One attack after another left Typhlosion with almost no room to fight back.
Injuries began appearing all over its body—it had clearly entered a critical state.
"One last hit—Dragon Tail!" Nathan shouted with a smile tugging at his lips.
"Flyy!"
Flygon responded with a sharp cry and suddenly appeared behind Typhlosion. Its tail swept out, charged with tremendous power. The blow sent Typhlosion flying and crashing to the ground some distance away.
After struggling for a moment, Typhlosion finally collapsed, losing its ability to battle.
…
"The match is over! Trainer Nathan Vesper is the winner!"
The referee's voice rang out.
His gaze toward Nathan carried a hint of surprise, as though he hadn't expected the battle to end so quickly—much less in such a completely one-sided way.
This was practically a crushing defeat. The sandstorm environment, combined with the use of Sand Attack and Mud-Slap, constantly kept Typhlosion's vision blurry.
Flygon's natural speed wasn't low to begin with. Under the sandstorm conditions and the effects of its ability, it moved even faster, making it impossible for Typhlosion to track its movements at all.
As he recalled Typhlosion, Luke showed a bitter smile and walked over to Nathan. "To be honest, this battle left me feeling kind of frustrated."
"Ehhh…"
Hearing that, Nathan could only scratch his head with a sheepish grin. He could roughly guess how Luke felt—his own Pokémon got beaten up the entire time and didn't even have a chance to fight back.
Of course that would feel frustrating.
Luke shook his head and took out a badge, handing it to Nathan. "Either way, this badge is yours. I hope to see you perform well at the National Tournament."
"Thank you, I'll do my best!"
Nathan nodded, accepting the badge, his face lighting up with excitement.
Another badge added to the collection.
He was one step closer to the National Tournament.
…
After bidding farewell to Luke, Nathan left the North City Gym and returned to his hotel.
He had already extended his stay—after all, with the cost at 100,000 a night, he didn't want to waste it.
So he decided to head out in search of Palkia tomorrow instead.
In the meantime, he had his Pokémon continue learning new moves, while he helped Pangoro refine its "Energy Stance."
Actually, it wasn't quite about refining the Energy Stance, but more about helping Pangoro further compress its Energy Ball—so that the natural energy within the ball would be denser and more concentrated.
That way, Pangoro would be able to maintain its Energy Stance for a longer period in future battles.
...
"Pangoro, when you're condensing an Energy Ball, you need to learn compression. You know what compression is, right?
As Nathan explained, he pulled out some playdough he'd bought earlier and began shaping a big ball into a smaller, denser one in front of Pangoro.
While kneading the ball, he explained the concept as simply as possible.
Most Pokémon didn't have particularly high intelligence—usually on the level of a child or even younger. Reaching an adult-level understanding took time and strength.
So Nathan could only rely on this simple demonstration to help Pangoro understand "compression."
"Roar."
Pangoro nodded, half-understanding, and began forming an Energy Ball in its palm.
The ball was roughly the size of two fists combined.
Nathan said gently, "Make it a bit bigger."
"Roar."
In response, Pangoro summoned more natural energy, slowly increasing the Energy Ball's size.
Soon, it grew to about the size of a soccer ball.
But Nathan didn't stop him. Pangoro kept absorbing energy.
The Energy Ball continued to grow.
Only when it reached basketball size did Nathan finally speak. "That's it. Now what you need to do is keep practicing until you can instantly form an Energy Ball of this size. Got it?"
Compression couldn't be done all at once—it had to be built step by step.
As long as Pangoro could quickly form a basketball-sized Energy Ball, they could move on to the next stage of compression.
It would take time.
But as long as it was ready before the National Tournament, that was enough.
For the entire day, Nathan stayed in the training room guiding Pangoro—using his understanding and the materials he'd researched to help the Pokémon grow.
Before he knew it, the next day had arrived.
...
"Haah~"
Yawning, Nathan rubbed his eyes, washed up, woke his sleeping Pokémon, and fed them breakfast.
After a hearty breakfast himself, he packed his backpack, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the rooftop, ready to depart.
"Flygon, come on out."
He called out, tossing the Poké Ball into the air.
A flash of red light later, Flygon appeared before him.
"Flyy"
Flygon nuzzled him affectionately.
Nathan petted its head while checking the map and planning their route. After a while, he stowed the map, climbed onto Flygon's back, and said, "Let's go, Flygon. Ten o'clock direction."
"Flyy!"
Flygon nodded, flapped its wings, and soared off in the direction Nathan had pointed—vanishing into the sky.
They passed over forests, and even encountered some Flying-type Pokémon that tried to ambush them—
—but were swiftly dealt with by a single Dragon Breath from Flygon.
They flew over mountain after mountain.
Nathan kept his eyes on the terrain below, recalling the map in his mind and guiding Flygon accordingly.
Unknowingly, four hours had passed.
There was still some distance to their destination.
Although he didn't know exactly where Palkia was, he figured he'd start at the border, then circle around.
If he got close enough to Palkia's slumbering place, the Crown King (Calyrex) would alert him.
"Probably about another hour to go. Once we get to the border, I'll head toward the marked location from the map I bought yesterday, and see what kind of Pokémon is there."
He rubbed his chin, muttering to himself. He figured the Pokémon in question was probably strong—
Maybe even stronger than Volcarona.
Though it sounded dangerous, it wasn't impossible to capture it.
It all depended on its actual strength.
If it was stronger than Champion level—then sorry, not today.
But if it had only just stepped into Champion tier,
—even if Volcarona couldn't handle it, he could always ask Calyrex to help.
At worst, he'd just leave it for now and come back when he was stronger.
Whoosh—
Flygon shot through the sky like a streak of green light.
Another hour passed before they finally reached their destination:
The borderlands.
Below them stretched mountains and forests. In the distance lay an endless plain.
"Flyy?"
Flygon turned its head back toward Nathan, letting out a questioning chirp.
Nathan thought for a moment, then pointed to the right. "Flygon, let's check over there first."
"Flyy!"
Flygon nodded and changed direction, speeding toward the indicated area.
Meanwhile, Nathan spoke inwardly, "Calyrex?"
"Yes, human. What is it?"
"I've reached the area where Palkia is supposed to be resting. I'm searching now. If you sense anything, please let me know."
"Understood. Thank you, human."
Calyrex's voice echoed in his mind—calm and genderless, but inexplicably soothing to the soul.
"But human, I recommend having your Pokémon fly faster. Otherwise, there will be danger."
"Danger?" Nathan blinked in surprise, confused.
"Yes. Danger," Calyrex said firmly. "There is a powerful Pokémon up ahead in the mountains. If your speed isn't fast enough, it will strike you down."
Just as Calyrex finished speaking—
"Flyy!"
Flygon suddenly cried out.
Nathan looked down at the mountain range below—and his pupils shrank.
"Holy crap—Flygon! Max speed, get out of here—now!!"
In his vision was an enormous Pokémon, easily over twenty meters long.
It had been lying dormant among the mountains, unnoticed—
—but now, it slowly began to rise.
Crimson markings shimmered across its body, and ominous red storm clouds began to swirl above its head.
There was no doubt about it.
In those mountains—
was a damn Dynamax Pokémon!
…
Steelix.
It was a Dynamax Steelix.
Its massive body created a stunning visual impact—
—and left Nathan in disbelief.
There was actually a Dynamax Steelix out here.
And judging by its aura, it was definitely stronger than the Elite tier.
And that was just its base level.
A regular Elite-level Steelix would already be strong, but this one had undergone Dynamax, which amplified its power enormously.
Even within the same tier, a Dynamax Pokémon could be nearly unbeatable—especially for someone who had only recently reached that level.
And this Steelix might not even be just Elite-tier.
Even though Nathan had Volcarona, which had a type advantage, he still didn't dare take it on.
The difference in strength was too great.
Apparently, the Steelix had noticed Flygon flying overhead and took it as a challenge.
It suddenly reared up, letting out a deafening roar—
—and launched a massive attack upward.