Torkoal glanced at them briefly.
Then, lowering her head, she began greedily gulping down the coal scattered on the ground.
In the next instant—
The flas within the shell on her back erupted furiously to life.
A sound reminiscent of a steam locomotive filled the air as thick smoke billowed fiercely from her nostrils.
Gone was the sluggish Pokémon from monts earlier.
Now, fighting spirit blazed from her body, as vibrant and relentless as the flas she emitted.
"Wow," Guo Yi murmured, impressed. "Eating coal really makes a difference, huh?"
But Torkoal wasn't finished.
She knew clearly that the enemy before her was imnsely powerful—so powerful, in fact, that even her greatest efforts might not be enough. Yet, as the leader of her colony, surrendering without a fight was impossible.
"Torkoal!"
A shimring, phantom sun rose from Torkoal's body, shooting skyward before expanding into a dazzling orb high above.
Her [Drought] ability had activated.
Bright, intense sunlight poured down, further energizing the flas blazing atop the shells of every Torkoal in the area.
Still, Torkoal pushed further—
Cracks abruptly spread across her shell. In monts, a smaller, leaner Torkoal erged from within the shattered shell.
[Shell Smash]: Breaks the shell, drastically lowering Defense and Special Defense, but significantly raising Attack, Special Attack, and Speed.
It was a move often used by trainers to create formidable sweepers like Cloyster.
But for Torkoal, it was a last-ditch effort—a desperate gamble.
Having exhausted all preparations, she was finally ready to attack.
"Torkoal!"
With an enraged roar, Torkoal unleashed a searing wave of scorching wind toward Beedrill and Guo Yi.
[Drought] [Shell Smash] [Charcoal].
Boosted by this triple combination, the force behind Torkoal's attack was frighteningly intense.
The normally invisible gust of [Heat Wave] had transford into a tangible wall of fla that swept across the battlefield. The incredible heat instantly ignited coal scattered across the ground, fueling the flas and turning the abandoned mine into a hellscape.
Of course—
No matter how spectacular Torkoal's assault appeared, Beedrill felt only a faint flicker of threat from it. The only reason for even that minor feeling of danger was his innate vulnerability to Fire-type moves. Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt threatened at all.
After all, Master-Tier strength was no joke.
"Beedrill, show her the gap between your strengths! Break through that firewall with [X-Scissor]!"
Since Torkoal had gone all out, Guo Yi responded in kind.
"Bzz!"
Beedrill's crimson compound eyes glead eagerly as he gazed at the advancing wall of flas.
It's said moths who rush into flas et a tragic end.
But today—
He, Beedrill, would create a legend all his own!
His wings buzzed rapidly behind him, building trendous energy.
In reality, given Beedrill's imnse strength, flying through flas to defeat Torkoal was easy. This montary charge was, to outsiders, completely unnecessary.
However—
Beedrill's goal wasn't rely to defeat Torkoal, but to extinguish the flas in a single, grand gesture.
In the next instant—
Beedrill crossed his stingers, forming the familiar crimson X-mark.
He shot forward like an arrow.
Silent as calm waters, swift as a storm.
With a resounding crash—
Beedrill pierced the wall of flas and landed a precise blow on Torkoal.
Yet—
The wall of fire had rely been pierced through its center. Far from extinguishing the burning coals, even the firewall itself still raged fiercely.
And he intended to create a legend with this?
"Bzz!"
[Let the wind fly a little longer!]
Beedrill struck a confident pose.
Whoosh!
Imdiately afterward, a powerful blast of wind followed, instantly scattering the wall of fire.
Even the scattered flas burning atop the coal quickly faded, deprived of oxygen by the sustained pressure of Beedrill's windstorm.
It turned out—
Before attacking Torkoal, Beedrill had swiftly circled the mine at blinding speed, creating a vacuum zone with his extre velocity to snuff out the flas in one spectacular move.
"Well done!" Guo Yi chuckled approvingly. "I'd give that performance a solid 99."
As for why not a perfect score?
It wasn't to prevent Beedrill from growing conceited.
No, it was because that perfect score belonged to himself.
After all, if Beedrill scored 99 points, wasn't it only natural for his trainer to claim a perfect hundred?
"Beedrill, you did a great job! Looks like you've thoroughly mastered your breakthrough."
Guo Yi walked over, warmly praising Beedrill's performance.
Perhaps—
Using such grand techniques against a re Gym Leader-Tier Torkoal seed excessive.
But in truth, it wasn't.
Beedrill's actions had been an intentional challenge, pushing his own limits.
At his current strength, finding suitable opponents was no longer easy.
So, if Beedrill wanted to continue improving, he had no choice but to demand even more from himself—just as he'd done today.
If Beedrill had simply defeated Torkoal and then carried his trainer away, returning later when the fire in the mine had naturally died down, it would've been effortless for him.
But doing so would have defeated the entire purpose of his training.
On the other hand, defeating Torkoal while simultaneously extinguishing the flas in a single move was entirely different.
It tested not only Beedrill's speed to its utmost but also honed his precise control over power.
Wielding strength as if lifting a feather, yet able to treat a feather as if lifting great weight—
Whether an attack was devastating or delicate was simply a matter of intent for Beedrill.
After praising Beedrill, Guo Yi approached the unconscious Torkoal and started searching for its [Charcoal].
The Pokémon item [Charcoal] was located within Torkoal's shell. Now that Torkoal was unconscious, the previously raging flas had extinguished, allowing Guo Yi to remove the [Charcoal] easily, without needing Beedrill's help.
After stowing the [Charcoal] safely away, Guo Yi pulled out an empty Poké Ball from his pocket.
That's right—
Guo Yi intended to capture this Torkoal.
Unlike the previously encountered Centiskorch with only Ace-Level potential, a Torkoal with Elite Four-Potential still had market value—especially one with the valuable [Drought] ability. Selling her for a million or so yuan would hardly be a problem.
He gently tapped the Poké Ball against Torkoal's body. A flash of red later, Torkoal disappeared into the Poké Ball.
The Poké Ball shook gently a few tis, then settled. The capture was successful.
"Alright, [Charcoal] acquired."
"Ti to move on to the next location."
Guo Yi glanced briefly at the map marking his next opportunity, then continued his journey with Beedrill.
---
The mountain fire continued to spread, growing fiercer with each passing mont.
Simultaneously, wild Pokémon with bloodshot eyes rushed madly from within the Secret Realm, viciously attacking everything in sight.
Unfortunately—
The Pokémon sumr camp in the mountains was quite close to the Secret Realm's entrance.
"Captain, what should we do now?"
"Maybe… maybe we should just escape?"
One of the instructors saw the intensifying flas and imdiately considered abandoning the students. With their skills, their chances of escape were high if they left the students behind.
At monts of life and death, a person's true nature is revealed.
Coldly, Leng Yun—the captain they addressed—shot the instructor an icy look.
"If you want to run, run. But as long as these students call instructor, I'll never abandon them," Leng Yun stated bluntly.
He didn't scold the instructor further—there was no point. Would a scolding truly change his mind?
Words of escape were not spoken lightly. If soone voiced such thoughts aloud, they were already halfway committed.
So Leng Yun wasted no more words, turning instead to command his Croconaw to put out the spreading flas.
The cowardly instructor exchanged a glance with another colleague. Without hesitation, the two chose to flee toward a weaker area of the flas.
Their actions might draw harsh criticism later, but at least they'd survive.
Even an ant struggles to live, let alone humans!
Yet they failed to grasp that sotis responsibility mattered more than life itself.
"Damned traitors! Cowards!" cursed Lin, the remaining instructor, his face flushed with anger. He now deeply regretted having such colleagues.
Excluding Captain Leng Yun, the sumr camp originally had three instructors. With two gone, their defensive strength halved instantly.
"Enough, Lin," Leng Yun interrupted firmly. "Forget those two. Focus on protecting the students. With a wildfire this size, the firefighters will definitely arrive soon."
Leng Yun calmly assessed their situation. With reduced defenses, their only option was to shrink their defense periter, prioritizing survival.
"Understood, Capta—"
"AHHH!!"
Before Lin could finish, two chilling screams echoed from the direction the fleeing instructors had run toward.
Clearly, those two were now dead.
Captain Leng Yun's expression darkened grimly.
"Trouble's arrived."
Leng Yun knew perfectly well those two hadn't fled solely because of the fire.
Their real fear was the arrival of a Secret Realm.
If a Secret Realm erged, blocking their escape routes, the difficulty of rescue and survival would skyrocket. Rescuers from outside would need to cross through unknown terrain, facing rampaging Pokémon driven wild by disaster. Those trapped inside would face the sa grim challenge in reverse.
Thus, those two instructors had intended to flee before the Secret Realm descended.
But they'd been a step too late and had paid with their lives.
Suddenly, a fierce roar erupted from the burning forest—
Two Pokémon appeared, calmly stepping through the flas.
"Pyroar!" Leng Yun, experienced in battles, instantly recognized the pair.
Pyroar—Fire and Normal-type Pokémon, evolved from Litleo.
Due to gender differences, their appearances varied distinctly. Male Pyroar resembled male lions, adorned with thick manes of red and gold encircling their faces. Female Pyroar, in contrast, sported flowing, fla-like hair cascading elegantly behind their heads.
The two Pyroar in front of them were exactly one male, one female pair.
If Leng Yun looked closely, he'd easily notice the fresh blood staining their jaws, undoubtedly belonging to the two fleeing instructors.
"Two Ace-Level Pyroar… This is trouble," Leng Yun murmured grimly.
These Pyroar had clearly lived together a long ti, and their teamwork was likely impeccable. Even his Croconaw at peak strength would struggle against their combined assault—much less now, exhausted after fighting the flas.
Victory was impossible.
"I have no choice."
"It's all up to you, Venusaur!"
As the sumr camp's captain, Leng Yun naturally had more than just one Ace-Level Croconaw. He also possessed a Venusaur at the Gym Leader-Tier.
However, this environnt—surrounded by flas—was terrible for Venusaur.
But he had no other choice. Though he had two other Pokémon, they were rely novices at the Qualified tier, barely Lv.11. Sending them out would be little more than feeding them to the Pyroar.
"Vena!"
With its familiar, hearty cry, Venusaur erged from the Poké Ball, imdiately frowning from discomfort due to the oppressive heat. The flower on its back even seed slightly wilted already, clearly indicating how harsh the conditions were.
"Croconaw, [Water Sport]!" Leng Yun ordered imdiately.
He knew well Croconaw's depleted state ant it could only offer support. The heavy burden of offense rested solely on Venusaur.
Croconaw struggled to gather its dwindling Water-type energy—
In the next instant, a refreshing stream washed over Venusaur, relieving it of much discomfort and revitalizing the flower on its back.
"Please… hold on until reinforcents arrive," Leng Yun whispered desperately, hands clenched tightly in anxious prayer.
"ROAR!"
The Pyroar duo didn't wait. Simultaneously opening their mouths, they unleashed twin streams of blazing [Flathrower], rging midair into a fiery tempest sweeping toward them.
The already searing temperature soared even higher.
"Venusaur, [Seed Bomb]!" Leng Yun shouted desperately. In truth, Venusaur's move pool held few options for countering Fire-type Pokémon directly. He hoped the explosive shockwave of [Seed Bomb] could disperse the flas.
Yet reality was harsh.
While [Seed Bomb]'s detonation weakened the [Flathrower] significantly, it failed to completely neutralize the attack.
The remaining flas surged relentlessly toward them—
Venusaur was about to be hit!
At this critical mont, a lithe, fiery-orange figure dashed bravely before Venusaur—
Then, in the blink of an eye—it was engulfed by the roaring flas.
Reviews
All reviews (0)