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After landing a solid hit, Dragonite showed no signs of slowing down and immediately turned back toward Pelipper.
But this time, Anthony no longer dared to clash head-on. Instead, he retreated and launched a long-range attack.
That hesitation, however, only made Kai see right through his bluff and encouraged Dragonite to press even harder.
Pelipper slightly opened its beak, firing a bolt of electricity toward Dragonite. With just a slight tilt of its body and its overwhelming speed, Dragonite effortlessly dodged the attack.
In the next instant, it closed the distance and slammed straight into Pelipper's abdomen!
The impact was tremendous. Pelipper's belly visibly caved inward from the blow.
The pain nearly forced its beak wide open, almost exposing its secret. Thankfully, it reacted in time snapping its beak shut and frantically retreating farther into the air.
Kai traced a small circle with his finger. High above, Dragonite only glanced down once and instantly understood the signal, immediately giving chase.
High in the sky, Pelipper fled toward the far side of the battlefield. But the moment it looked back and saw Dragonite rapidly closing in, its beak split open once more. The very next second, a blazing pillar of fire burst out Flamethrower!
It had already used Vine Whip, Thunderbolt, and now Flamethrower combined with its own natural Water- and Flying-type abilities, it had already displayed attacks of five different types.
If one didn't know the truth, it really would look terrifying.
Facing the incoming flames, Dragonite remained calm. With a powerful flap of its wings, it unleashed Hurricane, forcibly blowing the Flamethrower back toward Pelipper!
Pelipper panicked instantly. After all, this wasn't a move it had truly used with its own power if the flames hit it directly, it would suffer serious burns!
Fortunately, Hurricane's wind pressure was unbelievably violent. Even though the fire was blown back toward Pelipper, the strong updraft also lifted it high into the air, allowing it to escape the flames at the last moment.
But just as it barely stabilized itself—
Dragonite had already approached silently.
Its long tail, wrapped in surging water, swung in a brutal arc.
Aqua Tail!
SMACK!
The blow landed squarely on Pelipper's face. This time, it couldn't endure it anymore. Its beak flew wide open—and in a spray of saliva, three Poké Balls shot out from its mouth!
Pelipper crashed heavily to the ground, while the three Poké Balls bounced across the battlefield.
One of them rolled all the way to Misty's feet.
She froze for a few seconds before realization hit her like lightning at last understanding what Kai had meant earlier.
"So that's what this was!" She glared at Anthony furiously. "You fraud! I really thought your Pelipper was some incredible Pokémon—turns out you've just been cheating this entire time! You even dared to call your Pokémon the world's strongest?! Have you no shame at all?!"
Anthony's face turned ghostly pale.
With his lie completely exposed, he didn't dare say a single word.
He silently retrieved his unconscious Pelipper, rushed onto the battlefield to collect the scattered Poké Balls, and then hurried away in complete disgrace.
He looked nothing like the arrogant man from before.
In truth, the reason Pelipper could use Electric-, Grass-, and Fire-type moves was simple Anthony had been hiding multiple Poké Balls inside Pelipper's beak in advance. Whenever he needed a specific move, Pelipper would subtly move its tongue to release the appropriate Pokémon.
After the hidden Pokémon executed its attack, it was immediately pulled back—without anyone noticing.
To pull this off so smoothly without being detected, and without Pelipper being harmed by the attacks—it was obvious that both Trainer and Pokémon had gone through an enormous amount of secret training.
Had Anthony put that same effort into honest training instead of underhanded tricks, Pelipper's true strength would have easily surpassed most ordinary Trainers.
In the end, it was his own greed for shortcuts that ruined him.
Misty was still angrily yelling at Anthony's retreating back when Kai shook his head and patted her shoulder.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Huh?" Misty looked stunned. "That's it? Are we not doing anything else? That guy tricked so many Trainers—are we really just going to let him walk away?"
"What else can we do?" Kai replied calmly. "At the end of the day, this is just a matter of his character. Those Trainers didn't really suffer any real losses. Even if we called the authorities, what would change? Besides… did you see his face just now? He wasn't ashamed—only embarrassed that his lie was exposed. That alone tells me he won't change. Once we leave, he'll just go somewhere else and keep cheating."
Misty clenched her fists even tighter. "So we're just supposed to watch him keep fooling innocent Trainers?"
"You," Kai said gently, ruffling her hair, "this world isn't just made of right and wrong. There's also human darkness. If this were a real villain, we wouldn't hesitate—but people like him? There's often nothing we can do. Sooner or later, he'll run into someone far worse than us and pay the price properly."
"Then we'll expose him!" Misty protested. "Let everyone know he's a fraud then no one will fall for his tricks again!"
Kai shook his head. "That's only a temporary solution. It would take us a long time, and the moment he changes locations, all our effort becomes meaningless. Enough now—don't let someone like that weigh on your heart."
With both persuasion and reassurance, Kai finally guided Misty away.
It really showed the difference in personality. If Erika had been there instead, she would have smiled lightly and left without a second thought.
Only someone like Misty, overflowing with justice, full of youthful energy, would get this worked up.
If it had been Sabrina, it would've been even simpler. With one wave of her hand, Anthony would've been turned into a doll and tossed into a corner for a few years.
Fortunately, Misty was still just a spirited young girl. Though she was still fuming at first, once she and Kai resumed their journey, she quickly forgot all about it.
Before long, she was laughing again bright, lively, and carefree as ever.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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