As Leo finished speaking, a sacred white light suddenly burst from Eevee's body! Under the influence of universal power points, Eevee's body began to undergo magical changes. Its fluffy tail disappeared, replaced by a large, tender green leaf.
Eevee's body also became more slender and graceful, resembling a mix between a cat and a fox. Its fur remained brown, and its claws a darker shade of brown. However, its two big brown eyes remained as lively as ever.
At that moment, Rotom, the announcer in the sky, immediately began explaining to the audience.
"What!? The battle has only just begun, and it's already heating up!"
Several video den-den mushi turned their cameras toward Rotom's speaker.
"Sir Leo's Eevee has evolved into a Leafeon right before our eyes!"
"But, against the fire-attribute Admiral Akainu, will Leafeon, a grass-type Pokémon, be overwhelmed by the elemental disadvantage?"
"Let's wait and see!"
The audience was in shock, clearly surprised by Eevee's sudden evolution.
In the arena, the newly evolved Leafeon stared at Akainu with fierce determination. Its expression seemed to say:
"Come on! Let's go another three hundred rounds!"
Seeing this, Leo laughed heartily and gave his command:
"Let's try out a new move, Leafeon!"
"Use Leach Seed!"
In a flash, a mysterious seed glowing with an ethereal light emerged from the center of Leafeon's forehead.
In the blink of an eye, the seed seemed to teleport, appearing directly above Akainu's head!
"What is this!?"
Sensing danger, Akainu attempted to dodge. But before he could react, thousands of tiny branches sprouted from the seed, rapidly binding him!
Akainu quickly tried to elementalize his body, hoping to evade Leafeon's attack as he had done before.
However…
It was rare to see a Navy Admiral so flustered, and Leo wasn't about to let the opportunity slip by.
Seeing the branches burrow into Akainu's molten body, Leo quickly reminded Leafeon:
"Don't forget to use Haki, Leafeon!"
"Leafe!"
Leafeon nodded, its eyes glowing with a faint green mist.
Suddenly, dark, metallic blood began to ooze from the branches of the Leech Seed.
It was Leafeon's Armament Haki on full display!
From Garp's memories, Leafeon had mastered various Haki techniques to a level that would put most experts to shame.
"Damn it!"
Akainu, now completely restrained, felt a cold chill run through his body as his heightened senses predicted something ominous.
Sure enough, the next moment, a strange force surged through the branches of the Leech Seed.
This force, like a powerful vacuum, began to drain Akainu's energy, transferring it to Leafeon.
"Damn it! What kind of power is this!?"
Akainu staggered, gasping for breath.
Although Leech Seed isn't inherently harmful, it all depends on who's using it!
With Leafeon's current power level, even this seemingly minor attack was enough to wear Akainu down!
Leo, with a sly smile, responded to Akainu's unspoken question:
"Leech Seed, a Pokémon move that continuously saps an opponent's energy to restore the user's own."
He then flashed his trademark grin.
"I hope you can hang in there, Mr. Akainu..."
"After all, the show is just getting started!"
Hearing Leo's confident tone, as if everything was already decided, Akainu's anger flared up even more.
"You bastard!"
He roared, and once again, torrents of magma erupted from his body.
"Oh?"
Leo narrowed his eyes, a hint of surprise in his voice as he muttered:
"You can still elementalize even when restrained by Haki?"
"That's interesting…"
Akainu forcibly activated his elemental powers, and with a scream of pain, reached into his own body!
"Ah—!!!"
With a scream of agony, Akainu yanked the branch of the Leech Seed out of his body.
"Never underestimate a soldier's will!!!"
With a burst of strength, Akainu's arm tore free.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere!
He had ripped out a bloody chunk of flesh along with the branch!
It turns out...
It wasn't Akainu's Haki that overwhelmed Leafeon's attack. Rather, he had manipulated his muscles to wrap around the branch, then elementalized other parts of his body, pulling out the branch and Leech Seed together, along with a piece of his flesh!
Even Leo couldn't help but wince at the gruesome sight.
Despite Akainu's harsh sense of justice, there was no denying that he was a model soldier—a perfect example of iron will.
Unfortunately, that soldier was fighting for the wrong side.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Suddenly, the arena was filled with the sound of applause. But this wasn't the audience applauding Akainu's strong character—after all, Akainu had just tried to kill them. Now, they only wished for Akainu to die quickly!
Among those present, the only one who could be applauding at this moment was Leo, a man whose gaze transcended everything.
"Well done! You truly are the Navy's strongest combat force."
"With such perseverance, I'm willing to make a deal with you after this exhibition match is over."
Leo, who initially disliked Akainu, couldn't help but admire him after witnessing his incredible resilience.
Who says the World Government's dogs can't work for him?
Leo's eyes narrowed slightly as an excellent idea formed in his mind.
In the arena, Akainu, who had just discarded the bloodied branch, instantly transformed into his elemental form, using intense heat to cauterize his wounds. He then raised his head, a mixture of fear and burning rage in his eyes!
"Let's talk about deals after you survive this!"
Akainu shouted again, unleashing the full power of his Devil Fruit.
"Meteor Volcano!!!"
*Boom!!!*
A heatwave soared into the sky, scorching the air within the protective barrier. Endless streams of magma surged from Akainu's arms, crashing towards Leafeon like a tidal wave.
By now, Akainu had to admit he had underestimated his opponent. Leo's methods were so bizarre that even he, a Navy Admiral, couldn't decipher them.
With nothing left to say, Akainu decided to use all his strength and his most powerful attack to obliterate Leo's strategies!
As the magma-filled sky loomed, Leo smiled again.
"He's really angry."
"Leafeon, Time to cool him down."
"Evolve again, Eevee!"
*Whoosh!*
That familiar, dazzling white light enveloped Leafeon once more. In an instant, the nimble Leafeon disappeared, replaced by a light-blue Glaceon, sparkling like ice crystals.
Leo immediately gave the command:
"Glaceon, use Blizzard!"
*Whoosh~*
A violent wind erupted instantly! Following it, a biting cold burst forth from Glaceon's body. The icy wind combined with the gale, forming a fierce storm of extreme cold.
*Boom!!!*
The scorching magma and the freezing storm collided, producing a deafening roar. Under the relentless frost, Akainu's magma was quickly coated in a layer of ice.
"How is this possible!?"
Akainu was dumbfounded.
Not even Aokiji, his fellow Admiral with the power of the Ice-Ice Fruit, could resist his magma so easily—let alone freeze it.
But the evidence was right before him.
The frost rapidly advanced along the magma, heading straight for Akainu's arms. Realizing the danger, Akainu quickly deactivated his Devil Fruit powers, reverting to his human form and retreating rapidly.
*Crash!*
The frozen magma shattered as it hit the ground. The searing heat had vanished, leaving behind a smooth layer of crystal-clear ice.
Despite Akainu's relentless efforts, his attacks had been effortlessly neutralized. Even someone as stubborn as Akainu had to acknowledge that the situation was dire.
At this moment, his only hope was that the Navy and agents who had yet to arrive would notice something was wrong and alert the others.
In fact, they didn't even need to inform anyone—the Navy was already aware of everything happening to him!
———
"..."
In Marineford, inside the office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Sengoku watched the live broadcast on a Rotom phone with a livid expression, his fists clenched in disbelief.
"What kind of monster is this!?" he muttered in confusion.
Garp, leisurely munching on senbei, glanced up at Sengoku and calmly replied:
"Didn't I tell you everything?"
"This is called Pokémon!"
"Although I don't know why it keeps evolving, considering it's a Pokémon from a dimensional merchant, it's normal for it to be a bit… abnormal!"
"This…"
Hearing Garp's response, Sengoku was momentarily speechless.
To continue denying the authenticity of Pokémon at this point would be to ignore the beating Akainu was enduring!
On screen, the Ice-type Glaceon didn't stop. Taking advantage of Akainu's weakened state, Glaceon unleashed another gust of icy wind, freezing Akainu, who could not dodge in time!
Though he quickly broke free, Glaceon once again began to glow with the light of evolution.
Next…
Sengoku and Garp witnessed an epic scene unfold!
Leo's Glaceon evolved again after using a move… transforming into Jolteon, a Pokémon that could unleash lightning.
A prison of thunder filled the sky, and no matter how Akainu tried to evade it, he couldn't escape the onslaught of lightning strikes.
After Jolteon, came Vaporeon, who commanded the waves; Flareon, who spewed blazing flames; Espeon, who wielded psychic powers; Umbreon, who carried a strange aura; and Sylveon, who charmed everyone with its cuteness.
Each of Eevee's evolved forms unleashed its unique skills on Akainu.
Eventually, Akainu gave up resisting altogether, allowing Eevee's evolved forms to ravage him.
Seeing this, Sengoku couldn't bear to watch any longer. He covered his eyes and quickly picked up a den-den mushi, ordering:
"Admiral Aokiji, report to my office immediately!"
Garp was slightly taken aback.
"Isn't that a bit much, Sengoku!?"
"One Admiral isn't enough, and now you're sending another one to face the dimensional merchant?"
"Haven't you realized by now? Going against a dimensional merchant won't end well!"
Thinking of Akainu's miserable state, even Garp couldn't help but shudder.
He truly hoped his old friend wouldn't act impulsively and do something foolish.
However…
After hearing Garp's advice, Sengoku rolled his eyes at him.
"Going against him!?"
"I'm calling Aokiji to quickly bring the money to ransom Akainu!"
"If this keeps up, the Navy will lose one of its top fighters!!!"
"Oh~"
Garp chuckled softly.
"Don't worry, I've already made arrangements…"
"Sir Leo promised me he wouldn't kill Sakazuki."
At that moment, the image on the screen changed again.
This time, the Pokémon reverted to its original Eevee form.
Then…
Its body began to expand rapidly!
In the blink of an eye, Eevee had transformed into a colossal behemoth.
Seeing the Dynamax Eevee, brimming with power, Garp's hand paused mid-reach for a senbei. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his tone became uncertain:
"Maybe… just maybe…"
Sengoku: "..."
(End of this chapter)