Maha stood quietly in the shade, his cold, snake-like eyes locked onto Tyranitar. His hands twitched slightly as he observed the battlefield. Even from here, he could tell that Tyranitar's aura was draining every second. That was the cost of using Iron Defense repeatedly. Maintaining that level of durability wasn't free—it required a constant output of energy. His gaze shifted to the other mind beast—Happiny. The small creature was breathing heavily.
The sheer number of Rock Slides and the ongoing Gravity effect had clearly taken its toll. Maha had suspected as much. Rock Slide alone was manageable, but Gravity was a different beast altogether. Its consumption scaled with the strength of the opponent. The stronger the target, the more Nen was required to suppress them. Against someone like Maha, maintaining Gravity drained an absurd amount of aura.
This meant that while these two creatures were undeniably powerful, they weren't invincible. If he played his cards right, there was still a chance to turn this around. He just needed to be patient. A plan forming in his mind, Maha's aura suddenly vanished.
In an instant, he completely suppressed his presence. Behind him, a massive phantom serpent flickered, its forked tongue flicking out ominously. Larry's eyes narrowed. He had fought powerful opponents before, but Maha's sudden disappearance was unsettling. Even Tyranitar and Happiny reacted instinctively, their bodies tensing.
This was the pinnacle of assassination techniques, forged through years of experience and honed to perfection—a technique Maha called Six-Style Snake Step. By integrating his mastery of stealth into his Nen ability, he had taken Zetsu to its ultimate form. Normally, Zetsu simply suppressed one's aura, making them harder to detect.
More advanced assassins developed In, which could hide even refined Nen from perception. But Maha's technique went beyond that. It wasn't just about suppressing presence. It was as if he had been completely erased from the world, like someone had taken an eraser and wiped his existence off the canvas of reality.
But Larry wasn't fooled. Though Maha had disappeared, an oppressive killing intent still hung in the air. He could feel it lingering, lurking just beyond his perception. Maha could strike from any direction at any time. Larry clapped his hands lightly, a smirk playing at his lips. "Damn, I gotta hand it to you. That's some next-level stealth. You really live up to your reputation as the strongest assassin."
Even Gardevoir's telepathy couldn't pick up on Maha's presence. That alone was proof of just how terrifying this ability was. But while Maha's skill was undoubtedly impressive… he had made one crucial mistake. He didn't understand how Pokémon abilities worked. Larry's eyes glinted. "Happiny, use Swift."
Happiny clapped its tiny hands together, summoning a cluster of golden, star-shaped energy projectiles that twinkled like a miniature galaxy. Then, with a flick of its arms, it sent them soaring into the dense forest.
At first, the stars seemed to move aimlessly, scattering through the trees. But then, something strange happened. The projectiles suddenly veered left, zigzagging unpredictably through the air. Larry's smirk widened. From the outside, it might seem as if the stars were flying erratically, but he knew better. They weren't moving at random. They were chasing something. Or rather… someone.
Deep in the forest, Maha moved like a ghost, weaving through the trees, his movements precise and fluid. But no matter how fast he was, the golden stars refused to lose him. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowing.
The damn things were still following him. 'What the hell was this attack?' He had encountered plenty of Nen abilities that allowed for homing attacks, but this was on another level. He had erased his presence completely, yet these projectiles still locked onto him without hesitation. That shouldn't be possible. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn't normal. Pokémon skills followed fixed rules, and those rules didn't care about logic. 'Swift: Fires star-shaped projectiles that never miss.'
No matter how skilled Maha was, no matter how perfect his stealth, Swift would still track him down. The moment it was unleashed, the attack had already decided its target. It wasn't even about damage.
The true purpose of Swift in this battle wasn't to hurt him—it was to expose him. No matter how well he concealed himself, he would be forced to take the hit. Unless, of course, he was willing to spend the rest of his life running from an attack that would never stop pursuing him. Maha clenched his jaw. "You've gotta be kidding me."
This fight was the most frustrating one he had ever been in. First, he was locked down by Rock Slide, and now he was being harassed by a damn auto-targeting attack. The Swift projectiles weren't even strong enough to hurt him, but after what he had just experienced with Gravity and Rock Slide, he wasn't about to take any chances.
Who knew what kind of ridiculous effect might trigger next? Clicking his tongue, he made a decision. He had no choice but to waste more aura. Expending additional energy, he switched to an emission-based attack—something he wasn't particularly skilled at—to blast the projectiles out of the air one by one.
It took effort, but after a short exchange, he finally managed to destroy them. He exhaled, steadying himself. But this led to another problem. If Larry could track his location so easily, was there even a point in keeping up his stealth? His technique was powerful, but it drained his aura constantly.
Maintaining it under normal circumstances was already demanding, but now it was just a waste of energy. Just as he was about to reassess his strategy, his eyes landed on Larry—and his expression instantly changed. His pupils shrank. A feeling of unease surged through him. Larry wasn't doing anything flashy. He wasn't preparing another attack. Instead, he simply watched as Happiny reached into its pouch… and pulled out a tiny egg. Then, with a cheerful chirp, it swallowed the egg whole. The next moment, an overwhelming surge of aura radiated from its small body.
Maha's mind reeled. Its entire aura had returned to peak condition. Before he could even process what he had just witnessed, another egg appeared in Happiny's pouch. This time, it handed it over to Tyranitar, who swallowed it without hesitation. Immediately, Tyranitar's aura surged back to full strength.
'Egg: Consuming it restores half of the user's health and energy. Can be used up to three times a day.' This was Soft-Boiled, one of the most absurd recovery abilities in existence. The limit varied depending on the user's strength, but the core mechanic remained the same. No matter how much energy had been lost, it restored a fixed percentage.
Which meant… No matter how much effort Maha put into draining them, as long as they had eggs left, they could recover instantly.
Maha felt his blood pressure spike. This was completely unfair. He had spent the entire fight dodging, countering, and struggling to conserve energy, while Larry's Pokémon could just eat their way back to full power? What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this? And worst of all, if Happiny used all three eggs on Tyranitar, it essentially turned into two and a half S-rank monsters for the day. Maha's mouth twitched. He felt a headache coming on. "...I give up."
He stepped out of the shadows, looking thoroughly defeated. His expression was unreadable, but deep down, he was struggling to process what he had just experienced. "No more fighting," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "I admit defeat."
Larry grinned. "You sure? I thought you were the world's strongest assassin."