HxH : Pokemon Master

Chapter 73 - A Sure-Hit Skill

Akira turned his head, glancing at Maha, who was standing in the shadow of a nearby tree, frowning for a moment before relaxing. It was only natural that Maha could dodge.

If he could be taken down so easily, it would be a waste of his S-rank strength.

However, Maha wasn't in great shape either. He was currently adjusting his state under the tree, his aged face looking extremely grim.

After countless Rock Slides, he was still able to dodge the pounce because he had been channeling his aura at full power. This allowed him to momentarily break free from his flinch state and quickly escape to a distance.

This was the vast aura of an S- rank powerhouse!

Within the S- rank range, no aura user had a low reserve of aura. Just now, Maha had spared no cost, desperately consuming his aura to dodge. Facing Tyranitar body press, if he hadn't dodged, the amount of aura needed to withstand it would have been far greater!

Even so, Maha was still hit by the residual force of the press. His ever-present tracksuit now had several holes and was stained with dust. Utterly disheveled!

Maha stood quietly under the tree, his snake-like cold eyes fixed on Tyranitar, his hands beginning to move. In his eyes, the aura around Tyranitar was constantly being consumed, and this state likely wouldn't last much longer!

This was the price of repeatedly using Iron Defense. Maintaining its effect required a continuous expenditure of aura.

As for the other peculiar aura beast...

Maha glanced sideways at Blissey, who was panting slightly, clearly exhausted from the massive Rock Slide and Gravity she had just unleashed, which had drained a significant amount of her aura. Leaving aside Rock Slide, the bulk of the consumption was on Gravity!

Depending on the strength of the enemy, the cost of Gravity varied. The more formidable the opponent, the more aura was needed to suppress their speed.

For a being like Maha, every moment of Gravity activation was a massive output of aura.

So, in Maha view, while these two aura beasts were indeed strong, he still had a chance of winning. As long as he was cautious, he could pull it off!

Thinking this, Maha twisted his neck, and the imposing aura around him suddenly contracted, instantly concealing his presence. Behind him, the faint outline of a massive serpent flicked its tongue, appearing particularly eerie.

Akira narrowed his eyes, a hint of surprise in his gaze.

At this moment, Maha was clearly standing under the shade of a tree, yet the aura he sensed told him... there was no one there!

If it were just a matter of his own lack of strength, that would be one thing, but even Tyranitar and Chansey felt the same! This was Maha Six-Style Serpent Technique, born from years of assassination experience fused with his aura abilities! It allowed him to enter a hidden state at any time, anywhere!

The "Zetsu" technique from the Four Major Principles could conceal one aura. The more advanced technique, "In" could completely hide all traces of one's presence, making it extremely difficult to detect.

But Maha aura ability surpassed even "In"!

It was as if he had been erased from the canvas of the "world," as if he no longer existed!

In other words, once Maha disappeared from sight, it was impossible to detect him, even with techniques like "Gyo" or "En"!

Ultimate concealment paired with ultimate killing techniques—this was the ability of the world strongest assassin!

Maha figure flickered, and he suddenly vanished from his spot. In the blink of an eye, he had hidden himself within the dense forest, his figure no longer visible. The vast arena seemed to be left with only Akira and his two beasts.

Though Maha was no longer present, Akira felt an inexplicable sense of impending danger, as if threats lurked everywhere. Maha could attack from any direction at any moment!

"Clap clap clap, truly worthy of the title of the strongest assassin! That ability to erase one presence is incredible!" Akira applauded Maha performance, genuinely impressed by the strength of this ability.

Even Gardevoir psychic senses couldn't detect Maha! This alone spoke volumes about how extraordinary Maha ability was.

But... Maha, you have no idea about the unique nature of Pokémon moves...

"Blissey, Swift!"

Blissey brought her short arms together in front of her, and a cluster of golden stars suddenly formed.

They then shot forward into the forest like a golden river of stars, breathtakingly beautiful. The stars seemed to have a homing function, first flying straight ahead, then turning sharply to the left... To Akira, it looked as if the stars were out of control, darting forward one moment and then veering left the next.

As if... they were chasing something invisible moving through the trees!

"Swish swish swish..."

Maha darted through the forest, occasionally glancing back, only to find the Swift stars relentlessly pursuing him!

What the hell is this thing?!

Is this some kind of attack that can lock onto a target?

Why can it even lock onto me?

Maha, having been an assassin for so long, has certainly encountered attacks that can lock onto targets before, given the myriad of strange Nen abilities out there.

But this is the first time he's seen an attack that can still lock onto him even after he's entered this mode! Once again, Maha feels the terror of the rule-based effects of Pokémon moves!

Swift: Fires star-shaped beams of light that are guaranteed to hit! As long as the target is nearby, the Swift beams will relentlessly chase them down!

Let's not even talk about how powerful Swift is, its more important effect right now is revealing the opponent location. No matter how well you hide your presence or how skilled you are at evading, you're going to have to take this Swift attack!

Unless you can dodge Swift forever, playing an endless game of "chase and run."

"This is insane!"

Maha has lived a long life, but this is the first time he's fought such a frustrating battle and encountered so many bizarre abilities.

Although Swift doesn't seem particularly powerful, and even if he takes the hit, it probably won't cause much damage. But Maha is still shaken by the earlier Rock Slide, fearing that this attack might trigger some strange effect.

In the end, Maha has no choice but to expend a significant amount of his Nen to knock down each of those stars one by one. As an Enhancer, all his attacks are close-range. But now, out of caution, he resorts to Emission, a type he's less proficient in, to neutralize this attack.

After some effort, Maha finally manages to disperse the stars, but this raises another question.

If the opponent can lock onto his position, is it still worth maintaining his Nen ability, which consumes a lot of energy?

As Maha ponders this, his gaze involuntarily shifts toward Akira, and his pupils suddenly contract, his face filled with shock!

It's this action from Akira side that completely extinguishes any desire to continue the fight...

He sees Blissey pulling a small egg from its pouch, eating it in one bite, and then its Nen suddenly surges forth, overwhelmingly powerful!

After eating that egg, Blissey Nen is fully restored to its initial level! Then, another egg quickly appears in its pouch, which Blissey hands over to Tyranitar to eat.

Soft-Boiled: After eating, it restores half of the user health and Nen. At its current strength, it can only be used three times a day! The egg must be eaten immediately after being taken out.

This is the recovery move, Soft-Boiled, from the games!

In the games, it has a PP limit of 5 (can only be used five times per battle). In the real world, the Soft-Boiled skill is limited by the user strength, restricting the number of times it can be used each day. But this doesn't diminish the sheer brokenness of Soft-Boiled!

Just by eating it, half of the user health and Nen are restored, and this effect works on any living being. In other words, whether it's a weak D-rank or a powerful S-rank, the effect is the same—percentage-based recovery!

If all the Soft-Boiled eggs in a day were given to Tyranitar, it would essentially mean having two half S- rank Pokémon!

This is why Maha completely loses the will to fight.

How can you even compete with this? I spend all this effort to wear you down, and you just eat an egg and recover everything?

"I admit defeat!"

"I'm done fighting!"

Maha emerged from the shadows with a look of frustration, feeling as though his blood pressure had spiked despite being in good health.

The moment Maha conceded defeat, the experience bar in Akira mind once again showed progress. Both Tyranitar and Blissey experience bars had moved, especially Blissey, which seemed to be on a roll, filling up one bar after another.

For Blissey, who was at A- rank, the experience from an S- rank opponent, even if only half, was still immense.

In the end, Blissey's level stabilized at A+.

Meanwhile, Tyranitar, after absorbing half of Maha experience, finally achieved its long-desired S rank! While it might seem like just a small step forward, it was actually an enormous leap in power!

With this boost in strength, Tyranitar didn't hold back its aura, unleashing it fully as if declaring to the world that it had reached S rank.

Maha, standing nearby, naturally felt this chilling presence. His narrow eyes widened instantly, fixed on the two beasts whose auras had grown several times stronger, completely in disbelief!

So, you were holding back earlier?! Those weren't even your full strength?!

"You, you... this..." Maha pointed at the two beasts, stammering incoherently. The shock he had experienced today was too much for an old man like him to handle.

Seeing Maha inexplicably stunned again, Akira soon realized that Maha seemed to have misunderstood, thinking he hadn't gone all out earlier. His gaze shifted back and forth between Tyranitar and Blissey, and Maha eventually let out a heavy sigh.

Then, he slowly began to walk back the way he came, his lonely figure appearing to have aged considerably in an instant.

I really am getting old... The younger generation these days is truly something else!

Just then, Silva arrived at the scene. While shocked by the extent of the destruction, Silva approached his ancestor. Swallowing hard, Silva looked at the disheveled Maha and then at the smiling Akira, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

Could it be... No way?!

"Are you..." Silva asked tentatively, still unable to believe that Akira could have defeated Maha.

Maha glanced coldly at Silva, his narrow eyes hiding a deep gloom, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"I lost, a crushing defeat!"

Hearing this, Silva body trembled. His worst fear had come true!

Akira is actually this strong?! Even a crushing defeat!!

Silva was quite familiar with Maha strength. It was on par with the former "World Strongest"—Chairman Netero! And now, such a figure had lost to the young Akira!

In an instant, Silva felt overwhelmed with shock, his emotions hard to calm.

Seeing this, Akira mouth twitched slightly. He wondered what would happen if he revealed his feat of defeating Netero now.

Would Silva and Maha feel a bit more at ease, or would they be even more astonished?

Ignoring Silva, who stood frozen in place, Maha continued walking forward, wanting only to leave this disheartening place.

Maha was filled with regret.

Why had he even bothered to meet with Akira earlier?

If he had just stayed in his room watching cartoons, he wouldn't be so frustrated now. Today battle was the most infuriating fight Maha had ever experienced since the day he was born.

An ability that could suppress his speed! (Gravity) A control that was nearly impossible to escape once caught! (Rock Slide) The ability to continuously enhance defensive capabilities! (Iron Defense)

The power to unleash incredibly strong attacks at will! (Body Press) The ability to track the stars left behind after using Nen abilities! (Swift Stars) And finally, the egg that can instantly replenish all consumed Nen energy! (Soft-Boiled)

Maha couldn't wrap his head around why this young man could create Nen beasts with so many bizarre and unique abilities!

It seems that after returning, he would need to thoroughly gather information on this person!

This is someone the Zoldyck family cannot afford to provoke!

....

Two days later, Maha was sitting across from Akira, playing a game of chess. It was hard to imagine that a man who usually only loved watching cartoons was also a killer who enjoyed chess and tea.

The combination of these three elements seemed so bizarre.

"Click."

Maha casually placed a piece on the board, his dim eyes glancing at Akira, who was deep in thought. Even now, he still found it hard to accept reality. Not only had he lost to Akira, but upon returning, he had also requested a large amount of information about Akira.

The Zoldyck family maintained detailed archives on all notable figures, compiling various pieces of information about their targets.

Naturally, Akira fell into the category of notable figures. It wasn't until Maha got his hands on Akira file that he realized the Akira he had fought had only revealed the tip of the iceberg of his abilities!

Akira was also a Nen Exorcist! And not just any Nen Exorcist—he was an unprecedented top-tier Nen Exorcist, capable of effortlessly removing the death curse from an entire ruin!

He also possessed several other Nen beasts, with four currently revealed, not including the giant pink-and-white egg he had used during their battle! In other words, just based on what was visible, Akira had at least five Nen beasts, and who knew if there were more.

If each Nen beast had its own unique ability, then... Only after seeing the information about Akira did Maha finally come to terms with it.

He hadn't lost unjustly! This Akira was a monster!

As Maha reflected on the shock brought by Akira information, Akira was also pondering the events of the past few days. Since their battle, although he had gained the experience he needed, he hadn't walked away without paying a price.

Labor costs, venue repair fees, information fees related to the Dark Continent...

Silva had directly handed him a bill, and each item on it would be considered astronomical outside. Fortunately, for Akira, it was nothing—just one-fifth of his total wealth so far!

Clearing two renowned ruins had brought Akira immense wealth. And whenever he was short on money, he could simply pick a ruin to explore, and his wallet would be full again. The death curses within the ruins could also help Gengar level up, ensuring that every bit of profit was squeezed out without waste.

Those terrifying ruins scattered across the six continents were, in Akira eyes, like treasure chests waiting to be opened. He had gained experience and information about the Dark Continent, and all he had to give up was money, which was useless to him.

It was a great deal.

Moreover, there was another piece of good news—the Zoldyck family Pokémon had also been born. This time, it had taken the shortest amount of time among all the Pokémon, which Akira found quite strange.

It seemed that the time required for a Pokémon to be born was still a matter of luck—good luck meant a shorter time, while bad luck meant a longer wait. Now that everything he wanted to do was done, it was time to part ways.

"You should probably leave now, shouldn't you?" Akira nodded, placing his final chess piece, completely blocking Maha path. He had won.

"I'll leave in a moment. I'll take care of those two annoying flies outside while I'm at it."

"Indeed. To you, they're as weak as flies," Maha agreed wholeheartedly, his tone tinged with a hint of reflection.

Perhaps in Akira eyes, he too was just a slightly larger fly...

...

After some casual conversation, Akira left the Zoldyck family, where he had stayed for two days. This trip had been quite fruitful, making it well worth the journey.

After exiting the Zoldyck family gates, Akira walked along the main road. Eventually, he arrived near a forest, a place sparsely populated and surrounded by a sea of trees.

Occasionally, the sound of birds chirping could be heard, creating an atmosphere of serene tranquility.

It was the perfect place for a battlefield!

"Still not coming out? Do I need to invite you down?" Akira stood in the open space, hands in his pockets, his eyes cold and sharp.

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