Yuga found himself in an unexpected situation with Ribombee sitting on his head. Would it be considered cheating if the Guardian Pokémon followed the challenger? Yuga couldn't help but wonder.
He shook his head vigorously and continued towards the next level. What's there to fear? I haven't cheated in any way.
In the lobby on the first floor:
Siebold asked uncertainly, "Does this count as clearing the level?"
Lorelei replied, "Based on his performance with Ribombee just now, our assumptions should be correct."
"He cleared it. He made Ribombee surrender through his own abilities, and he wasn't aware of it in advance. There's no reason not to count it as clearing," said Pryce, who hadn't spoken much until now. As a veteran Elite-level trainer, the others held his opinion in high regard.
"What about Ribombee that followed him?" Siebold hesitated to ask. This Ribombee was from their Kalos Region's Day Care Center, and seeing it follow someone else was quite a delicate situation for Siebold.
Drayden sighed and said, "Let's leave it for now. We can decide after the competition is over."
According to the patterns of the previous levels, Yuga knew that the strength of the Pokémon on level 31 would have increased significantly. Relying on Roserade wouldn't be enough, especially considering how tired Roserade already was. So, Yuga recalled Roserade back into its Poké Ball.
On level 31, Yuga encountered a Leafeon, just as he had guessed earlier. This Leafeon was much stronger than the Pokémon he had faced earlier.
Without hesitation, Yuga released his Vivillon, who was much stronger than this Leafeon. Vivillon didn't even need to use Quiver Dance to enhance its abilities; a few powerful Gust attacks were enough to defeat Leafeon.
Ribombee, sitting on Yuga's head, looked at Vivillon with admiration.
Both being Bug-type Pokémon, Ribombee could easily sense Vivillon's immense strength.
Thank you for the compliment.
"Now you know that even if you battled against me, you wouldn't stand a chance," Yuga said to Ribombee with a smile.
"Ribombee, Ribombee."
Yes, yes, I didn't expect you to be this strong. You're amazing!
Although Ribombee's words were directed at Yuga, its eyes were fixed on Vivillon, almost sparkling with admiration.
Not only was Ribombee amazed by Vivillon's strength, but the judges in the first-floor lobby, who had been keeping an eye on Yuga, were also astonished by Vivillon's abilities.
They hadn't expected that the disciple of Mr. Kuni'o, who specialized in Grass-type Pokémon, would have Non-Grass-type Pokémon that surpassing even his own Grass-types Pokémon.
Among them, only Phoebe wasn't too surprised. Although Yuga hadn't participated in many public competitions, his name was known among many trainers in the Hoenn Region, especially due to the Zapdos incident.
So, while Phoebe might not have known everything about Yuga, she was familiar with the basics.
As Yuga progressed past level 30, he left most of the other participants far behind. The strength of the Pokémon on levels 30 and above had already surpassed those encountered earlier. Most of the first batch of participants were stuck at level 30, and the second batch that continued the tower challenge now made up less than one-fifth of the initial number.
While the Battle Company Building was said to have 55 floors, no one expected any participants to actually reach the 55th floor. For example, in the previous batch of participants, the top performer was Grant from the Kalos Region, but he only managed to reach the 42nd floor.
Among Yuga's group, Yuga was currently making the fastest progress, having reached the 34th floor. Following closely behind him were Unova's Marlon, and Viola from the Kalos Region, who were on the 31st and 32nd floors respectively.
However, once Yuga released Vivillon, his tower ascent speed increased significantly. After all, Vivillon's strength was on a completely different level compared to Bellossom and Roserade.
Similar to Bellossom, Vivillon fought while using Quiver Dance to enhance its abilities, making its progress through the levels even faster. When Marlon and Viola were struggling below the 35th floor, Yuga had already reached the 38th floor with Vivillon.
From the 31st to the 38th floor, Yuga encountered Leafeon, Flareon, Glaceon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon.
He wasn't sure if other participants faced a similar pattern of Pokémon, but if they did, Yuga had great admiration for the League's meticulous planning.
In the 38th floor, a Sylveon shimmering with iridescent light lunged forward at Vivillon, who was flying in mid-air.
In front of Vivillon, a massive whirlwind quickly formed, chaotic gusts of Flying-type energy swirled within the vortex. It immediately sucked in the charging Sylveon, dispelling the Dazzling Gleam that had enveloped it.
When the whirlwind formed by the raging move dissipated, the Sylveon was brutally thrown against the wall. The impact created a resounding crash that made Yuga wince.
Seeing the adorable Sylveon being treated this way, Yuga felt a pang of guilt, but for the sake of the competition, they couldn't hold back.
The Sylveon had decent Special Defense, and after enduring this fierce attack, it shook its head and struggled to its feet. However, its body was covered in painful-looking wounds.
The Sylveon glared at the unscathed Vivillon hovering in the air with indignation, vowing to make Vivillon pay for its audacity. How could someone face such a cute Pokémon and use such heavy-handed tactics!
The delicate ribbons on Sylveon's head and neck suddenly extended, resembling ropes as they entwined toward Vivillon.
Vivillon was highly agile. An invisible Light Screen instantly appeared in front of it, deflecting those pink ribbons.
Vivillon rarely used defensive skills. Like Bellossom, it usually relied on evasion or counterattacks rather than defensive abilities. In this regard, it was entirely different from Chimecho and Florges.
Chimecho and Florges typically relied on defensive skills to withstand their opponents' attacks, supplemented by healing skills for recovery. Their physical attributes meant they couldn't rely on agile evasion.
Chimecho was somewhat better off since it could use Teleport, but Florges had no such capability.