Ch.89 Siblings From Different Parents

To be honest, when he saw Pancham evolve into Pangoro, Todo Aoi was surprised but also felt a slight sense of relief.

In his eyes, an opponent taller than himself was clearly easier to fight than a small creature half his size.

Even if the small one became a big one with increased strength and speed, at least now he could actually land a punch.

But as soon as Pangoro made its first move, Todo Aoi realized something was wrong.

Because Pangoro had more moves at its disposal now.

When it was a small creature, it only had simple striking or slashing moves. Now, as a bigger one, it started using throws and grapples.

—Move: Vital Throw.

—Move: Seismic Toss.

The reason lay in the size difference. When it was smaller, with short limbs, it needed to grab hold to throw or grapple.

As a larger form, that was no longer a concern.

These kinds of moves were more effective against opponents of similar size.

With Pangoro's increased strength and visibly bulky physique, the threat doubled.

Moreover, because its teammate was injured, Pangoro was in a state of rage, willing to take a hit to land a powerful blow on its opponent.

This exchange of injuries was a strategy that was too much for Todo Aoi to handle.

So, once again, he clapped his hands, switching places with Darkrai just as Pangoro got close.

Using the distance gained, he quickly activated his Cursed Technique:

"My Cursed Technique allows me to swap places with my opponent—'Boogie Woogie'! And clapping my hands is the condition for activation."

While speaking, he clapped twice more. Once to switch himself with Darkrai, and another to switch himself with Pangoro.

The spatial swapping completely disoriented both Pokemon, forcing them to stop their assault on Todo Aoi.

The audience outside the arena also cast wary and serious glances at Todo Aoi.

From both schools.

Todo Aoi usually fought without using his Cursed Technique, relying solely on hand-to-hand combat to easily secure victory. So even his peers didn't know the exact nature and effects of his technique.

Seeing it now… it was a stark reminder that some people just had it better.

The technique's effect was very simple, but because of its simplicity, it became extremely difficult to deal with.

Positioning and direction were crucial in battle, and one mistake could completely turn a favorable situation on its head—Darkrai getting hit was a typical example.

What made it even scarier was that "Boogie Woogie" consumed very little cursed energy, had almost no cooldown, and only required a clap to activate, significantly increasing its tactical possibilities.

It's no exaggeration to say that, with the support of "Boogie Woogie," Todo Aoi had even greater mobility than Nishimiya Momo, making both surprise attacks and self-defense incredibly convenient.

Its level of convenience and versatility were top-tier, even surpassing Nanami Kento's "Ratio Technique" and Mei Mei's "Crow Manipulation" techniques.

That's why both Gakuganji Yoshinobu and Gojo Satoru believed he was at least Grade 1, and if he could further push his technique to a higher level, reaching Special Grade wouldn't be impossible.

This technique was really overpowered.

So much so that Hakari Kinji, who had tied with him yesterday, now felt a bit reluctant to fight him.

Sure, Hakari could gain the upper hand through his Cursed Technique in a "gambling match," but if Todo Aoi refused to play along, he'd always have the upper hand.

Unless he faced someone even more overpowered.

Like Yuta Okkotsu.

Or Akira.

"Hold a pincer formation! Darkrai, stay afloat and use 'Ominous Wind.' Pan-chan, use 'Body Slam,' but don't target a specific individual—aim directly at the ground nearby!"

When a Pokemon faced an unsolvable problem, the trainer naturally stepped in—this was the trainer's duty.

"Couldn't hold back anymore, huh?" Todo Aoi smiled at Akira.

It was both self-encouragement and an acknowledgment of Akira—that man had already figured out a way to counter "Boogie Woogie."

The swapping in "Boogie Woogie" was point-to-point, and the distance was restricted by the two points.

If that was the case, then shorten the distance between the two points, minimize the displacement, and simultaneously use an area attack to cover all possible points.

The choice of area attacks was also very deliberate. Ominous Wind dealt low damage but had a special effect, while Body Slam targeted only the ground, leaving Darkrai unaffected while it hovered.

In this way, they steadily countered the effects of the technique while continuing to gain an advantage. The further they went, the more they would adapt to the position swapping of "Boogie Woogie," and the greater their advantage would become.

However, Todo Aoi was well aware of this as well.

When his technique first awakened, his Special Grade teacher had analyzed it for him.

The best time for "Boogie Woogie" to have an impact was during the surprise of a first encounter.

That was the fundamental reason he didn't use his technique regularly—to ensure maximum effect at critical moments.

Each time he used his technique, it was after careful thought, finding the fastest, most efficient strategy.

Now was that moment.

Clap!

A clap once again.

Todo Aoi vanished from his original spot.

Darkrai and Pangoro instinctively tensed, quickly trying to determine his new location, but to their surprise, their positions had not changed.

Instead, who appeared in their attack range was Gardevoir, kneeling in place.

Todo Aoi's big face and fist, as large as a sandbag, were now right above Akira.

The switch had only changed positions; everything else remained the same.

That's right, his true target had never been the Pokemon.

Even if he put all his effort into defeating Darkrai and Pancham, there was still that "strong woman."

Victory in an individual battle was determined by defeating the sorcerer. If he could steamroll through, Todo Aoi wouldn't mind taking out the entire team by himself.

But the current situation didn't allow that, so he had to make the choice most favorable to himself.

Everything he had shown before was misdirection.

To make Akira believe that his attention was entirely on the Pokemon in front of him, that the range of his "Boogie Woogie" wasn't wide enough, and even required a "technique explanation" to strengthen it.

All for this meticulously planned surprise attack.

Akira, I acknowledge you as a powerful opponent.

But no matter how powerful you are, I won't hand victory to you.

This is the winning strategy calculated by my IQ of 530,000 (self-proclaimed) CPU.

Don't blame me for being cunning; blame yourself for being careless and greedy.

Take this punch!

The punch fell, but it didn't land fully.

Midway through, Todo Aoi's vision suddenly blurred, and the prone Akira disappeared, replaced by Gardevoir, who had just been swapped away.

The invisible force they had experienced yesterday surged again, stopping his fist, and then Gardevoir clapped.

Her figure vanished instantly, replaced by the power-type Pangoro.

"Ora!"

A heavy punch finally landed squarely on Todo Aoi, sending him flying and avenging Darkrai.

With blood streaming from his nose and mouth, Todo Aoi, as if struck by a vehicle, didn't look at the large figure nearby but instead gazed in astonishment at Gardevoir.

"Switching... Could it be that you too—"

Akira, now reunited with Gardevoir, finally rose from the ground and spoke in all seriousness.

"That's right. Gar-chan can swap positions with her opponent—'Boogie Woogie'! And clapping is the activation condition."

Gardevoir clapped in sync, swapping places with Akira.

Todo Aoi's body trembled as he watched, eyes wide, tears rolling down despite the summer heat.

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't tears of rage or sorrow, but rather—

He looked up at a 45-degree angle, a tough man's gentle sentimentality.

"Undefeated back home, huh? It seems we are siblings from different parents."

Gardevoir: Σ(⊙▽⊙"a

Akira: What the…?!