Arceus's Pirate Journey

Chapter 752: Chapter 751: The Old Guards Step Down, the Newcomers Take the Stage

Scotch was the only one who didn’t come to the medical center after losing the battle.

He’s a cyborg, with a significant portion of his body composed of mechanical parts.

Even if a normal Pokemon Ability User is Steel Type, injuries to their metal body would remain after their abilities are deactivated, but Scotch is different; his mechanized body has a very unique kind of damage.

Page One’s Fire Fang damaged his components, which was beyond the medical center’s ability to handle, requiring a visit to the weapon repair shop.

As for Page One, the defensive power of Garchomp’s scales is not low, and though they don’t have a Steel Body, the small scales form a structure like Fish Scale Armor, providing strong defense for the body.

But defense has its limits; after depleting Scotch’s ammunition, Page One also got slightly injured and just came here for routine adjustments.

Unfortunately, Garchomp’s skill set does not include Dragon Dance, otherwise it could have unleashed even more power.

”Congratulations, little Page, you’ve already defeated Scotch.”

”Yeah, achieving this at your age is truly remarkable.”

Most of those present were veteran members of the Hundred Beasts. They had been part of the Hundred Beasts when Page One and Ulti were picked up by Kaidou, so they watched the siblings grow up.

The little brat from back then has grown into a cadre of the pirate crew, which is indeed something worth celebrating.

”Thanks to the power of Lord Arceus. Where’s my sister?”

Page One looked around the ward but didn’t see the heavily injured Ulti—his own judgment. In his view, it was impossible for Ulti to emerge from such a battle unscathed; it was already quite good if she survived with all her limbs intact.

After all, his sister is known to be as headstrong as any beast in the Hundred Beasts, even rivaling Jack.

”Ulti hasn’t finished yet. To be precise, her fight has only just begun. The arena was filled to capacity earlier, and only now has it cleared out.”

As he spoke, Mandfeish pointed to the Rotom screen at the medical station. Ulti’s battle with Hold’em had only just begun, but it quickly turned white-hot.

This confirmed Page One’s impression: Ulti’s battles are always direct.

Facing the Flamethrower from Hold’em’s Pyroar, Ulti used the most straightforward battle style—charging head-on.

With the boost from Dragon Dance, she relied on her sharp axe fangs and sprinting speed to carve a path through the raging flames.

Faced with the enemy’s attack, Page One chose to evade first, so he fought Scotch for a long time, waiting until he had exhausted the opponent’s ammunition before launching a surprise attack in a very safe situation.

But Ulti’s choice was completely different; once she determined that she could handle the opponent’s attack, she charged straight in.

For Haxorus, those axe fangs are as reliable a weapon as the hammers of Tinkaton and the head blade of Bisharp.

Under Arceus’s modification, Ulti’s Haxorus could temporarily detach the axe fangs, attaching them to the outer sides of her arms to form two arm axes.

Bam!

When the axe blade hit the ground, Hold’em felt something was off about Ulti’s strength and speed; she seemed completely different from the start.

Initially, Ulti wasn’t this aggressive, merely blocking his Flamethrower, but as she continued, she appeared to suddenly awaken, closing the distance between them.

Transforming into Beast Form, Hold’em swung his tail, sending a chain of golden stars towards Ulti. Without the flames obstructing his vision this time, he finally saw what was happening.

As Ulti split the incoming stars with her axe fangs, her body surface shimmered with a layer of purple light.

”Is that...Dragon Dance?? You’ve learned the move from Brother Kaidou??”

Ordinary people release Dragon Dance by twisting on the spot, but Kaidou, through years of combat, had long since integrated Dragon Dance into his battle skills, with Dragon Dance Hakken as a specialized skill extension.

And Ulti’s recent movements were almost a replica of Kaidou’s. She leveraged the Dragon Dance’s bonus to execute special defense, thoroughly mastering Kaidou’s approach of using offense as defense.

”Huh? Is that difficult? It’s not complicated at all. Stop rambling, I’m taking your position. I don’t want to rank behind little Page. Ulti Head Spear!”

She had a natural talent for this, quickly mastering and incorporating it into her battle style.

While it might sound easy, her body couldn’t sustain it as well. Even though she was two years older than Page One, she was only 15, far from being able to endure the prolonged amplification of Dragon Dance like Kaidou.

She couldn’t manage the strain for long periods, which is the root cause of her violent combat style.

Accumulating Dragon Dance during evasion, followed by a strike during the enhanced period to quickly crush her enemies—she and Page One adopted completely different combat approaches.

Seeing Ulti’s aggressive momentum, Hold’em’s expression was grim. Initially thinking he had successfully worn her down, he had instead given her the time to stack buffs. Although he dodged this time, the speed enhanced by Dragon Dance meant he couldn’t completely shake off Ulti.

By this point, the axe fangs had returned to their original position. Ulti, also in Beast Form, leaped high, the axe fangs glistening with a deadly gleam.

”Ulti Fang Slash!”

Modified from Pachycephalosaurus, Haxorus’s lower limbs are more developed, giving Ulti a more stable stance, and the sharp axe fangs further boosted her attack power. Moreover, throughout the previous battle, she had stacked Dragon Dance a total of four times.

As the axe fangs left a massive wound on Hold’em’s abdomen, the Hundred Beasts’ reshuffling battle finally came to an end. Following some small adjustments, the new generation of Numberers ascended the Hundred Beasts stage.

NO.0 - Setsuna - Lucario

NO.1 - Mandfeish - Gyarados

NO.2 - Jack - Copperajah

NO.3 - Black Maria - Galvantula

NO.4 - Francis Drake - Luxray

NO.5 - Sasaki - Bastiodon

NO.6 - Who’s-Who - Saber-toothed Tiger

NO.7 - Iscariot - Scizor

NO.8 - Ulti - Haxorus

NO.9 - Page One - Garchomp

Who’s-Who became the only gifter amidst the crowd; if the three behind hadn’t been so young, he might not have thoroughly beaten them. The former NO.2-NO.9 had largely replaced the NO.10-NO.19 rankings, with many people’s ranks simply bumped back.

Yet this battle was not over; within the Hundred Beasts, the most unpredictable element was not any member but Kaidou himself.

Watching his subordinates’ battles ignited his fighting spirit. Just as Smeargle was going around reassigning numbers, Kaidou suddenly leapt down from the air, unarmed, grabbing Queen’s microphone mid-descent.

”Woo, ha ha ha! Well done, everyone! Regardless of gender or age, as long as you have strength, you can achieve anything here. Taking this opportunity, let’s play a game.

You can all come at me together. If anyone can knock me to the ground, I’ll grant them one wish!”