"Blastoise, Hydro Pump!"
In a certain area of the Earth Ridge, Dawn commanded her Blastoise to defeat a level 50 Onix. This was already the fifteenth level 50 Pokémon Blastoise had taken down along the way.
"Bla—"
BOOM!!!!
Just as Blastoise was about to respond to its trainer, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the distance, its sheer volu echoing across the sky.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Dawn saw a massive black mushroom cloud rising into the air. Even though it was far away, its imnse size was still clearly visible.
A mont later, the ground began to tremble violently, followed by a powerful shockwave.
The earth shook so violently that Dawn struggled to stay on her feet. Before she could react, the shockwave slamd into her, sending her flying with a startled cry.
"Blas!"
Seeing this, Blastoise leaped forward, catching Dawn midair before she could hit the ground. Holding her protectively, it twisted its body so that its sturdy shell absorbed the impact as it crashed onto its back.
If not for Blastoise's quick reaction, Dawn could have been fatally injured.
The earthquake and shockwave lasted for over two minutes before finally subsiding.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Blastoise never loosened its hold on its trainer.
Once everything settled, it slowly stood up, revealing Dawn, who had been safely shielded in its embrace.
"Thank you, Blastoise," Dawn said gratefully.
As she looked down at the ground beneath her, her eyes widened in shock.
The once solid terrain was now covered in countless cracks, ranging from small fractures to deep fissures. Every direction she looked, the ground was full of cracks.
Boulders had collapsed, rivers had shifted their courses—
And all of this destruction had been caused by the explosion from a location dozens of kiloters away.
Just what kind of being could unleash such a devastating force with a single attack?
The entire Earth Ridge had been affected by the blast and the earthquake. Though the impact weakened near the edges, the devastation at the center was unimaginable.
Countless Pokémon were injured, and the closer they were to the explosion, the higher the death toll.
"Blastoise, let's go check it out."
Curiosity burned in Dawn's heart, compelling her to head toward the site of the explosion.
If she rembered correctly, that direction led to the territory of two Elite-level Pokémon.
Could it be that they had fought? Had that massive explosion been caused by their battle?
If that were the case—
A golden opportunity!
The thought suddenly flashed through Dawn's mind.
Every year, there were a few lucky trainers who stumbled upon battles between powerful wild Pokémon. After both sides were left badly injured, soone would swoop in and capture the weakened survivor.
Many trainers in Earth Ridge shared the sa idea as Dawn.
One after another, they rushed toward the epicenter of the explosion, eager to see what lay ahead.
But so trainers weren't so lucky—they perished in the aftermath.
At the center of Earth Ridge, within a five-kiloter radius, everything had been reduced to a sea of boiling magma. From high above, the ground resembled a massive crater, as if a teor had struck, leaving behind a basin filled with molten lava.
"Phew…"
Julian let out a deep breath. "tagross, it's a good thing you were here."
He stood on the only intact spot in the entire area, an island of solid ground amidst the burning sea. Alongside him were ltal and Dragonite.
When Claydol had used Self-Destruct, it was tagross that had shielded them with Protect, saving them from the devastating blast.
But this wasn't Julian's own tagross—it belonged to his grandpa's.
In official tournants, Elite-level Pokémon were forbidden from using Self-Destruct or Explosion due to the sheer destructive power of these moves.
Julian had never seen one firsthand—until today.
A re early-Elite-level Claydol had used Self-Destruct, and the resulting blast had affected the entire Earth Ridge—an area spanning over 10,000 square kiloters.
Had a pseudo-champion-level Pokémon been caught in the explosion at close range, it likely wouldn't have survived. Fortunately, a champion-tier tagross had been there to block it.
Julian had originally borrowed his grandfather's tagross to deal with the unknown enemy, but even though that person never showed up, he had decided not to send tagross back.
That decision had just saved his life.
Claydol's Self-Destruct had co so suddenly that Julian wouldn't have had ti to react, not even to summon wtwo using the fragnts.
Perhaps, with the unknown enemy gone, his sense of danger had dulled. Otherwise, he never would have let the Claydol detonate.
The explosion had been so intense that it lted the entire field into lava. Even now, the molten rock was still bubbling.
And that was just Self-Destruct, if it had been Explosion, which was even stronger…
Julian shuddered at the thought.
Smack!
He slapped ltal on the head, his voice filled with anger. "If you pull sothing like that again, you're not battling anymore!"
If ltal hadn't been fooling around instead of finishing the fight quickly, if it hadn't taunted Claydol into losing control, the battle wouldn't have ended in a suicidal detonation.
ltal nodded frantically, eyes filled with fear—not because of Julian's scolding, but because of the absolute devastation it had just witnessed.
It had almost died just now.
At this mont, the heavily injured, unconscious Claydol drifted toward Julian, carried by the currents of molten rock.
According to Probing Eyes, its level had dropped from 73 to 70, and its injuries were severe. If left untreated, it would die.
'Damn'
One Self-Destruct had not only knocked it down from Elite to pseudo-Elite, but it had also crippled its potential—it had dropped to Green, aning it would likely never reach Elite level again.
Afterall, there was no way an explosion of that magnitude ca without consequences.
"tagross, let's get out of here first, and take it with us."
Julian gestured toward the unconscious Claydol.
From the sky, he could see the full devastation of the blast. This wasn't just destruction—it was like the entire Earth Ridge had been wiped off the map. Not a single patch of ground remained intact.
"Whether you live or die is up to you now."
Julian administered a healing potion to the Claydol.
Even though it had nearly killed him, the real fault lay with ltal. Julian's original plan had been to use this battle as training, nothing more.
He hadn't expected ltal to get carried away after being idle for so long.
He also hadn't expected Claydol to be so short-tempered—like a walking gunpowder keg, ready to go off at the slightest spark.
Still, he had no intention of capturing it. It wasn't even an Elite Pokémon anymore, and Julian had never been particularly interested in Claydol in the first place.
After consuming the healing potion, its condition finally stabilized. It wouldn't die, at least.
"Let's go ho."
Julian mounted Dragonite, preparing to leave.
He had lost all interest in treasure hunting—especially after realizing that the explosion had wiped out the treasure. The red dot on his Dowsing Machine had vanished.
At the center of the Earth Ridge, deep within Gigalith's territory, the massive rock Pokémon surveyed the aftermath.
The entire landscape had been reshaped by the shockwaves and molten fury.
Its ho… was gone.
Gigalith: "I swear… I just saw a giant pile of sandstone disappear in front of …"
*****
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