NOVEL WEB Chapter 294: 294. Guzma
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"Bisharp, Night Slash!" Plumeria commanded.
Her life philosophy was simple.
Just do it!
Bisharp embodied its trainer's mentality perfectly. Facing the charging Arcanine, it neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, it raised its right arm, condensing Dark-type energy into a blade, and slashed downward.
"BOOM!"
Plumeria felt only a rush of scorching heat passing by her, and then her Bisharp vanished from sight.
When she regained her senses, she saw her Bisharp pinned down by Arcanine in the ruins of a villa behind her, with raging flames engulfing its metallic body.
"Break free! Quick, use Iron Head!" Plumeria shouted urgently.
Bisharp attempted to strike Arcanine with its head, the only part it could still move freely. Arcanine immediately leapt away, releasing its hold—but not before unleashing a barrage of ten powerful Flamethrowers.
"FWOOOOSH!!!"
Even from a distance, Chris could hear the violent roar of flames scorching the earth. The golden fire spread across the ground like molten metal being poured.
By the time Arcanine returned to Chris's side like a gust of wind, Bisharp had already fainted.
This outcome was predictable. Although rain normally weakened Fire-type moves, Bisharp's Dark/Steel typing created a double weakness to Fire that even the weather couldn't mitigate.
It was raining, but it might as well not have been.
One Flare Blitz hadn't taken Bisharp down instantly, but add a barrage of Flamethrowers, and there was no chance of survival.
Seeing her Bisharp collapse, Plumeria gritted her teeth in anger and threw more Poké Balls.
A Salazzle LV67 and a Crobat LV64 materialized before her!
"Salazzle, Dragon Tail!"
"Crobat, Air Cutter!"
Salazzle spun around, swinging its dark green energy-infused tail while Crobat flapped its wings rapidly, sending countless invisible air blades hurtling toward Arcanine.
Facing two Pokémon nearly 10 levels higher than his own, and in the rain no less, Chris decided to switch tactics.
"Greninja, Cut!"
"Gardevoir, Psychic!" Chris directed with calculated precision.
Greninja's lithe body, wrapped in light blue water, shot forward close to the ground with the speed and grace of a swift-swimming fish. A gleaming white blade materialized in its hand as it moved, slicing through the air.
With a metallic "CLANG," the Cut attack collided with Dragon Tail.
Salazzle was sent flying backward instantly. Instead of pursuing, Greninja formed five Water Shuriken mid-air and launched them in rapid succession, pinning Salazzle while it was still airborne!
As a Fire/Poison-type, Salazzle suffered double damage from Water-type moves.
The outcome was inevitable!
Meanwhile, Gardevoir extended her hand, unleashing waves of psychic energy. Though invisible, these mental spikes clearly registered in Gardevoir's perception. In a single breath, they neutralized all of Crobat's Air Cutters before piercing through the bat Pokémon with lightning speed!
Being a Poison/Flying-type, Crobat was particularly vulnerable to Psychic-type moves.
With the super-effective Psychic attack, defeating the fragile Crobat in a single strike was effortless.
In just one round of combat, two Pokémon had been defeated with surgical precision.
To this, Chris could only think:
These battles were almost too simple.
Rivals of comparable levels posed virtually no challenge for him.
Plumeria reached for another Poké Ball, but Gardevoir denied her the opportunity. After defeating Crobat, its invisible Psychic energy had already bound Plumeria's arms to her sides, lifted her off the ground, and suspended her upside down before Chris.
Three Totem Stickers slipped from her pocket, guided through the air by Psychic, and landed neatly in Chris's open palm.
"Executives drop three stickers?" Chris noted with satisfaction.
He now possessed 88 stickers. Just a few more, and his goal would be within reach. As long as he stayed in Po Town, the remaining Team Skull members wouldn't escape!
Looking up at the mansion before him, Chris noticed the gates slowly opening. A white-haired young man emerged, his face contorted with anger and impatience.
"Hey, hey! Where'd you come from, and why are you bustin' into my Team Skull's base?"
"No particular reason. Just wanted to clean up your pathetic Team Skull—especially you, the one who couldn't even become a Trial Captain," Chris declared boldly. The person before him was undoubtedly Guzma, the boss of Team Skull.
... Deadly silence...…
The moment Guzma heard "couldn't even become a Trial Captain," his eyes turned ice-cold.
Occasionally, he might use that phrase to mock himself, but it was meant as self-deprecation—not something for others to throw in his face.
"So... you're here looking for trouble?"
"Hurry up and send out your Pokémon. I have important business to attend to later," Chris taunted, beckoning to Guzma. The important business, of course, was exchanging his stickers for the Totem Kommo-o!
"As you wish!" Guzma's eyes blazed with fury as he threw a Poké Ball.
A Pinsir landed on the battlefield with an intimidating stance.
"CLICK-CLICK!" Pinsir repeatedly clamped its two long horns together, emitting the distinctive buzzing growl unique to Bug-type Pokémon from the slit-like mouth at the center of its body. A level indicator showing LV76 appeared above it.
"Well, this level of Rival might actually be interesting," Chris remarked, raising his hand to direct his next move.
"Greninja, Surf!"
Greninja immediately crouched down and slapped both hands against the ground.
Once again, a ten-meter-high azure wall of water rose up, racing powerfully toward Guzma and his Pinsir!
"Hyper Beam!" Guzma commanded with a snort.
Destructive energy immediately began gathering in Pinsir's mouth, ready to unleash as the wave approached.
In an instant, a dazzling white beam of light cut down from above like a lightsaber, slicing the giant wave cleanly in half!
"Waterfall!" Chris ordered without hesitation.
Greninja leapt out from the gap in the divided wave, its body encased in spiraling water as it soared through the air, preparing to crash down!
"Protect!" Guzma shouted urgently.
Pinsir crossed its horns and arms, creating an invisible barrier just as Greninja approached.
"BOOM!" The Protect barrier shattered upon impact with Waterfall, but it had done its job. However, the attack caused water to splash in all directions, creating numerous streams that landed and began swirling around Pinsir in a spiral pattern.
The successful Waterfall attack had triggered the secondary effect of Whirlpool!
Not content with this advantage, Greninja used the recoil from the collision to spring upward once more. Without waiting for Chris's command, it formed five Water Shuriken and launched them in perfect synchronization.