Pokémon: Above the Top

Bang!

The pure white Focus Blast was bitten directly. That massive crocodile-like mouth clamped down hard, and unsurprisingly, exploded inside.

Logically speaking, an explosion inside the mouth should've caused even more serious damage to Mawile, shouldn't it?

But in truth, the mouth on the back of Mawile's head was completely formed from extremely hard Steel-type imitation, not a real mouth.

If one ignored that big mouth, Mawile was actually quite cute -with a small face and big eyes- though it tended to bite without warning…

Focus Blast had no effect. Mawile let out a mocking cry toward Reuniclus, then quickly closed the distance, the large mouth on its back faintly gathering energy.

"Orb-Orb, multiple Light Screens!"

Seeing this, Mark immediately gave the command. Though Reuniclus looked dopey, it executed moves with remarkable speed.

Crack!

Crack-crack!

Crack-crack-crack!

Several invisible but tangible Light Screens suddenly formed in Mawile's path.

Charging headfirst, Mawile collided with them; only for its straight charge to suddenly stagger and wobble, its momentum vanishing instantly.

Seeing this, Mark let out a sly chuckle.

A single Light Screen could hardly stop a Steel-type Pokémon like Mawile. But if the placement angle of the Light Screens was skewed slightly, that big mouth couldn't use all its force into breaking through, and the extra force would throw it off balance.

"Hidden Power!"

Mark had no intention of holding back and directly commanded Reuniclus to use Hidden Power: [Fire-type]!

More than thirty orbs of Hidden Power energy howled toward Mawile. Each orb flew at a different angle, making them difficult to dodge completely.

With a series of small explosions, Mawile was struck by Hidden Power and severely injured.

"MAWWW!"

From within the smoke came a strained cry, followed by a flash of silver energy cutting through the haze, fired back at Reuniclus.

It was Flash Cannon!

"Reflect!"

"Reu!"

A golden diamond-shaped energy shield formed in front of Reuniclus.

The next moment, Flash Cannon struck directly, but thanks to Reflect halving the damage, Reuniclus withstood it without issue.

"Our turn, Orb-Orb, [Spinning Focus Blast]!"

Even before Flash Cannon had fully ended, Mark's command followed without pause.

Reuniclus, seemingly unscathed, calmly condensed another pure white Focus Blast. Its jelly-like hands suddenly twisted vertically.

Whoosh~

The Focus Blast began spinning at high speed, flying toward Mawile at a sharper, more bizarre angle than before.

As Flash Cannon came to an end, the [Spinning Focus Blast] arrived right in front of Mawile.

BOOOM

"MAAAAWI~"

Mawile let out a painful cry as it was struck head-on by the Focus Blast and sent flying, crashing into a nearby rock wall.

"Phew~ Well done, Orb-Orb!" Seeing the collapsed Mawile no longer move, Mark finally let out a breath of relief and fully praised Reuniclus without hesitation.

"Reu~" 'Hmph~'

Reuniclus "casually" swayed its jelly hands in response, "calmly" accepting Bayleef's Heal Pulse, which restored what little damage it had taken.

Mawile wasn't a particularly strong Pokémon to begin with, and its Special Attack was average at best. With Flash Cannon's damage halved, it barely caused any harm.

In Sato's view, the key to winning was the clever use of Light Screen. Just a simple and subtle adjustment made it nearly unbeatable when dealing with wild Pokémon.

Very soon, the fainted Mawile regained consciousness. It glanced cautiously at Mark and the others, especially the innocent-looking Reuniclus floating in the air, and then disappeared with a flash.

"HeheHEHE~ Lucario, go after it!" Mark chuckled mischievously, then immediately ordered Lucario to begin tracking.

There clearly weren't many Pokémon on the sixth level. The Pokémon living here probably had distinct territories, and their respective bases were likely hiding something valuable.

Lucario shook its head but still activated Aura, locked onto the vanished Mawile, and slowly followed after it.

The group followed Lucario's lead, weaving left and right, and didn't encounter any other Pokémon along the way. Evidently, this entire area was Mawile's territory.

"Luca!"

Lucario suddenly raised its hand and signaled to the group, pointing to the corner ahead, indicating they had arrived.

Mark took the lead and stepped forward boldly. Reuniclus followed closely behind and automatically used Flash after turning the corner.

"MAWILE!?"

A startled cry rang out; it was clearly the same Mawile they had just defeated. Once everyone's eyes adjusted to the light, Mark quickly saw the small nest made of stacked stones.

"Huh? There's a Pokémon Egg!"

Sato and Joseph also caught up at that moment. They saw Mawile staring at them in terror but still standing shakily in front of the Pokémon Egg to shield it.

"Eh… let's go." Mark said disinterestedly, waving his hand as he turned to head back. Sato and Joseph exchanged glances and followed him.

Lucario, at the rear, looked at the three who left without hesitation. Its eyes flickered rapidly, as if in thought.

"Lucario, let's go!" Mark's voice soon called out. Lucario's ears twitched, and it responded softly.

But just before leaving, Lucario turned back to glance at the Mawile in the darkness and gave it a gentle nod, then quickly caught up with the others.

Mawile looked at the three who had come and gone, then at the Pokémon Egg still lying safe in the nest, and couldn't help letting out a long sigh of relief…

Then, Mawile picked up the Pokémon Egg and, without hesitation, chose to relocate…

Immediately.

---

"Lucario, from now on, don't take us to Pokémon that already have babies. Waste of time," Mark complained.

"Luca~" Lucario nodded, agreeing without the slightest hesitation.

Afterward, the group continued deeper. They didn't linger long on the sixth level and went straight down to the seventh.

Upon reaching the seventh level, even the air became murky, and Sato and the others had to put on masks.

Mark also recalled Reuniclus, leaving only Lucario outside.

Sato did the same with Skorupi and sent out Krookodile, which wasn't affected by the environment.

Bayleef could automatically generate fresh air, so it calmly continued to play the support role.

Without Reuniclus iluminating the way with Flash, the three pulled out Night Vision Goggles and flashlights, gearing up before moving forward again.

Lucario resumed leading the way. This time, it paused after almost every few steps, taking its time to analyze before proceeding.

The three were somewhat puzzled, but didn't interrupt Lucario. After all, they had gone quite deep underground, so tougher exploration was to be expected.

But when Lucario finally led them to an underground pool faintly glowing with a soft yellow light

…None of them could remain calm.