To be honest, Lionel was genuinely worried when he saw Larvesta absorb the rock that seemed to be related to Groudon;
its body instantly swelled up, and a "Q" symbol, the Groudon mark, suddenly appeared on its head.
He was afraid something unexpected might happen, which is why he came up with this bet.
But thinking about it carefully, Lionel wasn't really deceiving Larvesta.
The bet was very clear: "Take the next attack," and Tyrantrum had indeed only used "Rock Blast" from beginning to end.
Lionel's win was entirely justified.
At this moment, Lionel stepped forward, squatted down, and carefully examined the Larvesta on the ground.
The little chubby bug had its eyes tightly closed, and the previously flamboyant flames on its body had faded.
The "Ω" symbol on its forehead had also lost its red glow, and its curled-up appearance had lost its previous arrogance, showing a bit of clumsiness instead.
"This little guy is actually quite cute when he's not arrogant."
Lionel couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch the Larvesta's tender cheeks, then stroked its chubby body. The
Larvesta's body felt warm and comfortable to the touch, carrying the unique warmth of a Fire-type Pokémon.
Seeing this, Tyrantrum also came over.
Its huge head lowered cautiously, gently rubbing its nose against the Larvesta's body, letting out a soft growl from its throat, as if expressing goodwill.
Lionel was a little curious: "What? You like it too?"
Tyrantrum nodded vigorously, its head bobbing like a rattle drum, constantly growling at Lionel, its amber eyes full of excitement.
Metang immediately translated with its telekinesis: "It said that the shape of this little bug's head is very similar to the mane on its neck, and it feels particularly close to it, and likes it very much."
Lionel couldn't help but burst into laughter, patting Tyrantrum's head: "You rascal, you can't say that in front of it.
Liking it is one thing, but saying it looks like your fur is unacceptable, you can't say that, it's really too much."
Lionel couldn't stop smiling, and while laughing, he warned Tyrantrum that it absolutely couldn't say that to the Larvesta.
"Like your fur," what kind of praise is that? If the Larvesta heard that, it would definitely fight Tyrantrum to the death.
Tyrantrum tilted its head and growled twice, clearly not understanding. The mane on its neck was obviously very majestic, so wasn't "like its fur" a compliment?
But seeing Lionel's serious expression, it obediently shut its mouth, but its tail continued to gently sweep the ground, looking very fond of the Larvesta.
Lionel stopped the topic and turned to Metang, Milotic, and Tyrantrum, saying, "The three of you stand around it, a little distance away. Don't let it escape once it wakes up."
The three Pokémon immediately understood. Milotic swam to the left, Metang hovered on the right, and Tyrantrum guarded the front, forming a loose encirclement.
This ensured that the worm wouldn't feel overly pressured, while also preventing it from easily escaping.
After setting up, Lionel nodded to Milotic: "Milotic, use Life Dew to restore its stamina."
[Life Dew: Sprays magical water to restore stamina to itself and its teammates]
Milotic responded gently, its body glowing with a faint blue light.
Countless crystalline droplets tinged with green appeared out of thin air, gently falling like spring rain, precisely seeping into the worm's body.
With the infusion of life energy, the flames on the worm's body gradually regained some vitality, and its previously tense body relaxed slightly.
Not long after, the Larvesta slowly opened its blue eyes, blinking dazedly, clearly not fully recovered from its unconsciousness.
When its gaze focused on Lionel in front of it, it instantly snapped back to reality.
It abruptly shrank back, its three pairs of small legs rapidly scraping the ground, trying to escape.
It remembered the excruciating pain of being struck by the massive rock, and desperately wanted to escape the human who had set the trap.
But as soon as it moved, it found itself surrounded by three Pokémon:
on its left was Milotic, shrouded in mist; on its right was Metang, hovering in the air with its red eyes fixed intently;
and in front of it was Tyrantrum that had just defeated it in one blow. Surrounded on three sides, there was no way to escape.
The Larvesta immediately deflated, its mouth drooping, but it still stubbornly raised its head, letting out a defiant cry at Lionel.
Seeing its stubbornness, Lionel chuckled, "Well? You're bound to accept the bet, right?"
Larvesta shook its head vigorously, flames flickering rapidly on its antennae, clearly trying to argue.
Lionel wasn't in a hurry, patiently "arguing" with it: "Our bet was that you would take one of the Tyrantrum's attacks?"
Larvesta hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Did the Tyrantrum only use Rock Blast from beginning to end?"
Lionel asked again.
Larvesta thought for a moment; the Tyrantrum had only used Sandstorm to cover its body and hadn't attacked.
It had indeed only used Rock Blast, and only a few large rocks had hit it.
Larvesta reluctantly nodded again.
"Since that's the case, you couldn't take that attack, so shouldn't you accept the bet?"
Lionel shrugged, "There's nothing to say about that, is there?"
Larvesta's two blue eyes were almost squinting together, its little head a jumble of thoughts.
It felt something was off, as if it had been tricked.
But every word Lionel said made perfect sense.
The bet was indeed to take one move, the opponent had indeed only made one move, and it had indeed failed to catch it.
For a moment, it couldn't find a reason to refute, and could only angrily shake its head vigorously, as if it were competing with itself.
Seeing its expression, Lionel didn't press further, but instead took out four high-level Pokémon energy orbs from his system space.
The three Pokémon, Milotic and the others, hadn't had a chance to absorb the energy orbs before being interrupted by the Larvesta, so this was a good opportunity to distribute them. Lionel handed three of the energy orbs to Milotic, Metang, and Tyrantrum.
The three Pokémon immediately accepted them happily and absorbed the energy orbs into their bodies.
The pure energy flow made them squint their eyes comfortably.
Milotic let out a pleasant groan, Metang spun around in the air, and Tyrantrum snorted contentedly, all its muscles relaxing.
The Larvesta's gaze was instantly drawn to the remaining energy orb, its blue eyes filled with longing.
Sensing the high-level spirit's energy ball at such close range, its pure and alluring energy caused it to involuntarily lean forward.
Lionel waved the energy ball in his hand, his tone slightly seductive: "Admit defeat? If you agree to the bet, this is yours."