A long while later, the smoke finally began to clear.
Silvally and Absol stood with their backs facing one another, having already crossed positions on the battlefield.
A brief silence followed.
Then suddenly—
Absol stumbled violently, its body swaying before collapsing sideways.
"Hm?!" Nanu's expression changed in confusion.
Unfortunately for him, Peter had no intention of explaining.
"Silvally, X-Scissor into Aerial Ace!"
Whoosh—BOOM!!
A yellow-green cross slash smashed directly into Absol's back, followed immediately by a brilliant white hook-shaped streak flashing through the air.
The two consecutive attacks sent Absol flying backward before its eyes spiraled into swirls.
"Absol is unable to battle! Please send out your next Pokémon!"
"Tai…"
After finishing the combo, Silvally let out a low growl as its breathing visibly grew heavier.
That Play Rough earlier had still consumed a considerable amount of its stamina.
"…"
Nanu recalled Absol slowly, the confidence from the beginning of the battle now completely gone from his face.
He still couldn't understand how that attack had managed to heavily wound Absol in a single hit.
Seeing the look on his face, Peter's lips curved upward.
Silvally had already transformed into a Fighting-type. With STAB, +1 Attack from Work Up, double super-effective damage, and the Expert Belt Peter had equipped to boost super-effective attacks by another 20%…
That Multi-Attack had effectively exploded with over five hundred points worth of destructive power.
Absol losing was practically inevitable.
Nanu pulled out his third Poké Ball.
"This next one won't go down so easily! Persian, battle ready!"
"Meeow—!"
A large gray-blue cat appeared on the battlefield, immediately releasing an intimidating cry the moment it landed.
[Persian (Alolan Form) Lv.63 (Low Elite Four Tier)]
"X-Scissor!" Peter attacked first.
"Fake Out!"
"MEEOW!!"
Persian's body stretched forward instantly as it appeared beside Silvally in a blur. Energy gathered around its paw before Fake Out struck directly against Silvally's neck, interrupting the incoming X-Scissor.
"Hypnosis!"
"Meeow—"
Strange glowing rings radiated from Persian's eyes, continuously flowing into Silvally's body.
"Silvally, use Multi-Attack!!"
"Tai—!"
The sleepy look in Silvally's eyes vanished almost instantly.
Orange Fighting-type energy exploded around its body as it rammed directly into Persian's chest before the cat could even react.
"MEEOOOW—!!"
Caught completely off guard, Persian was blasted backward and smashed hard into the ground.
"You brat… what kind of cursed Pokémon is that thing?" Nanu finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"…"
Peter shook his head softly.
"If possible, I'd rather my partner never had to develop this kind of resistance to hypnosis…"
"Tai…"
Silvally's crimson eyes trembled slightly with warmth.
For more than a year, it had been repeatedly subjected to hypnosis over and over again.
Eventually, ordinary hypnosis had stopped working entirely, forcing the researchers to use injected drugs just to keep it sedated.
And through all of that suffering…
Its resistance to sleep-inducing techniques had reached an absurd level.
"Meeow…"
Persian climbed back to its feet. Its fur was messy and disheveled, but overall it didn't appear too seriously injured.
Peter raised a brow.
"So it's Fur Coat?"
Fur Coat: Halves damage taken from physical attacks.
"You know your stuff…" Nanu said. "That's right. My Persian has Fur Coat. And all three of your attacks are physical. Sweeping my team isn't happening."
"Heh… I wouldn't be so sure about that…"
Peter flicked out another memory disc.
Silvally's feathers and tail shifted colors yet again, this time turning yellow-green.
"Silvally!!!" Peter shouted.
"TAI!!"
At the exact same moment, brilliant light burst from both trainer and Pokémon.
Peter's Z-Ring exploded with dazzling radiance.
Nanu's eyes sharpened instantly.
"So now we're getting serious?"
He crossed his arms as well, dark brown light surging from his own Z-Ring.
"Persian!!"
"MEEEOOW—!!"
The sky suddenly darkened.
Golden Z-Power flowed out from both trainers, merging into their Pokémon alongside the synchronized dance movements.
"Z-Move… Savage Spin-Out!!!"
"Black Hole Eclipse!!!"
As Peter roared the attack's name, rainbow-colored light enveloped Silvally's body.
Then—
Countless thick silk threads burst from its mouth, wrapping tightly around Persian and forming a giant cocoon.
At the same time, Persian condensed an ultimate sphere of dark energy crackling with crimson lightning.
The sphere instantly appeared above Silvally's head—
Transforming into a massive black hole.
"TAI——!!!"
Silvally slammed all four legs deep into the ground before violently yanking the silk threads clenched in its jaws.
BOOM!!
The completely restrained Persian smashed brutally against the ground, leaving behind a crater webbed with cracks before rebounding upward into the sky.
"Go, Silvally!!!"
Buzz—
The wing blades atop Silvally's head extended sharply as it launched upward like a streak of light.
Borrowing the gravitational pull of the black hole itself, it condensed all surrounding energy into one simple—
Yet absolute—
Slash.
SHIIIIING——!!!
A blade strike capable of splitting heaven and earth cleaved straight through both Persian's cocoon and the enormous black hole overhead.
BOOOOOOOOOOM——!!!!!
Time itself seemed to freeze for an instant.
Then Silvally landed gracefully on the battlefield as an earth-shaking explosion detonated high above the ruins.
Smack…
Persian fell limply onto the ground, completely unconscious.
"Tai…"
Seeing its opponent defeated, Silvally's body suddenly tilted weakly, on the verge of collapsing.
But in the very next moment, Peter had already appeared beside it, catching the exhausted Pokémon in his arms.
"You were amazing, Silvally."
Peter's eyes overflowed with joy and praise.
"Tai~"
Silvally narrowed its eyes happily before lowering its head and rubbing affectionately against Peter's chest.
At that moment, its determination to pursue the peak of strength became even firmer.
And for the first time in its life…
It had finally found a new meaning to its existence.
"That Pokémon… can really change its type?" Nanu walked over slowly and asked.
"Yeah. It's called Silvally. Using memory discs, it can switch into any attribute."
Peter answered openly without hiding anything.
"No wonder…"
Nanu finally understood.
The livestream chat completely exploded.
"HOLY CRAP! Professor Peter just got another monster teammate!"
"EIGHTEEN TYPES?! Isn't that literally unfair?!"
"Seriously though, the strategy was insane. First switch to Dark-type to nullify Sableye's Prankster. Then switch to Fighting-type to overpower Absol head-on. Finally swap to Bug-type and end everything with a STAB Z-Move combo attack!"
"One-versus-three! Professor Peter never disappoints!"
"How is Silvally THIS COOL?!"
"Peak Pokémon design honestly."
Nanu eventually spread open his palm.
"Alright, Peter. A bet's a bet. These three Z-Crystals are part of my personal collection. I'm giving them to you because I know they won't gather dust in your hands."
Resting quietly in his hand were three crystals colored pink, deep purple, and icy white.
[Psychium Z / Poisonium Z / Icium Z: Crystals containing Psychic-, Poison-, and Ice-type Z-Power. When equipped to a Z-Ring, trainers and Pokémon with deep bonds can unleash the powerful Z-Moves "Shattered Psyche," "Acid Downpour," and "Subzero Slammer."]
"Then thanks, Uncle Nanu~"
Peter accepted the three Z-Crystals with a smile.
At this point, he had already collected fourteen different elemental Z-Crystals.