Resting on the eighth floor for about ten minutes.
Baimu glanced at the sky outside, remembered Xijana's advice not to delay until dark, and after careful consideration, decided to let Hydreigon rest and substituted Mawile.
"Swoosh!"
"Protest invalid, steady victory!"
"Swoosh..."
Hydreigon reluctantly returned to the Pokeball; after all, compared to physical strength, the consumed Attribute Energy was harder to recover.
Bang!
A soft sound.
Mawile landed lightly, wearing a Super Headband that twinkled on the back of its head.
"Chido~"
It blinked its bright eyes, gradually adapting to the surroundings after a while, then turned to look at the "weather-beaten" Trainer, "Chi...do?"
"That's right, this is the Pillar of the Sky, the rest is up to you."
Baimu nodded; there weren't many flying units strong enough in the team, and electromagnetically levitating Mawile barely counted as one.
However, in this situation, Aggron, having mastered Super Evolution, was clearly more suitable, but it couldn't learn Electromagnetic Levitation no matter what, so Mawile was the choice.
To be fair.
He actually preferred using Dragon-type Pokémon to reach the top of the tower, so it would perfectly align with his identity as a Dragon Tamer...
Sending a Fairy Attribute Mawile up the tower oddly felt like Taunting.
But the Pillar of the Sky had Ghost-type Pokémon guarding the levels, so using a Fairy Attribute Pokémon was not a big deal; he remembered wild Mawile was found in the game at the Pillar of the Sky!
Rounding it up, this could be considered "home field" combat, right?
Probably.
Baimu clutched the Key Stone, already prepared for Super Evolution.
"Let's go!"
He turned and spoke to the air, and the response from the Dreepy Siblings followed, while Dragapult still shyly responded lightly.
Heading to the ninth floor.
Unexpected Pokémon appeared before him.
"Doloh~"
The gourd-shaped black Claydol's blood-red eyes opened and closed constantly, looking somewhat eerie in the dark environment.
"Claydol... Oh yes, you also rely on hibernation to replace eating, don't absorb material nutrients like Pokémon."
Baimu nodded, sensing the opponent's intent to attack, he decisively pointed his index finger at the Key Stone.
"Super Evolution!"
"Chido!"
Mawile responded with a low hum, its whole body encased in brilliant blue light, undergoing an astonishing transformation in appearance in an instant.
The two Claydols had clearly seen similar Super Evolution scenes before and understood what was happening. They immediately raised their droplet-shaped arms on either side of their bodies and fired a colorful bizarre ray at Mawile.
Beep beep beep——
It was a strange sound like an alien ray gun firing.
However, during the time they attempted to attack, Mawile had already completed Super Evolution, so to counter their powerful rays, Mega Mawile directly chose to use Iron Head to strike back!
A dazzling bright silver light enveloped its head, and as the colorful rays landed on it, they couldn't even scatter the silver energy layer on the outside; instead, they splintered with Mawile's forward charge, completely unable to withstand.
"Chido!"
With a fierce roar, Mega Mawile transformed into a silver bullet train.
Rumble——
The floor shook violently, affected by the terrifying energy fluctuations!
But just as Mega Mawile hit the two Claydols, a patch of blue light suddenly lit up around the shadows, and Baimu could feel a strong Spiritual Power becoming a sponge-like wall, blocking Mega Mawile's advance.
Then.
These Spiritual Powers turned into a tide, spreading to Mega Mawile, shackling its limbs and jaws.
"Chi——do——"
"Don't panic!"
He pulled out a flashlight and scanned the surroundings, discovering that the edges of the floor were packed with a large number of Baltoys, and like the Claydol, they had no reaction to the strong light of the flashlight.
"Are you seriously bringing surprise aid?"
He confirmed that these guys arrived on the ninth floor to support after the Claydols started acting.
Forcibly turning two opponents into a horde of opponents.
Of course.
There's no rule saying a floor can have only two enemies; the seventh floor's "gamblers" proved that Pokémon guarding levels aren't limited to two, so two Claydols plus a horde of Baltoys isn't a big deal.
However...
"You all shouldn't underestimate my Mawile!"
Baimu shouted firmly.
Trapped, Mega Mawile seemed to respond to his words, shouting along: "Chi!! Do!!"
Bang!
The invisible Spiritual Power vibrated constantly, Mega Mawile, which previously broke free from Lugia's Wind Lock, now tried to tear it apart step by step, forcing the Claydols to direct the Baltoys to further compress the Spiritual Power, causing pressure——
"Waddles~"
The sudden appearance of shadow and sound startled one of the Claydols. Seeing Dragapult, it realized there was a hidden Pokémon lurking in the dark.
Unfortunately, it was too late for a reaction now; Dragapult, who approached with Hidden Spirit Strike, had already hit it with its big tail, knocking it straight out.
Bang!
Amidst a cloud of explosive smoke, the big Claydol was like a feathered shuttle being hit away.
With the sudden disappearance of one main control, the restraint formation of the Baltoys immediately collapsed, causing Mega Mawile's body to ignite white-silver flames again.
"Iron Head!"
"Chido!"