Chapter 170 – Power of the Moon! A Moon Projection from the Pokémon World!

At the city gates—

Zhu Jianyuan and his team of Trainers had already taken up position.

Beside them, Dong Feng barked tense orders to the city guards, urging them into formation. He personally hoisted a large shield and stepped forward to stand at the very front of the line.

But it was obvious: with time running short, the deployment of Boulder City's civilian Awakeners had been rushed—far from optimal.

In the face of a charging wave of death beasts, this scattered arrangement was nowhere near reassuring. Dong Feng's heart pounded in his chest.

He slammed his shield loudly, rallying the warriors with a fierce cry.

"This battle will decide the fate of Boulder City!"

"Behind us stand the parents, the children—the very people we live and fight for!"

"Brave warriors, I will be your shield. I will take the front!"

His voice—raw and thunderous—barely managed to stabilize the troops' morale.

Then, he turned instinctively to Zhu Jianyuan beside him.

"Old Zhu… where will your team deploy?"

Dong Feng's face showed guilt and hesitation.

"How about… you take the far-right flank? That section of the beast tide has absorbed less death aura. If things get too rough—you can pull back."

Clenching his jaw, he added:

"I know how important your team is to Haicheng…"

To Dong Feng, Boulder City was home—but to Zhu Jianyuan and his people, it was a foreign battlefield.

If they lost their lives here, and Haicheng later came under siege, their absence could prove disastrous.

If Zhu Jianyuan had a bit of selfishness, Dong Feng would've understood.

But to his surprise, Zhu Jianyuan only gave him a strange look.

Then grinned.

"Old Dong, who do you think we are?"

"We'll take the front line."

He pointed directly at the thickest part of the death beast tide—the central section, where S-class threats surged forward.

"Well, kids? Any objections?"

Dong Feng gaped.

"The center?! But that section has… two S-class beasts and over ten A-class!"

"There's barely a dozen of you—how could you possibly handle that?!"

Before Zhu Jianyuan could answer, the Trainers behind him already began to speak.

Sitting atop his Torterra, Wang Tao grinned.

"They're just death beasts temporarily boosted by death aura. Not that big a deal."

Liu Yunlan laughed as well.

"Yeah! These S-class things are nothing compared to that Tailless Rampaging Bull we faced before."

"We've cleared actual S-class zones before, y'know?"

Pei Jingguo calmly wiped his longsword with a cloth.

"Rest assured, City Lord Dong. We've handled bigger."

"Treating us like ordinary mid-tier Awakeners… that's just insulting."

Zhu Jianyuan chuckled.

"Exactly. Relax, Old Dong."

"Boulder City is a key part of the human defense line. It's Haicheng's neighbor."

"These death beasts? Small fry."

He glanced at the oncoming swarm with calm disdain.

And truthfully, it wasn't arrogance.

Compared to the siege of Haicheng, this wave was laughable.

Sure, these monsters were more aggressive due to being death-aura infused—but they lacked the solid, refined strength of those that ascended naturally.

And the Trainers?

They were no longer green rookies struggling to master Pokémon.

Thanks to Su Bai's intense training, these fighters had grown immensely.

To them, this tide of monsters…

It was free experience.

And the center?

That was the jackpot.

Dong Feng stared in disbelief at the confident faces of Zhu Jianyuan's crew.

There was no sign of false bravado—their conviction was real.

Compared to them, even the seasoned elite guards of the City Lord's estate looked shaky.

Understandably so. Even the bravest soldiers paled before a full-scale beast tide.

But these Trainers?

Their source of confidence was clear.

The Pokémon standing beside them.

"These Pokémon… what are they really?" Dong Feng murmured.

Just as he opened his mouth to ask further—

He stopped.

A strange chill ran down his spine.

His eyes turned toward the city behind him—and froze in shock.

Zhu Jianyuan, Wang Tao, and the others also turned in unison.

And what they saw—

Even they, who had witnessed Groudon's Precipice Blades, couldn't help but marvel aloud.

"What… is that?"

"Is that… a moon?"

"Since when can the moon be that big?"

Power of the Moon.

A powerful Fairy-type special attack.

It harnesses lunar energy to strike an enemy—and may even lower their Attack.

But the moon referenced in the move—

It's not this world's moon.

Here, under the suffocating veil of death aura, even sunlight only faintly shines at noon.

As for the moon? It's barely brighter than a distant star.

But now—

Diancie had summoned a projection of the Pokémon world's moon through Moonblast.

In the dead-aura-cloaked sky, a massive silver moon faintly emerged.

Its glow was so pure that it pushed back the death aura surrounding it.

Soft and ethereal moonlight bathed the city's rooftops.

Within Boulder City, countless citizens stopped in their tracks.

"Is that… the moon?"

"It's so bright…"

"Mommy! Look! The moon is beautiful!"

"So peaceful…"

Praise and awe rippled through the crowd.

The radiant moonlight, free of corruption, lifted the fear from their hearts.

But while the moon calmed the people—

It filled one "person" with terror.

That "person" was Malene.

"What… what is this?!"

She stared wide-eyed at the majestic full moon.

Unlike the citizens, Malene could feel it.

That radiant sphere radiated a terrifying aura—

A fusion of life and destruction.

Two polar forces… harmonized.

"Moonblast. Fairy-type move. Base power 95. Ever heard of it?"

Su Bai stood under the moonlight, smiling coldly at Malene.

With a wave of his hand—

Diancie nodded playfully.

Struggling slightly, she lifted both hands into the air.

Suddenly, the moonlight intensified.

Ring after ring of luminous halos surged toward Diancie, converging in her palms.

Then—

A massive sphere of moonlight formed in her hands!

Malene's face twitched uncontrollably.

She knew—if that attack hit her…

She would die.

She lunged, legs tensing to escape.

But—

Her feet didn't move.

Something held her in place.

Looking down, she saw—

Countless roots had silently grown from the ground, tightly coiling around her legs!

From afar, Su Bai raised a hand and curled his fingers.

"You called me a worm…"

"But I think we both know who's crawling now."

"You underestimated the power of Pokémon."

"And trying to steal our hard-earned feast without even saying hello?"

"That's just rude."

He pointed.

And with that signal—

Diancie let loose her Moonblast.

It shot out like a comet—too fast for the eye to track.

Before Malene could blink—

The chilling lunar radiance devoured the space around her.

Direct hit.

Silent. Serene. And devastating.

A strange paradox—

In that deathly quiet, the light still carried a sense of rebirth.

Such was the essence of Fairy-type power.

And now—

That soft, deadly light consumed the area around Malene like an enormous maw.