfree, it's still hard-countered by my Electric-type Zeraora and should be a simple fight.
The piercing radiance seemed to light up the entire world.
Xander suddenly spread his arms, loftily raised a hand to the sky, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come forth, Rayquaza!!!"
Bronya blinked at first, then her jaw slowly dropped.
"...Huh??!!!!!!"
"Your Caterpie evolves like this??!!"
"You don't get it—this is the power of our bond!!!"
"@#%#%#%!!"
Staring at the vast green sky dragon nearly blotting out the heavens, Bronya wanted to swear.
Especially with those long golden feelers jutting from its protruding lower jaw—this Rayquaza was even Mega Evolved!
"Go, Rayquaza!
Use Dragon Ascent!!"
At the command, the divine dragon roared at the sky.
Flying-type energy gathered rapidly along its body, and it dove straight at Zeraora.
"Dodge, Zeraora!"
Dodge?
Where was it supposed to dodge to?
Zeraora—whose "mind" was an intelligent AI—wanted to swear too.
The dragon hurtled straight down with its whole body; there was nowhere to go.
With a single strike and a thunderous crash, Zeraora collapsed, strength spent.
Seeing this, Xander let out a long breath and sighed.
"What a tough yet exhilarating battle."
Then he looked at Bronya with a gratified gaze.
"It's fine, you already—"
Thud!!
Even as Zeraora fell, Bronya had already ripped off her visor.
She rushed in, grabbed Xander by the collar, and slammed him to the floor.
"Hey, hey, friendship first, competition second!
Don't let this hurt our—hey, hey, not the face!!"
Bronya couldn't hear a word anymore.
Fuming, she pummeled him with her little fists, snarling between strikes, "Here's your 'bond'!
Here's your 'bond'!"
"Cheater!"
"Cheater!"
"…Let go.
Let me get in two more punches!"
"No!"
Watching the two of them cling to each other and roll around on the floor, Seele and Kaguya exchanged a glance outside, still monitoring the situation.
"Should we stop them?" Kaguya asked first.
Seele was silent for a moment, then shook her head.
"Let's not.
Brother and Sister Bronya are playing."
"..."
Bronya was about to bite her husband.
You call that playing?
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