Pokemon: I'm a Farmer

"Lucario is unable to battle. Machamp wins!"

Looking at Lucario lying motionless on the ground, Karen happily announced the result.

In that final contest of willpower, Machamp didn't let Rex down. After outlasting Lucario, it remained standing firmly in the arena.

However, Rex knew that Machamp was already at its limit and could no longer continue fighting. So right after Karen announced the result, he immediately had Jumpluff heal both Machamp and Lucario.

Cynthia had no objections to this, simply standing by quietly as Jumpluff tended to the two Pokémon.

She wasn't frustrated by Lucario's loss either. Instead, she looked at Machamp with admiration—this Machamp's performance had earned her respect, even as an opponent.

Although Machamp had secured a win through sheer willpower, Rex knew deep down that he had already lost. He was down to only Swellow, while Cynthia still had two completely healthy Pokémon.

"Go, Garchomp!"

"Your turn, Swellow!"

For the third match, both sides sent out their ace Pokémon. This was the decisive battle.

Garchomp resembled a hammerhead shark. Its body was dark blue, with red extending from the jaw to the upper belly and yellow across the lower abdomen.

Two fin-like protrusions jutted from its head. A yellow, upside-down star-shaped marking lay on its snout. Its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, and it had three gill slits on each side of its neck.

Its claws were single-toed and white, and its feet had three toes. Two white bone-like spikes jutted from both its upper arms and thighs. Garchomp's wings, resembling a shark's pectoral fins, were attached to its forearms. When it tucked in its limbs and spread its wings, it looked just like a jet plane.

Garchomp made its home in volcanoes. The two protrusions on its head acted as sensors, able to detect prey from far away.

It had a ferocious temperament. One had to stay vigilant when facing Garchomp—it could rocket into the sky at jet-like speed to hunt its prey, leaving them nowhere to run.

Its tiny, razor-sharp scales reduced air resistance and could even injure attackers. Garchomp often engaged in aerial battles with Salamence over food.

On land, it was agile as well. Even in snowy mountains, it would take out its prey before freezing and return to its den. When dashing at high speed, its wings would generate blades of air that could slice through trees.

As Cynthia's signature Pokémon, Garchomp exuded a dominating presence. The pressure it gave off made the surrounding Pokémon instinctively tense up.

Even the mythical Celebi and the others didn't dare underestimate this Garchomp, as they could feel the overwhelming threat it posed.

That meant this Garchomp had the power to actually harm them—it was on the same level as they were.

As for Swellow, Garchomp's current opponent, it felt this most deeply. Standing before Garchomp, it was like confronting its natural predator, stirring up an inexplicable fear.

"Swellow!"

After glancing at its Trainer, Swellow let out a cry to pump itself up and then entered battle mode. Even if it died fighting, it would never surrender.

A beam of Hyper Beam burst from Swellow's mouth, aiming at Garchomp, who was still on the ground.

Facing the incoming Hyper Beam, Garchomp simply raised its right claw, gathered Dragon Claw energy, and slashed down, dispersing the attack in one strike.

But Swellow hadn't expected to win with just one Hyper Beam. One after another, it unleashed successive beams, raining them down on Garchomp from various angles.

Garchomp's claws moved swiftly, slashing through each incoming Hyper Beam without fail, dispersing them all.

Seeing this, Rex couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. He had known Cynthia's Garchomp was strong, but he hadn't expected this level of monstrous power.

After all, even though Swellow's Hyper Beam had weakened somewhat, it wasn't weak enough to be casually deflected.

Each of Garchomp's seemingly effortless slashes hit the weakest points of the Hyper Beams, scattering their energy and neutralizing them completely.

Realizing its attacks were ineffective, Swellow stopped wasting energy and began using Tailwind to boost its speed.

But Garchomp wouldn't just let Swellow power up. Like a rocket, it launched from the ground into the air, arriving before Swellow in an instant.

Luckily, Swellow had already completed Tailwind and narrowly dodged Garchomp's strike. The two then began an aerial chase.

Garchomp's speed was formidable, but it still struggled to catch up with a Swellow boosted by Tailwind.

On the ground, Rex and the others could no longer see the two clearly, only hearing the sound of their wings slicing through the air.

Even though Garchomp couldn't catch Swellow for the moment, Swellow didn't want to keep dodging either—running away wouldn't win the battle.

At last, Swellow saw an opening. It used Aerial Ace, looping in mid-air and ramming into Garchomp with its beak, trying to knock it back.

Surprisingly, Garchomp only staggered slightly from the hit before regaining its balance mid-air. Then a Dragon Claw came slashing down, sending Swellow flying.

With high attack, deep health, strong defense, and astonishing speed, Garchomp was practically a perfect all-rounder. Rex had no idea how Swellow could possibly win.

But Swellow didn't give up even after being sent flying. Flapping its wings, it dodged Garchomp's follow-up and continued the aerial pursuit, waiting for another opening.

As time passed, Garchomp seemed to be catching on to Swellow's flight patterns. It was gradually adapting to Swellow's speed, even predicting its escape routes, making it harder and harder for Swellow to dodge.

"Swellow, Brave Bird!"

Knowing things couldn't go on like this, Rex gritted his teeth and ordered a direct assault.

"Garchomp, Draco Dive!"

For the first time, Cynthia issued a command to Garchomp in response to Swellow's Brave Bird.

The two Pokémon pulled apart to build momentum. Swellow became cloaked in flying-type energy, while Garchomp's body was enveloped in a dragon-shaped aura formed by pure Dragon-type energy.

Boom!

The two collided at incredible speed. A massive explosion of energy erupted, blasting both Pokémon backward.

Garchomp quickly stabilized itself mid-fall, but Swellow plummeted straight toward the ground, showing no signs of stopping.

Just as Rex was about to ask Celebi to catch Swellow with Psychic, Swellow stubbornly flapped its wings, managing to steady itself mid-air.

(End of chapter)