c14: The Farce Is Over
Chen Xiaoxiao's eyes shimmered with a faint blue glow she was preparing to use Confusion to construct a psychic barrier to deflect Fearow's high-speed attack.
"Shanai!"
Gardevoir burst out of its Poké Ball on its own, instantly materializing in front of her to cast Protect. The barrier shimmered like glass in the morning light. What an incredibly loyal Gardevoir!
Fearow's furious Drill Peck, driven by rage, collided squarely with Gardevoir's Protect, but not even the faintest ripple appeared on the light screen. It absorbed the hit effortlessly.
"Wow!"
"So beautiful!"
"Gardevoir!"
"It's a Shiny Gardevoir!"
The crowd gasped around them. The Flash-colored variant stood out, its silver-green hue glittering as it held the front line.
"What?!"
The black-hearted stall owner's twisted face froze in shock. Just as he was about to command Fearow to attack Chen Xiaoxiao again, his pupils shrank. Gardevoir's effortless defense made him second-guess the battle. Realizing his Pokémon's strike was completely nullified, dread crept into his heart.
Before he could react further, a voice rang out sharply:
"Abomasnow! Ice Beam! (Official Move: Ice Beam)"
A chilling blue beam surged from a distance!
The area where the beam passed dropped in temperature instantly. The attack struck with icy precision, enveloping the stall owner and Fearow in a glittering freeze. Both were instantly turned into statues of ice.
Looking closely, the stall owner's contorted grin and shrunken pupils were still visible behind the icy layer his expression frozen mid-shift, a surreal sight.
Though it seemed slow, it all happened in a blur.
From the moment the rogue vendor released his Fearow to the second he launched his assault, and to now being turned into an ice sculpture barely 2-3 seconds had passed. The speed and tension of the encounter overwhelmed the spectators. The crowd stood frozen, brains unable to catch up to the whiplash of events.
"Are you all right, Miss?"
Uncle Li stepped forward quickly, checking on Leng Yue with concern.
"I'm okay. Xiaoxiao protected me. Thank you, Uncle Li!"
Leng Yue smiled in gratitude.
As it turned out, it was Uncle Li the loyal chauffeur who had released Abomasnow to intercept the situation with Ice Beam.
Though it looked like he reacted slowly, Gardevoir's sudden emergence had reduced Fearow's attack window, giving Abomasnow the time to arrive. Had Gardevoir not acted first, Fearow would've landed a hit mere moments before the ice beam struck.
"Miss Xiaoxiao, thank you for your help! Sorry to trouble you."
Uncle Li bowed respectfully to Chen Xiaoxiao.
He also glanced at Gardevoir beside her, his eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses.
As an Elite-class Trainer himself, Uncle Li had witnessed countless battles. He had used Protect over 8,000 times if not more and yet, he had rarely seen such overwhelming suppression. Fearow's furious Drill Peck had been thrown with the power of a quasi-Elite. And yet, it failed to leave a mark on Gardevoir's hastily summoned barrier.
This wasn't just defense it was domination from an equal or stronger force.
A twelve-year-old with an Elite Pokémon…
She's the same age as Miss Leng Yue.
"No, really it was nothing at all!"
Chen Xiaoxiao responded humbly, not letting praise go to her head. She simply accepted the crowd's admiration, tugged gently on Leng Yue's sleeve, and checked Abomasnow's data on her Pokédex.
Abomasnow
Gender: ♂
Level: 79 (Elite-Class Peak)
Type: Grass/Ice
Nature: Calm (↑Sp. Atk, ↓Speed)
Ability: Snow Warning – Summons hail when entering battle, lasting five turns
Hidden Ability: Soundproof – Immune to sound-based moves
Qualification: Elite
"I'm so sorry! This was all my fault… I'm really sorry!"
The young Trainer finally came back to his senses, rushed toward Chen Xiaoxiao and Leng Yue, and bowed deeply in shame and apology.
"Hmph."
Leng Yue looked away with a cold snort, unimpressed, her expression as unreadable as ever.
The boy scratched his head, awkward and red-faced.
After giving her Gardevoir a few words of praise, Chen Xiaoxiao gently returned it to its Poké Ball. She then pulled up information on the young Trainer's partner.
(She actually didn't want to send Gardevoir out it was too flashy. Most of her other Pokémon were equally high-profile. The only modest one, Espeon, couldn't appear in public. Espeon felt heartbroken, knowing Gardevoir had again taken center stage as her guardian.)
Typhlosion
Gender: ♂
Level: 54 (High Quasi-Elite)
Type: Fire
Nature: Modest (↑Sp. Atk, ↓Atk)
Ability: Blaze (When HP drops below 1/3, the power of Fire-type moves increases by 1.5x)
Hidden Ability: Flash Fire (When struck by a Fire-type move, absorbs it and boosts the power of own Fire-type moves by 1.5x)
Qualification: Elite
"What happened here?! Who authorized the use of Pokémon against civilians? You !"
At that moment, a security official responsible for the plaza finally arrived, his voice rising in alarm as he took in the frozen statue occupying the center of the field.
His eyes swept the scene, then narrowed on the looming figure of Abomasnow. He opened his mouth, prepared to reprimand sharply, but then spotted the silver Elite-class Trainer badge glinting on Uncle Li's left chest and immediately bit back his words.
"May I ask what exactly happened here?"
Regaining composure, the plaza manager softened his tone and asked cautiously.
Uncle Li didn't bother answering. He was clearly irritated. Had the plaza's staff been doing their job, that shady vendor wouldn't have been able to scam people in broad daylight, and Miss Leng Yue wouldn't have been put in danger.
Admittedly, blame could be shared. This was, after all, a free-trade square. Buyers and sellers usually made deals based on mutual judgment what the manga sometimes refers to as "Pokémon market instinct." If you got tricked, that was on you.
But this time, the stall owner had gone too far. He'd threatened physical violence. A few hot-headed witnesses had reported it, and the result was what they now faced.
Tension hung heavy again.
"You fool, did you call the police or not?!"
Chen Xiaoxiao, impatient with the stalemate, turned to the young Trainer.
"R-report… yes, I did... I reported it…"
Caught off guard, the young Trainer stuttered. He hadn't expected Chen Xiaoxiao to address him and was flustered.
Well, now at least the plaza manager understood. All that remained was for law enforcement to arrive and sort things out.
Finally after five minutes that felt like twenty several uniformed officers mounted on Arcanine, the standard transport for Kanto-Johto special units, galloped onto the scene. Perhaps this was that famous adage: "Justice may be late, but it is never absent."
"What's this…?"
A young policewoman dismounted and looked at the frozen stall owner and Fearow in confusion. The alert they'd received had described a fraud case not a live Pokémon assault.
"It's likely the situation escalated," a junior officer assessed. "I can't yet tell whether the frozen man was the aggressor or the complainant. But given the presence of an Elite-level Pokémon and the absence of any collateral damage, it seems the Ice-type Pokémon involved displayed precise elemental control. No structural damage. No flesh wounds. Just targeted cryostasis. That's not something a wild Pokémon could do it had to be a trained Ice-type."
All officers turned their attention to the Abomasnow standing silently to the side. It was powerful. Controlled. Ice-type. No doubt it had executed the Ice Beam.
"Understood."
The highest-ranking officer a middle-aged man with a calm demeanor approached Uncle Li. But before he could speak, Uncle Li raised his Pokédex and tapped into the identity interface, showing a screen marked with the Prosecutor-grade clearance badge, confirming his role.
In a low voice meant only for the officer, he stated: "I'm a Senior Prosecutor directly under Elite Four member Leng. Please verify my credentials."
He handed over the device.
The officer's face shifted into seriousness. He saluted instinctively, accepted the Pokédex respectfully, scanned the ID through the police department's verification tool, then returned it upon confirmation.
"I was simply passing through," Uncle Li explained. "From what I witnessed, this was a fraud case that turned aggressive. The suspect impersonated an Elite Trainer and used a Pokémon to assault the family member of a regional Elite. Given the scale of fraud and impersonation, plus the assault on a public figure's relative, this will need escalation. Officer, could you please escort the young Trainer over there to headquarters to make an official statement?"
He gestured subtly to the nearby boy and added a single word:
"Solaceon."
Chen Xiaoxiao: "...!"
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