Seeing the panicked Pokémon hunters scrambling away, Luo Yuan was momentarily taken aback.
Although he'd anticipated that the strategy he and Sabrina had devised—using her psychic powers to snatch away the Poké Balls from the hunters—would demoralize them, he hadn't expected Sabrina's mere reputation to send them fleeing without even attempting to reclaim their Pokémon.
They didn't even struggle. They just took off running.
"Sabrina, are you really that scary?"
Signaling Gyarados and Charmeleon to assist Dragonair, Luo Yuan turned to Sabrina with a playful smirk.
Sabrina didn't respond verbally but instead gave him a smile he knew all too well—one that radiated danger.
"I was wrong."
Quick to catch the hint, Luo Yuan raised his hands in surrender.
On the opposite side, Pokémon Hunter Ryuji felt a surge of fury as he watched Luo Yuan and Sabrina banter so casually.
He was a known figure in the underworld, and here he was being completely ignored!
Turning to his remaining lackeys, he bellowed, "Get back here, you idiots! No one leaves until we've defeated them!"
With that, Ryuji directed his Pokémon to launch an all-out attack on Luo Yuan.
"Ursaring, use Belly Drum!"
Ursaring slammed its paws into its belly rhythmically, creating a strange, pulsing sound.
And then...its aura skyrocketed!
Luo Yuan's sharp eyes noted the change immediately.
Belly Drum was a technique that sacrificed the user's stamina to sharply boost its attack power.
Feeling the intense aura radiating from Ursaring, Luo Yuan's expression grew serious.
"In that case, it'd be best to avoid dragging this out to give Charmeleon more experience."
With this decision, Luo Yuan called out, "Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"
Gyarados leaned back, opened its jaws, and fired a powerful jet of water.
Ryuji sneered, "Witness my Ursaring's power! Ursaring, use Slash!"
"Roar!" Ursaring let out a mighty growl, raising its arm to meet the incoming Hydro Pump head-on.
Boom!
Ursaring's paw cleaved through the torrent, splitting the water into two streams as it deflected the attack.
Gary, who had already taken down several hunters nearby, couldn't help but stare in shock.
Ursaring actually split the Hydro Pump with a Slash.
If his Wartortle had been hit by that, it might've been game over.
Luo Yuan's eyebrows arched at the sight, only mildly surprised.
"Gyarados, keep up the Hydro Pump! Dragonair, ignore Mightyena and focus on Ursaring—use Dragon Breath!"
"Roar!"
Dragonair twisted its body mid-air, turned around, and unleashed a breath of purple mist at Ursaring.
Gyarados fired another blast of Hydro Pump.
Double trouble, fair and square!
Ursaring tried to dodge the Hydro Pump while swiping at the Dragon Breath to dispel it.
However...there was no way that was going to work!
The Hydro Pump took most of Ursaring's attention, making it impossible to fend off Dragon Breath entirely.
Caught in the blast, Ursaring's body began to seize up.
Dragon Breath could paralyze its target, and Ursaring was now trapped in a state of paralysis.
"Ursaring! Muster your stamina!"
Seeing his trump card in danger, Ryuji shouted.
At his call, Ursaring's fighting spirit flared. With a furious roar, its aura intensified once more.
Unlike in the games, Belly Drum in reality couldn't instantly max out attack power, but Ursaring's Guts ability gave it another boost when under a status condition.
Ignoring the paralysis, Ursaring grabbed a large rock nearby and hurled it at Dragonair.
"Rock Tomb!"
As the rock hurtled toward Dragonair, Luo Yuan quickly commanded, "Dragonair, use Reflect and dodge!"
Ursaring's attack was too powerful to block directly.
The decision proved wise.
Whoosh!
The rock whizzed past, smashing through Dragonair's hastily erected Reflect barrier, barely missing Dragonair as it flew several hundred meters and crashed heavily into the ground.
A Belly Drum-powered Ursaring with Guts was truly terrifying.
But Luo Yuan, already fully immersed in battle, didn't miss a beat. Seizing the opportunity, he shouted, "Now, Charmeleon, use Fire Blast!"
"Roaaaar!"
Charmeleon threw back its head, a crimson glow building in its belly before it unleashed a fiery blast at Ursaring.
Ursaring tried to brace for impact, but Gyarados's Hydro Pump was already primed and waiting.
The massive fire symbol burst in the air, slamming into Ursaring!
Boom!
The Fire Blast exploded against Ursaring's chest, sending it flying backward.
After the strain from Belly Drum, the hit from Dragonair's Dragon Breath, Ursaring couldn't hold on any longer.
Ursaring had fainted.
Charmeleon, who had been trained by Luo Yuan as a living artillery, let out a triumphant roar to the sky.
Meanwhile, Mightyena and Crawdaunt had also fallen, unable to withstand even two rounds against Dragonair and Gyarados.
Ryuji was left with no Pokémon capable of fighting.
---
Sabrina knocked him out cold with a single telekinetic strike.
Seeing their boss defeated, the remaining hunters glanced at Sabrina with terror, exchanged a look, and quickly surrendered without further resistance.
Gary collected their Poké Balls and used ropes to tie up the hunters.
"What's next?" Gary asked.
"Sabrina's already contacted the League. They'll send a team shortly."
As he spoke, Luo Yuan kicked a hunter who was trying to make a sneaky move.
Gary sighed, "I'd be done for if you hadn't shown up when you did."
"Well…actually, I'd been there for a while and was about to step in." Luo Yuan chuckled, "But then you jumped out, so I figured I'd let you have your moment."
Gary: "…"
Give me my gratitude back.
Not wanting to linger on that topic, Gary changed the subject abruptly. "How many Pokémon have you caught, anyway?"
"Two."
Luo Yuan released Eevee and Slowpoke.
As soon as Eevee appeared, it jumped into Luo Yuan's arms, snuggling up and nudging him with its head.
Slowpoke, meanwhile, turned its head to stare blankly at Luo Yuan, greeted him with a slow "Slooow…" then returned to gazing off into space.
One lively and mischievous, the other adorably dopey—complete opposites in personality.
"Eevee? Slowpoke?"
Seeing Luo Yuan's new Pokémon, Gary's face first lit up with excitement, then showed some doubt.
He was excited because he thought he might have a chance to beat Luo Yuan in their next match.
Confused, though, because while Eevee and Slowpoke were rare, one was often kept as a pet, and the other…was sometimes used as food. Neither was exactly battle material.
Gary couldn't understand why Luo Yuan would capture them.
Until…
He noticed the other Eevee cradled in Sabrina's arms.
"..."
So it was a pair Pokémon, after all.
Alright then…
---
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