"Typhlosion!"
The young man panicked and rushed forward to check on Typhlosion.
"Relax. It's not dead. It's just too injured to keep fighting. My Pidgey is far more humane than you are."
Rex reached out and gently stroked Mew, who had already returned to his shoulder, not forgetting to give it a little praise.
"Pidgey~"
Mew chirped happily.
"Why? Why can your Pidgey use a move like Hyper Beam?"
The young man recalled Typhlosion into its Poké Ball, then stood up and stared coldly at Rex.
He simply couldn't understand it.
How could a Pidgey possibly use a move like Hyper Beam?
"Why don't you guess?" Rex replied with a mocking smile.
"You—!"
The young man was instantly furious.
Rex waved his hand dismissively.
"Enough nonsense. If you don't have the courage to keep fighting, transfer the money to me right now and get lost."
The young man gritted his teeth and glanced at his two companions.
He didn't want to ask for help, but the truth was that he only had Croconaw left. There was no way he believed Croconaw could defeat a Pidgey capable of using Hyper Beam.
The only option left was to fight together.
More importantly, he refused to believe that a Pidgey could use Hyper Beam repeatedly while being attacked from all sides.
His companions immediately understood the meaning behind his glance.
Without hesitation, they recalled their Charizard and Venusaur, no longer bothering with the group of new players they had been surrounding earlier.
Freed from Charizard and Venusaur blocking their path, most of the new players quickly scattered.
Only a few bold onlookers remained, unable to resist their curiosity. They wanted to see how this god-like Pidgey would face off against two fully evolved starters from the Kanto region—Charizard and Venusaur.
The battle was about to begin.
On the left side stood the three Closed Beta Players.
Charizard flapped its wings and hovered in the air, occasionally spitting sparks from its mouth.
Venusaur extended its thick vines, swinging them through the air as it waited for its trainer's command to strike.
Croconaw opened its massive fanged jaws, clearly ready to snap down on its enemy the moment it landed.
On the right side, there was only Rex.
And in front of him—
Mew, disguised as a Pidgey.
One man and one bird stood calmly facing three powerful Pokémon.
"Croconaw, Scary Face!"
The young man gave the first command, attempting to frighten Pidgey into temporary paralysis with Croconaw's terrifying expression.
Unfortunately for him, he was thinking too much.
Facing Croconaw's ferocious glare, Pidgey showed absolutely no reaction.
Instead, it lazily flapped its wings and even yawned at Croconaw.
The mockery couldn't have been clearer.
Croconaw froze for a moment before instantly flying into a rage.
Without waiting for another command from its trainer, it charged straight toward Pidgey.
"Oh no—that's Taunt!"
The young man shouted in alarm.
He didn't even stop to question how a Pidgey could possibly use Taunt.
"Croconaw, come back!"
But how could Croconaw possibly obey now?
This was Mew's Taunt.
At that moment, Croconaw's mind was filled with only one thing—the mocking expression Pidgey had just given it.
All it wanted was to tear Pidgey apart.
"Charizard, go help Croconaw! If that Pidgey uses Hyper Beam, blast it with Flamethrower!"
The male companion—Ziqiu—quickly issued his command.
Charizard roared and surged forward through the air.
"Venusaur, Solar Beam! The moment that Pidgey attacks, you and Charizard strike together!"
The girl, Zi Ling, also gave her command.
Venusaur nodded and immediately began gathering sunlight.
Golden energy visibly condensed into the massive petals on its back.
Meanwhile, Rex simply smiled faintly as he watched them prepare their attacks.
He whispered a few words quietly before raising his voice to give the command.
"Pidgey, Double Team. Split up and charge them."
"Pidgey!"
Mew chirped.
Its body instantly split into three identical Pidgey, each flying toward Croconaw, Charizard, and Venusaur.
"Croconaw, Water Gun!"
"Charizard, Flamethrower!"
The young man and Ziqiu reacted immediately.
A jet of water and a blast of fire shot forward, instantly destroying two of the incoming Pidgey.
The two images vanished like smoke.
Illusions.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the last remaining Pidgey—the one flying straight toward Venusaur.
If the other two were fake…
Then this one had to be the real one.
At that moment, Rex's voice rang out again.
"Pidgey, Hyper Beam."
The young man and Ziqiu immediately turned to the girl.
"Zi Ling! Use Solar Beam now while it's still charging!" the young man shouted.
"Brother Xu Zheng, relax. Solar Beam takes time to charge, but I promise it'll still fire faster than that Pidgey."
Zi Ling wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Two seconds later, Venusaur finished charging.
A brilliant sphere of light—like a miniature sun—formed within the petals on its back.
"Venusaur, Solar Beam, now!"
A blinding beam of energy erupted forward, shooting straight toward the Pidgey in the sky.
For a moment, everyone seemed to see the same image—
The Pidgey being completely vaporized by the overwhelming beam of light.
"Ah… what a shame."
The surrounding spectators sighed.
"Such a powerful Pidgey… gone just like that."
"It's the trainer's fault for making it fight like this."
Many of them felt genuine regret.
If that Pidgey had belonged to them, they would have treated it like royalty.
The idea of trainer and Pokémon roles reversing wouldn't even matter.
After all, this Pidgey could use Hyper Beam without even evolving, and it had already fought the fully evolved forms of the three Kanto starters.
If it evolved later…
Who knew?
It might even be capable of battling a Legendary Pokémon.
Maybe even defeating one.
"Hahaha! It's over!"
Seeing the annoying Pidgey vanish under Solar Beam, Xu Zheng burst into laughter.
"Your Pidgey is gone. According to our bet, hand over all your money!"
He extended his hand toward Rex.
But Rex simply looked at him calmly.
"Do you really think it's over?"
Those words instantly froze Xu Zheng's smile.
"What do you mean?" he asked with a deep frown.
Rex slowly raised his hand.
Snap.
The crisp sound echoed through the battlefield.
A second later—
A violent sound tore through the sky.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
High above them, a Pidgey was diving downward, a dark beam of energy blasting from its mouth.
Its target—
Venusaur, which had just finished celebrating its victory.
Before anyone could react—
BOOM!!
A violent explosion erupted.
Smoke and dust filled the air.
When the smoke cleared…
Venusaur was lying motionless on the ground.
No one knew whether it was conscious or not.
"How… how is that possible?!"
Xu Zheng's face turned pale with shock.
"Wasn't that Pidgey destroyed by Solar Beam?! Why is it up there?!"
Rex smiled mockingly.
"Because the Solar Beam only destroyed a Substitute."
Earlier, when he whispered to Mew, he had instructed it to secretly use Substitute while creating the Double Team illusions.
The fake body could take the damage.
Meanwhile, the real Mew used its natural invisibility to hide high in the sky, waiting for Rex's signal to unleash Hyper Beam.
"Substitute… it can even use Substitute?!"
Xu Zheng stood there in stunned silence.
He no longer knew how to describe what he was feeling.
Was this really a Pidgey?
Or was it some kind of Legendary Pokémon in disguise?
Not only could it use Hyper Beam, but it could also use Substitute.
The level of talent it displayed was simply outrageous.