I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 732 - 732: Vs. Iron Thorns! Vs. Iron Treads!

"VEE!"Eevee used Psychic, forcibly binding Iron Treads and hurling it aside before darting over to engage it in a straightforward one-on-one.

Garke and Nick were both caught off guard. They had assumed Archaludon would be fighting on its own, so the appearance of a second Paradox Pokémon had thrown them completely. To make things worse, just as they were thinking about stepping in, Eevee had already snatched the opponent for itself — leaving them with no idea whether they should even bother.

"Archaludon, the other side should be Rock-type. Hit it with a Steel-type move — Flash Cannon!" Gary ordered.

"ARCHA!"

Archaludon opened its mouth and fired a silver beam straight at Iron Thorns.

Iron Thorns was sharp enough to know that its special attack was weak, so it reacted instantly — it stomped the ground, and slabs of rock erupted in front of it, forming a row of stone walls to shield itself.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Flash Cannon punched through three stone walls in succession before finally detonating against the fourth, failing to break through all of them.

"That's impressive!"

Gary was genuinely surprised. Iron Thorns was level 60 and Elite-tier, but Archaludon was only one level behind at 59. The gap shouldn't have made that much of a difference.

"RAAAH!"

The stone wall crumbled at last, and Iron Thorns charged straight at Archaludon. It knew exactly where its strength lay — physical combat. If it could get in close, the fight was already won. That instinct was burned into its very bones.

Gary watched Iron Thorns close in. Flames were already flickering across its fist.

"Hold your ground and use Metal Claw!" Gary ordered.

Iron Thorns had clearly been fighting Archaludon under the mistaken assumption that it was still a Duraludon.

"ARCHA!"

"RAAAH!"

The two Pokémon roared at each other before crashing together fist-to-claw in a brutal exchange.

Iron Thorns could feel that Archaludon's Metal Claw was heavier than it had expected — noticeably so — but it was still within a manageable range. What confused it, however, was the look on Archaludon's face. Archaludon was staring back at it with an expression that could only be described as pure bewilderment.

Archaludon had spent all of last night getting used to its new body, but it hadn't yet gotten to grips with its Ability. It had no idea it had gained EX Stamina. Iron Thorns' Pin Missile from earlier had actually boosted Archaludon's physical and special defense by two full stages without Archaludon even realizing it.

The reason Archaludon was confused was simple — Iron Thorns' punches felt noticeably weaker than they had at the start of the fight, which made no sense to it at all.

Of course, there was also the fact that Archaludon had evolved. Its physical defense Base Stat had improved as well, which only added to the difference.

"Dragon Claw!" Gary ordered.

"ARCHA!"

Archaludon swept its iron claws across Iron Thorns, the dragon energy crackling along its talons as they struck the metallic shell. But not a single scratch was left behind. Iron Thorns' armor was clearly extraordinary.

Iron Thorns countered with Thunder Fang. Its electrified teeth bit down on Archaludon's body — and did absolutely nothing. Instead, thanks to Archaludon's unique metal composition, every bit of the electrical current was simply conducted straight into the ground, leaving it completely unharmed.

"A natural lightning rod!"

Gary was struck by the realization. It was like a man-made lightning rod.

Archaludon's entire body was composed of a metallic material, and its structure in particular was made of a special alloy that naturally generated static electricity and could even collect and channel it. It was, quite literally, the perfect material for a lightning rod.

It seemed that after evolving, Archaludon had gained a passive lightning-rod property by nature. As long as the Electric-type move wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, it could simply ignore it.

"Archaludon, keep hammering it with Dragon Claw — don't give Iron Thorns a second to breathe!" Gary ordered.

"ARCHA!"

After several exchanges, Archaludon had confirmed what it already suspected — it was significantly stronger than before. It stopped bothering to defend at all and went fully on the offensive. Dragon Claw rained down in a relentless flurry, striking Iron Thorns again and again.

Iron Thorns was massive in size, which made dodging difficult. Unable to create the distance it needed, it had no choice but to take the hits and fire back with Fire Punch whenever it could.

Iron Thorns' intelligence was evident. It had already worked out that Electric-type moves were useless against Archaludon, and had switched to Fire-type moves to try to inflict meaningful damage.

As for why it wasn't using Rock-type moves — Rock moves barely registered against Archaludon due to its high resistance. They simply weren't worth using.

And so the two Pokémon ground each other down — claw against fist, fist against claw — in a war of pure attrition to see who would drop first.

Boom!!

Not long after, an explosion rang out from behind them.

Gary glanced back and saw a mushroom cloud of smoke billowing in front of Eevee.

"VEE!"

Eevee used Confusion to sweep the smoke aside, revealing Iron Treads lying in a newly-formed pit, its eyes spiraling and its ability to battle completely gone.

Iron Treads' level had simply been too low. It was no match for Eevee at all. After a few rounds, Eevee had identified its weaknesses and unleashed a relentless combination of Fire Blast and Liquidation, before finishing it off with Hyper Beam. Iron Treads never stood a chance.

"That was incredible — it took down a Pokémon like that without even stopping to breathe," Nick said with clear admiration.

Nick himself had enough strength to beat Iron Treads, but it certainly wouldn't have been anywhere near as smooth or decisive as what Eevee had just done.

"This Eevee is something else. So many powerful moves across so many different types — honestly, it's stronger than a Paradox Pokémon," Garke said, his eyes practically sparkling as he stared at Eevee.

In fact, since yesterday, Garke had been paying very close attention to Eevee and had been quietly fishing for information about it from Gary.

Gary naturally deflected every question on the grounds of research confidentiality. After all, Eevee was a special Pokémon born in Blaine's Laboratory, and that very much qualified as a research secret.

"VEE."

Having ended the battle with Hyper Beam, Eevee calmly used Psychic to lift Iron Treads onto its head, then trotted over in small, measured steps and set it down neatly in front of Gary.

Gary looked at Iron Treads.

It was said to have been modeled after Donphan's appearance, but honestly, it looked far more like a scorpion.

"In you go."

Gary took out a regular Poké Ball and tossed it over.

Since he was going to have to hand it over to Professor Sada anyway, there was no point wasting an Ultra Ball on it.

The Poké Ball struck Iron Treads and drew it inside. It rocked gently three times and then fell still.

[Ding! Mission complete. Reward has been delivered to System Storage.]

Gary picked up the Poké Ball without checking Iron Treads' data, his attention already back on the battle between Archaludon and Iron Thorns.

Iron Thorns' offensive momentum was faltering. The prolonged exchange had drained it badly, and even Elite-level stamina had its limits.

On top of that, it had just watched Iron Treads get defeated. Iron Thorns was intelligent enough to recognize that its chances of winning were gone, and it was now looking for a way out.

"Archaludon, time to finish this — Earthquake!" Gary ordered.

"ARCHA!"

Archaludon slammed its arms — the arms of a steel bridge — straight into the ground. Seismic waves erupted outward, shaking the entire area violently.

"RAAAH!!"

Iron Thorns was far too heavy to escape. The shockwaves slammed into it directly, and the effect was devastating!