Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

However, Xia Chen has a clear conscience in this matter.

The Ultimate World is so vast that even if Guleton were to carry me at full speed, it wouldn't be possible to explore it all in a short time, let alone find someone whose fate is unknown.

Well, if I have some free time, I'll try my luck somewhere before I leave.

Xia Chen made this decision in the end.

…………

I'm busy right now, of course.

For Xia Chen, the most important thing right now is to enable the Paper Sword to cleave through the Ultimate Hole.

The metropolis was too crowded, making it difficult to practice martial arts. After finishing his meal, Xia Chen took his paper sword and ran outside.

Suddenly returning from a place shrouded in light to darkness, Paper Sword was still somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Taking this opportunity, Xia Chen fed him some more motivational platitudes about "bringing light back to the entire Ultimate World." Although Paper Sword didn't say anything, the sword itself trembled involuntarily.

However, once Paper Sword got used to the dark environment, a new problem arose—

That sword strike capable of cleaving through ultimate space... Xia Chen doesn't know how to teach it.

To be honest, he only knew that such a technique existed, and he had confirmed with Volcano that some paper swords could do it, but asking him to actually do it... was asking too much of a question.

Although Ash did teach Rowlet to use Seed Blast and Dragon Dance in the anime, that was Ash!

Xia Chen, who didn't believe he had the ability to be a super True New Town resident, had to find another way.

Oh, right, the Volcano Moth!

Xia Chen suddenly thought of his Pokémon, which seemed to know a lot about the Ultimate World. It was Pokémon that suggested the idea of ​​finding the Paper Sword. Maybe it could have a solution.

Throw out the Volcarona's Poké Ball, and the giant fluttering moth tilts its head in confusion.

Xia Chen asked directly, "Didn't you say before that you had a paper sword that could cleave out an ultimate hole? Do you think it can do that?"

Following the direction Xia Chen pointed, the Fire Moth saw a paper sword, sharp as a famous sword, floating proudly in the air.

Just by sensing its aura, the fire moth realized that it was stronger than itself.

After thinking for a moment, the large fluttering moth replied, "Kona—(Um...wait a minute, let me ask...let me check.)"

The Volcano, who almost let slip, thought to itself how close it was to disaster, and then frantically started mentally calling out to its teacher, [Light].

"Teacher, help me!"

A short while later, a response came: "I heard you, what's the rush? Come closer and let me sense it."

The fire moth obediently did as instructed, but as soon as it got close, the paper sword instinctively adjusted its body posture to a drawing stance, and the metal blade hummed.

Wild Pokémon generally maintain a safe distance; entering without permission may at best arouse suspicion, and at worst, result in a direct attack.

Paper Sword is a relatively vigilant creature; if it weren't for its cooperation with Xia Chen, it would have already attacked the Fire God Moth by now.

The fire moth wasn't intimidated by the threat. It narrowed its eyes and said, "Kona? (You want to fight?)"

Paper Sword also has a fiery temper. Although it is no longer affected by the black mist and has lost its restlessness, it still adheres to the mindset of "if you want to fight, then fight".

In its view, the Volcano Moth had provoked it first, and if it backed down, it would lose face in front of Xia Chen, its "partner".

Although Paper Sword didn't understand the principle of making an example of someone, he still had a deep-seated feeling that "this battle is unavoidable."

…………

The atmosphere in the air grew increasingly tense, but Xia Chen, who had been watching from the sidelines, remained silent.

He didn't want to stop this battle that seemed to have started inexplicably.

It's better to guide than to block. Even if Paper Sword doesn't necessarily join the team in the future, he will definitely spend a lot of time with himself and the spirits. It's better to resolve the newly emerging conflict through fighting now than to keep the emotions bottled up inside.

Even if Volcarona loses, it doesn't matter. So, the likes of Gruulton, Deoxys, and Zeraora are enough to suppress Kamatari.

He could also use this battle to see Paper Sword's strength.

While Vulcan was locked in a stalemate with Paper Sword, he was also secretly observing Xia Chen's reaction.

When it saw that its trainer remained silent, it understood his attitude.

Then hit!

Although she knew that the Paper Sword was stronger than her, the Fire Moth was not intimidated at all.

Since entering the Ultimate World and absorbing the energy of the original projection, the strength of the Volcano's main body has increased dramatically.

Aside from that wave of strange beasts, it never had another chance to make a move. Paper Sword wanted to use it as a whetstone, but it also wanted to test its sword against this worthy opponent.

So what if it's legendary? If the skill level is too low, I don't think it's challenging at all!

With this in mind, the Volcano launched the first attack.

The insect's six wings, as dazzling as the sun, trembled and chirped softly, but in reality, they were flapping rapidly at an extremely high frequency invisible to the naked eye.

The surrounding air heated up rapidly in an instant, and the Paper Sword facing the Fire God Moth felt a scorching heat rushing towards it, as if it wanted to burn everything.

Hot air!

Out of respect for the paper sword, Volcarona started with the safest approach: hot air.

Where the hot wind passed, the pitch-black sky was instantly dyed a vast expanse of fiery red clouds.

The Vulcan moth flapped its wings again, and the irregular fiery cloud seemed to come alive, sweeping and gathering towards the paper sword.

Xia Chen, who was being held back by Gu Leton and moved to a greater distance, nodded repeatedly. Judging from this hot wind alone, Volcano's control over fire-attribute energy was becoming increasingly refined.

So, how would a paper sword that has hardly ever fought a battle cope?

Xia Chen looked curiously at the Paper Sword, which was tightly wrapped in the hot air and had no room to hide.

…………

The pitch-black night sky of the Ultimate World, which had remained unchanged for decades, was illuminated red by the hot wind, and a ball of hot wind gathered and rushed straight towards the Paper Might Sword.

Amidst the blazing flames, a flash of silver light disappeared.

Then, this fireball, as dazzling and scorching as a small sun, was instantly split in two and collapsed to both sides!

boom--

Amidst the deafening roar of exploding flames, the silver light that emerged from the firelight suddenly shot forward, slashing towards the Volcano.

Holy Sword!

With a faint, almost imperceptible hum, the paper sword unleashed its most masterful move, honed year after year.

The cold glint of the blade was concealed beneath the shimmering white Fighting-type energy, as it slashed towards the Volcarona's plump body.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The stunned Volcano was caught off guard and swallowed the powerful holy sword whole.

Before entering the Ultimate World, Volcano, who was only at the Elite Four level, would definitely not have been able to withstand the attack from Kamitsuki, whose strength was definitely at the legendary level.

But as time passed, Volcano, having absorbed the energy of the Ultimate World projection, did not fall; instead, the intense pain caused it to unleash tremendous power.

The fire moth opened its mouthparts wide, spewing out scorching flames that, without needing to aim, engulfed the paper swords that couldn't escape in time.

The fact that fire-type energy is four times more effective against grass and steel types is no joke. Even a powerful weapon like Paper Sword felt a burning sensation in the sea of ​​fire that completely engulfed its slender body.

It adjusted its posture, adopting a sword-drawing stance, attempting to break through the sea of ​​fire again using the same tactic, but this time the flames were quite different from the previous hot winds.

Each time a crack was made, flames would rush in from the outside to fill the gap; this happened to the Paper Sword after it made more than a dozen cuts.

As a result, despite wasting several precious seconds, Paper Sword not only failed to break through the encirclement, but instead sank deeper and deeper into the sea of ​​fire, as if its defenses were trapped in a vortex of continuous sinking and falling.

This move is Volcano's signature move, Flame Vortex.

To be precise, it is a fire vortex that has been improved countless times. Unlike the one used for defense, this fire vortex is inspired by insect silk and is designed to inflict torture.

Although its scale was far smaller than the hot wind from before, the continuous flames within it wrapped around the trapped enemy like threads, which was why the Paper Sword could never escape.

As Volcarona continued to exert its power, the temperature continued to rise. For Karatana, whose special defense was ridiculously low, this sea of ​​fire could already be called hell.

Meanwhile, the karmic fires of hell are gradually eroding and depleting its life force.

I have to do something.

Paper Sword thought to itself.

The predicament did not frustrate it; on the contrary, it made Paper Sword even more determined.

If one sword strike cannot break the deadlock, then unleash ten strikes.

If ten swords aren't enough, then a hundred, a thousand, until you fall!

…………

Paper Sword looked at the raging fire in front of him again, and a surge of vitality welled up in his heart, though he didn't know where it came from.

That power surged and roared within his body, as if it wanted to burst out of his body in the next instant.

Instead of suppressing this power, Paper Sword guided it to the blade on its body.

All it needs to do is let it flow naturally.

then.

hum-

boom--

Two sounds, one soft and one loud, were emitted in succession.

The former was the hum of the sword like the fluttering of butterfly wings, while the latter was the explosive roar of a vortex of flames being cleaved open by a single sword strike.

In an instant, the exploding flames flew everywhere, like a grand fireworks display in the dark night sky, and at the same time, a crack appeared.

A crack that stunned Xia Chen, who was watching from the sidelines, appeared—the Ultimate Hole!

Although its size and scale were far smaller than the enormous rift that suddenly appeared in the Alola sky, its mysterious and profound aura was undoubtedly the ultimate hole that Xia Chen had been searching for!

Was this... a lucky accident?

Or perhaps it was a carefully planned scheme by the Volcano Moth.

Xia Chen looked thoughtfully at the Volcano, who also had an incredulous expression, then decided to give up on thinking about the question.

Each of my own little sprites is more dramatic than the last; who knows what Volcarona is thinking?

Besides, who cares where it came from, as long as the result is good.