Pokémon Court

That afternoon, Valor arrived at the Tower of Despair with Grumpig as agreed.

The person in charge of the Tower of Despair took the Poké Ball from him and asked, “Are you staying to watch the battle?”

The Guardian Pokémon of the Tower of Despair cannot be commanded by anyone, even if it’s their Trainer or they are teachers’ Pokémon.

When facing challengers, Guardian Pokémon must fight on their own. In contrast, challenger Pokémon have the advantage of fighting alongside their Trainers.

If a challenger defeats a Guardian Pokémon, they have two options:

One, they can replace the current Guardian of that floor and become the new Guardian Pokémon, or two, they can continue the challenge.

However, aside from the considerable credit rewards for reaching certain floors, most people choose to become Guardians. Serving as a Guardian Pokémon for a set number of days also comes with rewards.

The academy’s system is to try every means to provide abundant resources to encourage students to progress. Though the Tower of Despair is difficult, the underlying principle remains unchanged.

“It shouldn’t take long; I’ll just watch,” Valor said.

“Suit yourself; it seems the challenger hasn’t arrived yet. Go ahead and take a seat over there for now.”

Valor sat down on the side.

About ten minutes later, Terrance walked in. The two exchanged a glance. Although they looked familiar to each other, they hadn’t had much interaction.

Plus, after a year, both of them had undergone changes. Valor cautiously asked, “Terrance?”

“It’s me.” Terrance smiled, surprised to be recognized. But it made sense—there weren’t many students in the Breeder Class, and over the years, quite a few had graduated. As one of the few Breeder Class students and a known Junior Breeder, most students had at least some impression of him, even if they hadn’t interacted before.

“Are you the challenger?”

Valor looked at him in surprise. “Feels like I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Just some personal matters. Yes, I’m the challenger,” Terrance replied, waving it off.

The two of them chatted for a bit before the person in charge of the Tower of Despair started urging them, “Hurry up and start the challenge; I don’t have time to wait around for you two.”

Terrance and Valor finally came to their senses and nodded. Led by the person in charge, they proceeded into the Tower of Despair.

The entire Tower of Despair was designed as Standard Terrain. Valor stood to the side, curiously watching Terrance. He was a Breeder Class student, right? And yet, he was challenging the Tower of Despair?

This trial ground has always been a place for the Graduation Class students or a select few genius students to compete.

“Your opponent is Valor’s Grumpig. Defeat it, and you can take its place or continue the challenge,” said the person in charge before throwing the Poké Ball that Valor had handed over. A small purple pig-like Pokémon appeared, bouncing around while giving Terrance a cheeky grin.

Grumpig, a Psychic-type Pokémon, has black pearls on its body that can enhance its psychic powers.

As soon as Terrance heard the name Grumpig, he already had a general idea of what it was capable of, “Go, Altaria. Be careful of its mind control.”

Grumpig’s psychic power had strong hypnotic qualities, making it easy for weaker-willed Pokémon to fall under its control. But Terrance wasn’t too worried about this.

“Alt~aria~~~~”

A graceful, light-blue figure appeared in front of everyone. Altaria flapped its cotton-like wings, soaring effortlessly.

When Altaria saw its opponent, it inexplicably felt a trace of disgust. That cheeky grin was unsettling, as if it was deliberately put on to irritate others.

This, too, was a subtle manipulation of the opponent’s psychic power. Terrance reminded Altaria of this, and the battle on the 1st floor of the Tower of Despair began immediately.

“Dragon Pulse!”

A massive bluish-purple wave of energy wave erupted out from Altaria’s mouth, sending it hurtling towards Grumpig. The move was laden with intense fluctuations, and just from its appearance alone, one could sense the terrifying destructive power it contained. Valor’s face grew tense; getting hit by that move would be a real problem. Fortunately, even without his commands, Grumpig had a few defensive strategies of its own.

Like now… Facing the oncoming Dragon Pulse, Grumpig showed an impressive jumping power. Concentrating all its power into its legs, it leaped high into the air just as the Dragon Pulse descended, with only a hair’s breadth left from hitting the ceiling. The precise control of power even surprised Terrance a bit—was this jump a move that wasn’t quite a move?”

In fact, there’s a common term often used among the people, mostly associated with Pokémon like Magikarp… Splash.

Although a move with no inherent power, Grumpig turned it into a highly agile evasion technique thanks to its characteristics. No wonder it was able to guard the 1st floor of the Tower of Despair.

At that moment, with a loud boom, Dragon Pulse hit the spot Grumpig had just jumped from. As if there was a massive explosion, the sheer power of the Dragon Pulse left nothing intact within its impact radius. Watching from the air, Grumpig felt a lingering sense of dread—had it chosen any direction other than upward to dodge, the powerful shockwave would have made it suffer pain.

“Dragon Rush.”

Terrance shook his head. It was over.

Dodging didn’t matter. Grumpig, still airborne, had turned itself into a sitting duck.

A high-pitched cry echoed in the sky, and bluish-purple flames surrounded Altaria. The energy gathered in an instant, forming a formidable dragon-shaped energy wave that enveloped Altaria, exuding a menacing aura and intense killing intent. This was the power drawn from the most violent Dragon-type bloodline within Altaria, enabling it to unleash its most powerful strike. By combining energy with physical strength, Altaria could now perform its most powerful move.

Grumpig’s expression changed drastically; it sensed a force even greater than Dragon Pulse. Worse yet, Altaria had complete control over this power. The moment the attack came barreling toward it, Grumpig felt itself locked in place, frozen with fear.

Thud!

Suppressing the unease in its heart, Grumpig used its remarkable psychic power to create several Reflects. Under Terrance’s surprised gaze, it jumped continuously between the several Reflects, as if it had springs on its feet like a hyena, its speed very fast.

Grumpig’s instincts strongly warned it that it couldn’t meet this Dragon Rush head-on, so it chose to evade. Terrance hadn’t expected Grumpig to be so agile even mid-air. But Altaria, engulfed in vast Dragon-type energy, could simply ignore such obstacles. In a blinding burst of speed, Altaria transformed into a charging dragon, shattering any barriers in its way. With a powerful sweep, Altaria unleashed a massive energy wave, which slammed directly into the stunned Grumpig.

At that moment, Grumpig’s black pearls shone, amplifying its psychic power to the maximum. It unleashed a full-power Psychic to block Altaria. However, as Grumpig fought to hold back Altaria, it felt a deep sense of helplessness. The powerful psychic power that erupted from it seemed to sink like a stone in the ocean, merely stalling Altaria’s advance for a brief moment before being completely overwhelmed by its fierce momentum.

Boom!!!

In the air, Grumpig was struck by the terrifying Dragon Rush, and without surprise, its eyes rolled over and it let out a pained cry as it smashed to the ground, losing its ability to continue fighting.

“Grumpig!” Valor shouted in shock, unable to believe how easily Grumpig was defeated. Is that Altaria really so powerful?!

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