Ponyta, Steelix, and Skarmory formed a triangle around Lucas , cutting off every route of escape.
Of course, this situation had been deliberately engineered by him.
With Rhyhorn already having advanced to Two-Star, its speed was far beyond that of any One-Star Pokémon.
If he had truly wanted to leave, none of them would have been able to catch him.
Unfortunately, the three trainers had no idea.
They were still grinning excitedly, convinced they had cornered their prey.
The Ponyta trainer jumped off his mount and sneered.
“Weren’t you so good at running?
Go on, run.
Let’s see you try now.” “Heh, you’ve wasted enough of my time,” the Skarmory trainer added confidently.
“If you know what’s good for you, hand over your evaluation points.” The Steelix trainer remained silent for a while, his eyes fixed on Lucas ‘s Rhyhorn.
After a moment, he frowned.
“That’s a Rhyhorn…
But during registration, that wasn’t the Pokémon you presented.” The other two immediately changed expressions.
“He probably bought this Rhyhorn,” the Ponyta trainer said dismissively.
“Forget it.
The longer we drag this out, the more trouble we’ll have if others catch up.
We can settle how to split the points later.
Let’s deal with him first.” “Exactly,” the Skarmory trainer agreed.
“Since we managed to catch him, this Rhyhorn can’t be anything more than One-Star.
My Skarmory will keep it occupied while the two of you take down his other Two-Star Pokémon.” “Deal.” The three exchanged savage smiles, like hunters staring down trapped prey.
Lucas remained completely unfazed.
In fact…
He almost wanted to laugh.
“You’re right,” he said with a faint smile.
“We should finish this quickly.
Otherwise, if a few more people show up, I’ll have to fly the kite all over again.” The three of them felt a sudden wave of unease.
Without another word, they launched their attacks.
“Ponyta, Ember!” “Steelix, Rock Throw!” “Skarmory, Metal Claw!” Three trainers.
Three Pokémon.
Three attacks erupted at the same instant.
Lucas simply blinked, as though he hadn’t even noticed them.
He gently patted Rhyhorn’s neck.
“Block them.” “Roar!” Just as the attacks closed to within a few meters, Rhyhorn moved.
Ancient, overwhelming strength burst from its horn.
The Rock Throw shattered on impact.
The Embers scattered into nothingness.
As for the Skarmory using Metal Claw, it was rammed head-on and sent flying backward before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Steel feathers scattered everywhere, and after twitching a few times, it completely lost the ability to fight.
Rhyhorn defeated Skarmory!
Gained 102 EXP!
Rhyhorn — Level 12 (1592/2000 EXP) The three trainers stared in horror.
Three Level 10 Pokémon attacking together…
Yet they couldn’t even withstand a single charge from Rhyhorn.
One Pokémon had been knocked out instantly, while the other two attacks had been crushed with ease.
This wasn’t even the same level of strength.
The Steelix and Ponyta trainers immediately turned to flee.
Only to discover a small dinosaur-like Pokémon quietly standing behind them.
“What is that?” Neither of them had ever seen such a Pokémon before.
Before they could think further, it moved.
Its claw swept through the air, wrapped in faint violet energy.
The next instant…
Both Pokémon collapsed simultaneously.
Palkia defeated Ponyta!
Gained 106 EXP!
Palkia defeated Steelix!
Gained 108 EXP!
Palkia — Level 12 (355/2000 EXP) The two remaining trainers inhaled sharply.
What…
What had just happened?
Lucas calmly walked over and pointed their wrist recorders toward his own.
Streams of data immediately transferred into his wristband.
By absorbing the evaluation data from three Level 10 One-Star Pokémon, his progress toward a Third-Tier evaluation increased significantly.
Once all of their evaluation points had been taken, protective barriers instantly expanded from the three trainers’ wristbands, surrounding and immobilizing them.
The barrier only activated after a contestant’s evaluation score dropped to zero.
Its purpose was twofold.
First, it protected students.
If someone encountered an unavoidable life-threatening situation in the wilderness, they could manually reset their evaluation score to zero and activate the barrier.
Second…
Once their score reached zero, it also meant immediate elimination from the competition.
The three trainers looked utterly devastated.
If they were given another chance, they would never have provoked this demon.
Unfortunately…
There were no second chances.
All they could do was watch helplessly as Lucas waved at them before casually walking away.
…
Deep within a forest filled with towering ancient trees, Lucas looked in surprise at the beast standing before him.
It possessed the body of a bear, but the claws and fangs of a tiger.
Bear-Tiger Beast Level 20 (Two-Star Beast) Every swing of its massive claws tore apart the surrounding treetops.
Lucas clicked his tongue.
“Weren’t Two-Star beasts supposed to be rare?
I’ve barely explored for a while, and I’ve already run into one.” “Palkia, give it a try.” He pointed toward the beast, allowing Palkia to test it alone.
Although attacking together would be more efficient, he wanted to see how powerful Two-Star Palkia had become.
“Raaah!” Palkia nodded before instantly shifting through space and appearing in front of the beast.
Its claw came crashing down.
An overwhelmingly tyrannical force erupted from the strike, accompanied by the faint echo of a dragon’s roar.
“ROAR!” Slash!
The Bear-Tiger Beast’s furious roar ended abruptly.
Deep claw marks split across its body as blood poured from the wounds, splattering the ground.
The beast desperately attempted a final counterattack.
Its dying strike smashed into empty air.
As the Spatial Pokémon, Palkia’s mastery over space had become increasingly refined with every level it gained.
Within only a few dozen breaths, the Bear-Tiger Beast was covered in blood.
At last, filled with humiliation and unwillingness, it collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash.
Palkia killed the Bear-Tiger Beast!
Gained 920 EXP!
Palkia — Level 12 (1850/2000 EXP)!
Obtained: 290 jin of Bear-Tiger Beast Meat, 3 Bear-Tiger Beast Hides, 4 Bear-Tiger Beast Claws, 34 Bear-Tiger Beast Fangs.
Lucas stored the Bear-Tiger Beast’s meat, along with a few smaller, more valuable materials.
As for the bulkier, less valuable loot, he left it behind.
The journey ahead was still long, and carrying too much would only slow him down.