Unlike in everyday life, the whipped cream produced by Milcery in battle, while still edible, had its sticky and binding properties massively amplified.
Just a split second before Mega Aggron crashed into her, Milcery raised her hands.
Gallons of whipped cream surged forward like a rushing river, rapidly condensing in front of her to form a massive, thick cream shield.
The silver-gray armored behemoth, carrying the momentum of a ten-thousand-ton boulder, smashed violently into the soft, incredibly resilient cream shield, sending shattered rocks flying like ocean spray beneath its feet.
"ROAR—!!!"
"Milcery, use Sweet Scent!"
In the next instant, a pink mist blanketed the entire rocky battlefield.
The Milcery line is born from the concentrated particles of sweet scents in the air.
The more Sweet Scent they absorb, the larger their bodies expand.
After absorbing the pink mist on the field, Milcery's body visibly swelled up, just as the Pokédex described.
The sudden increase in her size and weight instantly blunted the impact of Mega Aggron's charge.
However, this reduction in momentum ultimately wasn't enough.
"Son of a b*tch! You're telling me this level of destructive power is only level 20?!"
Hakuya felt cold sweat break out again as he watched Milcery being pushed toward the edge of the battlefield.
As the steel-blue shockwave finally dissipated, Milcery took the opportunity to float backward. The massive cream shield in front of her could no longer hold and collapsed, falling to the edges of the field like scattered flower petals.
Even with the friction of the cream shield and Milcery's drastically increased weight from absorbing the Sweet Scent, they still almost failed to stop the steel behemoth's [Heavy Slam].
—This terrifying level of destructive power completely shattered Hakuya's original plan of having Milcery tank hits with the cream shield while chipping away at its health with [Dazzling Gleam].
Attempting to repeat this tactic was now completely impossible.
Milcery's ability to produce cream in a short period was limited. Creating that massive shield had depleted most of her reserves. Even with the Sweet Scent acting as fuel, she quickly ran out of energy, and her body shrank back to its original size.
In this situation, the only option left was to rely on the power of the Focus Sash.
"Milcery, use Charm."
"Nai~"
At this moment, Aggron shook its steel head, finally managing to throw off the sticky cream. As it looked up, it met those pink-tinted eyes. The mountainous creature, covered in steel armor, suddenly felt inexplicably weak.
Attack stat fell sharply! (-2)
"Aggron, use Iron Tail!"
With a crisp snap, the Focus Sash tied around Milcery's forehead broke. Having fulfilled her mission, Milcery was knocked completely out of the battle by Aggron's out-speeding attack.
"You did amazing, Milcery. Leave the rest of the battle to me and Sprigatito."
Solemnly returning Milcery to her Poké Ball, Hakuya sent Sprigatito back out onto the field.
Although her moves wouldn't be very effective, with the massive 160 base Attack stat provided by her [Omni-Transformation], they stood a fighting chance against a Mega Aggron operating at -2 Attack.
"Sprigatito, start with Petal Blizzard."
Cherry-blossom-pink petals condensed from the void—first one, then two, before instantly coalescing into a sky-obscuring crimson storm.
Accompanied by the kitten's sharp cry, the petal blades tore through the air with a piercing shriek, crashing directly into Mega Aggron's steel armor. For a moment, the entire rocky arena echoed with the deafening sound of metal clashing against stone.
"Aggron, Heavy Slam!"
After enduring the razor-sharp petal storm for a brief moment, Mega Aggron lowered its head.
Upon hearing the command, it completely ignored the petals clanking against its armor. The steel-blue glow enveloped its metallic head once more as it gathered momentum and charged violently straight at Sprigatito.
"ROAR!!!"
At such close range, relying on the mythical "dodge it" command was completely unrealistic.
"Sprigatito, block it with a full-power Shadow Claw!"
"Meowha~"
Facing the biting wind of the incoming charge head-on, Sprigatito bared her fangs. The sharp claws raised in front of her face glowed with a dark, sinister light.
In the next second, the [Shadow Claw], extending several meters long, clashed violently with Mega Aggron's [Heavy Slam].
Hakuya had to admit, fighting this Mega Aggron was arguably harder than dealing with the overpowered legendaries he had faced before.
—A pure Steel-typing, a five-level advantage, and an absurd base Defense of 230 after Mega Evolving made it incredibly difficult for Sprigatito, who only knew physical moves, to break through its guard.
What was even more ridiculous was how utterly unnatural this [Heavy Slam] was.
Even though its Attack had been dropped by two stages, in a direct clash with the Omni-Form Sprigatito, the kitten couldn't gain any ground whatsoever. Even using her full strength to block with [Shadow Claw], she was instantly sent flying, her health bar plummeting.
"Meowha—"
Sent tumbling mid-air, Sprigatito was completely exposed within Mega Aggron's attack range.
Realizing this, Hakuya's brow furrowed tightly, and he immediately issued a command.
"Sprigatito, quickly use Quick Attack to create distance!"
But what happened next caught both him and Sprigatito completely off guard—the cyber-Roxanne had anticipated the move.
"Aggron, intercept with Iron Tail."
Just as Sprigatito activated [Quick Attack], her agile body tracing a sharp Z-pattern in the air, a massive steel tail swung with enough force to create sonic booms and slammed brutally into her.
A thick curtain of dust was kicked up as Sprigatito, taking a direct hit, crashed heavily into the ground.
Before she could even whimper and push herself up, several massive boulders instantly materialized in front of Mega Aggron's chest.
"Use Rock Blast."
"Sprigatito!"
Seeing the little kitten with absolutely no time to dodge, Hakuya screamed.
After taking that [Iron Tail], Sprigatito's health bar was already hanging by a thread.
"MEOWHA—!!!"
[To keep her Trainer from being sad, Sprigatito toughed it out!] *1
[To keep her Trainer from being sad, Sprigatito toughed it out!] *2
...
[To keep her Trainer from being sad, Sprigatito toughed it out!] *5
The five massive boulders crashed down consecutively, instantly kicking up a thick, blinding cloud of dust and smoke.
But when the dust finally settled, the silhouette of a green cat was still staggering on the battlefield.
"Meowha~"
The battered and bruised Sprigatito forced herself to stand, her usual fierce hissing replaced by a weak, ragged breath.
She had somehow, impossibly, tanked all five hits of [Rock Blast]!
"Dammit, didn't I tell you not to force yourself if you couldn't hold on..."
Watching the stubbornly standing Sprigatito, Hakuya bit his lip hard.
She only had a single pixel of health left. She could have just fainted, and they could have regrouped at the Pokémon Center and tried again. But to push herself this far... just so her Trainer wouldn't be sad about losing...
Looking at Sprigatito's back, filled with pure resolve, Hakuya closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Don't worry. Leave the commanding to me. We won't lose."
It was true that Randomized Emerald didn't believe in tears.
But he had finally figured out how to defeat this Mega Aggron.
Hakuya opened his eyes, his gaze burning with intensity.