Holt and Pons walked to the center of the training ground one after the other, while the other sailors cleared space for them.
Since this was a sparring match, Holt would naturally not use any weapons.
He also had a fair amount of confidence in his own boxing skills.
“I’ll attack first!” Holt was not one for ceremony.
After both men had taken their positions several meters apart, he called out and charged at Pons.
Pons transformed into his Gengar form without a moment’s delay, then floated up into the air and evaded Holt’s attack.
Nos and the other sailors were all wide-eyed when they saw Pons’s current form, ‘What had he transformed into?
And it could even fly?’ Once Pons was hovering in midair, however, he found himself in a bit of a predicament.
How should he counterattack now?
Using Smog or Acid Spray would not be appropriate…
this was only a spar, not a life-or-death battle.
He should not poison Holt or corrode his skin with acid.
Confuse Ray was also not suitable; if Holt became confused and attacked others, things would become even more chaotic.
Shadow Ball was too powerful…
if one shot seriously injured or killed Holt, that would also be problematic… As for Lick…
there was absolutely no way he would lick another man.
After running through all his options, Pons realized he had no skill he could safely use against Holt.
Perhaps he could try to control the power of Shadow Ball so that it would not seriously injure Holt?
But Pons had never deliberately controlled Shadow Ball’s power before, and he was not sure if he could.
Holt, looking up at Pons hovering in midair, also did not know how to respond.
He was only a petty officer first class.
Though he had heard of advanced techniques like Geppo that allowed Marines to walk through the air, he did not know how…
how was he supposed to fight Pons while he floated in the air?
For a moment, both sides were stymied.
Neither made a move, and the scene fell into an awkward, silent standoff.
It was Pons who acted first.
Since using skills was inconvenient, he would resort to close-quarters combat.
In the Pokémon games, Pokémon could only attack using skills, but here, he could simply use basic physical strikes.
Pons dove down toward Holt.
When Holt saw Pons charging at him, he braced himself for combat.
As Pons closed in, Holt threw the first punch, aiming directly at Pons’s purple body.
However, Pons instantly activated his intangibility.
Holt’s fist passed cleanly through his body, leaving Holt stunned.
Pons seized the opening, swiftly shifted to Holt’s left side, turned tangible again, and threw a punch at Holt’s cheek.
Unfortunately, Gengar’s stubby little arms did not pack much force.
That punch to Holt’s face only knocked him back a few steps.
Holt raised his hand and rubbed his cheek.
Pons’s punch had stung a little, but that was all.
It was hard to believe that such weak punches could have defeated fighters like Zodyl or Narut.
Lieutenant Commander Nos watched with a deepening frown.
The technique Pons had used to turn intangible was certainly useful…
but at best, it only ensured that he would not be easily injured in battle.
It did not provide much offensive capability.
Holt was also feeling conflicted.
Pons could fly, and he could make his body intangible so that attacks passed right through him.
Holt had no means of dealing with that.
Though Pons’s punches were not powerful, if he got hit a few more times, it would still be quite unpleasant.
Pons was also frustrated.
How many punches would he have to land before he could win?
‘If only my punches carried more force…
not enough to take down an opponent in one blow, but enough to deal some real damage to Holt and end the fight sooner.’ Pons charged at Holt again.
When he reached close range, he threw another punch at Holt’s face.
Holt raised his arm to block.
Pons’s fist struck Holt’s forearm.
Holt felt a slight sting, and his body retreated half a step.
But it was still negligible damage.
Pons realized that trying to “grind down” his opponent with such tiny increments of damage was simply not feasible.
Pons grew increasingly impatient.
Perhaps he should just disregard everything and attack Holt with Acid Spray or Shadow Ball after all.
Suppressing his frustration, he still could not bring himself to use those powerful attacks against Holt… Perhaps, instead of aiming at Holt directly, he could throw a Shadow Ball at an empty area and let Holt see its power.
That might make Holt concede without further fighting.
Just as Pons was considering this, Holt came charging at him again.
Though he would probably just phase through again, as long as the fight continued, he still had to keep attacking.
Pons watched Holt rushing toward him and unconsciously clenched his fists tighter.
‘This fellow was stubborn.
Even though his attacks could not hit, he kept trying again and again.
Was it some kind of determination that would not let him give up, or did he simply underestimate me?’ Pons unconsciously clenched his fists harder, gathering power unconsciously.
Though he was clearly at an advantage, he still felt a sense of frustration.
‘Was it not enough?
Could I not win without using more powerful skills like Shadow Ball?’ He had been training for two full years…
even if it was just simple conditioning, it had been consistent effort.
The improvements he made in his human form should also reflect in his Gengar form.
Pons grew more frustrated, his fists clenching tighter and tighter, as if he were pouring all the power in his body into them… Suddenly, a ring of ghostly purple light enveloped his small fist.
A flash of insight struck Pons…
‘Was this… Shadow Punch!?’ Shadow Punch was a Ghost-type physical attack.
Its power was not high, but in the games, it had a guaranteed hit effect.
In actual combat here, however, no attack could guarantee a hit.
An idea occurred to Pons.
If keeping his fist closed produced “Shadow Punch”, then if he opened his three fingers (Gengar only had three fingers) and shaped his hand into claws, could that same power become Shadow Claw?
Shadow Claw was more powerful than Shadow Punch.
In the games, it also had a high critical-hit ratio.
Whether that effect carried over into real combat was uncertain.
By then, Holt had already closed the distance.
Pons had no time to think further.
After phasing through Holt’s attack, he threw out his right fist…
and with Shadow Punch, he struck Holt directly.
Seeing the eerie purple light wrapped around Pons’s fist, Holt could sense that this strike was vastly different from Pons’s earlier ordinary punches.
But with both men so close, he could not dodge widely…
he could only raise his arm to block once again.
Pons’s fist struck Holt’s forearm once more.
But unlike the mild sting from before, this time Holt felt a sharp, intense pain shoot through his arm.
His entire body was driven back several steps, nearly losing his balance and falling.
Holt stared at Pons in shock.
Pons pressed his advantage, charging at Holt as he stumbled backward.
Pons wanted to test whether Shadow Punch could truly be converted into Shadow Claw.
He opened his fingers, and the ghostly purple glow remained wrapped around his palm.
He closed in on Holt, formed his fingers into claws, and slashed down viciously.
Holt barely managed to dodge to the side, avoiding the attack.
Pons adjusted his angle and struck again, raking his claws across Holt’s back.
Since the attack came from behind, Holt could not dodge in time and was struck solidly.
Holt’s shirt tore open, and three long bloody gashes appeared across his back, from which blood began to trickle slowly.
Feeling the sharp pain radiating from his back, Holt quickly lost his will to fight.
He turned around and said to Pons: “I… I surrender.” Pons, who had been about to continue his pursuit, stopped upon hearing Holt’s concession.
His body reverted from Gengar form back to human shape.
Though Holt’s current appearance was somewhat battered, his injuries were probably not too severe.
After all, Shadow Punch and Shadow Claw were both physical attacks, and in the games, Gengar’s physical attack was far weaker than its special attack.
Though Pons was not entirely certain whether the same physical/special split applied to his transformed state in this world, he could clearly sense that Shadow Punch and Shadow Claw were considerably less powerful than Shadow Ball.
If he had hit Holt with a Shadow Ball, given Holt’s defenses, it would have been an instant kill.
But that Shadow Claw on his back had only done moderate to light damage.
Regardless, since Holt had conceded, the match ended with Pons’s victory.
Some of the sailors looked at Pons with slightly different expressions now…
there was a hint of respect in their gazes.
After all, he had indeed beaten Holt, who was considered relatively strong among all the sailors.
Of course, there were still some who remained skeptical.
Pons had defeated Holt, yes…
but Holt was just a sailor like them, his skills only slightly above average within this group.
Could Pons’s attacks really have overcome formidable pirates like Zodyl and Narut?
Nos, too, was perplexed.
Pons’s final two techniques had indeed displayed a certain level of skill, but ultimately, they were only enough to defeat someone like Holt.
Moreover, if he had such strong moves, why had he not used them from the very beginning, instead of only halfway through the fight?
Was there some particular reason?
But regardless, based on what Pons had displayed in that spar, there was no way he could have defeated Zodyl and Narut.
He wondered if Reg had deliberately misled him, or Pons had intentionally held back?
For his plan to work, he needed Pons to possess a certain level of strength.
If Pons’s actual abilities fell short of expectations, his scheme would be doomed from the start.