"Huh?"

  The middle-aged ranger was momentarily stunned as he looked at Natsume’s youthful face.

  It wasn’t that he doubted Natsume’s abilities.

  Though, admittedly, Natsume’s young appearanetimes made people question his maturity and reliability.

  But in truth, the ranger’s first thought upon seeing Natsume wasn’t skepticism—it was: Where did this young prodigy e from?

  As an experienced ranger, he had spent years traversing the forests of Eastern Region.

  Entering lesser-known but incredibly powerful trainers was nothing unusual.

  Every so often, he’d run into young individuals whose abilities defied logic.

  People like that are usually called geniuses.

  Don’t ask how they got their Pokémon.

  Some were picked up by ce. Some grew up together. Some were entered on the road. Some were chosen. Some were nurtured by others.

  None of that really mattered.

  As long as they could and their Pokémon in battle, their strength was undeniable.

  After all, powerful Pokémon have their own pride.

  If their trainer was a brainless fool, they wouldn’t stick around.

  Simply keeping a powerful Pokémon after capturing it roof enough of a trainer’s capability.

  So when Natsume stepped up and volunteered, the middle-aged ranger didn’t find it particurly surprising.

  At the very least, he wasn’t about to act like those cliché city folks in novels—questioning and ridig the newer, only to be humiliated ter.

  He had learned his lesson the hard way in his younger days. By the time you reach middle age, you stop making those kinds of mistakes.

  The ranger sighed internally.

  Of course, he had sidered the possibility that Natsume was just some overfident kid, the type who thought, Even if I ’t help much, I still have to try!

  But the moment he saw the Corviknight Natsume was riding, all doubts vanished.

  That Corviknight was strong.

  You could tell just by its stance.

  It was far bigger than usual—at least 2.5 meters tall, maybe even 3 meters.

  When it nded, it felt like the sky itself was crashing down.

  Its wingspan was terrifying.

  And it was clearly well-developed—not just big for show, but genuinely powerful.

  A true airborne fortress...

  “Hello, Mr. Natsume. I’m Shouhei, a ranger sent for reinfort.”

  “Here’s my identification.”

  Following protocol, Shouhei quickly introduced himself before expining the situation.

  The first wave ers had already been wiped out and was now receiving medical attention.

  The sed wave—including himself—wasn’t faring much better.

  Even with intelligence from the first group, they still had no real solution.

  At first, they had hoped to iate peacefully.

  But that Pokémon was like a Honey Badger—it simply didn’t care.

  It didn’t uand human speech. It was unbelievably stubborn.

  No matter what they tried, they couldn’t lead it away from poputed areas.

  It just kept marg forward.

  Shouhei’s own Pokémon had been fttened in a sirike during an attempt to unicate.

  They had barely avoided a total team wipe.

  It was frustrating.

  He had always been good at unig with Pokémon.

  Even angry Pokémon usually respoo iation.

  But this one?

  It didn’t aowledge humans at all.

  Hopefully reinforts are on the way...

  Lately, is were breaking out all over the pce.

  The rangers, who used to grumble about bureaucratic bloat, now found themselves uaffed.

  Eveirees were being called bato service.

  That’s just how the job was.

  No matter hoeople you had, when a crisis hit, it was never enough.

  When Shouhei was younger, he had dreamed of being a legendary ranger—

  A warrior and diplomat who could both battle fiercely and resolve flicts peacefully.

  He imagined himself ment younger rangers, swooping in at their moment of peril to save the day, earning their admiration before walking away in style.

  But reality didn’t work that way.

  He cked the talent and stamina to be that kind of hero.

  Eventually, he gave up and shifted toward a support role—fog on unication rather than bat.

  It wasn’t about n hard enough.

  He simply uood his limits.

  No matter how much effort he put in, he could never match prodigies, heirs of powerful families, or those blessed by sheer luck.

  Once he accepted that, he found peace.

  From then on, he left fighting to his colleagues and Pokémon.

  After so many years, he had almost fotten what real battle felt like.

  “That Pokémon is extremely strong. Its attacks cover a wide area.”

  “If you charge in recklessly, it’ll be incredibly dangerous.”

  At first, he had been relieved to see someone volunteering to help.

  But now, he was starting to worry.

  He had seen Ting-Lu's power firsthand.

  It was disastrous.

  “It’s fine,” Natsume replied calmly. “If things get dangerous, Gardevoir will teleport me out.”

  He tapped a Poké Ball lightly.

  Gardevoir emerged.

  Seeing the Psychic-type at Natsume’s side, Shouhei finally rexed a little.

  After all, their job wasn’t just to distract Ting-Lu.

  Their real mission roteg civilians.

  It already felt weird having a civilian join the fight.

  If something happeo Natsume, Shouhei wouldn’t be able to face his family.

  “I’ll be ting on you, then, young rade.”

  “My teammates are positioned along the route, ready to intercept that Pokémon.”

  He smiled apologetically, then forwarded the Ting-Lu's path to Natsume.

  Since he wasn’t much of a fighter, it was best to leave this to others.

  “Uood.”

  Natsume nodded seriously.

  At first, he hadn’t thought much about it.

  But then Shouhei called him rade.

  That ged everything.

  If he didn’t thhly thrash that Ting-Lu, he’d be letting down that rade.

  Deade.

  He was going to rip that cauldron off its head and scatter it all over the battlefield.

  “I’m heading out, Mr. Shouhei.”

  “Alright. Stay safe.”

  “Your safety is the priority.”

  Shouhei meant it.

  Natsume still looked like a boy—there was a hint of youthful inno his face.

  A, he was about to take on that monster.

  Meanwhile, Shouhei—a grown man—could only stand bad watch.

  It didn’t sit well with him.

  As he watched Natsume fly off on Corviknight, his heart filled with both worry and...

  Admiration.

  There was a wall before him.

  A wall alent.

  It blocked his path, obscured his vision.

  What y beyond it?

  He had always wao know.

  Shouhei chuckled to himself.

  No point dwelling on it now.

  For now, his job was to observe a.

  Regardless of how Natsume performed, the fact that he volunteered was already endable.

  (Unless he ran away or attacked his allies—that’d be a different story.)

  High above, Natsume followed the given route.

  Soon, he saw it—Ting-Lu, slowly advang through the forest.

  Its massive form towered above the trees.

  Natsume swiftly reviewed his battle pn, fact in Shouhei's intel.

  Dark/Ground typing.

  Immuo Psychid Electric.

  No quadruple weaknesses—only double weako Fighting, Water, Grass, Ice, Fairy, and Bug.

  Gardevoir and Galde wouldn’t be very effective.

  Not that it mattered—he had never intended for them to be his main attackers.

  Gardevoir’s job was reying telepathiands and keeping him safe.

  Galde would focus on harassing aing up attacks.

  Corviknight and Persian would draw attention.

  Slowking and Ogerpon were his heavy hitters.

  This was going to be a coordinated beatdown.

  From a distanatsume observed the Ting-Lu carefully before releasing Slowking from its Poké Ball.

  "Alright, let's do as we pnned."

  Even now, Slowking’s face remained as posed as ever.

  Natsume smiled.

  Slowking gave a small nod without responding.

  A deep purple aura slowly spread through its eyes.

  Move: Nasty Plot.

  By scheming and plotting, it activated its brainpower, drastically increasing its Special Attack.

  On Corviknight’s back, Slowking tiag buffs.

  Meanwhile, Gardevoir, who had been recalled earlier, was also sent back out.

  Support moves, anyone?

  Not only was Slowking p up, but so were the other Pokémon Natsume had released on the ground earlier.

  If they could charge up beforehand and unleash a powerful opening attack, why waste time buffing in front of the enemy?

  That would just be stupid.

  This is just on sense.

  That was Natsume’s belief, and Slowking wholeheartedly agreed.

  While tinuously boosting its stats, Slowking also engaged in some self-affirmation.

  This wasn’t a move—just simple mental preparation before battle.

  fidence made all the difference. A Pokémon filled with self-assurand one riddled with doubt, even with simir strength, would have vastly different outes in battle.

  As for what kind of self-motivation Slowking used…

  "I do this. I got this. I one-shot this dumbass."

  Yeah, Corviknight taught it that.

  The inal phrase might have been even cruder, but Slowking tweaked it slightly to maintain its dignified persona.

  But even if its image did colpse, it could always just bme Corviknight.

  "Yadon."

  Fully buffed, Slowking silently pted its move.

  The best options for dealing double damage to this oppo were Fighting, Water, Grass, Ice, Fairy, and Bug-type moves.

  With that in mind, it extes hand toward Ting-Lu from afar.

  A transparent light began gathering in its palm.

  "Yadon."

  Aura Sphere.

  Si didn’t have an ayle trainer yelling out attaames, Slowking decided to provide its own sound effects.

  Gardevoir followed suit.

  The glow of Aura Sphere intensified.

  The title “Psychic Empress” was ofteo praise Gardevoir’s unparalleled talent in Psychic-type moves.

  But an empress wasn’t just skilled iype.

  The sed, two massive spheres of energy shot forth, hurtling through the sky like meteorites.

  Sensing something, Ting-Lu slowly lifted its head.

  What it saw were two energy bsts, each bigger than its own head.

  Boom!

  For the first time, the sound of an explosion drowned out the creature’s own footsteps.

  The billowing smoke and dust were enough to make anyone instinctively shut their eyes.

  But Slowking and Gardevoir didn’t pause for even a sed.

  A delicate white snowfke drifted from the sky—then another, and another, until tless fkes filled the air.

  A howling wind picked up, carrying the iow in a terrifying vortex.

  "Yadon."

  Blizzard.

  The bitterly cold wind sliced through the battlefield like razor-sharp bdes, eager to shred their eo pieces.

  It was as if winter had suddenly desded upon the forest.

  As the Blizzard stormed through, the thick dust cloud was blown away—revealing Ting-Lu, standing there almost pletely unscathed.

  Its crimson eyes locked onto Corviknight high in the air.

  In the instant, bergy rippled from its body.

  Simultaneously, several massive boulders formed mid-air and came crashing toward Corviknight.

  "Garde!"

  "Yadon!"

  The moment Ting-Lu made its move, both Gardevoir and Slowking used Teleport.

  But their destinations were different.

  Oeleported straight into battle.

  The other? It took Natsume away from the battlefield to ensure his safety.

  "Caw?!"

  Left alone in the sky, Corviknight squawked in panic.

  Wait—did they just abandon me?!

  The massive rocks collided mid-air, shattering into debris and dirt that scattered in every dire.

  Before Ting-Lu could even firm if its attack had nded, a beige blur shot out from the nearby trees.

  A cw, glowing bright white, smmed down hard onto the bronze cauldroing on its head.

  g!

  The unique hum of a bronze echoed far and wide.

  It was as if a battle drum had been strunoung the official start of the fight.

  Gcell