Yet, the system notification still hadn't sounded.
A spark of wisdom flashed within Motomu's mind.
'Is it because the Snake Princess is currently in human form?'
'Trainers cannot be targeted as Pokémon battle opponents.'
'Do I have to force her to become a snake—meaning, she has to release a Pokémon?'
Under Tagitsu Hime's judgmental gaze—as if she were looking at a total deviant—Motomu cleared his thoughts and threw off his shirt.
He revealed the lean, bulging muscles beneath his clothes, tempered by the body tempering manual.
At this moment.
The shirtless, eye-closing Motomu looked like a God of the Underworld descended to earth.
"Hehehe! Brat! You're still way too early to be acting tough in front of me—"
Thump-thump! —
A heavy heartbeat, like the beat of a drum, interrupted the girl's words.
Tagitsu Hime's snake eyes narrowed, her gaze locking onto Motomu's chest.
Thump-thump-thump!
A heartbeat even clearer than before rang out from Motomu's chest.
A faint red light penetrated the bone, skin, and muscle shielding the heart, illuminating Motomu's body.
In Tagitsu Hime's line of sight.
Blazing flames billowed up from the youth.
The calm youth exuded an imposing aura without even needing to be angry!
This guy! Is he a ninja?
Before Tagitsu Hime could recover from the sudden change,
A thunderous roar erupted, deafeningly loud.
"Monster, I'll have you show your true form immediately!"
Bang! —
As soon as he finished speaking.
Stone chips flew from under his feet, and Motomu vanished from the spot instantly.
When he reappeared,
A fist wreathed in flames zoomed in before Tagitsu Hime's eyes.
The fist slammed into her cheek. Carrying the momentum, Motomu's bent right arm suddenly exerted power.
With a thunderous crash, Tagitsu Hime drew a white arc through the air and slammed straight into the cave wall.
Amidst the splattering dark gray stone chips, a semi-circular depression two meters in diameter was revealed, with the back of Tagitsu Hime's head deeply embedded in the hollow.
"Human, you are courting death!"
A human-like screech, carrying the hiss of a snake, pierced through the dust.
Accompanied by the eerie grinding of bones, Tagitsu Hime's strangely twisted body gradually floated into the air.
The temperature in the cave plummeted, and the glow of the bioluminescent plants dimmed significantly.
An overwhelming pressure, like that of a boss, washed over him.
Taking a deep breath and puffing out his chest, Motomu raised his fist and stomped forward heavily.
Having been prepared this time, a look of contempt appeared on Tagitsu Hime's face.
She reached out a fair, soft palm to lightly block Motomu's line of attack.
Just as the two were about to collide.
Suddenly!
An invisible force of Psychokinesis tugged at the floating Tagitsu Hime.
Caught off guard by the sudden accident, Tagitsu Hime's body tilted slightly.
Her slender fingers grazed Motomu's arm, leaving behind several deep gashes.
Meanwhile, Motomu's sandbag-sized fist landed on her face once again.
With another boom, Tagitsu Hime crashed back into the same hollow.
Motomu watched the dust rising before him.
Standing still, he massaged his numbing arm.
She's way too damn tough!
This girl's skin is covered in snake scales.
He couldn't hurt her at all.
He could only suppress her now purely because Tagitsu Hime was unprepared for his abilities.
She was still treating him like an ordinary ninja.
The gap between them was quite large.
'For now, it seems that as long as I can force out her Pokémon form and get the defeat experience, it'll count as a win!'
As the thought crossed his mind, Motomu unclenched his fist and his hands began to form seals at high speed.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
The six seals were complete.
A fireball spat from Motomu's mouth.
The several-meter-wide fireball grew as it met the air, compressing the atmosphere and scattering the dust, rolling towards the girl in the stone wall with a surging heatwave.
Amidst the waves of fire, Tagitsu Hime's head gradually transformed, a hideous white snake head bursting through her clothes and piercing the flames.
[MILOTIC (LEVEL 40) HAS ACCEPTED YOUR CHALLENGE]
[DING!]
[CONGRATULATIONS, TRAINER, YOU HAVE TRIGGERED GYM BOSS CHALLENGE 2/5!]
[THIS CHALLENGE IS AN OFFICIAL GYM BATTLE. UPON VICTORY, YOU WILL RECEIVE A SMALL EXPERIENCE BONUS AND A RANDOM ITEM REWARD (TWISTED SPOON 3%... 4.22% CHANCE TO DROP AN EVOLUTION STONE).]
Challenger: Motomu
Current Gym: Ryuchi Cave Gym - Level 40-50 Area
Challenge Target: Milotic (Trainer Tagitsu Hime)
Challenge Level: LV.40
Recommended Challenge Level: LV.40-LV.42
It's here!
At the same time as releasing the Reverse Summoning Jutsu,
Motomu's mouth split into a wild grin.
The two Big Eyeballs stared intently into the flames.
Two tons of Psychokinesis transformed into a drill, burrowing fiercely into them.
One second.
Two seconds.
A roar that sounded furious just from the noise alone exploded within the cave.
Senjutsu chakra, carrying hallucinogenic colors, transformed into a tsunami that blew away the flames.
Caught in an illusion, Motomu's eyes as he stood there gradually became dull.
Seeing this opportunity,
Tagitsu Hime, now in the form of a giant white snake, opened her bloody maw.
Kicking up a billowing, foul-smelling wind, she lunged straight at Motomu's location.
Bang! —
The smoke dispersed.
Just as he was about to fall into the snake's mouth, Motomu and the Big Eyeballs vanished from the spot.
[BATTLE ESCAPE SUCCESSFUL]
[RIGHT EYE (LEVEL 34) HAS LEARNED A LESSON]
[RIGHT EYE EXPERIENCE +1000]
The Motomu family courtyard.
Stepping slowly out of the dispersing summoning smoke, he shook his head, his mind clearing slightly from the influence of the opponent's senjutsu chakra.
Feeling the lingering fear.
Motomu couldn't help but complain.
She's that powerful?!
This is a far cry from those two old toads at Mount Myoboku.
If he hadn't ended the summoning early, he probably would have been turned into meat for her by now.
Fortunately, the experience reward was high, which temporarily soothed his somewhat frightened heart.
After finishing the allocation of experience points.
Listening to the pleasant system tones, Motomu thought back to the battle just now.
After this experience, he had finally figured out the system's trigger conditions.
Humanoid opponents didn't seem to trigger battle prompts.
The Pokémon displayed by the system earlier was Milotic, and the Trainer's name was actually Tagitsu Hime.
Hearing this name, Motomu recalled the Nine-Tails' Trainer, Kushina.
Yeah, that's reasonable.
If they are in human form, they are a Trainer.
He popped the cleaned Big Eyeballs back into his sockets.
Motomu checked the moves of the Heart, which had just reached level 20.
[POKÉMON: HEART]
[LEVEL: 20]
[TYPE: FIRE/FIGHTING]
[CURRENT EXP: 60/200]
[STATS: HP: 30 | ATTACK: 8 | DEFENSE: 30 | SP. ATK: 34 | SP. DEF: 23 | SPEED: 5]
[INDIVIDUAL VALUES: 4/31]
[EFFORT VALUES: 0/100]
[NATURE/ABILITY: JOLLY]
[MOVES: MINIMIZE, ARM THRUST, FIERY ABYSS, LAVA PLUME]
[PASSIVE MOVE: ENLARGE AND HARDEN]
[DESCRIPTION: EFFORT IS UTTERLY PATHETIC IN THE FACE OF HAVING A BENEFACTOR]
[NOTE: THERE ARE UNSELECTED MOVES AWAITING CONFIRMATION]
He leveled up four times in a row, crossing the level 20 threshold.
Motomu's Heart once again gained an opportunity for a move selection and a passive selection.
"View options."
[HEART HAS LEVELED UP. IT SEEMS TO HAVE REALIZED SOMETHING]
[1. FLAME CHARGE 2. SUNNY DAY 3. QUICK GUARD 4. VACUUM WAVE]
After giving the cold shoulder to Quick Guard,
Motomu looked over the other three options.
[FLAME CHARGE: COVERS THE BODY IN WEAK FLAMES AND CHARGES THE OPPONENT. EACH USE INCREASES SPEED BY 1 POINT UNTIL THE FLAMES END]
[SUNNY DAY: WITHIN 5 TURNS, THE POWER OF FIRE-TYPE MOVES IS INCREASED BY 1.5 TIMES, AND WATER-TYPE MOVES ARE HALVED]
[VACUUM WAVE: SWINGS A FIST TO RELEASE A QI WAVE. ALWAYS ATTACKS FIRST]
'I just added fire resistance, and now I get a physical-damage Vacuum Wave?'
Motomu glanced at it and immediately ruled it out.
His gaze shifted, hesitating between Flame Charge and Sunny Day.
Which of these two moves should I choose?