Chapter 359: Victini (Two-in-One)
A Hydreigon.
She was clearly also a participant in this Harvest Festival Commemorative Tournament.
"What, you want to battle me?" The woman noticed Rio’s gaze and smiled. "If you want to battle me, you’ll have to prove your strength first—get at least five Victini badges. Until then, I won’t battle you."
Rio also smiled. He hadn’t expected her to be so confident.
"That’s just a testament to everyone’s recognition of my strength." The woman added.
Rio smiled and turned to leave. Since she was so insistent, he’d collect five badges first—and then show her what real strength looked like.
"Hey buddy, how about a battle?" As soon as he turned, a chubby guy challenged him. His Pokémon was a level 44 Serperior.
"Sure." Rio accepted.
But before the battle began, he told Gengar not to show its full power—just use ten or twenty percent of its strength.
However...
"Gengar, Shadow Ball." When the battle started, Rio gave the command.
Gengar threw a Shadow Ball. The opponent’s Serperior, under the chubby guy’s command, used Leaf Blade. But it still got one-shot by that Shadow Ball. The gap in strength was so vast that the crowd gasped—and the chubby guy was reduced to tears.
He couldn’t believe his Pokémon had been taken out in one hit.
"It’s not that Old Ghost didn’t hold back. It’s that even holding back, I’m still too strong—but more than that, this Serperior is just too weak." Gengar explained.
Rio smiled and didn’t elaborate. He just walked over to the chubby guy, took a Victini badge, and showed it off to the Hydreigon trainer.
That woman was also amazed by Gengar’s one-shot victory. Seeing Rio’s gesture, she snorted.
"You won’t have it so easy against me." She said.
Rio smiled, turned, and continued battling with Gengar.
Before long, he had his second match—against a short-haired girl. Her Pokémon was an Emboar. The girl attacked first with Flamethrower, and Rio had Gengar use Shadow Ball again. Emboar was tougher—it wasn’t one-shot. Instead, it was blasted into a wall crater. It took a second Shadow Ball to finish it.
Rio nodded and commented: "Not bad. This Emboar is very well-trained."
The short-haired girl, however, collapsed to her knees in despair. She couldn’t accept that her ace had fallen like that.
"Really, it was great. Trust me—no one in this town can beat me. Most will be one-shot. Your Emboar surviving two hits is genuinely impressive." Rio shamelessly boasted as he took her Victini badge.
The girl glared at him. Some onlookers also found him arrogant, and one contestant couldn’t take it anymore and challenged him.
His Pokémon was a level 42 Samurott.
"Samurott, Aqua Jet!" The trainer gave the first command.
Samurott shot toward Gengar with blinding speed. "Gengar, Shadow Ball." Rio gave the same command again.
Gengar easily raised its right hand and formed a Shadow Ball. Even with Samurott’s speed, it was still too slow—the Shadow Ball was fired just as Samurott was about to strike, knocking it out instantly.
Rio now had three Victini badges—and had taken less than five minutes total. He was the fastest contestant in town.
"Anyone else want to battle?" Rio looked around.
None of the other contestants dared to step forward. After witnessing such a one-sided display, they knew they’d just get the same treatment. To stay in the tournament, they decided not to embarrass themselves.
"Boring." Rio sighed.
He took Gengar elsewhere to find opponents who hadn’t seen his battles.
About ten minutes later, he found one. The opponent had a Gothitelle. Naturally, the result was easy—Gothitelle, being weak to Dark-type moves, was one-shot by Shadow Ball.
Then Rio found a trainer with a Conkeldurr—also one-shot by Shadow Ball. With that, he had five Victini badges and earned the right to challenge that woman.
"Against me, you won’t have it nearly as easy." The woman said.
Rio smiled and shrugged, saying nothing. His calm demeanor only irritated her more.
"Hydreigon, Dragon Pulse!" When the battle began, she gave the first command.
"Shadow Ball." Rio gave the same command.
The two moves collided—and the result was no different from the previous matches. Hydreigon wasn’t one-shot, but it was blasted into a nearby bush.
"Hydreigon!" The woman cried out in worry.
Hydreigon flew back out. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hydreigon, Dragon Rush!"
"Hyd~"
Hydreigon roared with fury and dove at Gengar. But this time, something was different. When Gengar threw its Shadow Ball, Hydreigon’s Dragon Rush shattered it—and hit Gengar, sending it flying dozens of meters.
Rio, who had been yawning from boredom, was shocked. He stared at the Hydreigon in disbelief, then at Gengar, which had actually been knocked back.
"What’s going on?" Rio frowned.
This Hydreigon was only level 65—it had been getting dominated moments ago. How could a Dragon Rush suddenly shatter a Shadow Ball and knock Gengar back?
"Great job, Hydreigon! Keep it up! Use Dragon Rush again—show that Gengar your true power!" The woman was thrilled.
"Hyd~"
Hydreigon rose into the air and dove at Gengar again. "Gengar, Shadow Ball." Rio gave the same command, frowning.
Gengar complied—and was knocked back again. Even Gengar itself was shocked. It couldn’t believe it was losing to a mere Hydreigon.
"No, I’m using my full power. I refuse to lose to a little Hydreigon." Gengar’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind.
But Rio’s gaze was fixed on Hydreigon—because its level information seemed off. It displayed 65+10. That meant it was effectively level 75. But how? Hydreigon had no boosting moves, no Mega Evolution. It had just been blasted into a bush and came out a different Pokémon.
"Unless..." Rio suddenly thought of something and turned sharply toward the bush where Hydreigon had landed. But there was nothing unusual there.
The battle continued. The woman ordered Hydreigon to use Hyper Beam. Gengar was still yelling in his mind that it wanted to go all out.
"Stop holding back, Gengar. Go all out." Rio agreed.
"That’s more like it, Rio." Gengar cackled with satisfaction.
It raised its right hand—still a Shadow Ball. But this time, the ball formed faster and was much larger. Even though Hydreigon had fired its Hyper Beam first, Gengar fired at the same time. When the two moves met, the result was completely different. The Shadow Ball plowed through Hydreigon’s Hyper Beam and sent the Hydreigon crashing into a nearby wall—knocked out.
"Hydreigon!" The woman cried out.
"Gengar~" — That’s more like it.
Gengar laughed heartily. A mere Hydreigon thought it could act tough in front of it? Old Ghost could crush it anytime.
"You win." The woman reluctantly handed over her Victini badge.
Rio accepted it casually, but his gaze kept drifting toward the bush.
"Have you experienced anything strange recently?" He suddenly asked.
"Strange?" The woman was confused.
"Yes—think carefully." Rio smiled.
"Well... aside from losing to a ridiculously strong guy like you... this morning I saved two Deerling on the cliff. I almost fell off, but something invisible pushed me back. Then later, when I was eating my mom’s macarons, one of them suddenly disappeared. Everything else was normal—until I met you." She recalled.
Rio nodded as she spoke. When she mentioned the macaron disappearing, his eyebrow twitched.
"Do you have any more macarons?" Rio asked.
The woman looked at him oddly. "What, you want to try my mom’s macarons too?"
"Exactly." Rio shamelessly nodded. "I love these things. I’ll buy some if you’re willing."
"Buy? No need—consider it a gesture of friendship. My name is Kalita." She introduced herself, pulling out a box from her bag.
"My name is Xiao Jiang." Rio gave a fake name.
He eagerly took the box, pulled out a macaron, and held it near his mouth.
"You really love these that much?" Kalita looked at him strangely.
Rio didn’t answer. He held the macaron near his lips for seven or eight seconds, then called out: "Victini, I know you’re here."
"Victini? Victini is here?!" Kalita’s eyes widened as she frantically looked around.
Rio continued: "I have delicious macarons here. Want one? If not, I’ll eat them all~"
As he finished, the macaron in his hand suddenly fell—then hovered in midair. It was quickly devoured like a squirrel nibbling. Rio smiled and tossed another macaron in that direction. It stopped in midair—and as it was eaten, it settled onto a nearby seesaw.
With a thump, a Pokémon with V-shaped ears and big blue eyes appeared.
"Victini!" Kalita gasped.
Her shout startled Victini—it realized it had been exposed and quickly turned invisible again.
Rio smiled and put another macaron in his mouth, pretending to eat it. Just as he was about to bite down, he heard a frantic "Viiii" sound—Victini reappeared, looking anxiously at the macaron, terrified he would actually eat it.
"Go ahead." Rio offered the macaron.
Victini happily accepted and continued munching.
"I never thought Victini would reveal itself for a macaron..." Kalita said, amazed. "And I never thought you’d figure out Victini was nearby."
Rio smiled but said nothing. His eyes were fixed on Victini. Its level information appeared before him:
[Pokémon: Victini]
[Level: 80]
[Talent: Legendary]
[Friendship: 0]
[Ability: Victory Star]
[Moves: Confusion (120%), Quick Attack (120%), Focus Energy (120%), Incinerate (120%), Flame Burst (120%), Endure (120%), Headbutt (120%), Flame Charge (120%), Endure (120%), Flamethrower (120%), Zen Headbutt (120%), Fire Blast (120%), Double-Edge (120%), Flare Blitz (120%), Final Gambit (120%), Stored Power (120%), Overheat (120%)]
[Description: A legendary Mythical Pokémon. It can produce infinite energy within its body and transfer that energy to other Pokémon through touch. Legend says that a trainer who captures Victini will never lose. ]
A moment later, Victini finished the macaron.
"Good, wasn’t it, Victini?" Rio said.
"Vic~" Victini flashed a V-sign at him.