"Boom—"
A touch-and-go situation!
More than a dozen or twenty Pokémon on the scene instantly unleashed their moves.
Even though Riku was very confident in Metagross, he still felt a bit anxious. Facing so many attacks at once, Metagross's defense was strong enough, but even ants could move an elephant if there were enough of them. What's more, Metagross was only a pseudo-legendary, and the gap between it and ordinary elite-level Pokémon was definitely not as large as that between an elephant and ants.
"Riku, you can do it."
Cynthia suddenly glanced at Riku with a smile, but when she turned her gaze back to the battlefield, a layer of frost had already appeared on her face.
"Eelektross, don't disappoint the partner who is helping you block the attacks."
"Discharge!"
"Hold nothing back!!"
Seeing Metagross appear in front and block all the attacks, Eelektross was shocked. Then, it mustered its strength to store electricity. Now, it was time to release it.
"Zzzzz—"
Under Eelektross's superb control, hundreds of finger-thick yellow electric currents suddenly bypassed the Metagross in front and directly rushed toward the Team Galactic Pokémon.
"Be careful!"
Cyrus immediately issued a warning:
"The Pokémon hit by the electricity, immediately return them to their Poké Balls. Even if it damages the Poké Balls' lifespan, it doesn't matter."
"Return them and then send out other Pokémon."
"Don't be slow!"
As expected of the leader of Team Galactic, he had seen many big scenes. Faced with the current battle situation, Cyrus could still remain calm and composedly command.
But the leader being able to calm down didn't mean the Team Galactic members under him could be the same.
Nearly twenty Pokémon were instantly knocked out by the electricity—half of them.
Eelektross was a high-level Elite Four Pokémon. Not to mention a big move like Discharge, even casually releasing a small move would be unbearable for these ordinary elite-level Pokémon.
The worst were the Zubat and other Flying-type or Water-type Pokémon. They were inherently weak to Electric-type moves, so not to mention being directly hit by such a big move, even a slight touch would be fatal.
With one Discharge, only a few scattered Bronzor remained. After all, Bronzor was a Steel-type, so it wasn't so easily knocked out by electricity.
Weavile was also accidentally hit, but it was an Elite Four Pokémon, and under conditions where its type wasn't at a disadvantage, it could withstand one Discharge.
"Weavile, Night Slash!"
"Metagross is slow, bypass it and directly kill Eelektross!!"
Cyrus might have been enraged, and the voice he used to issue the command was a bit loud.
And this command immediately displeased Riku.
What did he mean by Metagross being slow?
Even if it was really slow! What right did Cyrus have to say that?
"Metagross, you're being looked down upon!" An annoyed Riku issued a command:
"Since that's the case, aren't you going to show your strength?"
"Meteor Mash!"
The timing of Riku's command was quite good.
At this moment, Weavile happened to want to bypass Metagross, and Metagross, equally furious, received Riku's command and turned around to deliver a Meteor Mash to Weavile.
"Crap!"
"Come out, Houndoom!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Cyrus summoned another Pokémon.
Pokémon trainers can summon all their Pokémon at once, but this is only done when facing a group of wild Pokémon and not intending to capture them.
When battling other Pokémon trainers, most trainers will only summon one Pokémon at a time, because very few people can multitask effectively. Pokémon captured by humans are used to obeying commands, so if they are not paid attention to for a moment, some less intelligent Pokémon will really just stand there waiting.
"Riku, quickly recall Metagross!"
The well-informed Cynthia was actually anxious when she saw Cyrus summon Houndoom.
"Why? Is this Pokémon very strong?" Riku asked, puzzled.
In his opinion, Metagross was a pseudo-legendary, and the black dog Cyrus had was at most an Elite Four level.
Even if this black dog looked a bit like a Dark-type Pokémon and would counter Metagross's Psychic-type, in the face of absolute power, a small type disadvantage was nothing!
"It's not that it's not strong," Cynthia quickly explained:
"It's that this Houndoom completely counters your Metagross."
"Your Metagross is a Steel and Psychic-type, and Houndoom is a Dark and Fire-type Pokémon. If it gets hit, it's a four-times super-effective attack."
"Even if your Shiny Metagross is a pseudo-legendary, it can't withstand such exaggerated damage!"
"Four times super-effective attack!" Riku was also taken aback. He took out his Pokédex and immediately aimed it at Houndoom:
"Beep—"
"Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon, a Dark and Fire-type Pokémon."
"Houndoom is a canine Pokémon, and after evolving, the horns on its head become larger and more curved."
"Houndoom's belly fur is the same color as its muzzle. It has three toes on its lower limbs with sharp claws. It has two bone-like rings on its ankles and a long tail with an inverted triangular tip."
"Except for its muzzle and belly, Houndoom is entirely grayish-black."
"Female Houndoom have shorter horns."
"Houndoom can spew flames mixed with poison, and burns from it will cause endless pain."
"Its eerie howls are characteristic of Houndoom. In the past, people feared it, believing it to be a messenger from hell."
"Note: Houndoom determines its leader through fights among its pack members, with the Houndoom whose horns are the largest and most curved backward winning. When hunting, Houndoom shares the prey equally with the members of its pack."
...
Seems pretty strong!
Flames with poison that cause continuous burns?
Hearing the Pokédex's introduction, Riku's heart sank, and he took out a Poké Ball:
"Metagross, you've worked hard, come back."
This time, Riku didn't insist and directly recalled Metagross.
No matter how strong a Pokémon is, it won't fare well against a four-times super-effective attack.
If the Houndoom in front of him was an elite-level Pokémon, then Metagross could still rely on its level advantage to quickly attack for a one-hit kill.
But Cyrus's Houndoom was clearly an Elite Four-level Pokémon.
Even if Metagross could win, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and there was no need for that.
He, Riku, wasn't without other Pokémon.
"Come out, Lapras!"
This was the first time he had recalled a Pokémon during a battle, and even though he hadn't lost, Riku was a bit displeased.
At this time, Cynthia also recalled Eelektross and threw out an Ultra Ball:
"Come out, Milotic."
The two Elite Four-level Water-type Pokémon scared the Houndoom, which was just about to spew out Inferno, into immediately closing its mouth.
Milotic, a pure Water-type Elite Four Pokémon, would waste its energy no matter how strong a Fire-type move hit it.
And although Lapras had an Ice-type attribute and was weak to Fire-type, Houndoom had battled Lapras before and knew that the Fire-type's advantage over Lapras was extremely limited and ineffective.
If it were hit by a Water-type move from Lapras, it would probably be instantly defeated.
"Return, Houndoom!"
Facing two Elite Four-level Water-type Pokémon, Cyrus decisively recalled Houndoom.
Poor Houndoom, it had just jumped out of its Poké Ball with great fanfare, finally seeing a pseudo-legendary Metagross that it had a four-times type advantage over.
It was just about to put on a show of turning the tide.
But it didn't expect to be recalled by Cyrus without even unleashing a big move.
If it could defeat a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Houndoom would have boasted about it for the rest of its life!
"Hurry up, Cyrus, what are you standing there for?"
Nearly twenty seconds had passed, and Cyrus, who had recalled Houndoom, hadn't made any move. Instead, he was exchanging glances with the Team Galactic members beside him.
Cynthia, concerned about Darkrai's whereabouts, hurriedly urged:
"If you want to surrender, hurry up..."
"Don't waste my time here."
"I'll give you at most ten more seconds to consider, 10, 9, 8..."
Watching Cynthia count down, Riku was wary of Team Galactic possibly resorting to desperate measures.
Even though many Pokémon had been knocked out, Riku wouldn't believe that an evil organization would surrender so easily.
"Run!"
No one expected that Cyrus would actually turn around and flee.
And several of his Team Galactic subordinates quickly grabbed the door handles, about to close the alloy gate.
"Crap!"
"Cyrus, you coward!"
"Milotic, use Hydro Pump!!"
Riku was startled and quickly stopped her:
"Cynthia, no!!"
"Bang—"
Unfortunately, Milotic, as an Elite Four-level Pokémon, had an incredibly fast reaction time.
Less than a second after Cynthia gave the command, it had already accumulated enough energy and instantly unleashed Hydro Pump.
A concentrated water cannon with a diameter of over a meter blasted towards the alloy gate, terrifying the Team Galactic members who were closing the door...
Then.
The alloy gate was actually closed by the Hydro Pump.
Faced with such an awkward situation, Cynthia opened her mouth but couldn't say a word.
Riku covered his forehead and smiled wryly, utterly speechless.
The alloy gate that Team Galactic had worked on overnight opened outwards. With such a powerful impact from the Hydro Pump, wasn't it just helping Team Galactic close the door?
If this alloy gate opened inwards, then using Hydro Pump would have been the right move.
"I didn't expect Cyrus to be so cunning."
To ease the atmosphere, Cynthia immediately started scolding Cyrus:
"Running away when he can't win. It seems his defeat a few years ago only made him more shameless!"
"Alright, alright." Riku waved his hand, not caring about Cynthia's attempt to save face:
"What do we do now?"
"Let's continue the pursuit. Since things have already turned out like this today, we can't just let Team Galactic recover and have another fight like this next time, right?"
"Definitely have to pursue!" Cynthia said angrily:
"That was indeed my mistake just now, so I'll take care of this alloy gate."
"I refuse to believe it!"
Watching Cynthia take out an Ultra Ball, not knowing what Pokémon she was planning to summon next, Riku wordlessly grabbed her hand.
Suddenly having her hand grabbed by a man, Cynthia's eyes gradually widened.
But when she saw Riku quickly retract his hand, she didn't dwell on the impetuous action of this young man.
"Miss Cynthia, let's not be so impulsive."
"This alloy gate is quite sturdy. Forcibly opening it would be time-consuming and laborious."
"Then what else?" Cynthia frowned:
"We'll have to open it eventually. Are we supposed to call out from outside the gate and wait for Team Galactic to open it for us?"
"Look over there." Riku suddenly pointed to the wall beside the alloy gate:
"This wall is only about two and a half meters high. We can just climb over it. There's no need to go to so much trouble."
"No," Cynthia was taken aback:
"You want me, a Champion, to climb over a wall... Hey, hey, I haven't agreed yet!"
Cynthia was still thinking about rejecting such an undignified action, but she didn't expect Riku to have already walked straight towards the wall.
"Return, Lapras."
On the way, Riku recalled Lapras.
Lapras actually quite wanted to see its master climb the wall. Maybe later, when they returned to the island, it could even boast about it to the legendary Pokémon.
When Cynthia also recalled Milotic, Riku jumped up and easily sat on the wall using the strength of his arms.
Cynthia was wearing high heels, and her clothes were all tailored and tight-fitting, making it indeed a bit difficult for her to climb over a two-and-a-half-meter-high wall.
Just as Cynthia was angrily about to go back and break down the alloy gate, Riku suddenly reached out his hand:
"This way."
"Miss Cynthia, let me pull you up."
---