CHAPTER 333: CHAPTER 333

Dropping his proud Druddigon in a single blow...

Drayden had barely imagined such a thing. Up to now, almost no challenger had ever managed that! From the move just now, he could tell that Pokémon was the exceedingly rare Fairy type.

"Moonblast... That’s Fairy-type," Drayden said in a low voice.

Among the first Fairy-type moves discovered, Moonblast was famed by Professors for its high power. What Drayden hadn’t expected was that this strange Pokémon before him would wield it! In that case, its typing was beyond doubt now—confirmed.

"Fairy?! I thought Dragons were only weak to Ice!" Iris had never even heard of that typing. She glanced at Drayton, but the toothpaste kid was just as confused.

"Also—shouldn’t we be focusing on the fact that Pokémon talked? I couldn’t quite make it out though..." Drayton frowned, which surprised Hikaru a bit.

So that’s how it is. In the future world, only the AI scientist and I could understand Pokémon speech, so although the Paradox forms produced voice patterns similar to language, to others who couldn’t understand them it would sound like "a language quite close to human speech."

As for why other Paradox Pokémon in the Scarlet/Violet era don’t "talk"... maybe they simply choose not to, or maybe those Paradox Pokémon never had a fully realized language module?

After all, once you become a Pokémon, modules—those overly electronic, mechanical "things" unlike a normal organism—would likely be pruned by the laws of the world.

"This isn’t your fault... In Unova, only two Pokémon have the Fairy type, and that was only determined recently. Perhaps because the habitats differ, the Unovan one almost never knows Fairy-type moves in the wild."

Drayden, of course, knew that Cottonee and Whimsicott had been reclassified to include Fairy. Before that secondary type surfaced, both were usually treated as pure Grass.

In fact, even the catalog of Fairy-type moves was still under debate; nothing was fully settled. In the past, certain Normal-type moves were redefined as Fairy-type.

That "redefinition" felt like a rule-edit in the Pokémon world, causing more and more Fairy-type Pokémon to be discovered.

"This is bad..." Drayton knit his brows. "So Dragons got another weakness... First I’ve heard of this."

"So we thought it was Steel, but it turned out to be Fairy... That’s a bad matchup."

Dragons hate the cold—fear snow and ice—though there are exceptions...

They say in faraway Sinnoh, powerful Pokémon like Garchomp appear in frigid highlands. Despite a 4× Ice weakness, they reportedly spawn on snowy mountains. Perhaps it’s local climate; those Pokémon adapted to that environment without becoming a regional form.

Rumors about certain Pokémon overcoming type aversions pop up in Kanto, Johto, and beyond.

"Amazing! I’m afraid of the cold, and Fairy beats Dragon, but that Pokémon is so cool..." Iris really did fear the cold, so she wasn’t big on Ice-types.

But this Fairy-type made her, for the first time, feel that "even an enemy of Dragons can be beautiful."

Drayden recalled Druddigon. With a fierce bellow, his Haxorus leapt onto the field!

Drayden’s Haxorus radiated power—well-trained and burly—the very emblem of his team. Though Drayden also owned a Hydreigon, perhaps to avoid overlapping with Colress (in terms of trainer lineups), he only brought Hydreigon out during the World Championships.

Drayden’s signature tactic was Dragon Tail!

The move’s base power wasn’t huge, but in Drayden’s hands it could split mountains and crack stone. It also forcibly switches the target it hits.

But against a Fairy-type, Dragon Tail is completely walled!

"Dragon Dance!"

Haxorus began a savage dance—baiting Iron Valiant forward while sprinting around the field!

This Haxorus was fast!

Dancing to raise Speed while staying aggressive, it probed for an opening—just as Iron Valiant took aim, her body suddenly seized up.

Haxorus used Scary Face, harshly lowering Iron Valiant’s Speed!

"You saw it, right? That terrifying face—any Pokémon who sees it has their Speed locked down!"

Boosting his own Speed while dropping the foe’s—maintaining that fearsome snarl took years of training. Even when the Dragon Tail plan was unusable, Drayden had a countermeasure!

There would be only one chance.

Iron Valiant’s eyes flickered.

Disable.

Invisible mental force surged out; Haxorus’s Scary Face was instantly sealed, unable to further lower Iron Valiant’s Speed.

Disable is a Normal-type move, yet categorized among "mind-attack" techniques—alongside the famous Encore and Taunt.

"Iron Head."

Drayden’s knuckles creaked as he clenched his fist.

Time to strike.

The purpose of using Scary Face was that, if the opponent had a sealing move, he could let Scary Face stand in for Dragon Dance in case that got sealed.

As long as Dragon Dance wasn’t the one locked, the fight remained live.

Drayden issued commands calmly. As a Dragon master, once he learned of the Fairy typing, he immediately studied counters. The type had few weaknesses—but it still feared Steel and Poison!

Unfortunately, Unova currently lacked Steel or Poison specialists.

There were rumors that far-off Undella Town planned to open a new Gym and was selecting a Leader-level trainer, but the Type wasn’t decided—and the Gym was only in prep.

Haxorus’s brow flashed cold—chilling iron light surged with strong Steel energy as it lunged at Iron Valiant with great speed.

"Come on... Closing in yourself—how will you answer?"

Drayden fixed his gaze on Hikaru and Iron Valiant.

As for being felled by a single Fairy strike—he’d prepared for that.

Gym battles are 3-on-3, but Leaders and challengers both have wide discretion—who to send, high or low levels—all judged by the challenger’s strength and badge count.

Precisely because Haxorus was carrying that item, Drayden dared field it.

A Dragon’s old weaknesses, pre-Fairy, were known: Dragon and Ice.

Yache Berry for Ice, Haban Berry for Dragon—top choices to guard weaknesses. If you can cover your weak point, you won’t fear a matchup you "lose on paper." Long-term use of those berries was even said to raise resistance to that damage.

After the Fairy type emerged, a sharp Professor immediately identified the corresponding berry!

As a Dragon master, Drayden certainly knew of the Roseli Berry discovered in Kalos!

Iron Valiant heard Hikaru’s order. She raised her lightblade; a radiant moon formed above her crown!

Moonlight gathered into a bright, spherical charge overhead—and from it, shining beams lanced out!

"Moonblast... So it is!" Drayden barked.

But—perfect!

Against Dragons, anyone who understands type matchups would think the fight is already won!

Moonlight detonated against Haxorus; it howled in pain—but the next instant, a gleaming steel head burst through the radiance and slammed Iron Valiant head-on!

Roseli Berry activated! It halved the Fairy damage once!

Having weathered the first blow—the battle was decided!

Purple, viscous energy had already pooled in Haxorus’s hands; the moment Iron Head struck, a second super-effective strike arrived at once!

Poison Jab! A must-learn counter to Fairy; with venomous power, even a Pokémon with stellar resistances can’t shrug it off!

BOOM—

KRAKOOM!

A massive psychic force dropped from above, smashing squarely into Haxorus! Its eyes flew wide; frozen mid-attack, its body was pinned by the titanic impact—white lightning and crushing willpower hammered down.

Drayden’s eyes widened. "Th—this move... Ah, I see!"

That Disable before...! You’d already set it then!

Hikaru: "Future Sight."

Two turns after use, the target’s position is struck by a future attack.

Iron Valiant pressed her lightblade to Haxorus—and a fierce Fairy brilliance detonated!

With a puff of white smoke, Haxorus crashed down and was unable to battle.

Drayden fell silent; after a long moment, he burst into laughter.

"You guessed it... Haxorus was holding a Roseli Berry?"

"Because I have one too; I caught the scent." Hikaru rubbed his chin. "Mistralton Market just got a new import shipment."

"To think I’d lose to market logistics..." Drayden muttered.

But it had been so long since he’d met such a formidable challenger! This was exactly what he sought—a Trainer with an infinitely bright future!

[Second dragon—subjugated.]

A faint thread of emotion entered Iron Valiant’s voice—that must be the "joy" born from felling two in a row.

She tilted her head slightly, as if waiting for something... though she herself didn’t quite know what she expected.

"Come back, Iron Valiant."

[?]

[Objection!]

She heard the very words she didn’t want to hear. Startled, she protested.

[Battle not concluded. Computation shows Fairy vs. Dragon confers absolute advantage. Replacement at this time introduces a risk of failure.]

[That’s not what you’re supposed to say.]

Iron Valiant expressed displeasure. Drayden noticed she seemed unwilling to obey and looked puzzled. "What’s this? Won’t your Pokémon follow commands?"

"But your coordination just now was superb. You can control your Pokémon without speaking, right? I’ve heard of such people—and met one!"

Hikaru smiled wryly. "My Pokémon have... strong personalities. Mm. If they harbor doubts, they may resist orders. In times like that, I communicate with them."

"Drayden-san, may we have a brief moment?"

Drayden stroked his beard. "...A strong-willed Pokémon indeed. This one, and the ones before... they’re different."

"Very well. You must have a plan—though you could beat me by simply letting her keep fighting."

"Could it be... you want to witness Draco Meteor?"

Hikaru scratched his head. "I do believe one learns fastest in battle."

Drayden nodded. "I see. Then I’ll wait a moment."

[Thank you for your forbearance.]

Iron Valiant glanced at white-bearded Drayden and, very politely, gave a knight’s salute—surprising him.

In all his years, he’d seen countless ways Pokémon showed affection, but this was his first time seeing one bow.

"Body of forged steel, like a product of future tech... a fusion of Gardevoir and Gallade... high intelligence, a strong will, and manners... Is this truly not a robot from the future?"

Drayden couldn’t help the outrageous thought.

Speaking of which—Dr. Taim’s time machine... Did it work? Did he really go to the past—or the future?

Clack, clack. Iron Valiant stepped to Hikaru and laid it out plainly:

[System calculation: continued use of me yields high probability of victory. Replacing with another ally introduces risk.]

Hikaru didn’t answer. He set his hand atop her head; as she stiffened, he gently stroked her.

"No—you already did wonderfully. You were incredibly cool. Mm, the term is gallant!"

"Absolutely dazzling!"

"This is the reward you were waiting for!"

That feeling she couldn’t articulate—odd yet anticipatory—wasn’t it exactly this?

Because he could read hearts, Hikaru sensed the strange emotion swelling in Iron Valiant. As a human, he understood why she refused to step down.

She wanted to keep fighting—to reap the greatest "reward." That chase after the strange feeling made her reject the order to retreat.

Though the system’s judgment said continuing was optimal, the system’s priority was now lower than her heart.

[Cooling system active. Energy rising.]

[Do I... "love" you?]

[That is an extension of "concern."]

"No—the correct term is praise and admiration—an expression from the heart that affirms the thing you support. Praise is deeper, more sincere—genuine appreciation and commendation."

"It usually includes a comprehensive recognition and high evaluation of the other’s qualities, abilities, and achievements."

Hikaru used terms she could parse. Her pixel eyes lit at once:

[It’s praise!]

[My heart craves that emotion.]

[More. Praise me more.]

Iron Valiant made a request.

But Hikaru guided her:

"Win, and you’ll be praised. Yet sometimes we become the ones who praise our comrades."

"After being praised, try praising a partner—how about it?"

Iron Valiant blinked. She was glad that the parts she didn’t understand emotionally could be answered by Hikaru. With mental link, they wouldn’t clash in thought or judgment. She liked that.

She nodded.

Having received the praise she needed... perhaps she should praise a comrade.

[If I praise a comrade—what is ultimately gained by expressing that emotion?]

"Virtue."

[Will you be happy?]

"I will."

[Then I shall praise my comrades.]

Iron Valiant click-clacked behind Hikaru—not into her Ball, but standing by to watch the field.

[To praise them properly, I must first analyze their battles.]

Thud!

Walking Wake and Duraludon stepped to Hikaru’s side. Wake was itching to jump in and personally learn Draco Meteor; Duraludon just looked baffled.

"To learn Draco Meteor, okay? ...Why the long face?"

Seeing Duraludon listless, Hikaru casually handed it a Steel Tera Shard. Duraludon immediately perked up!

I don’t like studying... I only like eating. But if it’s food-related, I learn fast!

Even fellow glutton Wake was speechless.

Bro, seriously?!

You bottomless pit! And isn’t that the shard I found?!

"Hhss..." Wake suddenly realized Duraludon might love eating even more than he did. Wake could get by on a few Pecha Berries, while Duraludon wanted gems. Even in the Dream World, gems aren’t easy to mine...

"Awo?"

What’ve you got in that tin can—all gems?

"Guho~" Duraludon replied.

No gems? Scrap metal is fine. Any flavor works. Sewer pipes have that authentic taste. I’m not picky!

"Hm? Sounds like they’re chatting... Have you settled it, then?" Drayden called across, readying a Poké Ball.

"Then my last Pokémon... is this one!"

Since the opponent wouldn’t field the Fairy again, this was Drayden’s best chance to show his strength. His last was—

Hydreigon!

Bang!

One of Hikaru’s Poké Balls popped open by itself. The blue-furred pup snapped taut with focus; the instant it saw Hydreigon, it jumped out on its own.

A fight with Hydreigon?

"Fff—" Riolu slipped into training stance, fully concentrated on Hydreigon.

It wanted to see how Walking Wake would face this Hydreigon—and this would be the last "enemy" it had to face!

At that moment, the blue pup imagined Drayden’s Hydreigon as Colress’s Hydreigon. The not-so-distant memory rose—being flattened by a single Dark Pulse.

I’m a Fighting-type! Getting reversed by a Dark-type—utter humiliation. That Hydreigon was ridiculously strong...

If I want revenge—

"Awooo!"

Walking Wake growled softly to Riolu.

Kid, I feel your conviction—your tyrant will. My power is skyrocketing right now!

Alright! Let your senpai show you a demo—how to slay the evil dragon before us! Watch closely. This one... will be stylish!

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