"Vireee~"
"Raaaa~"
The fire of battle burned fiercely in their eyes. Both Pokémon turned toward Paul at the same time.
Usually, they'd have to get his approval before fighting, and now, standing atop the Tree of Beginning, casual sparring was even more out of the question.
"So eager to battle, haven't even properly greeted each other yet."
Chuckling, Paul glanced at Mew and nodded earnestly. "Please, Mew."
"Mii~!"
Mew shot him a look, practically rolling its eyes. The expression said everything: Who even are you? This isn't your house. I'm not your Pokémon. Permission denied.
"Their battle would be pretty entertaining though. Don't you want to watch?"
"Mii!" '(Nope!)'
Even Mewtwo tried to mediate, but Mew was having none of it.
"Please?"
Paul pulled out a rare, beautifully wrapped lollipop from his backpack.
"Mii~..."
Was Mew really that easy to bribe?
The once-defiant mythical Pokémon suddenly stared daggers at Paul, its cute face stern, as though daring him to try anything funny.
Paul said nothing further, he knew better. Instead, he simply unzipped a hidden compartment in his backpack, reversed it, and dumped out its entire candy stash.
Within seconds, a candy mountain large enough to bury Mew appeared on the ground.
Mew said nothing the whole time, watching intently. Its expression was frozen in surprise.
"Mii~!"
In an instant, it wrapped the candies in a pink bubble and teleported them into its treasure hoard. Beaming, it looked at Paul as if to say:
We're all friends here! You want a battle? Go right ahead!
"Snap!"
With a flick of its finger, all the Pokémon vanished. A moment later, they reappeared in a natural arena deep within the roots of the Tree of Beginning.
"Mii-mii-mii~!"
Go on, battle to your heart's content—even to the death if you want!
Mew waved dismissively, conjured a bubble seat, and casually plopped down. Producing another lollipop, it began licking it while watching Paul's old phone, now playing some random video.
It looked exactly like a kid lying on a sofa watching cartoons, completely carefree.
"Vireee~!"
"Raaaa~!"
At Mew's blessing, the two Pokémon exchanged a glance and entered the arena.
While the two prepared, Paul finally had a moment to speak with Mewtwo.
"So, how has your time here been? Found the answers you were looking for?"
Paul met Mewtwo's eyes—dark and deep like the void, yet glimmering like stars.
"I've felt the beauty of the world, the breath of life, and the warmth of the sun. Life holds its own meaning—joy, calm, fondness—these are its value. I still don't know what my purpose is, but I no longer believe I lack one."
"Value is just like purpose, it's not something you need to fixate on." Paul said calmly. "Just keep moving forward. If you're tired, stop and rest. Take time to reflect. You can always change course. Life finds a way. Life endures."
His dream was to become the strongest Trainer in the world, the strongest across all worlds.
He would continue climbing, onward and upward, until that dream was fulfilled. And even if he one day gave up on that goal, he would still find a new one. He would never stop.
"Life endures... Yes. It endures."
Mewtwo clenched and then relaxed its fist. Like Paul, a faint smile tugged at its lips.
Their eyes shifted back to the arena.
"Goooo, Torterra! You're the best!"
Nearby, Ninetales—Torterra's self-proclaimed best buddy, cheered wildly.
"Aggrrr~!"
"Grrooo~!"
"..."
More cries followed, with the rest of the Pokémon cheering excitedly for the match.
Only Hisuian Samurott remained quiet, calmly running its fingers along its blade-arms, seemingly unmoved by the hype.
Oddly enough, even Garchomp—who had grown far more irritable after unlocking its bloodline powers was surprisingly composed today.
Could becoming Champion-level really change a Pokémon's personality?
"Chaah?"
Electivire is about to fight. You really feel nothing?
Samurott couldn't help asking.
"Gaaaar!"
Garchomp scoffed and raised its head high with pride:
My big bro is invincible! This match? Already decided!
Samurott: "..."
Samurott had to admit, Electivire was indeed strong. But after witnessing Torterra's Forest Domain firsthand, even it wasn't confident of beating it.
The Forest Domain gave Torterra absolute control of the battlefield. The sea of flora would relentlessly assault the opponent until they succumbed.
Had Electivire known Recover or Slack Off, it might've lasted longer. Unfortunately, it didn't.
Garchomp had no idea what Samurott was thinking, but it firmly believed that its big bro, now Champion-tier, was nearly unstoppable.
All attention turned to the arena. The battle began.
This time, Electivire didn't disappear into a bolt of thunder like usual. Instead—
"Vireeee~!"
With a roar, it unleashed a surge of electricity. A visible magnetic field lit up the battlefield.
Crackling like snakes, the electricity slithered into Torterra's body, causing pain and subtle disruption. A tingling numbness crept over Torterra, it felt one wrong move might leave it paralyzed.
Worse, this magnetic field made its movements and thoughts sluggish.
To be safe, Torterra rooted itself and began summoning its Forest Domain, a soft glow of Life Dew pulsing across its body to clear the paralysis.
"Raaa?"
No sooner had it recovered than it realized Electivire had vanished.
It's gotten that fast?
Before it could act, Torterra instinctively cast Protect.
"Boom!"
Just as the shield formed, a white-glowing fist slammed into it.
"Crack—"
"Raaa?!"
To everyone's horror, the once-impenetrable Protect shattered.
Electivire's glowing fist landed squarely on Torterra's head.
Feint!
"Vireee~!"
A smug grin crossed Electivire's face. During its time at the Tree of Beginning, it had not only grown stronger, but also reflected deeply on past battles.
Torterra's Protect? It had read that pattern like a book.
But Electivire didn't stop.
Even as the first strike landed, its other fist—already charged—slammed down.
Ice Punch!
Though it seemed unremarkable, the moment it hit, time felt like it stopped.
Torterra froze in place.
One second later, ice burst from the impact point and swept across Torterra's massive form.
In an instant, it was frozen solid, turned into a glacier in the arena.
The Forest Domain never had a chance to unfold.
Life Dew still shimmered faintly, and the ice slowly melted, but not quickly enough to free Torterra.
Unlike games, Ice is not a normal status condition. It's physical. While Life Dew could warm Torterra internally, it couldn't melt the ice fast enough.
"Vireee~!"
Electivire grinned savagely. Blue light flared from both fists. In a flurry of punches—dozens to hundreds per second, it pounded the glacier.
Each hit didn't shatter it. Instead, it compressed the ice further, made it colder, and sharper.
With Mew as backup, Electivire held nothing back. It aimed not to just win, but to dominate.
"Huff..."
After ten seconds, Electivire finally stopped, breathing hard from the extended burst.
But when it looked up and saw Torterra's wide-eyed expression frozen in ice, it couldn't help but grin.
All around, everyone except Mewtwo, Mew, and a smug Garchomp was stunned.
Electivire used electricity—"Huh?"
Boosted speed—"What?"
Shattered Protect—"Excuse me?"
Froze Torterra solid—"What the heck?!"
And as it backed away, everyone's minds filled with question marks.
"Vireee~!"
Basking in their awe, Electivire felt completely refreshed.
This... this is the spotlight I've been craving!
"Mii~..."
Mew grumbled, annoyed that the fight ended before it had taken more than two licks of its lollipop.
Grumpily, it tossed a fireball and a green light orb at Torterra.
The fire cracked the ice. The green light healed and revived.
"Raaa....?"
What just happened? I lost... just like that?
As consciousness returned, Torterra stared at Electivire in disbelief.
It didn't make sense. Not long ago, it had to go easy for Electivire to barely keep up.
Even after absorbing an Electrum Crystals, Electivire had only managed to reach parity. Yet now—?
"Vireee~!"
C'mon! Is mastering one move really that hard?
Electivire grinned, raising its icy fist.
Breaking through to Champion-tier had leveled it up across the board. But the biggest leap was Ice Punch.
Outside of Electric moves, Electivire specialized in Brick Break and Ice Punch. Brick Break was versatile, but Ice Punch was the true key to beating Torterra.
So it had trained in secret for ages, perfecting it.
Paul had once mentioned a tale: in another world, a female Trainer's Mega Swampert used a single Ice Punch to freeze and one-shot the Legendary Rayquaza.
Electivire knew it could never replicate that exact feat—it lacked the species, world, and power.
But it could still max out Ice-type damage.
If not instant kill, then complete freeze. If it could freeze the enemy, it could win.
And after endless practice and relentless dedication, Ice Punch evolved into something far beyond.
So...
"Vireee~!"
Other worlds have Mega Swamperts freezing Rayquaza in one blow. Me? I froze Torterra in one punch. Sounds fair, right?
Electivire shrugged nonchalantly, yet every Pokémon and Trainer—was shaken.
"Chaaah~!"
Samurott's eyes gleamed with clarity.
Work hard. Get strong. Break through.
Mastering even one move could change everything.
Paul once told it to develop dual-blade mastery. Now Samurott saw the path:
Not just one technique, it would master every sword-style move.
Until it could channel all that skill into one ultimate strike—
That one sword-style can be used in all moves, and finally achieve one-sword victory!
Not easy, of course. But first, it would master two.
Then gradually improve all the skills in the future!
(End of Chapter)
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