"What?!"
"President... you're going to battle Miss Cynthia?"
After Hakuya and Cynthia finished breakfast, Oleana stepped out of her room and heard the news; her seductive and gorgeous face was filled with utter shock.
After all, this wasn't just any ordinary Trainer, but the Sinnoh Champion who defeated the Elite Four at the age of twenty!
Gardevoir, are you really not going to stop him?
Oleana instinctively swallowed and shot a subtle look to the side.
Although the Secretary Miss had shouted that she would drain the President dry last night, by the second half of the night, she was the one who couldn't withstand the assault, completely leaking out what little honey she had left.
Faced with such a scene, the unsatisfied Hakuya could only let a fresh Gardevoir take over.
Consequently, the secretary finally learned that Hakuya possessed the ability to humanize Pokémon.
"Gardevoir~"
The cold Gardevoir simply shook her head slightly, indicating that as long as her Trainer gave the order, she could take on ten opponents alone.
Garchomp: "..."
"However, I'm not talking about an ordinary battle."
Cynthia tucked a silky golden strand behind her ear and spoke slowly.
"I mean... a No-Holds-Barred Battle."
The Secretary Miss, who was preparing to act as the referee, seemed to be hearing this term for the first time and looked toward her President in confusion.
Hakuya froze for a moment, then came to a sudden realization.
"Meaning... Pokémon are allowed to attack the Trainer, right?"
"Exactly."
In the world of Pokémon, battles are divided into two categories.
The first is the most common Restricted Battle. Both Trainers stand on opposite sides of the battlefield, commanding their Pokémon to duel.
The formats are usually 1v1, 3v3, or 6v6; when one side's Pokémon all lose their ability to fight, the other side wins—this is what usually happens with wild trainers, Gym Challenges, and League Championships.
The second is a method originating from ancient times—No-Holds-Barred Battles. As the name suggests, the battle is bound by no rules; any means can be used for final victory, including directly attacking the opposing Trainer.
"Miss Cynthia, hasn't that been banned by the League for a long time because it's too bloody?"
After hearing Hakuya's explanation, Oleana weakly raised her hand to ask.
Although she wasn't a traditional battling Trainer, she had heard of this—to standardize battles, the Leagues of various regions had issued regulations decades ago prohibiting attacks on Trainers during matches.
"That is true."
Cynthia nodded affirmatively to the seductive secretary, then changed the subject.
"However, if you are traveling in the wild, knowing only how to follow Restricted Battle rules is far from enough."
"Pokémon have vastly different personalities; while most are kind to humans, there are plenty of brutal Pokémon that will directly attack Trainers in the wild."
"In addition, some evil criminals won't follow the law either; there are plenty of cases where they order Pokémon to directly attack their opponents..."
Of course, the reason the Sinnoh Champion suddenly requested a No-Holds-Barred Battle for training clearly wasn't for Hakuya's wilderness travels, but to prepare for future attacks from Darkrai.
In her view, that infamous Nightmare God didn't look like the type to follow rules.
Records also stated that Darkrai was temperamental, acting entirely on a whim.
The fact that it didn't destroy the house yesterday... was likely just because it was in a good mood; there's no guarantee that next time, it won't just erase Hakuya with a Dark Pulse if it's feeling grumpy.
It wasn't a bad thing to simulate this for her junior brother in advance.
"Alright, let's do as you say, Senior Sister~"
Hakuya nodded and slowly walked to the left side of the clearing.
In his personal view, given that Nightmare God's yandere traits, he would most likely just be tied up and whipped mercilessly in some horrific "discipline" session.
However, the fact that Cynthia thought of using No-Holds-Barred training for him brought a wave of warmth to Hakuya's heart.
An ice-cold-outside but warm-inside rich Champion sister—how can I not love her?
"This match will be a 3v3, with no battle rules; the match ends when one side surrenders."
Seeing that both were in position, Oleana, acting as referee, raised her hand.
Hakuya considered for a moment and chose Delcatty, Tinkaton, and Gardevoir.
On Cynthia's side, the final selection was Spiritomb, Milotic, and Garchomp.
"Battle, begin!"
"Milotic, use Hydro Pump."
As soon as Oleana's voice fell, the blonde beauty—who seemed like a completely different person—immediately gave the command.
Completely different from her usual kind and gentle self, the moment she entered battle mode, Cynthia's aura shifted drastically, and even her amber eyes became sharp.
"Milo~"
The arching Milotic let out a clear, long cry toward the sky, and a blue light suddenly surged in its throat.
Accompanying the tremors and craters in the flat ground, a massive spiral water column, resembling a water tornado, began to take shape.
"Tinkaton, interrupt it with Fake Out."
In an instant, Hakuya found a countermeasure.
Although real battles differ from the turn-based nature of games, moves still have varying speeds.
Compared to the normal speed of [Hydro Pump], the [Fake Out] move can strike first, directly interrupting Milotic's impending attack.
However, a Champion is a Champion; just seeing the giant hand manifesting from the void, she decisively raised her Poké Ball and withdrew Milotic before it could react, tossing out her next Pokémon.
Along with the red flash of the Poké Ball, a Pokémon shrouded in black mist appeared out of thin air, and Tinkaton's [Fake Out] arrived simultaneously, but...
The rotated-out Spiritomb shook its red keystone face, and seven or eight glowing green eyes suddenly revealed themselves, seemingly forming a mocking smile.
Besides considering move speed, switching and type advantages are lessons every Trainer must learn.
Facing the Ghost/Dark-type Spiritomb, the Normal-type [Fake Out] move naturally had no effect.
"Spiritomb, continuous Shadow Ball."
Following the cold Champion's soft words, the creature known as misfortune itself erupted in scarlet ghostly flames, its ethereal body twisting into a sinister grin as orbs of dark energy whistled through the air like specters.
[Shadow Ball: Fires a glob of black darkness to attack; may lower the target's Special Defense.]
But this time, the shell-like Shadow Balls weren't aimed at Tinkaton standing on the field, but were launched directly at the Trainer, Hakuya!
"Buru!"
Tinkaton, who hadn't reacted, turned her head only to see the Shadow Balls streaking like machine-gun fire toward the Trainer standing behind her giving orders.
BOOM!
The dark Shadow Balls slammed down, the swirling dust and smoke accompanied by thunderous explosions sweeping across the entire battlefield.
Just as Tinkaton and the spectating Oleana had their hearts in their throats, a clear voice rang out at the right time.
"I'm fine."
Hakuya, who had barely dodged by rolling several times, looked up to see a tidal wave of [Shadow Ball] moves following close behind.
This was a No-Holds-Barred Battle; any means could be used for victory.
Until one Trainer lost their ability to fight, this duel would never end.
"Using a switch as well?"
Cynthia frowned slightly and murmured.
Just as the Shadow Balls were about to land, a cat-like Pokémon suddenly jumped out of the Poké Ball in Hakuya's hand, perfectly intercepting the multiple unavoidable Shadow Balls.
"Meow~"
Repaying her in kind, Hakuya actually used the Normal-type Delcatty to provide defensive cover against the Ghost-type Spiritomb.
Secretly praising him, the glamorous and cold Sinnoh Champion didn't hesitate for a second, pushing the battle's offensive to an even higher climax.
"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush directly!"
At this moment, the ground—already pitted by Shadow Balls—trembled violently. The Garchomp, looking like a bloodthirsty Dragon God, leaped from its Poké Ball; its wings didn't flap but instead cleaved through the air like battle axes—instantly, the sky was torn open by sonic booms.
"Garch~"
The moment the dragon's roar shattered the clouds, its body transformed into a golden meteor.
[Dragon Rush: Unleashes a terrifying killing intent, striking while intimidating; may cause the target to flinch.]
"So... so powerful~"
Oleana, acting as the referee, opened her cherry lips, nearly speechless.
Even though the move wasn't directed at her, the Secretary Miss couldn't help but feel a pang of heart-stopping fear.
But in the next second, her emerald eyes widened even further in shock.
"Gardevoir~"
In an instant, the elegant and cold Gardevoir's figure drifted upward.
An ordinary Pokémon would surely have been paralyzed by the overwhelming killing intent, but with her high level and attribute buffs, Gardevoir crossed her arms, and her originally white skirt suddenly solidified into ice-blue silk.
[Fairy Body (Red)]: All Fairy-type move power increased by 40%!
[Mei's Blessing (Rainbow)]: All move power increased by 70%!
"This is..."
The always calm and steady Cynthia lost her composure at the sight before her.
Unlike any [Moonblast] move she had ever seen, three lunar discs suddenly manifested in the sky above.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was transformed into a realm of pure white.
The silvery moonlight poured down like molten silver, unstoppable, directly blasting the mid-air Garchomp down to the ground!
Gulp—
The seductive Secretary Miss instinctively swallowed; an audacious thought flooded her mind.
Is the President actually a retired Champion who was too invincible to find opponents, so he came back to start a farm?
However, before Hakuya could issue the next command, Cynthia—having regained her senses—cast a look of deep resentment toward him.
"Junior Brother, have you forgotten something?"
Although she was very satisfied with the offensive and defensive transitions of the battle—whether it was the [Fake Out] interruption, using the Normal-type Delcatty to tank the powerful [Shadow Ball] for the Trainer, or finally the head-on clash between Gardevoir's [Moonblast] and Garchomp's [Dragon Rush]...
As expected, from the perspective of Pokémon nurturing and tactical command, this junior was definitely a very powerful Trainer; if he wished, he seemed capable of challenging Sinnoh's Elite Four or even the Champion right now.
But... this fellow Hakuya, besides staring fixedly at the Pokémon duel on the field the entire time, hadn't spared her a single glance from beginning to end.
This made her behavior of occasionally having Garchomp attack Hakuya look like a total clown!
"..."
Hakuya, called out by name, was stunned and felt a bit helpless.
After all, having played too many Pokémon battle games in his past life, combined with this being his first time battling a real Champion, he was so excited that his mind was filled with tactics. He had truly forgotten for a moment that this was a No-Holds-Barred Battle—he couldn't be so civilized; he had to be more aggressive.
Fine then, since Senior Sister had spoken up, he couldn't hold back anymore.
In a normal no-rules battle, besides using Pokémon moves to blast the opposing Trainer, another common tactic was for one Trainer to rush forward and physically beat the other down.
However, completely contrary to what the cold Champion had imagined, Hakuya didn't choose either.
He didn't order Gardevoir to attack, nor did he intend to engage in a physical fistfight; instead...
Suddenly, Cynthia felt the plump, snowy mounds supported at her chest take a sudden plunge, vibrating with a massive wave of milky flesh.
"Eh??!!"