"What the..." Marvin was completely caught off guard.
An Intermediate-level Corvisquire's Air Cutter should only reach about a meter in length, with two or three wind blades at most.
But what was this? The attack stretched across the battlefield like a wall of blades, each nearly three meters long. The sheer size and force were nothing like what he expected.
"Heh..." Shiro smirked as he caught sight of Allister and Nessa's stunned expressions from the sidelines.
His Corvisquire wasn't naturally gifted. Without the help of two special berries, its progress would've been even slower, and it barely knew a handful of moves.
But because of that, Corvisquire focused entirely on mastering the few moves it did know.
Especially Air Cutter.
When Corvisquire could fire nearly ten wind blades in rapid succession, Shiro changed the training strategy. He stopped focusing on quantity and instead pushed Corvisquire to strengthen a single wind blade to its absolute limit.
After all, if the attack couldn't deal real damage, no amount of blades would matter. It'd be nothing more than a light scratch.
"Corvisquire! Keep going! Use Quick Attack!" Shiro commanded.
"Cooor!"
At his call, Corvisquire shot forward, turning into a streak of gray-white light. It darted straight for Frosmoth, who was still reeling from the earlier hit.
But Marvin's training hadn't been in vain. He reacted quickly.
"Frosmoth! Hurry! Use Ice Beam!"
Frosmoth stabilized itself in the air and rapidly gathered a burst of icy energy in front of it. Within moments, a thick, ice-blue beam blasted forward, powerful enough to freeze anything it touched solid.
Yet Corvisquire moved like a blur. With Quick Attack's speed boost, its nimble body danced around the Ice Beam, leaving faint afterimages in its wake.
Frosmoth's eyes struggled to keep up, still focusing on the beam it was unleashing. Normally, even if Ice Beam missed, the surrounding cold would slow the enemy down significantly.
"Watch out, Frosmoth! Dodge, quick!" Marvin's voice rang clearly in its ears.
For a second, Frosmoth thought it imagined the warning. It blinked and looked again—only to see a flash of grayish-white light streak past its eyes, slamming into its snow-white body with force.
Quick Attack wasn't a high-damage move, and Corvisquire wasn't strong enough to cause serious injury.
But the impact was enough to send Frosmoth flying backward, nearly flipping in midair.
It stumbled in the air, wings flailing. After wobbling a few times, it managed to regain balance.
Seeing this, Marvin grew anxious. He couldn't wrap his head around it—how could Shiro's Corvisquire, just an Intermediate-level Pokémon, be this strong? Its speed and moves far surpassed any ordinary Corvisquire.
Frustration flared within him. He couldn't let this drag on any longer.
He knew Shiro had an Elite-level Drakloak in reserve. If he couldn't even take down this "small" Corvisquire at the start, wouldn't that be humiliating?
Marvin gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Frosmoth! Blizzard, now!"
Shiro's eyes narrowed.
Blizzard was a high-level Ice-type move. Usually, only Pokémon at the Gym-level could master it.
The worst part wasn't the damage. It was the sheer area it covered. As long as Corvisquire stayed on the battlefield, it couldn't possibly escape the attack.
Not to mention, with the snowy weather already in play, Blizzard's power would be even stronger.
"Corvisquire! Use Quick Attack, get to the sky!" Shiro ordered swiftly.
Marvin's Frosmoth wasn't lacking in skill either. With just a few flaps of its wings, it unleashed the Blizzard effortlessly.
A howling gust of icy wind swept across the field, snow swirling faster and thicker as it surged toward Corvisquire.
The piercing cold was unbearable, making it impossible for the Intermediate-level Corvisquire to endure. Following Shiro's command, it soared upward, flickering through the sky with all its strength, flying faster and higher than ever before.
Yet the swirling blizzard was relentless, like a vengeful homing missile. Guided by the violent winds, it tore through the air, each burst of frost landing heavier and harsher blows on Corvisquire.
Realizing this wasn't sustainable, Shiro had no choice but to pull out a Poké Ball.
"Come back, Corvisquire!"
A beam of red light withdrew the bird Pokémon mid-battle, sparing it from further harm. Then, he drew out another Poké Ball and tossed it forward.
"Come on out, Rhyperior!"
"Rhyperior?!" Marvin's voice cracked in disbelief. He thought he'd misheard.
That was, until the battlefield shook under the weight of a colossal figure. With a thunderous stomp, the massive, armored Pokémon emerged.
Marvin's mouth fell open. He nearly shouted in shock.
A Gym-level Rhyperior?!
Was that even allowed?
Marvin's head snapped toward Granny Shae, who was overseeing the match as the referee. His expression screamed his question: Is this thing even legal?!
The look in Rhyperior's dull, unblinking eyes wasn't the fierce gaze of a trained fighter—it was blank, lifeless, like a machine waiting for orders.
If this were an official match, a Pokémon like that would've been disqualified on sight.
But Granny Shae only smiled, shaking her head gently. Her voice carried across the arena.
"Didn't I say it already? As long as it obeys orders and moves when commanded, it's allowed. There's no such thing as fairness in the wild."
Marvin stared at her, stunned.
'Isn't this just blatant cheating?'
Shiro simply spread his hands with a grin, saying nothing. His Rhyperior was the perfect workhorse—obedient, efficient, and tough. Ground and Rock types didn't need agility anyway. They just had to withstand every attack without flinching, then smack the opponent down with overwhelming force.
Considering the type limitations, even an unconditioned Rhyperior probably wouldn't be much stronger than this one.
That's exactly why black market Pokémon are so expensive. The black market never lies—if it's pricey, there's a reason.
Shiro glanced at Marvin's increasingly despairing face, then at Frosmoth trembling in fear, instinctively inching backward. He didn't bother dragging things out and called out.
"Rhyperior! Rock Blast!"
Rhyperior responded immediately, lowering its massive body. The rugged orange armor plates on its back rumbled as several jagged boulders materialized, spinning faster and faster, growing larger with each rotation.
With a sharp, ear-splitting crack, the boulders launched forward, tearing through the air toward Frosmoth. Startled, it flinched and scrambled to dodge. Seeing this, Marvin hurriedly grabbed its Poké Ball and recalled it before things got worse.
"...Sigh." Marvin let out a helpless breath.
Facing a titan-like Rhyperior, calling it a fight felt ridiculous. It wasn't even a question of strategy anymore. His Pokémon probably couldn't survive a single hit.
"Forget it…" The thought of giving up settled in Marvin's heart. He had already accepted Shiro as the strongest. Even without this Rhyperior, he still wouldn't stand a chance against his ace Drakloak.
Marvin's original plan was to rely on his Ice-types to put up a decent fight against Drakloak—slow it down, maybe land a lucky hit or two—hoping Granny Shae would notice his efforts.
He wanted to impress her. To show he was worth taking on as a student.
Granny Shae wasn't just a referee here. She was an Elite-level Ice-type master, someone Marvin had admired for ages. He'd tried asking her to take him as a student more than once, but she'd turned him down every time.
But if he surrendered now…
Marvin's gaze flicked to the old woman, lounging on her small red chair, watching him with an amused, knowing smile.
His hands tightened around his Poké Ball.
No.
If he was going to lose—then fine. But he'd send out every last Pokémon he had before giving in.
He wasn't done yet.
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