manynovel Chapter 438 Sleep is Fragmentary Death
Chapter 438 Sleep is Fragmentary Death
Chapter 440 Sleep is Fragmentary Death
Once you become a Gym Leader, you'll inevitably have to train new Pokémon after a while. Otherwise, when all your partners are trained to top-tier levels, it will be difficult to engage in worthy battles against novice Trainers.
Mini Ice was chosen by Hachiku based on these considerations and was trained as a backup Pokémon to welcome newcomers.
However, even among the Pokémon considered as candidates, there are occasionally those with exceptional battle talent. This Mini Ice, lovingly hatched and raised from its egg by Hatchling's Double-Dodo Ice, is a prime example of such a creature.
As a Pokémon designed to help beginners, the little guy quickly demonstrated amazing talent in battle. Sometimes, it was even included in the main team of trainers to face challengers with multiple Gym Badges, and even so, Mini Ice never showed the slightest fear in battle.
Logically speaking, with its current strength, Mini Ice should have evolved into Duoduo Ice long ago.
But by sheer coincidence, not long ago at a screening that Hatchiku attended in preparation for his comeback to the film industry, a director who had previously worked with Hatchiku took a liking to the mini ice's unique design, which was both cute and somewhat fierce, and specially invited it to appear as an Easter egg character in the next sequel to "Ice Bear Gate".
The little guy was overjoyed at this opportunity, even going so far as to wear the Everstone, determined to maintain this appearance until the movie's filming was completed. Although there's no solid theoretical basis, many trainers and Pokémon professors believe that when a Pokémon remains in its baby form, its strength often accumulates exceptionally quickly—Mini-Ice's case perfectly illustrates this. After wearing the Everstone, its progress in both strength enhancement and move mastery far surpassed that of its teammates and even its main team members.
At this very moment, it was Mini Ice's small act of persistence that successfully defused the insidious killing move of the Plasma Ball that was aimed at the Strike Demon!
"Hiding Pokémon in one's sleeve is quite ingenious."
On the other side of the line of sight, Joggs completely ignored the symbolic bird that had been hit at close range by "absolute zero" and was knocked unconscious. He simply twirled the two mustaches under his nose and spoke coldly to Hachiku.
"It seems they were prepared for this from the very beginning of the battle, intending it as a shield in dire situations? Unfortunately, the 'Curse' move is a targeted curse that kills the target directly, and cannot be mitigated by other Pokémon due to spatial barriers."
"On the other hand," Asura's voice continued in a somber tone, "since even your last trump card has been exposed, it means you have no more hidden assassins left."
The Ice-type Gym Leader did not respond, but simply made a gesture with his index finger pointing upwards towards Bear.
The tundra bear immediately understood, pounding its chest and roaring. Where the sound waves reverberated, a chilling cold suddenly spread from the spot where Mini Ice had previously used "Absolute Zero," instantly dispelling the lingering heat of Volcano Moth's "Hot Wind."
Amidst the deafening roar of the bear, a white snowflake quietly drifted down onto the spring wetlands.
Ice-type move, "Snow Scene".
The moment the move is activated, the weather can be forcibly changed to snowy weather.
"Should we let the Volcano Moth cover the weather with 'bright sunshine'?" Joggs asked his companion warily.
In snowy weather, Ice-type Pokémon can use the falling snow to continuously strengthen their defenses, and some of their moves and abilities are even enhanced by the snowfall.
"It's a pity." Asura shook her head. "After all, he is the Gym Leader of Snowy City, and he still has four Ice-type Pokémon. We can't beat him in terms of weather control."
Ironically, the two sages who initially held an overwhelming numerical advantage are now clearly on the defensive.
With several of Joggs' Pokémon being defeated, even including Landorus, Team Plasma only had three Pokémon left capable of fighting; while Hatchling, even after losing Gekko, still had five Pokémon ready to fight.
"Then—should we use option two?"
The sage in blue raised his hand in a gesture, and the Earth Cloud beside him stepped forward in response.
If the situation is to be maintained before the plan is implemented, this legendary spirit must be added to the battlefield as reinforcement.
"From the moment I sent Death Coffin into action, it was an inevitable choice."
The Soul Thief nodded indifferently. "I never imagined that I would be driven to such a state by a mere person."
Behind him, the Sage's only partner, the Coffin of Death, silently sank back into the shadows, as if it had never existed.
"We've already tied up too many men here, and from now on—we can only hope for the performance of the Aqua team."
Joggs echoed in a low voice, "I hope they are as strong as they boast, able to handle the reinforcements sent by the Alliance on their own without any cooperation."
The Plasma Group's initial objective was to prevent the leakage of intelligence regarding the Alliance's underground territory. However, now that the secrets have been leaked and the conflict between the Alliance and the Order has intensified, their goal has shifted to reducing the Alliance's manpower as much as possible before a full-scale war breaks out.
Despite the meticulously planned hunt, even with the two sages attacking simultaneously, they still failed to effectively suppress Hachiku—but they still held onto one last card that could secure victory!
"Strike the Ghost, 'Brick Break'! Daruma and Mini Ice, focus your fire on Landorus with 'Blizzard'!"
Seeing Team Plasma act again, Hatchling immediately took action. He had already learned of the existence of Landorus, a powerful legendary Pokémon controlled by Team Plasma, from the Elite Four and Hugo, so he dared not be negligent in the slightest.
The blue Fighting-type Pokémon swiftly raised its hand and brought its blade down, instantly annihilating the area surrounding Volcarona.
The "light wall" and the "reflective wall" were shattered.
Mini Ice leaps gracefully atop Baboon's head, aiming at Landorus, which has just flown into the battlefield, alongside the massive Tumbler Pokémon.
The next moment, a massive blizzard, amplified by the snowy weather, erupted and swept forward with an almost all-consuming force.
The frigid storm not only struck the Earth Cloud directly, but its spreading aftershocks also forced back the Volcano, which was unleashing "Flamethrower" at the Demon, and even forced the lurking Coffin to reveal its true form!
However, this powerful combined attack came to an abrupt halt before the Land Cloud. "Hmph!"
The legendary Pokémon with its arms crossed let out a disdainful snort.
In the meantime, a surge of heat, the complete opposite of the fierce blizzard, suddenly appeared and steadily blocked the powerful blow that should have been four times more restrained.
Ground-type move, "Scorching Sandstorm"!
Land Cloud's unique skill is to unleash scorching sand and violent winds upon its opponents, sometimes even causing burns!
A scorching sandstorm surged upwards, tearing through the cold air like a sharp blade, melting all the ice and snow in its path. But in the blink of an eye, the blazing sandstorm retaliated with overwhelming force, hurtling straight towards the Daruma Baboon and Mini Ice!
"Then, activate Plan Two."
Looking at the battlefield, which had once again fallen into a stalemate due to the addition of Land Cloud, a relieved smile finally appeared on Joggs' lips as he pressed a button that had been prepared beforehand on his communicator.
It took time. Strange noises came from all around the battlefield. In the once lush woodland of Route 8, several huge freight trucks suddenly threw off their camouflage tarpaulins and branches, roughly crushed the bushes, and drove into the edge of the open area where Hatchling and the Sage Pokémon were fighting.
The container door slowly opened, revealing a massive device resembling a satellite antenna. Dozens of members dressed in plasma cult uniforms quickly jumped out of the vehicle and began to adjust the equipment in a tense but orderly manner.
This machine was originally brought along as heavy equipment for silencing witnesses and extensive memory alteration, but after some modifications, it has unexpectedly become a useful battlefield weapon.
If it weren't for that detective's interference, this device might have been fully developed two years ago—Joggs thought to himself, but his hands never stopped issuing commands. Only when his subordinates signaled "Ready to complete" did he finally speak solemnly, reciting his final order: "A dream of wealth and glory, unaware of the pillow, through countless autumns—for our cause, let us slumber in this dream!"
The forced dream device is completely different from the machine in Dr. Solo's laboratory that gently connects to the dreams of spirits using dream smoke. It aims to strongly stimulate the central nervous system of living beings, forcing them into painful nightmares and driving them completely insane while they are asleep.
However, without refining pure dream smoke and lacking sufficient experimental data, this machine is currently unable to forcibly break through the mental barriers of conscious Pokémon to induce hypnosis.
But that doesn't mean it's useless. Whether it's humans or Pokémon, there are always vulnerabilities in the human heart.
For example, the all-pervasive "curse" that the Coffin of Death had already planted.