Pokémon: Mega Blaziken
Type: Fire / Fighting
Level: 68
Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Brave Bird, Flare Blitz, Swords Dance, Baton Pass, others omitted...
Grey's Mega Blaziken had already reached level 68, making it the second-strongest Pokémon on his team aside from the legendary ones.
After Mega Evolution, Mega Blaziken's strength became even more overwhelming.
Even Terrakion had to admit it.
The Mega Blaziken in front of it was strong, strong enough that even it could lose.
"As expected of a human who can catch legendary Pokémon. You really do have some skill."
Terrakion's rear hooves gouged a deep trench into the icy rock beneath it. With a piercing cry, it suddenly launched forward!
The blade-like horn on its head burst with brown light, condensing into a three-meter energy sword.
The Fighting-type move Sacred Sword!
The blade tore through the air with a shrill scream, carrying enough force to split mountains as it came crashing down toward Mega Blaziken.
The ground along its path was ripped open by the shockwaves from the sword's energy, and the shattered ice around it was pulverized into dust.
Mega Blaziken's feathers trembled violently under the pressure of the sword aura. It retreated at high speed, sparks scraping from its toes against the ground, but the edge of the attack still clipped its chest and burst into a shower of dazzling sparks.
"As expected of the member of the Swords of Justice most skilled at close combat. That kind of power is not something an ordinary Pokémon could handle."
Grey clicked his tongue in admiration.
The stronger Terrakion looked, the happier he became.
A Pokémon known for brute force like this definitely would not be full of schemes.
The way to earn its approval was simple, completely overwhelm it with strength.
And once you did, that meant absolute loyalty. No betrayal.
Grey liked dealing with straightforward Pokémon like that.
Something like Malamar, though, was a different story.
A Pokémon like Malamar was the real definition of born evil.
"Blaziken, Swords Dance!"
After dodging Terrakion's Sacred Sword, Grey immediately had Mega Blaziken use Swords Dance to boost its power.
"Blazi!"
Phantom blades erupted around Mega Blaziken, and its whole aura exploded upward.
Terrakion frowned. Mega Blaziken's raw strength had now completely surpassed its own.
It had to find a way to trade at least a few blows.
Otherwise, it would be knocked down by Mega Blaziken before they had even gone a few rounds.
That was not the kind of outcome it wanted. Even if it lost, it wanted to last a little longer than that.
With that thought, Terrakion raised its front hooves high, gathering the might of all nine generations of Terrakion before slamming them down!
BOOM!!!
The ice beneath its hooves shattered instantly, and spiderweb cracks spread outward at terrifying speed.
The entire battlefield shook violently as the Earthquake shockwave, carrying countless shards of ice, swept toward Mega Blaziken.
The ice beneath Mega Blaziken suddenly collapsed, forcing it to leap into the air.
But while it avoided the ground shockwave itself, the icy storm kicked up by the tremor had already blocked off every route of retreat.
The Earthquake was dodged, but the ice spikes came firing at it like torrential rain.
"Blaziken, just kick straight through it with Blaze Kick!"
A sharp light flashed in Mega Blaziken's eyes, and the muscles in its right leg instantly tightened.
It spun through the air, and blazing white fire erupted from the tip of its foot. Then it kicked out in one fierce arc, slicing open the icy mist.
The flaming wheel traced a crimson curve.
Every ice spike in its path was instantly vaporized.
Within the steaming white fog, only a single scorching trail remained.
That Blaze Kick did not lose any momentum. Carrying heat like molten lava, it shot straight at Terrakion's face.
The residual heat scorched black grooves into the ice beneath it, and even the air itself began to warp.
"A cheap trick!"
Terrakion let out a cold laugh, expelling a disdainful snort of white air from its nose as a translucent green barrier suddenly appeared around its body.
Mega Blaziken's blazing kick smashed into the screen, exploding into a rain of sparks, but failed to shake it in the slightest.
The Normal-type move Protect!
And at the exact moment the barrier vanished, the sword-like horn on Terrakion's head flared with piercing brown light again!
It lowered its head and charged, the Sacred Sword energy this time denser than before.
This time, the blade was five meters long, sweeping across with a force that seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth.
The ice below cracked apart into a gaping abyss under the pressure of the sword aura, while Mega Blaziken's feathers whipped violently in the rushing wind.
Grey knew Sacred Sword ignored defensive boosts, but he still shouted at once, "Bulk Up!"
CLANG!
The brown energy blade of Sacred Sword slammed squarely into Mega Blaziken's abdomen with a metallic crash.
But at the moment of impact, Mega Blaziken's muscles tightened like drawn steel cables, and a red strengthening glow flowed across its body.
Sparks flew everywhere. Battle spirit blazed in Mega Blaziken's eyes as it took the slash head-on without moving an inch. The heat radiating from its body made the Sacred Sword energy hiss and burn away.
Terrakion stared in shock.
Its sure-kill strike had somehow failed to pose any real threat at all to Mega Blaziken.
And then!
"Blaziken, use Will-O-Wisp!"
Grey chose to weaken Terrakion's Attack.
Mega Blaziken flicked its wrists, and several ghostly flames shot out from the ribbons of fire around its arms.
At such close range, Will-O-Wisp struck true. A huge column of fire erupted across Terrakion's body.
Terrakion was burned!
The burn took effect, slashing Terrakion's physical Attack by more than half.
On top of that, Mega Blaziken had already used Bulk Up, increasing its own Defense while its opponent's Attack dropped. One glance was enough to tell who held the advantage now.
What, someone wanted to say Sacred Sword ignores the target's Defense boosts?
Yes, Sacred Sword could ignore Defense boosts.
But it could not ignore the drop in its own Attack.
In other words, even if Terrakion used Sacred Sword again, it had no way to deal meaningful damage to Mega Blaziken anymore.
"Damn it... you devious human! You've polluted the battle of Fighting-type Pokémon! You are desecrating the very spirit of Fighting-type combat!"
Terrakion's nostrils blasted out hot white steam as its iron hooves scraped restlessly across the ice.
Its orange-red eyes were locked on Grey, utterly unconvinced.
This human, evil by nature, was completely defiling Fighting-type Pokémon.
A true warrior should clash head-on, muscles crashing against muscles, willpower deciding victory and defeat.
But this guy?
Fine, it would not complain about Bulk Up.
But using Will-O-Wisp? What kind of nonsense was that?!
Terrakion's mane stood on end with rage, and unstable brown light flickered from its horn.
"Hmph!"
It snorted in contempt.
Did sneaky little tactics like that really deserve to be called fighting?
If this were the Middle Ages, human, they would have tied you to a stake and burned you alive.
"Blaziken, Double Kick!"
Grey completely ignored Terrakion's rant.
Mega Blaziken leaped again and kicked Terrakion twice right in the face.
A burst of intense pain hit instantly, and Terrakion's stamina dropped sharply. Even its vision started to wobble.
Just two kicks had nearly sent it to the afterlife.
So this was Blaziken after Mega Evolution, with its Attack massively boosted on top of that?
Completely absurd.
This was the second time Terrakion had felt powerless.
And as the battle dragged on, Mega Blaziken's Speed had risen to a ridiculous degree.
Even the slightest force from its legs now left afterimages across the ground.
Terrakion knew it now.
There was absolutely no way it could beat Mega Blaziken.
"Hah... human, I lost."
Terrakion surrendered on its own.
If it kept fighting, it would only be pointless and hurt itself even more.
Forget it.
A loss was a loss.
And since it had already lost once before, losing again was not the end of the world.
During the time it had spent frozen by Kyurem, Terrakion had come to see victory and defeat a bit differently.
If it was losing to a true hero, then there was nothing wrong with that.
"Good. In that case, we're partners from here on out."
Grey took out three Poké Balls.
An Ultra Ball, a Great Ball, and a Friend Ball.
These were for Terrakion, Cobalion, and Virizion.
"To think the reason we're leaving Unova would end up being a human."
Even before being caught, Terrakion could not help feeling emotional.
"Yeah. Being caught by a human, if this had happened to us in the past, we never would have believed it."
Cobalion felt the same.
The Swords of Justice had once crossed every inch of Unova's soil. They had taught the meaning of Sacred Sword to countless Pokémon.
For hundreds upon hundreds of years, their blade-like horns had witnessed the darkness in human nature.
Greedy miners had carved through the spines of mountains with iron picks.
Hypocritical merchants had woven golden cages for Pokémon.
Of course, now and then they had also met kind girls carrying Berries, or boys kneeling in tears beside an injured Emolga.
But that tiny spark of light had never been enough to illuminate the darkness that spread through the depths of the human soul.
Human greed was a bottomless pit, impossible to fill.
Nine out of ten trainers would push their Pokémon into excessive training, and the tenth was only restraining the same desire.
But this young man named Grey...
He was interesting.
Terrakion narrowed its eyes, and its horn gave off a faint glow.
The look in this human's eyes when he gave commands was very clean, neither the feverish madness of a gambler nor the arrogance of a conqueror.
His commands, however, were not clean at all.
As for everything else, Terrakion felt Grey had done quite well.
But when it came to battling, this guy would never have Terrakion's approval. Never.
Too dirty!!!
Grey only smiled in response.
He used the Poké Balls to catch the three members of the Swords of Justice, then after a moment of thought, sent Keldeo back as well to the Fighting Dojo in faraway Kanto.
Honestly.
This Poké Ball transfer tech was ridiculously advanced.
The fact that it could transmit Pokémon across regions like this was insane.
The technology in the Pokémon world really was incredible.
Once Grey had sent the four swordsmen back...
Only a few seconds later, Bumiao called.
"Wow, it's been a while since I got a call from Bumiao."
Time really flew, Grey thought. It had not felt that long, but he had not seen Bumiao in almost half a month.
"Hello, what's up?"
Grey answered the call.
Bumiao's voice burst out from the other end.
"Grey! What did you send back this time?!"
Her voice shot up in pitch. Keldeo had already surprised her enough when she saw it in the livestream before.
But today, Grey had sent even more Pokémon back!
And the moment Bumiao saw them, she nearly lost her mind.
They were legendary Pokémon from Unova!
And all of them had Fighting typing!
At last, nobody could complain anymore.
Of course, the bigger issue was this, how in the world was Grey managing to visit every region and talk the local legendary Pokémon into coming home with him?!
Weren't legendary Pokémon supposed to be beings ordinary people might never see even once in their whole lives?!
So why did they keep showing up around Grey like random strays by the roadside?!
"Come on, I told you already. The legendary birds were only the beginning. From now on, the legendary Pokémon I catch are only going to keep increasing."
Grey had done exactly what he said he would.
If he had already caught both Reshiram and Kyurem, then catching other Pokémon was obviously not going to be difficult.
"Th-this-this... then what are you going to do when challengers come?! You're not seriously planning to use legendary Pokémon against them, are you?!"
Bumiao could already picture the future.
A challenger would send out a Pidgey.
Grey would answer by throwing out Terrakion.
Then the challenger would surrender on the spot, post the story online, and Grey would get roasted as an absolute monster.
The image was too vivid.
She dared not think about it.
"Waaah, Grey, don't become that kind of person!"
Bumiao started sniffling, as if she could already see the Fighting Dojo slowly falling into decline.
Grey: ???
What the hell?
Why was she suddenly crying?!
Grey suddenly got the strong feeling Bumiao had imagined something truly awful in her head.
"Grey, promise me you won't forget where you came from, okay?"
Bumiao sniffed and spoke through her tears.
"I have no idea what kind of nonsense you've been imagining all day, but how could I possibly forget where I came from? If I wanted to do that, I'd have done it a long time ago."
Grey laughed helplessly and, after assuring her he absolutely would not forget his roots, continued, "All right, go get the other apprentices for me."
The Fighting Dojo currently had three apprentices.
Green, Silver, and Lillie.
All three had bright futures ahead of them.
Exactly when they would grow into their potential was still hard to say.
"Silver's dealing with challengers, and Green's out shopping. I'll go get Lillie for you."
With that, Bumiao went to call Lillie over.
"Grey! Did you call me over because you needed to tell me something? How has your trip in Unova been? Once you come back, I really want to hear all about everything that happened while you were there!"
Lillie's sweet voice came through the phone.
Just hearing that made Grey's heart bloom.
She really was far more well-behaved than Green.
Green only ever tried to squeeze money out of him, while Lillie actually cared about him.
There was no comparison.
"It's nothing serious. I just wanted to ask how you've been doing at the Fighting Dojo lately. Have you had any trouble settling in?"
Grey's tone softened at once. He really was treating Lillie like a younger sister now.
So adorable.
He suddenly wanted to go straight back to Kanto.
But there was still a lot left to do, so he probably would not be returning for another three or four days.
Thinking of that, Grey sighed.
"I'm very comfortable living at the Fighting Dojo. Sister Bumiao, Green, and Silver have all been taking really good care of me! Thank you all so much for letting me stay there!"
Lillie expressed her thanks for being taken in, then became puzzled by Grey's sigh.
"Grey, why did you sigh? Did something happen?"
"No, I just thought of a small comparison, that's all."
Grey laughed softly. After giving Lillie a few instructions, he hung up.
"As expected, the dojo really does need at least one reliable apprentice."
Grey was extremely satisfied with Lillie.
"All right, let's go."
Grey waved a hand, recalled Kyurem into its Poké Ball, then jumped onto Reshiram's back and left Giant Chasm.
One day later, in the Unova region, at the Unova League.
Grey had arrived at the Unova League.
The Unova Elite Four and Champion Alder were all present.
Thanks to Grey's help, the crisis in Opelucid City had been resolved.
There was still lingering frost, but it would be completely dealt with in a few more days.
That was all thanks to Reshiram's help.
And it also made Alder start thinking about keeping Grey in Unova.
But...
One look was enough to tell Grey wanted to stay in Kanto.
Getting him to live in Unova long-term was completely impossible.
So the Unova League would have to move Caitlin higher in the line.
Ideally, they could push her to Champion level too. That would count as a powerful alliance with Grey.
"Gym Leader Grey, over these past few days, all of us at the Unova League are deeply grateful to you. Thank you for everything you've done for Unova."
Alder held Grey's hand.
There was a lot he wanted to say, but in the end, all that came out was thanks.
"It's nothing. By the way, today should be the day Caitlin officially takes her place in the Unova Elite Four, right?"
Grey turned to look at Caitlin beside him.
Unova had just taken a major hit, and in a moment like this, the League appointing a new Elite Four member would definitely leave a lot of people dissatisfied.
Caitlin was not weak, but aside from her ace Metagross, her other Pokémon were only barely at the entry level of the Elite Four.
Under those circumstances, Grey really was a little worried about her.
"Mhm..."
Caitlin nodded rapidly like a pecking Torchic.
Her spirits were not especially high.
If this had been three months ago, she would have been thrilled for the day she became a member of the Elite Four.
But now, her entire heart was focused on Grey.
Instead of becoming one of the Elite Four and grinding through endless work, she was already imagining life as Grey's wife at the Fighting Dojo.
Or maybe...
Grey, when were you going to become the boss of Unova too? Then, just like the Fighting Dojo and Saffron Gym had merged, the two regions could be merged into one as well!
That way, even if she stayed at the Fighting Dojo all the time, it would still make sense for her to be one of Unova's Elite Four.
Of course, Caitlin did not say any of that out loud.
The impact would be... a little too much.
"Sweetheart, for now just work on improving your strength. Later, if we find someone talented enough, we'll train them up and have them take your place."
A situation like Caitlin's was actually very easy to solve.
They just needed to find a gifted trainer and let that person replace her as an Elite Four member.
"But where are we going to find someone talented?"
Caitlin asked the question straight from the soul.
"It's simple. You remember that girl who took Sabrina off to make a movie, right?"
The image of Rosa appeared in Grey's mind.
"Of course I remember. That little girl. What about her?"
Caitlin naturally knew who he meant.
"She's actually very talented. When the time comes, you can bring her in, give her some training, and let her take over your spot in the Elite Four."
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