Chapter 26: The Sandstorm Brothers

After the Charizard and Corviknight landed, Charlotte pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled the Corviknight. This Corviknight was merely a rented mode of transport and could not be relied upon for an actual outbreak of battle. Charlotte retrieved two more Poké Balls and released his other two Pokémon: Magcargo and Gastrodon.

Magcargo’s back was covered by a shell filled with molten lava. Having lived in volcanic craters for tens of thousands of years, its body had turned into magma. It is said that its body temperature is around ten thousand degrees; consequently, when hit by raindrops, it emits clouds of steam, and its body is perpetually shrouded in a thick mist.

Its shell is formed from cooled magma skin; it would shatter into fragments at the slightest touch, though it would return to its original size upon entering lava. Its body constantly heaves, burning hot like molten rock, and the high-heat flames circulating within periodically erupt from the cracks in its solidified shell.

In the games, Magcargo’s performance is lackluster. Its fatal weaknesses—a four-times vulnerability to both Water and Ground—combined with mediocre Special Defense, result in an extremely low usage rate; it typically falls after taking a single Water-type move.

However, in reality, Magcargo performs much better than in the games. Specifically, the Fire-type Elite Four member of the Northwest Region, Yalikun, uses a Magcargo as his ace. During the Top Eight-to-Four qualifiers for the Elite Four, trailing by three Pokémon, he used his Magcargo to achieve a "sweep-four" feat. It was precisely his performance that increased the market value of Magcargo several times over.

It is said that his Magcargo possesses Champion-level potential. Its surface temperature is terrifyingly high, like a walking active volcano, to the point that standard Poké Balls cannot contain it; only specially crafted ones can hold it.

Any Pokémon with Champion-level potential undergoes a qualitative change.

Of course, Charlotte’s Magcargo was not nearly that strong. It was just one of his many Pokémon with limited potential, its strength being merely Gym Leader-level. While it did not stand out among Fire-type Pokémon, it was well-suited for dealing with Braviary and Staraptor.

The other Pokémon, Gastrodon, was one Charlotte specifically used for Gym Leader qualifying matches and served as one of his core team members.

Because participating in the Fire-type Gym Leader qualifying tournament required contestants to carry at least three Fire-type Pokémon, it meant that, like him, the vast majority of his opponents’ teams were Fire-types.

In this scenario, the Water/Ground-type Gastrodon could counter Fire-type Pokémon. However, its four-times weakness to Grass made it highly vulnerable to Fire-types that had learned Solar Beam, which was a notable drawback.

Nevertheless, this Gastrodon possessed an extremely excellent ability: the rare Storm Drain. Storm Drain draws Water-type moves toward itself, nullifying the damage while boosting its Special Attack. This allowed the Gastrodon to not only counter the opponent's Fire-types but also check their Water-types, making it a highly functional Pokémon.

...

Almost the moment Charlotte summoned his Pokémon, the Braviary and Staraptor arrived in succession, landing before the two men. Two masked individuals dismounted from the Braviary and Staraptor respectively.

"Return, Braviary."

"Return, Staraptor."

The two recalled their Pokémon and each pulled out a Poké Ball, tossing them forward.

A Quasi-Elite-level Excadrill.

A Quasi-Elite-level Hippowdon.

As soon as the Hippowdon appeared, it let out a thunderous roar, and instantly, a sandstorm began to swirl; it was clear this Hippowdon had the Sand Stream ability.

The moment the Quasi-Elite-level sandstorm duo appeared, Xia Yu knew the battle was unwinnable. There was no way to win this fight; they had to find a way to survive.

Charlotte would find it difficult enough to deal with just the Quasi-Elite-level Hippowdon with Sand Stream, let alone the nearby Excadrill, which possessed the Sand Rush ability—doubling its speed in a sandstorm. With these two Pokémon working together, even an average Elite-level Pokémon might not be a match for them.

"Charlotte and Xia Yu, if you surrender now, you can save yourselves some suffering," said one of the men. He was slightly taller and wore a Houndoom mask; his voice was robust, with the low, distinct tone of a man.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Charlotte remained composed, staring coldly at the pair as he asked.

"You'll find out once you come with us," the other man, wearing a monkey mask, spoke up. He was leaner, over 1.9 meters tall, and his voice was softer and more weathered, suggesting he was slightly older than the man in the Houndoom mask.

"Don't waste time talking to him, just finish it. Excadrill, Drill Run!" The monkey-masked man ordered the attack first. With the Sand Rush ability, the Excadrill was terrifyingly fast in the sandstorm. One could barely see a black blur as it rotated its body at high speed, charging toward the Magcargo.

[Drill Run]: A Ground-type physical move. The user rotates its body like a drill and slams into the target. High critical-hit ratio!

If the Magcargo, which had a four-times weakness to Ground, were struck by the Excadrill, even with its incredibly hard shell, it would undoubtedly suffer heavy damage.

"Gastrodon, Rain Dance!"

[Rain Dance]: A Water-type status move that changes the weather to rain.

"Magcargo, use Yawn on the Excadrill!"

[Yawn]: The user lets out a big yawn to draw attention, causing the target to fall asleep on the next turn.

Charlotte calmly commanded his Pokémon. First, he had Gastrodon use Rain Dance to change the weather and dispel the sandstorm, aiming to negate the effect of the Excadrill's Sand Rush.

Then, he ordered Magcargo to use Yawn. A surge of Normal-type energy welled up on Magcargo’s body, forming a white cloud that flew rapidly toward the Excadrill!

But in the sandstorm, the Excadrill’s speed was simply too great, and it easily evaded the cloud.

In the games, Yawn is a guaranteed-hit move unless the target is in the middle of Fly or Dig, but reality is different. In reality, there is no such thing as a guaranteed hit; a move only counts if it connects.

"Hippowdon, use Take Down!" the Houndoom-masked man also ordered.

The Hippowdon moved its massive frame, launching an attack toward the Gastrodon with astonishing momentum, as if it intended to crush the Gastrodon into the ground.

...

"Boom!"

Just then, a brilliant sphere of light flew in from the distance, striking the Excadrill accurately and sending it flying backward. It tumbled across the ground several times before coming to a stop, a visible dent left on its body, which showed just how terrifying the power of that move was.

"This is... the Aura Sphere move."

Xia Yu looked in the direction from which the light sphere had come and, sure enough, saw a Lucario leap out from the jungle, standing between the Gastrodon and the Hippowdon.

[Lucario]
Gender: Male
Type: Fighting, Steel
Potential: Champion-level (Upgradeable)
Battle Power: Champion-level
Ability: Justified

A sense of security—an incomparable sense of security.

Truth be told, when this Lucario stood before Xia Yu, he felt an immense sense of relief. Quasi-Elite sandstorm brothers, you say? Just watch how this Lucario beats the living daylights out of you.