"No fair play!"
The indignant complaint was drowned in a dazzling flash.
Rumble—
The explosion was deafening. The surging flames and the milky-white shockwave that could blow a person away whisked dangerously close over Baimu's head. He leapt off the stairs from the fourth to the fifth floor, jumping high as if doing a triple jump, barely reaching the edge of the second-floor platform.
Thud.
His feet landed, his body swayed slightly, and a tingling sensation surged through him.
He stretched out his arms like a big bird, and once his center of gravity stabilized, he exhaled lightly, "Got it safely!"
The Dragapult appeared out of thin air, its near-illusory tail having somehow hooked around his waist as if afraid he would fall from the second floor. At the moment their eyes met, it silently let go and slipped away.
Two Dreepy, who had appeared from nowhere, also returned to the launch hole.
"Thanks a lot."
Baimu said softly, turning back to look at where he had jumped from, skipping over the two deflated-looking Drifblim. His gaze slightly shifted and he found the swaying Hydreigon by the pillar on the third floor, quickly shouting, "Feather Rest!"
The confused Dragonair suddenly seemed to find its backbone, lying down as the pure white feathers drifted up and down, healing its injuries and lost vitality.
A moment later.
The Hydreigon, full of vitality, returned to his side.
Both looked at the two Drifblim on the stairs on the fourth floor, with a bit of lingering fear on their faces.
I feel like the Ghost-type Pokémon in the Pillar of the Sky are somewhat crazy.
Sensing they couldn't win head-on with a Big Explosion was one thing, but purposely sticking close to their companions to forcibly trigger the Detonate trait at the same time was quite another.
According to the game's logic, the Big Explosion would lead to self-fainting, unable to trigger the Detonate trait which requires contact moves to activate, but these two just stuck to each other to perform a joint Big Explosion, achieving a delicate balance between losing energy from their own explosion and losing energy from the other's explosion.
This forcibly met several important preconditions, ultimately doubling the power of the Big Explosion—
It's very much like Ash Ketchum's style, unorthodox and whimsical in real battles.
But poor Baimu was forced to jump off the stairs, with even Hydreigon's Defend blown to bits, being sent flying.
Only the Dragapult with its Ghost Attribute, immune to most of the energy shock from the Big Explosion, successfully escaped the main blast area.
Damn.
Simply absurd!
Though he couldn't help cursing under his breath, thinking about how these two Drifblim managed this level of cooperation was enough to make outside Trainers despair.
With the fifth floor's "roadblock" being this tough, he wondered what the way up would be like.
Baimu suddenly felt a bit troubled.
No wonder so few of the Meteor People ever made it to the top; the "Gatekeepers" here are just too much.
He continued upwards, relieved that the Ghost-type Pokémon from the third and fourth floors didn't show up again. He safely bypassed the Drifblim and reached the fifth floor.
The stairs to the sixth floor were not far away.
"What kind of weirdness will I encounter this time?" He licked his lips.
Most of these Ghost-type Pokémon like to guard the stair entrances, leading to fierce battles on the staircases. While they didn't care, the danger level for Baimu personally increased significantly.
The sense of weightlessness was something he really didn't want to experience again.
Gang fight then.
Baimu decided that once the opponent appeared, he would employ a swift, targeted suppression tactic.
But even if it's a gang fight, the number of Pokémon released must be controlled; the space between floors isn't too wide, and having too many Pokémon crowded together might lead to teammates attacking each other… thanks to the show allowing friendly fire.
Unexpectedly, despite being cautious on his way up, he found no Ghost Pokémon attempting a sneak attack, no matter how closely he observed.
Just as he was getting puzzled.
Two Misdreavus suddenly appeared some distance away, giggling with ghostly hair floating autonomously, looking quite cute, then disappeared again.
Baimu stepped forward—
"Shasa!"
The Hydreigon suddenly bit his wrist, stopping him from advancing.
It turned out that at some point, the floor ahead had become a void; the entire sixth floor's platform was gone. If not for the former's timely warning, he would have accidentally fallen through by now.
"What's going on?"
Baimu crouched down, touched the "ground," confirmed he couldn't feel anything and could stretch out, realizing this was probably not an illusion.
What to do?
Should he fly over?
But Xijana said to reach the top floor on foot. Does this count as a test of force majeure...?
Wait a moment.
He mulled it over slightly and tested other places with his foot, immediately discovering that there actually were invisible platforms elsewhere he could step on.
This is simple, just tread carefully over.
Baimu looked towards the spot where the two Misdreavus disappeared, knowing that they would likely cause trouble during his attempt, so he turned and said something.
Heh.
Strike preemptively and take them down directly!
Then he took out a flashlight without hesitation, letting the fifteen-thousand-lumen holy light descend once more, searching for the Misdreavus like a robber, forcing them into hiding.
Unexpectedly, the pair chose to split up.
Baimu soon found only one Misdreavus, "Evil Fluctuation!"
"Shasa!"
The big head of Hydreigon stayed still, while the two small heads shot out beams composed of countless black rings like laser cannons, sealing the opponent's movement on the spot.