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Lü Yi froze, but Bewear didn't.
Though slightly shaken by Incineroar's savage grin, it remained composed.
The distance between them was less than three meters—just a single step apart.
So what if it was tanky? Change the move, and how many hits could it really take?
"Gii—!"
Bewear let out a long howl, raising its plush-like arms high as a crimson glow intensified around its body, thickening into something resembling a bloody membrane.
This was the precursor to Close Combat.
As one of the premier Fighting-type melee moves, it fused power, technique, and speed—sacrificing all defense to unleash maximum damage in the shortest time possible.
It was a 100% close-quarters technique and currently, Bewear's best option against Incineroar.
If even Close Combat couldn't break through, then it might as well forfeit.
'Come on! Let's see what you're really made of!'
Bewear's eyes widened, muscles tensing as it focused every ounce of its attention on Incineroar.
The mocking smirk on its opponent's face seemed to slow in its vision, as if the world itself had decelerated—
"Grr-ow?"
'You didn't actually think I'd just let you charge up, did you?'
A sudden, icy growl cut through the air like a bucket of cold water, dousing Bewear's fighting spirit and shattering its focus in an instant. At the same time, its pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Because right before its eyes, Incineroar's flame belt was glowing like molten lava.
Fire surged and gathered toward the center of the belt, erupting in a radiance so blinding it rivaled the sun itself!
Too late!
Bewear abandoned its charge and struck immediately, fists raining down on Incineroar like bullets—
WHOOSH!
Each punch carried enough force to shatter boulders, the air itself cracking under the assault!
Incineroar crossed its arms in front of its chest, weathering the storm of blows without flinching, its fanged grin never wavering as it stood its ground.
And then, the molten belt reached its boiling point.
Solidified flames erupted like a tidal wave, crashing into Bewear with catastrophic force!
All that endurance for this single moment!
BLAST BURN!
BOOOOM!!
The explosion was like a ton of black powder detonating at once—smoke, fire, and shockwaves merged into a devastating blast that tore through the surroundings!
Bewear didn't even have time to throw its next punch.
Its two-meter-tall, 300-pound body was launched backward like a cannonball, hurtling through the air before smashing through three trees and embedding itself into a fourth, head lolling limply.
Lü Yi instinctively ducked, feeling the shockwave whip past her face, her ears ringing from the deafening blast. When she looked up again—
Bewear was gone.
On the other side of the field, only Incineroar remained.
Its arms slowly lowered, molten fire still dripping from its belt, tendrils of smoke curling off its body.
"Grr-ow…"
The black-and-red tiger exhaled wearily, but its eyes burned like twin stars—bright and unyielding.
Lü Yi turned her head.
Bewear was half-buried in a tree trunk, unconscious.
In front of it lay three shattered trees and a field of shredded evergreen shrubs—a scene of utter devastation.
The match was decided in a single move.
A one-shotKO. No second hit needed.
Lü Yi fell silent.
Sure, it wasn't unusual for offensive Pokémon to OHKO each other. But what had just happened… didn't feel like a normal clash between sweepers.
High Attack. Extreme durability. And now, devastating Special Attack.
The only thing left unanswered was its speed—since it hadn't moved from its spot the entire time.
But if it was fast too…
Could a Pokémon like this really exist?
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Lü Yi wouldn't have believed it.
"...I lost."
She recalled Bewear with a sigh, her voice a mix of disappointment and awe.
Disappointed in her loss. Awed by Incineroar's strength.
So this was how strong Li Xiang really was?
In her eyes, this was far beyond the level of their peers. They weren't even in the same league.
[Genius].
If that title belonged to her, then what did that make Li Xiang?
A monster? A demon? A god?
Her thoughts were a tangled mess as she silently handed over her wooden tag.
"Thanks."
Li Xiang, completely oblivious to the black-haired girl's existential crisis, took the tag and immediately went to find his next opponent, leaving Lü Yi alone with her thoughts.
Meanwhile…
Further away, the battle between Song Jie and Lü Ling was still ongoing.
The silver-haired boy must have arrived while Li Xiang and Lü Yi were searching for a suitable battlefield. He looked calm and well-dressed—probably hadn't run into any trouble, just took a while to get here.
The match-up was Alolan Golem vs. Mismagius, a pure Ghost-type Pokémon known for crafting nightmares and illusions—yet ironically incapable of learning Hypnosis.
The fight was intense.
One side fired electrified rocks from the railgun-like launcher on its back, while the other retaliated with Shadow Balls.
No clear winner yet.
"That sounded like a big move over there. What happened?"
Qu Sheng asked as Li Xiang strolled back.
"Used a big move. Paid a price. Worth it."
Li Xiang waved him off.
The fight against Lü Yi had cost more energy than usual, and the stamina drain wasn't insignificant. But the price had been worth it.
—The new technique's performance test was a success.
And the results?
More than satisfactory.
The "Molten Belt".
The so-called "new technique" was the flame surge from earlier.
And to understand it, we have to talk about how Incineroar had barely used Special Attack moves since evolving.
Its focus had always been Attack and bulk. Using Special moves in emergencies was fine, but dedicating time to them seemed unnecessary.
Yet recent discoveries had shown Li Xiang something surprising. Incineroar's Special Attack wasn't weak.
In fact, it was powerful.
And the reason?
Its belt.
That band of flame-like gemstones, its primary fire-emitting organ.
Li Xiang had noticed something: When the flames reached 4,000 degrees Celsius, the belt's appearance changed.
Viewed head-on, the surface seemed coated in magma, becoming thicker and slightly larger.
The central gemstone acted like a vortex, endlessly drawing in flames from nowhere, growing brighter and hotter.
Undoubtedly, the higher the temperature, the more pronounced the effect.
And when Incineroar pushed it to 6,000 degrees, the belt's appearance completely transformed.
The gemstone texture melted away, replaced by a molten, lava-like surface.
At this point, calling it a "flame belt" no longer fit. "Molten Belt" was far more accurate.
And the fire it unleashed?
It became tangible magma, surging forward like a tidal wave of flames.
The power was terrifying—after a Nasty Plot, it wasn't far behind a fully charged Flare Blitz.
The only downside was the same as Flare Blitz's charge-up—it needed time to reach the required temperature.
Both were wind-up techniques. Which, in this case, worked perfectly.
Bewear's Fluffy ability and close-combat specialty made it the ideal target—once lured into melee range, landing the hit was guaranteed.
And just as Li Xiang predicted: After tanking Bewear's Force Palm without flinching, Incineroar's taunt made its opponent panic.
The more desperate Bewear became, the more time Incineroar had to heat up. By the time Bewear realized something was wrong—
It was too late.
Incineroar endured one second of Close Combat before retaliating with a magma eruption that would've made Heatran proud.
If Magma Storm wasn't Heatran's signature move, Li Xiang would've sworn Incineroar had stolen it.
The visual effect was straight-up volcanic eruption—just… from a slightly unconventional location.
But hey. As long as it worked.
Now, Incineroar could unleash flames without thrusting its hips, so there was no reason to complain.
And the Molten Belt opened up countless new possibilities.
No need to rush, though.
With top-tier Breeders for support and an A-rank training facility at his disposal, Li Xiang had plenty of opportunities to experiment.
Slow and steady.
Once he earned enough points this time, next year's return to the camp would mean unlimited access to A-rank training. Otherwise, even with his resources, the cost was brutal.
A single massage session cost 10 points per Pokémon—it was practically robbery.
The points Li Xiang earned in a full day weren't even enough for a full spa treatment for his team.
Once a week was the best he could manage.
Tragic.
But now?
The Tri-Camp Exam was his salvation.
As long as he hit his daily targets, three hours of A-rank training and full spa days were within reach.
As he pondered this, the distant battle finally reached its climax.
Song Jie's Alolan Golem was a monster.
The rocks it launched carried an electric charge—weak, but enough to paralyze most Pokémon on impact. Combined with its Galvanize ability, certain moves became ridiculously strong.
Like Return and Mega Punch.
The latter was a move almost nobody used outside of Normal-types.
But with Galvanize boosting it?
It outclassed Wild Charge, an Electric-type physical move with recoil, in every way.
Higher power. No downside.
And Return?
In the games, its max power was 102. With Galvanize, that jumped to 122—on par with some of the strongest moves in the game, most of which came with heavy drawbacks.
Unsurprisingly, Mismagius couldn't handle it.
After taking a Galvanized Mega Punch straight to the face from a magnetically levitating boulder, it went down without a sound.
Watching the floating rock monster, Li Xiang couldn't help but muse: These days, every Pokémon has a way to fly.
Some were just more complicated than others.
Electric and Steel-types often knew Magnet Rise, including Steelix.
When the Sword & Shield trailer dropped, that flying Steelix had shocked him.
A quick search later, and he learned—
Yep. It knows Magnet Rise too.