Pokemon: Reborn Rich Alternate Earth
Chapter 618: I Didn’t?

“Abomasnow—Mega Evolve!”

After exchanging several rounds with Gengar, Abomasnow, despite having the level advantage, had gained no upper hand. In fact, it had been completely toyed with by Gengar.

A flash of Mega Evolution light burst forth, and in the next moment, Mega Abomasnow appeared on the battlefield—its level briefly rising from 81 to 83.

Originally standing on two legs, Abomasnow now stood on four after Mega Evolution, with four massive ice pillars sprouting from its back.

An intense, freezing aura radiated from its body.

With the Mega Evolution, its Snow Warning ability was also enhanced—snowfall became even heavier and more intense.

But recalling how Gengar had twice used Phantom Ambush to blend into the snowy terrain, and how the cold hadn’t affected Gengar at all, Rowan knew he needed a different approach.

“Abomasnow—recall the snow!” Rowan ordered.

With a low growl, Mega Abomasnow sucked the blizzard back in. The falling snow vanished, and the accumulated layers on the ground rapidly melted away, revealing the battlefield’s dull, earthy surface.

Gengar turned its head to look at Julian.

It, too, wanted to Mega Evolve—not because it couldn’t fight Mega Abomasnow as it was, but simply because it wanted to.

“Gengar—Mega Evolve.”

Julian naturally had no reason to refuse.

Mega Gengar materialized, its lower half phased into another dimension, its forehead now marked with a hollow, golden eye-like symbol.

"Geheheh~"

Mega Gengar smirked at Mega Abomasnow, as if saying: 'Look, I can do it too.'

Rowan’s face froze for a moment. He had hoped that Mega Evolution would help close the gap between Abomasnow and Gengar—but Julian had Mega Evolved as well.

After Mega Evolution, Gengar’s level jumped from 75 to 80, reaching the peak of Elite-tier.

“Abomasnow—Water Pulse!”

A sphere of water slammed into the ground, exploding into surging waves that flooded the entire battlefield.

It was essentially Surf, executed through Water Pulse.

The tidal wave crashed down on Mega Gengar, washing over its body.

'Finally—a direct hit!'

Rowan couldn’t help feeling a bit excited.

But in the very next second—

BOOM!

A Shadow Ball smashed into Mega Abomasnow and the faint smile that had just appeared at the corner of Rowan’s lips instantly vanished.

Mega Gengar: 'That stung a bit.'

The Water Pulse had done some damage—but that was all.

Mega Abomasnow staggered back up, and thin root-like tendrils extended from its limbs, burrowing into the ground.

It was using Ingrain.

Ingrain allowed a Pokémon to absorb nutrients from the earth to gradually recover HP.

However, once used, the Pokémon was rooted in place.

“Ice Beam!” Rowan ordered.

Mega Abomasnow instantly transformed into an unstoppable artillery machine, firing rapid Ice Beams one after another at Mega Gengar.

As Ice Beam was a powerful Ice-type move, spamming it continuously was incredibly taxing—normally.

However, thanks to Ingrain, Mega Abomasnow was continuously restoring stamina, allowing it to fire Ice Beams without limit.

In the face of the barrage, Mega Gengar kept dodging with ease, looking completely relaxed. It even found time to make faces at Mega Abomasnow mid-evasion.

And while dodging, it was slowly and steadily closing the distance.

When Mega Gengar was less than twenty meters away, Rowan suddenly roared:

"SHEER COLD!"

A blast of frigid energy, several times colder than even Ice Beam, erupted from Mega Abomasnow. The deep-blue aura seemed to freeze the very air itself.

Even with the protective barrier in place, the surrounding spectators couldn’t handle the cold and scrambled to back away.

Within the Sheer Cold domain, everything—even time itself—appeared frozen solid.

Mega Gengar stood still in place, its round shield-like body frozen solid.

Rowan clenched his fists, excitement flashing across his face. 'Holy shit—I’ve finally beaten Julian! If word gets out, Asher will definitely be jealous to death!'

Sheer Cold was extremely draining. Even with Ingrain, Mega Abomasnow had lost more than half its stamina and could barely maintain its Mega Evolution form.

“Brother… do you think the Young Master might actually lose?”

Nate looked worried. If Julian lost, Secret Realm No. 60’s control rights might be back on the table.

“No,” Dean shook his head. “Look at the Young Master’s expression.”

'Expression?'

Nate glanced over.

Julian’s face hadn’t changed at all—calm as ever.

'Wait… could it be?'

He quickly turned back to Mega Gengar—just in time to see the supposedly frozen figure fade away like an illusion.

“Substitute!” ×2

Both he and Rowan exclaimed in unison.

But their tones were completely different—Nate was thrilled, while Rowan was frustrated.

“Gen~”

As the Substitute dissipated, Mega Gengar’s voice came from the left side of Mega Abomasnow.

Mega Gengar: “I am the King of Fists.”

FIRE PUNCH!

The flaming fist slammed into Mega Abomasnow’s side.

This time, it didn’t get back up.

The glow of Mega Evolution flickered out, reverting it to its normal form.

“Still lost in the end…”

Rowan muttered, a bit disappointed, before retrieving Abomasnow into its Poké Ball.

The protective barrier faded.

Julian also released Gengar’s Mega Evolution. As Gengar floated back toward him, Julian knew exactly what it wanted and immediately pulled out its Poké Ball.

The red beam shot out from the Poké Ball.

Gengar: 'I dodge.'

Julian: 'I shoot again.'

Gengar: 'I dodge again.'

Julian: 'I shoot from all directions.'

Gengar: 'Acrobatic evasion!'

In the end, Gengar emerged victorious.

Looking at the smug, grinning Gengar just inches away, Julian closed his eyes and sighed: “Fine, go ahead.”

“Gen~”

Gengar: “Don’t mind if I do~”

Then it stuck out its tongue and gave a huge lick, from Julian’s chin all the way up to his forehead before stopping.

That familiar numbing sensation immediately followed.

The Thornton brothers were so startled by the scene that they rushed over in panic.

But halfway there, they saw Julian stagger, pull out a Cheri Berry from his pocket, and eat it, instantly curing the paralysis.

Nate: '...Is that even humanly possible?!'

“Gehehe~”

Gengar laughed—only to be stomped straight into Julian's shadow the next second.

Rowan walked over and said helplessly, “Couldn’t you have gone easy on me?”

“I didn’t?” Julian gave him a strange look.

He hadn’t even used Metagross or Moltres. If he had, the battle would’ve been over instantly. Hell, even with Gengar, he’d been playing around the whole time.

He’d already held back this much—was Rowan expecting him to just throw the entire fight for him?!

“I lost. So that means you didn’t go easy.”

In Rowan’s mind, this had been his best shot at defeating Julian. Yet, in the end, he still lost. Naturally, he was unwilling to accept it, so he resorted to a bit of sulking to ease the frustration.

Julian couldn’t be bothered with this sorry guy and turned to walk toward the Thornton brothers.

The Thornton brothers had seen Rowan speaking with Julian, and tactfully didn’t approach. Now that Julian was walking toward them, they immediately stepped forward to greet him.

As for the Whitmore family members nearby—they didn’t dare come anywhere near.

*****

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