Chapter 253: Green vs. Giovanni!
May 15, 2024 | Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
"The Gym Leader of Viridian City?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Giovanni's eyes. What did that sentence mean?
He had been in the Viridian Gym for at least ten years and had never heard of any connection between this gym and the little brat standing before him. Besides, the kid was only ten years old, wasn't he?
Green?
Wasn't his name Gary before?
What kind of secret code was this?
Before he could ponder it further, Green had already strode to one end of the arena, looking up at the armored Pokémon before him. Despite having been suppressed by it earlier, he now exuded an air of superiority.
"In this World, you're restrained by a machine? How pathetic."
Green recognized the steel armor on this humanoid Pokémon at first glance. It wasn't a control device, nor was it for support.
It was a power limiter!
It was suppressing its own power.
Thinking of this, he casually tossed out a Poké Ball.
"ROOOOAR!!"
The red light from the Poké Ball hadn't fully faded when a powerful roar suddenly echoed through the Viridian Gym. It was like a world-shaking thunderclap, so loud it seemed to shake the very rafters of the gym, which began to vibrate. The air instantly grew heavy, and Giovanni's brow furrowed. As if facing a formidable enemy, he couldn't help but cover his ears against the thunderous roar.
Even the Persian beside him subconsciously took half a step back, seemingly startled by the tremendous roar.
When the red light completely dissipated, a great lion-like Pokémon with a wildly flowing mane appeared before Green. It still had the same red and black striped fur, and its limb joints, neck, and head were covered in a thick, brownish-yellow mane.
"A second Arcanine?"
Giovanni's brow furrowed. Generally, a trainer rarely raises identical Pokémon.
However, this Arcanine was on a completely different level from the previous one. It was a full one-and-a-half times larger, and its entire body was suffused with a terrifying, dreadful aura. Merely standing there, it was effortlessly menacing. Its yellow mane danced wildly, and the temperature in the gym was steadily rising.
Just the look in its leonine eyes as it gazed at him was like it was sizing up low-level prey—extremely aggressive, as if it could pounce and devour him at any moment.
"Ah, this..."
Giovanni's internal power scanner swept over the massive Arcanine before him, and a number immediately appeared in his mind.
A five-digit power level...
And at the peak of the five-digit range, at that!
"Impossible!"
Giovanni blurted it out instantly. A peak five-digit combat power... That was a level the god-like Pokémon before him could only hope to reach after completely removing its armored limiter.
A rookie trainer?
"Impossible!"
Giovanni repeated himself. Then, a thought struck him. This must just be an illusion of strength caused by the Arcanine's Intimidate Ability.
"That's right, it must be because of the Intimidate Ability," he comforted himself, then shouted, though a trace of panic had already crept into his expression.
"Go, take it down for me!!"
Hearing the command, the blue light in the armored Pokémon's eye sockets glowed again. Without any movement, psychic energy shot out from its body, howling towards its target. The air even buzzed with a high-frequency vibration.
The psychic energy completely enveloped the Arcanine, and the surrounding air grew heavy once more.
The powerful blue psychic energy contracted, continuously inflicting damage on the Arcanine.
"Is that all?"
The attack seemed formidable, yet Green's expression remained unchanged. He shook his head at the blast wave caused by the psychic energy, but it was more a shake of the head directed at the man before him.
To be honest, this Giovanni was a bit of a disappointment.
At least, the performance he was showing now was a far cry from the Giovanni in the Digital World.
"Has he been blinded by this Pokémon's power..."
So, Green snapped his fingers.
"ROOOOAR!!"
The next second, the Arcanine simply flicked its lion-maned head towards the sky. A sound like shattering glass echoed in the air, and it easily broke free from the seemingly unbreakable psychic cage. The thunderous roar once again reverberated through the gym.
"You thought you could control my Arcanine without even lifting a finger...?"
Green sneered. His Arcanine began to move, ignoring the psychic energy, its mouth open and body lowered, revealing the sharp teeth within as it adopted a ferocious posture.
The armored Pokémon, however, seemed stunned. It faltered for a moment. This was the first time its restraint had been broken so easily.
"..."
This time, it finally made a physical move. It slowly raised its armor-clad head, its eyes locking directly onto the Arcanine before it.
This enemy was a little different...
It slowly raised its two arms, which were covered in steel armor. The structure of its hands was peculiar, composed of three spherical fingers.
"BZZZZZZZ!!!"
As it raised its hands, the aura from its body suddenly surged, like a volcano erupting. Blue light energy, ten times stronger than before, shot towards the sky, condensing into a tangible shockwave that filled every corner of the arena!
The high-frequency vibrations hummed relentlessly!!
"VWOOM!"
The next instant, the vast psychic energy condensed into a single point and descended upon the Arcanine once again. The terrifying force was so immense that it immediately made the Arcanine stagger back half a step, its shoulder dipping.
The Arcanine held its ground with all its might, even its mane drooping, as if compressed by the immense force.
*Rumble*
Even the ground around its body suddenly caved in, forming a small crater, rendering it unable to move a single step.
Seeing this, Giovanni slammed his hand on the railing, his face flushed with excitement. He looked at the restrained Arcanine with smug satisfaction, a hint of madness in his eyes.
"Have you seen it now? This is the power of a god! Unstoppable!!"
As long as he had a Pokémon with this kind of power, the World would be his!
Giovanni noticed the Arcanine's body was now trembling. This was a sign of using its muscles to their fullest, proving that the current force was its limit.
Its full strength could not break free!
Green, surprisingly, nodded in agreement with Giovanni's words.
That's right, this was already Arcanine's full strength.
It seemed the power of this Pokémon was indeed absurdly strong. Even with the suppression from the limiter, its strength still surpassed his Arcanine's.
Yet, a confident smile suddenly appeared on Green's face as he said nonchalantly:
"But when it comes to controlling strength, 'full power' isn't the only way..."
As his voice fell, the Arcanine, which had been pressed nearly to the ground by the endless, terrifying psychic energy, suddenly relaxed its eyes. The muscles in its four limbs trembled, and its body sank even lower.
It had actually relinquished all its resistance.
*Krak.*
A sound of grinding bones and joints followed. The muscles on Arcanine's body trembled once more, its leonine pupils contracting sharply. Its terrifying aura and immense muscular strength erupted in an instant, returning with a vengeance!
That imposing might that had suppressed the entire field appeared once again!
*SWOOSH!*
The Burst Power allowed Arcanine to break free from its bonds in an instant. It threw its head back and roared, scattering all of the surrounding blue psychic energy. Its brownish-yellow mane once again danced around its body as it fixed its blazing eyes on its target.
It had broken the restraint!
Seeing this, Green flashed a handsome smile, confident in his victory.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, my Arcanine isn't particularly skilled when it comes to raw strength. Burst Power is its most proficient domain... Hmm, no, that's not right. Let's call it its second-most proficient."
Burst Power, an instantaneous attack, a lightning-fast eruption—sometimes, the power it could unleash was even more terrifying than its full strength.
(end of chapter)