Chapter 63. Natsume vs. the Giant Tentacruel
The Dynamax Tentacruel stood in place, deep in thought.
The giant luminescent organ atop its head pulsed red again and again in the night, pointing Natsume's way.
After a while, it gave up thinking.
In this sea, it couldn't sense even an inch of coral reef left.
Clearly, wicked humans had already ruined everything here, and the reality was even worse than its underlings had described.
Forget it.
Teach these humans a lesson first.
The giant Tentacruel turned around, and the moon in the sky suddenly became three.
In Anpu City, countless people stepped out of their homes.
Officer Jenny looked up at the triple moons far away, and her face went pale.
Those aren't moons at all.
They're two gigantic eyes—there's a monster!
"What's going on?"
At the Pokémon Center, Ash's group heard the commotion around them and came outside one by one.
"Is that… a Pokémon?"
Brock stared, stunned but sure.
Having seen the giant Dragonite, they naturally wouldn't mistake a suddenly appearing colossus for a mere monster.
Misty's brows knit tight, and the Horsea in her arms grew restless.
She took out her Pokédex and pointed it at the giant Tentacruel, but the night was too dark, and the Pokédex couldn't identify it.
"I'll do it.
Natsume said my Pokédex has night vision."
Seeing this, Ash took out his Pokédex and, through the high-rises, aimed at the twin moon-like silhouettes faintly visible in the sky.
"Tentacruel, the evolved form of Tentacool.
It can freely extend and contract 80 tentacles."
"Tentacruel!"
Brock suddenly recalled the picture drawn by the soul-artist Horsea.
"Could it really be like Natsume said— that a giant Tentacruel is coming ashore to wreak havoc?"
Misty froze, still unwilling to believe it.
She had always thought Water-type Pokémon were gentle and cute kids.
"No, I think it's because of Nastina's project.
Let's hurry and stop it!"
As Brock spoke, he realized he was the only one still standing there.
Ash and Misty had already taken off running.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Elsewhere along the coast, there was no harbor construction—only a steep cliff.
The giant Tentacruel was looking for a breach.
After a long search, it found a good place to land, and as it moved, the whole sea roared.
You demolished my home.
I'll demolish yours.
Perfectly reasonable.
Just as it was about to storm the shore, a sudden shout rang out from the side.
"Rules field, open!"
In the darkness, an invisible barrier dropped from the heavens, enclosing both the giant Tentacruel and Natsume.
At the same time, a rousing piece of music began to play.
The giant Tentacruel was a bit dumbfounded.
It saw a "kin" riding on a Gengar, and then some mysterious force stopped it in its tracks.
This battle is a group battle.
Multiple Pokémon may be on the field at once.
Eternamax Tentacruel, Lv. 69.
"Go, Gengar!
Great Ball Rotom!"
Seeing Natsume send out two Pokémon, Tentacruel froze.
It instantly realized the figure before it was a human—one draped in the corpse of its kin!
The Eternamax Tentacruel boiled with rage and was just about to strike when a blue light shot into it.
Great Ball Rotom used Rob-the-Rich-to-Help-the-Poor Ball.
Seeing the move succeed, Natsume let out a small breath.
Against Pokémon with divinity, Rotom's other three moves seemed to do nothing.
Unless his Rotom also possessed divinity.
Bzzzt— With a flash of blue light, the giant Tentacruel was released.
The instant it reappeared, Gengar's huge maw spewed out countless phantoms.
"G-Max Terror!"
G-Max Terror hit Tentacruel!
Due to the influence of divinity, Tentacruel's damage taken was reduced by 10%.
The system's mechanical voice sounded, and Natsume blinked.
He remembered the giant Dragonite directly halving damage.
Could it be that the Eternatus divinity shard the giant Tentacruel swallowed was smaller?
Natsume guessed, and sure enough, the next announcements confirmed it.
Gengar's level was very high.
Even with Tentacruel's solid Special Defense, the Gengar-exclusive Gigantamax move still shaved off over half its HP.
Due to the influence of divinity, Tentacruel's HP recovered by 5%.
The HP bar above it ticked back up slightly.
Seeing this, Natsume was overjoyed.
There's a chance!
This Dynamax Tentacruel was far weaker than the Dynamax Dragonite—nothing like that prior despair.
Having taken a sudden blow, Tentacruel flew into a rage.
Energy welled in its mouth, and a massive column of water blasted toward Gengar.
Tentacruel's Hydro Pump hit Gengar!
Natsume looked up at the top of Gengar's head.
Its HP dropped by less than a third.
There's a chance.
A very good chance!
Gengar's Gigantamax ended, but that didn't matter.
"Super Rotom!"
"Roto!"
A blue flash, and a Gigantamax Gengar with a Rashōmon-like maw appeared again.
Boom—!
G-Max Terror struck, and the giant Tentacruel's HP bar emptied in an instant.
Due to the influence of divinity, the giant Tentacruel stood back up!
Watching the bar above it empty then refill, Natsume's hope burned hotter.
Unlike the giant Dragonite's blatant "second HP bar," this Tentacruel's "second bar" only restored 10% of its stamina.
Sure enough, the divinity shard it swallowed from Eternatus was much, much smaller than the Dragonite's.
Naturally, its effects couldn't be lumped together.
"Wow, Natsume's going to win!
So awesome!"
On a rooftop, Ash's group watched the battle up close.
Behind them stood Officer Jenny and a few officers.
"Kinda feels like we're completely unnecessary."
Officer Jenny seemed a little embarrassed.
"How could we be?
Officer Jenny, to stand by your side and witness a great battle together is anything but unnece—"
At Jenny's side, Growlithe stared at Brock and felt a mortal threat.
"What's wrong, Misty?"
Ash noticed Misty's face looked off.
"I just keep feeling like we ruined their habitat, and now we're beating up their boss.
Isn't that not so great?"
Misty scratched her head, embarrassed.
"Of course, if it's endangering the city, we do have to stop it."
"Now that Nastina's already gone and the plan's been replaced, we should clear up the misunderstanding."
She paused.
"But in a situation like this, we can't exactly step in, can we?"
"Don't worry.
Natsume's got this," Ash said to reassure her.
Inside the battlefield, Natsume's breathing was a little heavy.
Legendary Pokémon possess divinity, but usually only the strongest individuals in a species have it.
Ever since coming to this world and learning this from the system, Natsume had always wanted to get a divinity to study.
But as for how to strip divinity, he still didn't know.
For that reason, he had set the idea aside.
And certainly not because he couldn't reach a divine Legendary, of course.
Now, Natsume saw hope for studying divinity.
Capture this Tentacruel, then find a way to extract the divinity shard.
It wasn't the true holder to begin with—just a user of a shard.
Even if he stripped it away, it would merely return to normal.
Thinking this, Natsume pulled out a Heavy Ball.
Although the rules field doesn't allow capturing a Pokémon that's in an abnormal state…
That's the game.
What's it got to do with reality?
All he had to do was wait for the next turn, knock it out, then drop the rules field and throw the ball.
However, Tentacruel still didn't move.
It stood there, dazed on the sea, seemingly cowed by the Gigantamax Gengar.
Tentacool joined the battle!
Tentacool joined the battle!
Suddenly, a string of announcements came one after another.
Natsume froze for a second, then saw countless red glows well up across the opposing sea.
"???"
"System, isn't this a group battle?
Why is it allowed to call reinforcements?"
Natsume protested.
Yes.
This battle is a group battle.
Only now did Natsume realize that, in a group battle, the rules field allows multiple Pokémon on the field at once.
It never said only the Trainer is allowed to field more Pokémon.
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