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Chapter 256: Larvitar VS Jangmo-o
🕑 Added 2025-10-12 11:28:46 +0000 UTCChapter 256: Larvitar VS Jangmo-o
Basalt opened the challenger's profile. He found that the opponent was also anonymous, with no information available. Furthermore, their Jangmo-o had no data either. This meant that this Jangmo-o had no battle record in the tower. But it was certain that the opponent did indeed own a Jangmo-o, and it had been registered and verified by the Battle Tower.
"Accept."
This was a challenge Basalt couldn't refuse.
Just as others were fascinated by his Larvitar and wanted to battle it, Basalt was also incredibly eager to fight against other pseudo-legendaries.
And from what he knew, Jangmo-o were pseudo-legendaries primarily found in regions analogous to Europe and the Middle East; they were almost never seen in the Alliance. He had no idea who this challenger was to have such a Pokémon.
After resting Larvitar for half an hour to get it back to peak condition, Basalt finally stepped onto the elevating platform. The challenger had been waiting for a long time.
"You... are slow."
The challenger was an extremely handsome young man, dressed in a long robe and a headscarf, a very unique style of clothing. In addition, his accent was strange, as if the words were scalding his mouth, making it sound a bit clumsy. His skin tone was also unusual; he seemed dark-skinned, but on closer inspection, he could have been Caucasian. He was definitely not East Asian.
"A foreign friend? No wonder." Basalt realized.
But looking closer, Basalt found the young man's attire to be a bit familiar. It looked a lot like the style of a certain oil-rich nation in the Middle East from his old world, carrying an air of undisguised luxury.
"As expected of an international metropolis, it's even attracted the oil barons. Wait, don't tell me he's a prince?"
Basalt scratched his head. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Although the title of "prince" might be a dime a dozen over there, if he weren't a prince, how could he have the right to own a Pokémon like Jangmo-o? He might even be a prince with a claim to the throne.
"Sorry, my Larvitar was a bit injured. It was just recovering."
Basalt's electronic voice changer flattened his speech, removing all emotion. Even someone close to him would never be able to recognize his voice.
"No... more talk. We fight," the clumsily-speaking "Abdullah" said, waving his hand, looking eager to begin.
Hearing this, the professional referee quickly waved his flag and announced, "Will both trainers please release their Pokémon."
"Go, Larvitar!"
"#@%&!"
Both trainers threw their Pokéballs at almost the same time, but Abdullah started speaking in a language Basalt couldn't understand—probably his native tongue.
"Jang-mo!"
With a tender cry, the pseudo-legendary cub Jangmo-o appeared.
Jangmo-o looked like a baby dragon. It stood on four legs, its body covered in scales of various sizes. The largest scale was on the top of its head, separating its two eyes, and was shaped like a heart. There were also scales on its back and even at the tip of its tail, but those were teardrop-shaped.
"It really is a Jangmo-o, and it looks very well-raised."
Basalt's eyes narrowed. "Larvitar," he warned, "you need to be serious. Your opponent is a pseudo-legendary cub, no weaker than you. We need to give this our absolute all."
"Yuji!" (▼へ▼メ)
Larvitar puffed out its chest, full of confidence.
"Both trainers, take your positions! Battle, begin!"
With the referee's command, the civil war between pseudo-legendary cubs finally began. The only pity was that neither Basalt nor Abdullah had chosen to broadcast the battle, so no one besides the referee could witness the spectacular fight.
"Yuji!"
"Jang-mo!"
The moment the battle started, Larvitar's expression instantly changed, and it shot a fierce glare at Jangmo-o.
But unexpectedly, Jangmo-o also transformed from a baby dragon into a vicious one, scowling right back.
Scary Face versus Scary Face!
Vzzt! Vzzt!
Two dim lights flashed over both cubs simultaneously. Neither gained an advantage.
Seeing this, both Basalt and Abdullah frowned slightly and waved their hands.
"Taunt!"
"#@%*&!"
At almost the exact same instant, both Pokémon began making comical, taunting gestures. They were incredibly arrogant and just asking for a beating.
But in the end, nothing happened. Both of their Taunts had failed against each other.
"The same command again!" the referee thought, slightly astonished. To have two trainers issue the same command twice in a row... in his twenty-plus years as a referee, he had never seen anything like it.
"Rock Tomb!"
At Basalt's command, several millstone-sized boulders immediately formed at Larvitar's side and shot out with a whistling sound. Although Larvitar's rank wasn't high, it had been nurtured by the Smooth Rock Crystal since it was an egg, which had subtly enhanced its physique and potential. The power of its Rock-type moves was considerable, far surpassing its peers.
But facing the imposing Rock Tomb, Jangmo-o was not afraid. It was clearly well-trained and had seen its share of big battles.
Basalt watched as it began to run, weaving left and right and changing its position, dodging most of the boulders with its agile body. Then, it pushed off hard with its hind legs, its body flipping through the air, its tail glowing with a blinding white light.
Dragon-type move, Dragon Tail!
POW!
The tail, imbued with terrifying energy, slammed into a boulder, shattering it into pieces with no effort at all. It was clear that this carefully-raised Jangmo-o had formidable attack power, and its STAB moves were its specialty.
Landing on the ground, Jangmo-o fixed its gaze on Larvitar. After taking a quick breath, it shot a blue-green beam of energy from its mouth. It was scorching hot and tore through the air.
Dragon-type move, Dragon Breath!
"Yuji!"
Feeling the terrifying energy in the approaching beam, Larvitar didn't try to tank it this time. It began to dig furiously with its claws, deciding to flee underground.
Poof!
In an instant, a large hole appeared in the ground, and Larvitar was gone.
Seeing Larvitar use Dig, Abdullah wasn't shocked, but happy. He quickly gave a command that Basalt couldn't understand.
"Jang-mo!"
Jangmo-o nodded slightly. Its tail began to glow with an earthy yellow light. After gathering power for a moment, it slammed its tail into the ground. It was the Ground-type move, Bulldoze.
"Too slow," Basalt sneered.
Larvitar's Dig had been personally taught by Excadrill; speed was its essence. And while this Jangmo-o had learned Bulldoze, its mastery of Ground-type energy was clearly far inferior to its mastery of Dragon-type energy. Its execution speed was a step slower than its STAB moves.
And so, just as Jangmo-o's tail was about to hit the ground, Larvitar had already burst out from underneath it.
"Yuji!"
Larvitar drove its hard horn into Jangmo-o's soft underbelly, effortlessly sending it flying.
"#@%&*?" Abdullah's face was filled with shock as he spoke in his native tongue.
At the same time, the airborne Larvitar quickly channeled its internal energy. A rain of rocks suddenly began to fall from the sky, each one the size of a human head.
Rock-type move, Rock Slide!
Seeing this, Abdullah completely panicked. He didn't understand how Larvitar could use one intermediate-level move and then immediately follow it up with another, without even taking a breath.
Your Larvitar is only at the Beginner-rank, isn't it? How is this reasonable? We're both pseudo-legendary cubs! This isn't cool!
"#@%*&!"
But Abdullah didn't give up. He was still struggling.
At his command, the flying Jangmo-o channeled all its strength, and its body was instantly covered in a hazy light.
Boom! Boom!
Two large boulders slammed into Jangmo-o. As it cried out in pain, Basalt saw something strange.
The two boulders that had just hit Jangmo-o suddenly changed direction and flew back at Larvitar at an even faster speed. Larvitar had no way to dodge.
Boom! Boom!
Caught off guard, Larvitar was sent flying.
Logically, the rock projectiles shouldn't have done much damage to the incredibly defensive Larvitar. But strangely, after being reflected by Jangmo-o, the rocks seemed to carry a special magic that could bypass its rocky exterior and strike its life core directly.
And just like that, Larvitar, who felt like it should have been fine, landed with its eyes spinning, its little feet twitching.
"It was Counter," Basalt realized, his mouth twitching.
Counter, a Fighting-type move that returns any physical damage received to the opponent, but doubled. It was a god-tier move for a defensive counter-attack. However, it was quite difficult to learn, and very few Beginner-rank Pokémon ever mastered it.
This Jangmo-o, on the other hand, had not only learned it but was so proficient that it could use it while being sent flying. That was seriously impressive.
But Jangmo-o wasn't in good shape either. It had withstood the first two rocks but couldn't take the third. It was also knocked to the ground and fainted.
"Both Larvitar and Jangmo-o are unable to battle! The result of this match is... a draw!"
Although the ending felt a bit abrupt, with both pseudo-legendary cubs still having many trump cards they hadn't had a chance to use, the referee promptly waved his flag and made the call.
"A draw?" Basalt and Abdullah both raised their eyebrows. It wasn't what they had expected, but it wasn't an unacceptable result either.
"Your... strength... is... very good," Abdullah said to Basalt in his clumsy Mandarin after recalling his Jangmo-o.
"You're not bad yourself," Basalt replied, clasping his hands in a humble gesture.
"Add... friend? Spar again next time?" Abdullah sent a friend request, not with a phone number, but through the Battle Tower app's friend function. He understood that Basalt, with his cloak, clearly didn't want to reveal his identity.
"Sure."
After Basalt accepted, they quickly became friends. Even when they weren't in the Battle Tower, they could now chat and arrange battles through the app.
Recalling their Pokémon, Basalt and Abdullah left through their respective exits.
As the battle concluded, the leaderboard in the Beginner-level hall updated. Basalt's record now showed 9 matches, 8 wins, with a win rate of 88.88%.
"It updated again! The Larvitar actually lost a match? Oh my god! Who defeated a pseudo-legendary? I must pay my respects!" someone exclaimed, their face a picture of excitement.
"No, wait. Look, the Larvitar's score is 25. That means it's 3 times 8 plus 1, which equals 25. So its ninth match wasn't a loss, it was a draw."
Someone else quickly corrected him.
This caused an even greater stir. A draw was an extremely rare outcome in a Pokémon battle. Unfortunately, since Abdullah and his Jangmo-o were both anonymous, the spectators couldn't find any clues as to who the opponent was.
...
The battle with the Jangmo-o had been very rewarding for Basalt. He went out for a big meal, and in the afternoon, instead of returning to the Battle Tower, he went sightseeing around Saffron City.
The next day, he spent the entire day at the Battle Tower again, and Larvitar's practical battle experience grew richer.
Saffron City, in a five-star hotel.
That evening, Basalt was in his room feeding his four little ones their Pokéblocks.
After such hard battles, their nutrition had to be sufficient. Otherwise, the high-intensity battles would just drain their life potential and affect their growth.
Besides the Pokéblocks, each of the four also had their own special treats. Bronzong would consume some precious metals, Larvitar would gnaw on a diamond, and Excadrill would absorb the energy from the Groudon scale. As for Lileep, it was absorbing the Life Energy Nutrient Fluid provided by the Life Energy Bureau.
This was the main reason why Lileep, despite having only trained for a few short months, was able to keep up with Excadrill and Bronzong. The quality of the products from the Life Energy Bureau was guaranteed.
"Come on, drink up today's nutrient fluid."
Basalt took a green vial from his bag and poured it onto Lileep's body, letting it absorb it.
But unexpectedly, something seemed to be wrong with Lileep today. The nutrient fluid just rolled off its body; it only absorbed a very small part.
"Nee-nee~"
Seeing the fluid slide off, Lileep was stunned for a moment, then it began to wobble with excitement.
"Lileep, are you finally about to evolve?"
Basalt was overjoyed.
Being unable to absorb more energy, its body saturated... this was one of the signs of impending evolution. Excadrill had shown the same signs just before it evolved last year. He remembered it clearly.
"I need to notify the Director right away!"
After his excitement calmed down, Basalt immediately took out his Pokédex and dialed the Director's number.
An ordinary trainer, even if they knew their Pokémon was about to evolve, couldn't do much but wait.
But Basalt was different. As a top-tier genius being cultivated by the Alliance, there had to be a better way for his Pokémon.
