Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice

Beep!

Beep Beep!

Beep Beep Beep!

The piercing sound of an alarm blared once again.

No, this time it wasn't the alarm system—it was... a police siren!

That's right, Officer Jenny's police force had arrived.

Not surprising, given that the Olivine City Gym was located in the city center.

And now, with such a commotion, it would have been strange if Officer Jenny didn't show up.

"They're coming. We'd better wrap this battle up quickly," said Will, stepping forward with his Slowbro as the sound of sirens approached closer and closer.

It was time to switch strategies.

Water and Ice types often go hand in hand, and with the Trick Room active, Will's role had shifted from support to offense.

"Slowbro, Ice Beam!" Will commanded confidently.

Multiple twisting beams of icy energy converged and shot forward.

Initially, Altair thought Will was just a support trainer, with Stephen and Rihua handling the offensive roles.

Now, he realized Stephen was the main attacker while Will and Rihua played support.

But that guess was wrong too.

The truth was that Stephen had devised multiple strategies for this mission, each tailored to different scenarios.

If necessary, even Stephen could switch to a support role.

After all, real-world Pokémon battles weren't like games where you were limited to four moves and locked into rigid team roles.

"You're right. Time is running out, so let's end this battle quickly," Altair said, watching the Ice Beam streak toward Salamence's head.

A flash of resolve crossed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Salamence..." Altair muttered under his breath.

"Does he have another trump card?" Stephen couldn't help but feel uneasy, noticing Altair's expression change.

After all, Altair was a character who didn't exist in the original timeline.

Even as a reincarnated trainer, Stephen couldn't accurately judge his strength.

But Stephen figured that no matter how much Altair was hiding, it was unlikely he had surpassed the Elite Four level and reached Champion tier, right?

If he were that powerful, why wasn't he around during Ash's adventures?

"Let's go, Salamence!" Altair shouted in an uncharacteristically loud voice, breaking his usual stoic demeanor.

"ROAR!!!"

Salamence let out a deafening roar.

Will and Rihua couldn't see it, but Stephen, who possessed an artificial variant of the Viridian Force, could faintly sense it.

A surge of ferocious, almost sinister energy erupted from Salamence.

This energy felt deeply unsettling to Stephen, whose Viridian Force was tied to nature.

In that brief moment, Slowbro's Ice Beam struck Salamence squarely on the head—its critical weak point!

"ROAR—"

But within two seconds, Salamence roared again, unleashing a sonic wave so powerful it shattered the quadruple-effective Ice-type attack as if it were nothing.

"Impossible!" Will's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Even if there was a level gap, he had gotten stronger too!

And this was a quadruple-effective Ice Beam, for crying out loud!

There was no way Salamence should have shrugged it off so easily!

"What's going on? How did it suddenly become so strong?"

Even though Rihua had seen plenty of extraordinary things while staying with Stephen, this was the first time she'd witnessed something so absurd.

An Elite-tier Pokémon breaking through to Champion-tier in the middle of a battle!?

"Earthquake," Altair said coldly.

Boom—BOOM!

Salamence raised its right front claw slightly before slamming it down onto the already battle-torn ground.

The gym floor split further apart, violent shockwaves and countless chunks of debris flying in all directions, indiscriminately targeting the three trainers.

Slowbro was the first to fall victim to the attack.

Chunks of rock and the impact from the fissures struck its dopey face, sending it flying backward.

It landed with a THUD and lay still.

Slowbro was unable to battle!

"How could this be!?" Will couldn't believe it.

His Slowbro had been defeated...

Stephen's eyes also flashed with surprise.

Defeating Will's Slowbro in one hit wasn't something an Elite-tier Pokémon could accomplish.

This was unquestionably the power of a Champion-tier Pokémon!

Rihua, who had already recalled her Houndoom, sent out her Murkrow, which narrowly avoided the Earthquake thanks to its ability to fly.

But Salamence's next attack was already incoming.

"Flamethrower!"

Salamence turned its head toward the bird hovering near the back of its neck and unleashed a massive column of flames.

"Not just physical attacks—its special attacks are on a completely different level too!" Rihua gritted her teeth and commanded, "Murkrow, use that move!"

Murkrow weaved through the air in an "S" pattern, dodging the Flamethrower while closing in on Salamence.

It was preparing to use Perish Song, just like it had done in training.

"Fire Blast."

Instantly, the Flamethrower split into five streams, forming a massive kanji-shaped inferno.

The attack's range expanded several times over.

Five towering pillars of fire shot into the sky, dyeing half of Olivine City's skyline red!

...

"What... what's going on!?"

In a nondescript house in Olivine City, Jasmine stirred from her sleep, thinking it was morning.

But when she sat up and saw the flames rising from the city center, she froze in shock.

What on earth was happening!?

Beep Beep Beep—!

It wasn't just the flames; the wailing sirens echoed throughout the city, reaching the ears of its citizens.

...

THUD!

Before it could finish singing its Perish Song, Murkrow collapsed to the ground.

Rihua's Pokémon were all defeated.

Rihua's vision darkened—just kidding.

This wasn't a game, but it was true that she was now out of usable Pokémon.

"What the hell is going on!?" Rihua muttered, a bead of cold sweat running down her face.

There was no way moves like Dragon Dance, Swords Dance, or Quiver Dance could boost Salamence's power this much all at once.

Was it some kind of drug?

After all, there were berries and trainer-developed enhancers that could temporarily boost a Pokémon's stats.

But that didn't make sense either!

Altair hadn't fed Salamence anything just now.

What Stephen and the others didn't know was that, while Salamence's appearance hadn't changed in their eyes, Altair could see it clearly through the sunglasses perched on his nose.

Dark, sinister energy—reminiscent of Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi powers—was rising from Salamence's body.

"Joker! Officer Jenny's vehicles are already at the entrance. We need to retreat!"

Will, carried by his Xatu, called down to Stephen from high above, having spotted the swarm of police cars gathering at the Olivine Gym's entrance.

"That's not an option," Stephen responded.

Before he could elaborate, a large group of trainers suddenly surrounded the area.

They were the gym's staff!

"Master Caishen is very interested in you," said one of them—a man who had served as the referee for Altair and Jasmine's match earlier in the day.

"But now that you've walked right into our hands, you'd better stay put."

Unlike the upright demeanor he'd displayed as a referee, the man's expression now was that of a classic villain.

"No objections, right, Lord Altair?" the referee said, glancing at Altair.

This gym was hiding something!

Will and Rihua frowned deeply.

What kind of gym staff acted like this?

And why were they addressing Altair as "Lord"?

Normally, gym staff referred to their gym leaders with titles like "Mr." or "Miss," not "Lord."

But none of that mattered right now.

The most pressing question was: how were they going to escape?