Novel Full Chapter 960: Chapter 1177: Two Against One
Chapter 960: Chapter 1177: Two Against One
Inside the battle arena, Melmetal was battling Steelix. As the two laziest members of Julian's team, today's battle was definitely not their own initiative—it was carried out under Julian's orders.
Both of them were level 88, late-stage Pseudo–Champions. They were just a bit too lazy—otherwise, they probably would have already reached level 89.
Arcanine was already level 89, and Tyranitar had even surpassed expectations as a latecomer, also reaching level 89. This was mainly due to the Stone Marrow, which greatly enhanced its ability to absorb and digest energy intake.
Kartana, like Milotic, was at level 90, the peak of Pseudo-champion tier, just one opportunity away from breaking through to the Champion tier.
Both Melmetal and Steelix had similar fighting styles. Simply put, they loved attacking head-on and clashing directly.
Steelix's body structure meant it couldn't take an agile route.
But Melmetal didn't need to rely solely on brute force; its body structure could handle both agility and power. Yet, for some reason, it just loved brute-force clashes.
And so, they had been fighting for over ten minutes now, and it had all been pure move collisions.
As if they were saying—whoever dodged would be the weaker Pokémon.
When Melmetal used Mega Punch, Steelix countered with Iron Tail.
When Steelix used Dragon Breath, Melmetal answered with Steel Beam.
The focus was entirely on physical collisions and beam clashes.
"Arf~"
Arcanine: "Two reckless brutes. Don't worry, I'm not like them."
Standing beside Julian, Arcanine was very good at reading the room. Seeing Julian's sour expression, it knew their trainer was angry.
Those two idiots had no idea and were still having a blast fighting.
Steelix: "Julian looks a bit upset, doesn't he?"
While fighting, Steelix managed to sneak a glance at Julian's expression and noticed it didn't look good.
After meeting Melmetal's Bullet Punch with Crunch, it mumbled quietly.
Quite the feat—talking while biting down on Melmetal's Bullet Punch.
Hearing that, Melmetal secretly glanced back as well.
'Damn, that expression really doesn't look good.'
"Do you think he figured out that we're faking the fight?"
Melmetal whispered back.
Steelix immediately grew anxious.
"Are you screwing with me? Didn't you say you'd studied how to fake a battle?"
Melmetal quickly explained, "I definitely studied it—a lot of it. I even discussed it with Celebi. There's no way Julian should've noticed this quickly."
It didn't make sense.
"Don't drag me down with you. If he finds out we're faking the fight and trains us like he trains Aggron, we're done for!"
Steelix was so mad it wanted to whip Melmetal with its tail right then and there.
The thought of Aggron made Melmetal shiver.
In their eyes, Julian's training of Aggron was downright inhumane.
Even an enemy wouldn't deserve treatment like that.
"What are you two whispering about? Get moving!"
Seeing the two of them actually start chatting mid-battle, Julian's face darkened even more.
Did they have any sense of seriousness toward battling at all?
"Kartana, get in there. If you can, it's fine to even beat them half to death—I won't mind," Julian said, looking at Kartana, who had long been eager to join.
Although he hadn't actually realized they were faking the match, their fighting style and attitude toward the battle made him very dissatisfied.
Did they really think he was some kind of charitable trainer? They were sorely mistaken.
Two against one!!
Kartana was thrilled. Sure, its chances of winning two-on-one weren't great, but Julian's decision showed trust—he believed Kartana could win.
A gap opened in the barrier, and Kartana flew inside.
"What, are we switching?" Melmetal asked curiously.
Kartana looked at the two of them calmly, raising its blade-like arms and pointing at them.
"You two fools. The trainer sent me to teach you a lesson. Come—defeat me and live, or I'll kill you."
There it was again. Kartana couldn't resist showing off.
Julian was already used to it. If Kartana didn't act cool, it wouldn't be Kartana.
Steelix and Melmetal both looked toward Julian, only to see that his expression had grown even darker. They immediately understood—this show-off had really been sent by their trainer.
"One against two? You really don't know your own limits."
Melmetal slammed its fists together, sparks flying.
Kartana might be higher in levels than them—but only by two.
"You think you're Boss Metagross or something?" Steelix growled angrily.
Two levels higher, and it acted like it was ten—strutting around like it was all that.
If it really was the Boss, Steelix would have surrendered on the spot.
"You two idiots sure love to talk," Kartana said disdainfully.
"You're the idiot!"
As Melmetal spoke, it threw a punch straight at Kartana.
Whoosh!
Kartana easily dodged Melmetal's punch, but the latter's fist suddenly curved midair and came at it again.
"Useless. I've already completely figured out your fighting style."
With a body as thin as a sheet of paper, Kartana kept weaving out of the way.
Seeing this, Melmetal followed up with its left fist.
Both fists moved like agile snakes, hunting Kartana down from the air—but no matter how fast they were, they couldn't land a hit.
"Useless, useless. I've seen through every move you've got."
While dodging, Kartana kept trash-talking, which only made Melmetal angrier.
"What are you standing there for? Do something!"
"Doesn't it bother you watching this show-off strut around? And if we actually lose, what do you think Julian will do to us?"
Melmetal looked at Steelix, who was still standing there dumbly without making a move, and immediately got annoyed.
Then it looked back at Kartana. "You fragile little thing—go on, keep dodging if you've got the ability. The moment I land a punch, I'll beat yesterday's dinner out of you."
Kartana was a classic assassin-type Pokémon—high damage, high attack speed, and its durability was indeed low. Even though its Steel typing gave it decent defense, its special defense was quite weak.
So if it really got hit by one of Melmetal's punches, it might actually get smashed badly—after all, Melmetal's fists were enhanced, and their power exceeded most punch-based moves used by other Pokémon.
"With your speed, you can't even touch the edge of my blades."
Kartana sneered. It knew its own shortcomings well—those weaknesses were hard to fix, and even if they could be improved, the gains wouldn't be significant.
So instead, it simply maximized its strengths.
*****
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