Pignite was not especially fast, but with the boost from Flame Charge, as long as it could keep stacking the effect, it would naturally become faster than Aipom.
After all, Pignite's level was already higher than Aipom's to begin with.
"Pignite!"
Pignite burst forward, flames blazing all over its body. It showed no fear as it rushed straight at Aipom and closed the distance in an instant!
"Longtail, Fake Out!"
At Gold's command, Aipom turned into a streak of white light. Its tail lashed out, and the gust from that slap brought Pignite to a complete stop!
Pignite flinched.
The flames around its body scattered.
"Now Fury Swipes!"
Taking advantage of the opening, Aipom used its nimble tail to rake across Pignite again and again!
Slash, slash!
Fresh scratches appeared across Pignite's body. It stumbled back several steps, its eyes burning with anger.
It was Pigblaze, the future Lord Embermane, Reshiram's eldest disciple!
When had it ever suffered an insult like this?
Fury Swipes did not hit very hard.
But the humiliation factor was off the charts.
"Pignite, use Flame Charge again."
Grey kept to his battle rhythm. He did not change his flow just because Pignite had gotten clawed a few times by Aipom.
This time, the flames engulfing Pignite rose even faster.
It slammed bodily into Aipom, hitting the little monkey so hard it nearly folded in half.
This pig was way too heavy!
For a lightweight Pokémon like Aipom, Pignite's weight was downright overwhelming.
One hit was enough to make it feel like it was about to cough up its lunch.
There was nothing more to say about that kind of impact.
After using Flame Charge twice, Pignite's speed rose dramatically.
It was now a surprisingly nimble pig.
"Aipom." ("Damn it, why is this pig so fat...?")
Looking at Pignite's thick, sturdy body, Aipom suddenly found itself unable to work up any will to resist.
[Did that Aipom just go into flinch mode in real life?]
[I'm dying. It got run over by a pig and its brain completely shut down. This rookie trainer's Aipom has probably never seen anything like this before.]
The viewers in the livestream were laughing themselves silly at Aipom's reaction.
Gifts poured in nonstop, driving even more traffic into the stream.
"Longtail, don't give up! Use Aerial Ace!"
"Aipom!" ("You dare hit me? Die!")
The moment Gold finished speaking, Aipom's tail burst with a pale blue-white glow.
It spun into the air like a whirlwind, its tail packed with Flying-type energy as it chopped down at Pignite like a battle-axe!
"Fire Punch!"
Pignite reacted instantly, crossing its flame-covered arms in front of itself to block.
Boom!!!
The blazing fire and the Flying-type energy crashed into each other violently, scattering sparks like fireworks.
"Longtail, get back now!"
Seeing that Fire Punch and Aerial Ace had canceled each other out, Gold hurriedly called out another command.
Aipom was just about to use the recoil to spring backward when its tail suddenly tightened!
Pignite's flame-covered hands had clamped tightly around the tip of it.
Sparks crackled in every direction as Aipom was yanked right back out of the air.
It twisted its body in panic, but it spun helplessly in place like a top nailed to the floor.
"Pignite!" ("Don't think being fast makes you special!")
Pignite snorted out two streams of black smoke, then slammed the little purple monkey down onto the ground!
"Pignite, Arm Thrust!"
Grey's command came down in an instant.
Pignite's body erupted with brown fighting energy as its thick palms blurred into a relentless barrage!
Bang bang bang!
A dense rain of palm strikes hammered down onto Aipom, each hit making its fur stand on end.
Caught completely off guard by the sudden onslaught, Aipom bounced around between the blows like a rubber ball before finally collapsing in a daze, stars spinning in its eyes.
"Finish it, Brick Break!"
Grey pressed the attack.
Pignite raised its right hand high, fighting energy condensing into a solid chop with the force to split a mountain.
Then it brought it crashing down!
Boom!
The chop hit Aipom square on the top of the head, and the aftershock spread across the ground in spiderweb cracks.
Aipom's eyes rolled back instantly. Its tail dropped limply to the floor, and it passed out cold.
"Aipom is unable to battle. Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon."
Student referee Silver announced the result.
Gold silently recalled Aipom. The light click as the Poké Ball shut felt oddly sharp in the air.
His fingers rubbed slowly over the shell of the ball, but his eyes stayed locked on the Pignite in the arena, the one still snorting black smoke.
This was nothing like what he had imagined.
That thing's palm strikes were nowhere near the sort of attacks a normal Gym used against beginners. Every Brick Break had carried a level of vicious precision he had never seen before.
"That's a complete monster..."
Only then did Gold wipe at his forehead and realize he had broken into a cold sweat.
In terms of raw power alone, Pignite's strikes really were not far beyond what Pokémon at this level ought to manage.
But what made Gold's spine go cold was the sheer combat instinct hidden inside every attack.
Take those Arm Thrusts just now. They had looked like simple rapid palm strikes, but in reality every single blow had sealed off a possible escape route...
Of course, Aipom had already been smashed onto the ground, so it had not had much room to run anyway.
Still, this was not the kind of rough, unpolished style a beginner Pokémon should have. It felt more like a battle-hardened veteran who had drilled combat technique into pure bodily instinct.
Wait, was there really a trainer who could raise a Pokémon this well in such a short time?
The more Gold replayed the details of that battle in his head, the more his scalp tingled.
That smooth combo chain had tactical thought hidden all through it. It did not feel like the straightforward style of a Fire-type at all. It felt more like... like it had been taught by some powerful Pokémon personally, hand to hand, as a killing art.
"Notice it now?"
Grey smiled and lightly clapped his hands.
"This guy is Reshiram's handpicked final disciple. It trained him personally for three days."
At that, Pignite proudly snorted out two streams of dark smoke.
Gold: ?
Gold's expression froze completely. His mouth hung open, but no words came out, as if an invisible hand had grabbed him by the throat.
Three days? Reshiram?
Those two words collided in his mind and exploded into utter absurdity.
He tried to picture Reshiram training Pignite.
Did it light wooden posts with blue fire as practice targets?
Did it whip the piglet with its turbine tail to teach dodging?
No, wait, even then, there was no way this should be possible in only three days!
Or did legendary Pokémon training come with built-in time acceleration or something?
Gold ran a hand furiously through his already wild black hair, scratching at his scalp as he stared at Pignite. It felt like his entire worldview was cracking apart and rebuilding itself from the ground up.
"All right, all right, don't overthink it."
Grey flicked a spark off his shoulder and laughed.
"Instead of worrying about the pedigree of my kitchen pig, focus on the next battle. Your second Pokémon should be coming out now."
Gold nodded in a daze and fumbled for his second Poké Ball.
A flash of red light passed, and a nimble mouse-like Pokémon landed lightly on the field.
Grey looked it over carefully.
Its creamy-white underside looked as soft as fresh snow, while its blue-green back gleamed with a cold sheen.
The flames along its back pulsed at the shoulder vents in a steady rhythm, and the fire at the tip of its tail warped the air around it.
It was Quilava.
Pokémon: Quilava
Type: Fire
Level: 20
Ability: Blaze
Moves: Omitted
A level 20 Quilava.
The same level as Pignite.
Its Ability was not Flash Fire, so this was still a winnable fight.
The second battle began.
Gold slashed his arm forward and shouted, "Flame Wheel!"
Flames exploded around Quilava, instantly wrapping it into a blazing wheel of fire.
Whoooosh!
The screaming sound of torn air rang out as the flaming wheel shot toward Pignite at top speed, leaving scorched spiral marks on the ground behind it.
Pignite did not dodge.
It simply crossed its arms over its chest and took the attack head-on!
Boom!!!
Quilava and Pignite collided violently.
The impact shoved Pignite backward several meters, its feet carving two black trails across the field.
By the time the flames cleared, its thick arms bore a few new burns, but it still stood solidly in its defensive posture.
"Arm Thrust!"
"Dodge it!"
The flames on Quilava's back flickered rapidly as it panted, spitting stray sparks between breaths.
And Pignite was already lunging forward again, brown fighting energy gathering around both palms!
Bang bang bang!
The rapid palm strikes crashed down like heavy hammers. Quilava was forced steadily backward, and every hit made its limbs tremble.
"Quilava..." ("Where is this pig getting that speed from?")
Quilava staggered back through the storm of blows, dizziness already flashing before its eyes.
Gold was staring at the scene in complete disbelief.
How exactly had Reshiram trained this pig?
That thick, heavy body was moving so fast it left afterimages behind. The gusts from its rushes scorched the skin just from being near them.
The sparks left behind by Flame Wheel had not even gone out yet, and Pignite's next round of attacks was already right in its face.
Gold almost wondered if his own eyes were failing him. Otherwise, how could even the dust kicked up by those pig hooves be too fast to follow?
"Quilava, use Quick Attack first and get out of there!"
Quilava leaped back in a hurry, all four limbs suddenly exploding with force as it tried to create some safe distance.
But Pignite shattered the ground under its hooves and burst forward with speed completely at odds with its bulky frame, every step landing exactly where Quilava was about to touch down.
The scorched trail of Quilava's flames and the dust cloud from Pignite's pursuit were nearly connected end to end. No matter how Quilava twisted or changed direction, that dark shape stayed right on top of it like a shadow of death.
Gold watched helplessly as the distance between the two shrank from ten meters to three, then to barely an arm's length.
The black smoke snorting from Pignite's nostrils was already singeing Quilava's trembling tail!
"Smog!"
The instant Grey's command fell, Pignite's nostrils flared wide.
"Pignite!"
A great cloud of thick purple-black poison smoke burst out, swallowing Quilava in an instant.
"Qui... cough... lava..."
Painful coughing came from inside the cloud. The flames all over Quilava's body flickered uncertainly as the toxic smoke ate into it.
Purple fumes coiled tightly around its limbs, and every time it struggled, the poison only sank deeper.
That smooth combo chain completely shattered Quilava's rhythm.
It stumbled around inside the poison cloud in a daze. The momentum from Quick Attack had not even faded yet, and now the toxins from Smog were already chewing at its nerves.
Quilava looked like a broken signal light, every attempt to gather fire cut off by another fit of coughing.
"Quilava! Get out of there!"
Hearing Gold's command, Quilava frantically waved its claws, trying to disperse the poison, but it could only stagger in circles like it was drunk. Even its trainer's voice was reaching it in broken fragments.
At the edge of the field, Gold had gone completely blank. He mechanically held onto the cap that was practically falling off his head.
At this point,
his worldview was collapsing all over again. How was that pudgy body exploding with the speed of a Liepard?
And behind that honest-looking pig face, just how much tactical cunning was it hiding?
It looked like the kind of Pokémon that ought to just swing wildly and brawl head-on, but from its defensive timing to the way it deployed Smog, every detail was so sharp it made his scalp crawl.
Gold hurriedly recalled Quilava, and even the snap of the Poké Ball closing shook with his trembling hand.
"Stop, stop, stop!" He threw both hands up in surrender, his voice weak. "This isn't a Gym battle. It's just a one-sided stomp!"
Grey rubbed the tip of his nose a little awkwardly.
The truth was, he had quietly told Pignite to hold back by about thirty percent during that smooth little combo sequence, and even the poison concentration in Smog had been dialed down to a beginner-friendly setting.
Even that last Brick Break against Aipom, the one that ordinarily would have split a trench across the battlefield, had been restrained down to just enough power to put Aipom into a nice little afternoon nap.
If Reshiram found out its personal disciple was pretending to be a harmless rookie here, it would probably roast Pignite's backside with blue fire.
"Well, the thing is..."
Grey had just started to say something.
"Forget it, forget it, I know when I'm beat!"
Gold yanked his cap down so low it almost covered his whole face.
He jammed his Poké Balls back into his pocket, his muffled voice slipping out from under the brim. "I thought this was going to be my big opening win, but this was basically a max-level boss farming the tutorial zone..."
"You actually battled pretty well."
Grey tapped lightly on his Poké Ball.
"That Flame Wheel came in at a nasty angle. Against a different Gym, it probably would've taken out half a wall."
Looking at the little tuft of hair sticking up from under Gold's cap, Grey spoke with genuine regret in his tone.
"You just got unlucky and ran into my, uh... Pignite. The one Reshiram personally trained."
Even he felt a little guilty saying it, considering the poison in that Smog had already been diluted down to the kid's meal version.
Under the brim of Gold's cap, his ears suddenly perked up. Even though he knew perfectly well Grey was giving him an out, the corners of his mouth still started to lift on their own.
He deliberately turned the cap back around properly, cleared his throat, and straightened up. "Of course! My Quilava trained at the Burned Tower and..."
Before he could finish, he glanced at Pignite snorting dark flames and immediately lost steam.
"...it's just not exactly comparable to one raised by a legendary Pokémon."
[Is this Pignite seriously that ridiculous?]
[Now I kind of want to raise a Tepig.]
[Did Grey really raise a Tepig like this? Looks like I need to pick a starter partner too.]
...
...
Unova, the Pokémon League.
N put down his phone.
After watching Pignite's battle just now, he had already started thinking about raising a starter Pokémon of his own.
The only question was, which starter should he choose?
"Zekrom, who do you think I should adopt?"
N tossed the decision over to Zekrom.
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