Pokémon: When the World Changed

Chapter 609 604: Growth at Extreme Speed

"A complete reversal of the situation!"

"Thanks to the move Gravity, the root domain has been neutralized!"

Seeing the scene on the field, the presenter immediately grabbed the microphone to comment.

At once, the entire stadium erupted in cheers. Compared to a crushing defeat, the audience enjoyed back-and-forth battles far more.

"The move Gravity... it truly is difficult to deal with. If it had been the previous Cacturne, there would have been no way to respond. But now..."

"Cacturne, absorb the power of the earth—use Growth!"

A faint smile appeared on Ethan's lips.

"Cac!"

Cacturne's eyes shone brightly.

In the next instant, the roots covering the entire field suddenly began to wither.

At the same time, a dazzling green glow suddenly appeared around Cacturne's body.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Why are those roots withering?"

Seeing this scene, the spectators were filled with confusion.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's that?"

"Look at Cacturne's body!"

"Dammit, it's growing—it's growing! Cacturne is becoming enormous!"

At that moment, someone began shouting in alarm, their pupils slowly widening.

On the field, as the roots that covered everything withered away, Cacturne's body began expanding at an astonishing speed!

"It's the move Growth!"

"This move suddenly increases the user's size, raising its Attack and Special Attack!"

The same Pokémon researcher from earlier spoke again, explaining the effect of Cacturne's Growth.

"Hey, hey! Even if I know it's Growth... what the hell is this nearly five-meter-tall Cacturne?!"

Another spectator inhaled sharply, his face full of disbelief.

Normally, Cacturne stands around 1.3 meters tall. Ethan's Cacturne was slightly taller, reaching 1.6 meters. But the Cacturne before their eyes now was almost five meters tall!

Although the move Growth allows a Pokémon to rapidly increase its size, this level of growth was simply terrifying!

"It's tripled its height... At this size, it's already very close to a Totem Pokémon!"

"What a terrifying Growth! Did it directly absorb the energy of the entire field using the roots that covered it?"

In the guest area, several high-ranking members of the League were watching the battle. Seeing that the entire field had turned into a wasteland, they also showed expressions of amazement.

"Furthermore, the Sunny Day weather enhances the effect of the move Growth. And the ability of Ethan's Cacturne should be Water Absorb, right?"

"But the most important factor must be its special body structure. As a cactus-type plant, its body can withstand this accelerated growth. Other Grass-type Pokémon probably couldn't handle it."

At the same time, several scholars in the guest area began analyzing Cacturne's Growth from different angles.

While they discussed, Cacturne on the field finally stopped using the move Growth.

With a low growl, the five-meter-tall Cacturne directly broke free from the restraint of Metagross's Gravity using its own body.

"Go, use Sucker Punch!"

Next, Dark-type energy condensed around Cacturne.

Suddenly, its figure flickered and disappeared from its spot. When it reappeared, it was already beside Metagross, throwing a brutal punch.

Boom!

Cacturne's attack was far too sudden.

Before everyone's astonished eyes, Metagross's body was sent flying!

This clearly showed that along with the change in size, Cacturne's strength and offensive power had drastically increased.

"Continue—use Sucker Punch!"

Immediately afterward, Cacturne closed the distance again, condensed Dark-type energy in its hand once more, and unleashed another Sucker Punch.

The move Sucker Punch has priority, and combined with Cacturne's powerful physique, its speed was so great that Metagross couldn't even react!

"Finish it—use Needle Arm at full power!"

Boom!

A terrifying energy overflowed.

Cacturne was seen raising both of its arms.

As it used Needle Arm, its hands transformed into enormous spiked maces that crashed violently down onto Metagross.

Boom!

At that instant, the entire ground trembled violently.

The terrain, which had already turned into a desert, suddenly sank inward.

Then, a massive cloud of dust rose up and covered the entire battlefield.

At that moment, the whole stadium fell silent, with all eyes fixed on the curtain of dust, trying to see what was happening inside.

Slowly, the dust began to dissipate.

Cacturne had already returned to its normal size.

And beneath it, Metagross lay at the bottom of a huge crater, having lost the ability to fight.

"E-emm... it was defeated in a single blow!"

Seeing this, the spectators showed expressions of absolute disbelief.

Thanks to the increase in size and offensive power granted by the move Growth, Cacturne used a gigantic and devastating attack to defeat the Steel-type pseudo-legendary Metagross in a single strike.

"In the end... I lost."

Lucas opened his mouth slightly.

That was his Metagross, his strongest trump card!

Although its Psychic type was countered by Cacturne's Dark type, Metagross's physical body was extraordinary. Even so, he had never imagined it would be defeated so easily.

Of course, the most astonishing thing was still Cacturne's Growth. That level of growth could already be directly described as gigantification.

Moreover, while the move Growth increased Cacturne's size, the boost to its Attack and Special Attack also seemed to have reached an astonishing level.

...

"Cacturne, how do you feel?"

After the battle ended, Ethan took his three Pokémon to rest for a while.

Upon returning to the headquarters of the Pokémon Researchers Guild in Imperial City, he released all his Pokémon to check on their condition.

Although they had already visited the Pokémon Center to recover energy, the three still looked somewhat fatigued.

Especially Cacturne; that extreme growth had also placed a huge burden on it.

After all, absorbing such a colossal amount of energy all at once... if it weren't for its special body structure, an ordinary Pokémon would probably have exploded.

"It seems this extreme growth still needs to be perfected. But in a state of extreme growth, combined with its close-combat capability... Cacturne is truly terrifying."

Recalling the previous battle, Ethan smiled. After so much time training, Cacturne's development path was finally beginning to take shape.

"Cac!"

Cacturne was very excited.

Seeing it wave its fists enthusiastically, it was clear it was still savoring the previous battle.

After letting his Pokémon continue training, Ethan opened the battle list.

After so many rounds, he only needed to win two more battles to obtain a slot for the World Championship.

...

The next day, the competition continued.

As the battles reached their final phase, the atmosphere clearly became more tense.

After all, they were very close to the World Championship slots, and no one wanted to fall at this point.

In this match, all participants held their breath, determined to use their strongest lineups.

Soon, the pairing roulette began to spin, displaying the competitors' information one after another.

"So I got that rookie?"

"It seems I've been pretty lucky—this one's in the bag."

After seeing the final result, a young man in the back of the stands suddenly smiled.

"Don't get overconfident, Christian. I also watched that Ethan's previous battles. Even though he's two years younger than us, his level of Pokémon training is no worse than ours."

The young man beside him warned him kindly. After watching so many battles, he already regarded Ethan as a rival who had to be taken seriously.

"Don't worry. When it comes to geniuses, two years are enough to make a difference."

Christian shrugged disdainfully and then walked steadily toward the battlefield.

"A genius from the previous generation?"

"It seems I'll have to take him seriously."

Meanwhile, Ethan had also learned the basic information about his opponent.

According to the data, Christian Brad had been one of the top eight rookies four years ago.

In current terms, he belonged to the same level as Ethan, Lucien, and Lucas.

Now, after two more years had passed, it was very difficult to accurately evaluate how strong those eight prodigies from four years ago had become.

Although their current strength could not be precisely determined, the fact that all eight had entered the top sixteen already proved how powerful they were.

And now, Ethan was about to face one of them, which meant this battle would undoubtedly be extremely intense.

"The top eight from four years ago versus the rookie king from two years ago. This match promises excitement—no one knows who will win in the end!"

With the presenter's special introduction, the audience's eyes filled with anticipation.

At the same time, the atmosphere in the stadium was completely ignited, attracting everyone's attention.

"Your strength is quite good. It's a pity you were born two years too late."

Christian slightly shook his head, showing an expression of apparent regret.

"Just like the reports say... truly arrogant."

Ethan gently shook his head. He did not respond to Christian and simply took out a Poké Ball.

According to the previous draw, he had the first move.

"Yadon!"

As the Poké Ball opened, Slowking's figure appeared on the battlefield.

Facing this opponent two years older than him, Ethan directly sent out one of the strongest Pokémon on his team: Slowking.

(End of Chapter)