Under the Rainbow State, Togepi's Flamethrower and the Water Pulse launched by Froakie were both strengthened to a certain extent. Although Mawile had taken to the air by using the magnetic field, the flames and water current still locked onto it tightly and shot upward through the air.
"Bang bang bang bang~~"
Seeing that Togepi and Froakie refused to give up, Mawile revealed a cold expression and instantly unleashed a terrifying sound wave from its mouth.
After combining with Thunder Wave, the sound wave immediately formed a surging wave of pressure that swept forward, its power directly crushing both Flamethrower and Water Pulse.
"This Mawile is already extremely close to the top tier."
Jillian quickly glanced around the surroundings. Was this harsh magnetic environment the source of this Mawile's strength?
"It really is an excellent Pokémon... Unfortunately, its personality is far too bloodthirsty. Even a Top Trainer would probably have trouble controlling it. To tame it, you'd need absolute strength."
In just a few moments, Jillian had recognized Mawile's excellence. With strength approaching the top tier, it could serve as a main member even within her own team.
All of this power had been honed by the Mawile alone in the wild. One could easily imagine just how outstanding its talent was.
Astonish!
The move just now had been an ordinary Ghost-type move, yet in Mawile's hands it displayed terrifying power. Moreover, Mawile had employed a mysterious method, borrowing the special magnetic field of this place to grant the sound waves tremendous penetrating force. Even Terrance could not immediately determine from experience exactly what combination of moves had produced this effect. He could only wait and have Rotom Pokédex analyze it afterward.
"Is it the Sheer Force Ability?"
At the same time, although Terrance could not tell what move Mawile had used to draw upon electromagnetic power, there were only two possibilities for how it had elevated Astonish to such a level.
One was that Mawile had attained extraordinary mastery over the move, much like Gallade's deep understanding of Teleport.
The other was that it possessed the Sheer Force Ability.
The Sheer Force Ability could also be viewed as a kind of technique. It removes the additional effects of moves, but in return allows the Pokémon to use them with greater power.
Astonish's additional effect was causing the opponent to flinch. Yet despite the tremendous power of that Astonish, Togepi and Froakie showed no reaction at all. That was highly unusual. Based on that point, and considering the destructive power of the sound waves, it was not difficult to deduce Mawile's Ability.
Seeing Mawile show such contempt, Togepi and Froakie's offensive became even fiercer. Since entering the Super-ancient Pyramid, this was the first time they had encountered a single Pokémon capable of overpowering their combos.
Within the smoke, Froakie and Togepi carefully searched for an opening to attack. During this time, Froakie continuously leaped about and, in the blink of an eye, appeared beside Mawile.
The Bounce move granted Froakie extremely high mobility, while the combination of Fling and the foam secreted from its chest and back gave it stability even while moving at high speed. However, the moves Froakie had mastered best were still Double Team and Substitute. Combined with its Protean Ability, these moves made it as elusive as a true ninja.
When working together with Togepi, Froakie often carried out finishing attacks. One would distract the enemy while the other launched sneak attacks. The strategy was simple, but it had allowed them to defeat countless Pokémon stronger than themselves. This time, however, it seemed they had run into a troublesome opponent...
The obscuring smoke released by Froakie was directly torn apart by the magnetic fluctuations generated by Mawile. Froakie, in the middle of a Bounce, was forced to reveal itself directly in front of Mawile.
With the acceleration provided by the magnetic field, Mawile erupted with terrifying speed. By the time light flashed before Froakie's eyes, Mawile had already swung the giant maw behind its head and bitten down directly on Froakie!!
The sight nearly scared Jillian to death. Judging from Mawile's strength, crushing steel with its bite force would be no problem at all. If it bit Froakie, could Froakie even survive?
"Substitute!"
When Froakie's body was instantly flattened into foam by the Crunch, Jillian was startled. Even she had failed to see through that Substitute. But even more unbelievable was that Mawile reacted almost instantly. With a twist of its body, it directly swatted away the Froakie that had been trying to launch a sneak attack!
Its combat awareness and reactions were astonishing.
At that moment, Togepi also teleported to the ideal attack position, and a Fire Blast came crashing down!
However, as the scorching heat wave approached, Mawile did not even spare it a glance. Turning around, it smashed the attack apart with a single punch!
This development…. left Togepi completely dumbfounded.
"Mawile's Attack power has increased..."
Seeing the change in Mawile, Terrance was briefly stunned. It wasn't Swords Dance... This was... Power-Up Punch?
Seeing Mawile's body growing increasingly solid, the corners of Terrance's mouth immediately curled upward.
Power-Up Punch was one of Mawile's Inherited Moves. By repeatedly striking opponents, it gradually hardened its fists and increased its Attack power. This Mawile had clearly trained the move to a considerable degree, to the point where it was applying the technique throughout its entire body.
At this rate... given enough time, it would only grow stronger and stronger in battle, perhaps even surpassing the top tier.
"Interesting. Then I'll give you the time."
As Terrance finished speaking, Togepi and Froakie regrouped and stood side by side again, cautiously watching Mawile. By now, neither of them underestimated their opponent anymore. Their concentration reached an extreme level, and their bodies instinctively tensed up... Faced with such a powerful foe, the two little Pokémon were beginning to show involuntary negative reactions.
"Relax!" At Terrance's shout, Togepi and Froakie froze for a moment, then saw the calm look in his eyes.
"Evolve."
The pressure brought by Mawile was perfectly suited for helping them adapt to new bodies.
And it was also the perfect opportunity for Togepi to evolve willingly.
Froakie was one thing, but Togepi had always been reluctant to evolve and wanted to remain in its current form. However, this form had its limits. If Togepi could not come to terms with that, it was only a matter of time before Froakie surpassed it.
Although the gap in strength between them had been enormous at first... after training together, the difference between Froakie and Togepi had become almost negligible.
If Froakie evolved while Togepi refused to, Togepi's strength would gradually fall behind until it was overtaken by its own little underling.
Under such circumstances, Terrance wanted to see Togepi's choice. Remaining a Togepi forever would never amount to much unless it encountered some heaven-defying opportunity. He truly did not want Togepi to choose that path.
Faced with the powerful enemy before it, Froakie finally stopped suppressing itself after receiving Terrance's order. As it charged forward, its body began to shine with the light of evolution, its appearance gradually changing. Compared to its Froakie form, the evolved Frogadier was noticeably larger, and its tall, slender physique seemed even more agile. The moment its evolution was complete, it transformed into a streak of blue light and dashed forward, determined to regain its dignity.
At the same time, Togepi's expression instantly darkened...
Although it did not want to evolve, Togepi was not foolish. In fact, it was extremely intelligent and fully understood the benefits of evolution. It had simply been unwilling to part with its Togepi appearance. But now, in order to avoid stagnating forever, Togepi finally steeled its resolve.
However, it vented all of its anger onto the b*stard with two mouths standing before it. If not for Mawile, it would not have been forced to start evolving so soon.
40% Discounted Patreon Membership for T5-T7 tier. Code- 0A547. Available till 21/08
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 65 chapters on my pa*reon.