Peter's expression sharpened instantly.
"Zoroark, use Will-O-Wisp!"
"Zoroark...!"
Ghostly blue flames drifted through the air.
At such close range, Bewear had no chance to dodge.
The fire landed cleanly, inflicting a burn.
Its Attack should have been cut in half.
"Phew... that should make things a little easier."
Peter finally let out a breath.
However—
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Bewear casually pulled a Lum Berry from somewhere on its body and took two bites.
The burn vanished completely.
Then—
It punched the ground.
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!
The terrifying impact sent sand flying dozens of meters into the air.
Even the ocean surged violently in response.
A bottomless crater appeared in the middle of the beach before seawater began rushing in to fill it.
"???"
Peter stared blankly.
Bewear had used Close Combat...
And somehow produced an effect comparable to Earthquake.
"Zoroark..."
Ghostly energy flowed around Zoroark's body as it staggered backward until it stood in front of Peter.
Its entire body trembled violently.
It could barely remain standing.
Just the aftershock alone had severely injured it.
"Bewear..."
The giant bear slowly straightened itself, breathing slightly heavier than before.
Repeatedly converting HP into raw power consumed far more stamina than using moves normally.
Peter carefully observed everything.
And a plan gradually formed in his mind.
Truthfully...
Defeating Bewear wasn't impossible.
Lopunny could spam crowd-control effects.
He could use Entrainment to overwrite Bewear's Ability.
Or Blissey and Zoroark could use Trick to force Choice items onto it.
Entrainment: Changes the target's Ability to match the user's.
But Peter had deliberately avoided all of those options.
Because the system's requirement wasn't merely to defeat Bewear.
It was to defeat it head-on.
Those strategies might win the battle.
But they wouldn't necessarily earn Bewear's acknowledgment.
So Peter had chosen a different path.
A battle of attrition.
A gradual weakening strategy.
Yet after witnessing the previous exchange...
He realized things weren't that simple.
Bewear could convert HP into power with perfect efficiency.
That made Lopunny's Baby-Doll Eyes debuff far less effective than normal.
Its habit of carrying Lum Berries also made status conditions nearly useless.
Oh?
You think the Lum Berry had already been consumed?
Peter had seen it clearly.
The giant bear had only taken two bites before putting it away again.
A perfect model of sustainable resource management.
Of course, that wasn't some advanced strategy.
It was simply Bewear's natural hoarding instinct.
More importantly, its overwhelming physique and level advantage meant it didn't even need to consume an entire Berry to cure status conditions.
"Looks like we're fighting a raid boss now..."
Excitement flickered in Peter's eyes.
"Let's use this battle to see how far my partners and I have truly come."
With that, he pulled out a third Poké Ball.
"Ursaluna, you're up first!"
"ROOOAR—!"
Surrounded by flames from its Flame Orb, Ursaluna burst from its Poké Ball with a thunderous roar.
It had been watching from inside its Poké Ball for quite some time.
At this point, it was itching for a fight.
"Bewear!"
The giant bear blinked.
This fellow in front of it...
Looked very punchable.
Without warning—
Its foot slammed into the ground.
The beach exploded beneath it.
Its body transformed into a streak of light as it charged forward.
"That's what I wanted!"
A trace of madness flashed across Peter's eyes.
"Use Substitute to block it! Then Belly Drum!!!"
Ursaluna immediately split apart.
The Substitute moved forward to intercept the attack.
Meanwhile, Ursaluna's stomach swelled dramatically.
A chain of golden lights erupted around its body.
Its Attack skyrocketed.
Its aura reached an unprecedented peak.
Behind it—
Golden light suddenly burst forth.
Peter's clothes fluttered despite the absence of wind.
His arms crossed before moving through the familiar Z-Move motions.
A swift three-hundred-sixty-degree spin.
One hand slammed onto the ground.
"Take this... our strongest attack!"
"TECTONIC RAGE!!!"
"ROOOOOAR—!!!"
Ursaluna brought both arms crashing into the earth.
The coastline trembled.
A gigantic fissure nearly ten meters wide tore through the battlefield.
Bewear, having just broken through the Substitute, suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath its feet.
The next moment—
Ursaluna transformed into blazing yellow magma from deep underground.
Like a spear piercing the heavens, it shot upward.
And struck Bewear squarely in the chest.
A brilliant light flashed through Bewear's eyes.
An invisible force surged from every corner of its body toward its chest.
"Bew... EAAAAR—!!!"
With a thunderous roar—
The power exploded outward.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!
The molten energy from the Z-Move was blasted into the sky.
A black mushroom cloud rose into the night.
Trees along the coastal forest were uprooted.
Hurricane-force winds swept across the ocean.
Massive waves climbed toward the heavens.
For a long time...
Nothing moved.
Eventually, the dust settled.
Ursaluna lay collapsed on the battlefield.
Both arms hung limply from their sockets.
Its body was covered in wounds.
Yet even then...
It had not fallen.
Its determined eyes remained fixed on Bewear.
"Bewear..."
The giant bear planted both hands on the ground and slowly rose.
Its body was covered in burn marks.
Its once-bright eyes had dimmed.
Yet the fighting spirit blazing within them had never been stronger.
"Haa... haa..."
Peter's chest rose and fell heavily.
He recalled Ursaluna.
That final attack had exceeded even Ursaluna's natural limits.
Fueled by his own excitement and battle spirit, he had pushed both himself and his Pokémon beyond their normal boundaries.
The result was severe physical exhaustion.
Sweat poured down his face.
"You still want to continue?"
Peter stood upon the muddy shoreline.
A wild grin spread across his face.
"One more round and you're going to lose~"
"Bewear..."
The giant bear lowered its stance.
Then it crooked a paw toward him.
The meaning was obvious.
Come again.
"Hahahaha! Good!"
Peter's laughter rang across the coast.
"Braviary! Take over this battle! Brave Bird!!!"
"SKREEEEE—!!!"
Dark blue wings erupted from the Poké Ball.
A fierce eagle cry echoed through the night.
Braviary wrapped itself in azure flames and charged directly toward Bewear.
"Bewear!"
The giant bear closed its eyes.
Its consciousness spread into the night sky.
A faint glow appeared around both itself and Braviary.
Then—
Dense green light began pouring out of Braviary's body.
The energy flowed directly into Bewear.
Its condition visibly improved.
Meanwhile, white light gathered around its paws.
It clasped its hands together.
And then—
Like a martial arts master catching a blade between his palms—
Bewear caught Brave Bird barehanded.
The momentum stopped instantly.
Then it casually swung its arms.
Braviary was hurled high into the air.
The first clash ended.
And once again...
Bewear held the absolute advantage.
Peter's eyes widened.
"That's... Pain Split?!"
Pain Split: A status move that combines the HP of the user and target before redistributing it evenly between them.
Peter had never expected Bewear to know such a move.
That completely solved the problem of its HP consumption.
No matter who stood before it...
Bewear could simply use Pain Split first.
Creating a perfectly "fair" battle.
Then, with equalized health totals...
It would unleash the monstrous destructive power that ordinary Pokémon could never hope to match.
In other words—
If Peter couldn't overpower Bewear in a direct fight while both sides stood on equal footing...
Then the Bear God would remain undefeated.
And suddenly...
This capture battle had become far more difficult than he had imagined.