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Chapter 294: Hippowdon's Intervention
🕑 Added 2025-10-31 10:36:26 +0000 UTCChapter 294: Hippowdon's Intervention
"You!!!" Diana's eyes were wide, her chest heaving, but she couldn't refute him. Nidoqueen was defeated. She had lost the battle. These were facts, and even her thick skin couldn't deny them.
But she was a Pro-level trainer. How could she possibly lose to Basalt, who was only Advanced-level?
"Holy cow! Basalt actually won? I must be seeing things!"
"That's just illogical! Completely illogical!"
"The attack power of that Excadrill... it's terrifying! It crippled Diana's Nidoqueen in one hit!"
"Did you guys see that spiral energy? That has to be some kind of ultra-high-level secret technique. It gave the move immense power. I've never seen a technique like that before. It's unbelievable!"
...
Compared to Diana's stunned silence, the onlookers erupted into chatter. Excadrill's "Super Drill Run" had truly shaken them. Even the Pokémon of Pro-level trainers couldn't achieve that kind of power.
Especially Finn. His mouth was wide open, and he was speechless for a long time. "Basalt... he actually won! This is just..."
"Basalt is a beast!" Quentin shouted excitedly. Although he had a Master's degree, his vocabulary for expressing emotion was severely limited.
"No, no! That Excadrill is definitely a Pro-level Pokémon!" Diana seemed to have realized something. Her eyes regained their focus, and she angrily pointed at Basalt and Excadrill. "I know! You cheated! That Excadrill isn't your Pokémon! How could a freshman like you raise a Pokémon to the Pro-level in just over a year? That's impossible!"
"What? Excadrill isn't his Pokémon?" At this, many in the crowd looked relieved. This explanation was far easier to accept than an Advanced-level trainer defeating a Pro-level one. Basalt had connections. His elders must have given him a Pro-level bodyguard Pokémon to protect him in the Takla Desert. That was a perfectly reasonable assumption.
"Lady, you really won't give up until you hit rock bottom, will you?" Basalt shook his head helplessly. He recalled Excadrill, then scanned the Pokéball with his Pokédex and pulled up Excadrill's profile.
Basalt strode over and showed the crowd. "Seniors, this Excadrill is my starter. The Pokédex clearly states it. If it weren't my Pokémon, the Pokédex couldn't scan its profile. This can't be faked."
"It... it seems to be true." A team member in his forties took Basalt's Pokédex, operated it, and verified the data. The information all matched. The Excadrill was indeed registered under Basalt's name in August last year, back when it was a Drilbur. Even the date of birth and ID number were clearly visible.
"Impossible! Impossible!" Diana shrieked hysterically, lunging forward and snatching Basalt's Pokédex to check for herself. But those verified League records were a harsh reality.
"It's all true!" Diana was devastated, her eyes vacant. She couldn't accept the result. She, a Pro-level trainer, had lost to a freshman? What a joke!
Reflecting on the battle, Diana finally saw her mistakes. Excadrill's attack and speed were indeed fast, but it wasn't unbeatable. If she hadn't been careless and hadn't boasted, conceding the first attack, the result would have been questionable.
Thinking this, Diana rushed up to Basalt. "Basalt, that was just a fluke! I was careless. Let's fight again!"
"Fight again?" Basalt looked at her scornfully. "Lady, you really are shameless! A loss is a loss. What, you can't accept it? Besides, I'm the freshman, and you're the senior. Isn't it pathetic for you to bully a freshman like this?"
"I'm not being shameless!" Diana's face was flushed red.
"Good that you admit it!" Basalt clapped his hands, looking completely relaxed. "Since you admit it, then that's the end of today's matter! If you want to challenge me again, you'll have to wait until I'm free. As for now, I'm busy! Oh, I almost forgot. I haven't had dinner yet. I'm starving!" Basalt rubbed his stomach, looking very wronged, which made the onlookers chuckle.
Basalt was a master of provocation. Diana was now breathing heavily, completely infuriated.
"No, no! Basalt, I have to fight you again today!" Diana was manic. She unclipped another Pokéball from her belt and threw it.
"Drapion!"
With a roar, a powerful Pokémon appeared. It was dark purple and black, with blue spots on its forelimbs and tail. Its body was covered in hard armor, and it had sharp hooks on its arms. It was the Poison/Dark dual-type Pokémon—Drapion!
"Drapion!" Basalt's face changed drastically. This Drapion put far more pressure on him than Nidoqueen.
"Diana, stop this now!" At this point, Finn finally stood up and intervened. Diana was being completely reckless and unreasonable.
Not only Finn, but the other team members who weren't close to Basalt also stepped forward, criticizing her behavior.
But Diana's eyes were fixed solely on Basalt. She ignored everyone else.
"This lunatic," Basalt thought, clenching his fists.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Just then, the ground began to shake. At the same time, the sandstorm intensified rapidly, becoming almost unbearable.
"Sand-heck~"
A low growl sounded, and a massive yellow Hippowdon walked up to Basalt, shielding him with its huge body and opening its massive mouth in a display of aggression.
"Hippowdon?" The crowd was shocked. The powerful, aloof Hippowdon had suddenly intervened? It was taking Basalt's side!
"What's going on? Why is Hippowdon helping Basalt?" Some of the team members were already prepared to send out their Pokémon to stop Drapion, but Hippowdon's sudden appearance completely derailed their plans.
"Drapion!" Facing the massive, powerful Hippowdon, Drapion's expression changed. Nidoqueen's armor could withstand a normal sandstorm, but it was nothing against Hippowdon's Sand Stream. Moreover, the Hippowdon's aura suggested immense power, and Drapion had a massive type disadvantage against it.
Drapion might be strong, but attacking Hippowdon would make it furious and unwilling to cooperate with the research team. If that happened, Diana would be thrown out immediately. Even if Professor Rowan and her family were close, it wouldn't help her. Diana was completely backed into a corner.
"Thank you, Hippowdon!" Basalt looked at the Pokémon with immense gratitude.
"Why? Why?" Diana was completely hysterical. Why had the whole world turned against her since Basalt arrived?
Just as the situation reached a breaking point, a commanding voice suddenly rang out.
"What is going on here?"
Except for Basalt, everyone else shuddered. The voice belonged to none other than Professor Rowan. Behind him was a very tall middle-aged man, the team's only Gym Leader-level trainer, Teacher Alvin. They had separate quarters in the rock cave, so they weren't with the others during dinner, but the noise had disturbed them.
"You're fighting?" Rowan glanced at the defeated Nidoqueen, then at Drapion and Hippowdon. Seeing everyone terrified and unable to speak, he became even angrier. "What? Are my words meaningless now? Are you all ignoring my authority?"
"Professor Rowan, Diana and Basalt were just battling," someone quickly explained.
"Diana and Basalt?" Rowan frowned, thinking he had misheard. "Battling?" One was a freshman, the other was Pro-level. How could that be a battle?
Seeing Rowan's confusion, the team member didn't dare to hold anything back. "Basalt won, and Diana refused to accept the loss. She's being unreasonable and demanding a rematch. She brought out Drapion to threaten him, and then Hippowdon stepped in to protect Basalt."
"What? Diana lost?" Alvin, the Gym Leader, was shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Teacher Alvin, it's true. Basalt won. Everyone here saw it." The others quickly backed him up.
"This..." Alvin's face was still a mask of disbelief.
"Sand-heck~"
While Rowan and Alvin were processing this, the temperamental Hippowdon was growing impatient. Black energy flashed in its mouth, and it lunged at Drapion.
Dark-type move, Crunch!
Rowan had arrived, so Diana wouldn't dare attack. But Hippowdon didn't care about Rowan and would attack whenever it wanted. Its move had taken everyone by surprise, Drapion included.
"Drapion!" Hippowdon's enormous jaws locked onto Drapion's midsection. With a savage shake, Drapion cried out in pain.
Drapion was about to retaliate, but Diana shrieked and quickly recalled it to its Pokéball. She couldn't afford the consequences of attacking Hippowdon.
"Sand-heck!" The opponent was gone, and Hippowdon was displeased. He had come out to defend Basalt, and now he had no one to fight. Hippowdon snorted sand from its nose and looked hostilely at Professor Rowan.
The crowd gasped. This was a disaster.
"Hippowdon, calm down!" Just then, Basalt stepped forward and surprisingly managed to soothe the enraged Pokémon.
