To be honest, the Su Bai of the past might not have been able to pull this off.
After all, Amino was an Apostle far stronger than Malene.
Even after having one of his arms torn off by Articuno, who possessed the Divine Essence of Ice, his strength was still on a completely different level from Malene's.
But there was one thing that had to be remembered.
The abilities granted by the system could be strengthened by unlocking entries in the Pokédex.
With the arrival of the Kanto Pokémon, combined with the explosive popularity of the Pokémon Center in recent days, the number of entries in the Pokédex had been climbing rapidly.
And Su Bai's strength had risen along with it!
BOOM!
Su Bai clearly hadn't held back with that stomp.
Amino's head was driven straight into the ground, crushing it until it was completely flattened!
Under normal circumstances, any living creature would have died from an injury like that.
But Sub-Beasts had long since transcended the limits of ordinary living creatures.
The tips of the six long, slender arms on Amino's back suddenly condensed an enormous amount of death energy.
The arms, which had still vaguely resembled human limbs, rapidly transformed within the swirling death energy.
In the blink of an eye, they became a series of sharp, vicious claws that came tearing toward Su Bai!
"So this bastard really is ridiculously tough..."
A trace of helplessness flashed through Su Bai's eyes.
He exerted a little force with both feet, and his entire body instantly drifted backward.
There was no way he was going to let himself be struck by such a disgusting attack infused with death energy.
Putting aside whether his Super Rookie's defenses could withstand it, the death energy itself was enough reason to avoid contact.
After all, nobody wanted to get splattered with something that filthy...
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
A rapid series of sounds rang out as the sharp claws pierced into the ground.
The six slender arms stabbed into the earth and hoisted Amino's body into the air.
His entire body twisted into a grotesque shape.
His spine bent at an impossible angle, turning his body around so that he could face Su Bai directly.
Around the head that Su Bai had stomped flat, death qi swirled violently.
Within that death energy, a face with eight eyes emerged and stared directly at Su Bai!
"Tsk, tsk... I'm starting to suspect you weren't even human before you became a Sub-Beast."
"What the hell is this, some kind of Lovecraftian nightmare?"
Su Bai couldn't help shaking his head.
He rubbed his chin and sighed.
"Seriously, there's not a single trace of humanity left in you."
"I take back what I said earlier. Maybe you really do have a horse..."
"But that 'horse' is probably a spider, isn't it?"
Although Su Bai had merely been watching from the sidelines earlier, Amino's foul mouth had still left a deep impression on him.
It reminded him of all those outrageous things he'd seen online in his previous life.
Back then, he could never resist typing something when his worldview was shattered.
Now...
He didn't feel like keeping his mouth shut, either!
"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth!"
Amino exploded with rage, clearly having been struck where it hurt.
For once, he didn't even bother with his usual sarcastic, mocking tone.
The six arms behind him rapidly stabbed into the ground, propelling him toward Su Bai at terrifying speed.
Su Bai's few casual remarks had actually hurt Amino far more than the Shadow's endless stream of filthy curses!
The aesthetics of Sub-Beasts were, after all, still fairly close to those of humans.
Yet in order to enter the ranks of the Apostles, Amino had deliberately chosen to shape his true form into this grotesque appearance.
For him, it was a sore spot that absolutely could not be mentioned!
"Everyone who's seen this form of mine..."
"Has to die!"
Black, vein-like lines covered Amino's eight eyes.
Death-energy flames roared along each of his six arms.
He was going to tear this human apart completely!
"Back the hell off!"
Su Bai snapped his fingers in disgust.
At the sound of his fingers, Zeraora instantly appeared in front of him.
A gigantic golden electric net crackling with lightning descended from above and enveloped Amino!
Electroweb!
An Electric-type move with a power of 55 that could reduce an opponent's movement speed!
ZZZZT!
Violent electricity coursed through Amino's body.
The terrifying current caused damage as it surged through him, while the electric net itself became almost tangible, wrapping tightly around his six arms!
A severe feeling of resistance immediately spread through Amino's limbs.
It was like sprinting at full speed only to have someone suddenly stick out a foot and trip you.
The damage from Electroweb might not have been enough to seriously injure Amino, but the powerful inertia sent his massive body stumbling forward toward Su Bai.
Su Bai stood perfectly still.
Just as Amino's enormous body was about to crash into him, Zeraora suddenly let out a sharp cry.
Its golden fur blazed with dazzling electricity.
It raised one fist and aimed it directly at the incoming Amino.
A terrifying current gathered around Zeraora's fist.
The ridiculously cool big cat's expression turned cold as it threw its electrified fist forward and slammed it squarely into Amino's stomach!
Thunder Punch!
A physical Electric-type move with a power of 75!
"Ugh!"
Amino spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with almost tangible death energy, splattering it across his own chest.
His enormous body was actually sent flying backward by that single punch!
Only after the electricity around Zeraora's fist finally faded did Amino's body crash heavily onto the ground.
Even worse, the current from Thunder Punch seemed to seep into every part of Amino's body, drilling into each and every joint.
The paralysis effect accompanying Thunder Punch had taken effect!
Amino's body twitched helplessly against the ground.
He couldn't muster even the slightest bit of strength.
Su Bai glanced at Amino, who had just been sent flying by Zeraora.
He smiled and affectionately rubbed Zeraora's head as the Pokémon wore an adorably proud expression.
"Well done, Zeraora!"
As an extremely popular Mythical Pokémon belonging to the Thunderclap Pokémon category, Zeraora wasn't merely fast.
Its physical attack capabilities were equally impressive.
Visually speaking, seeing such a relatively small Pokémon punch something as enormous as Amino away was astonishing.
But in Su Bai's eyes, it was something that had been destined to happen!
"Looks like Rock wasn't quite as useless as you claimed."
While playing with Zeraora, Su Bai casually glanced at Amino in the distance as the latter struggled desperately against the paralysis.
"Your exhaustion isn't exactly insignificant, is it?"
Su Bai had fought Malene himself.
The level of an Apostle was far beyond anything Malene could compare to.
By all rights, Amino's performance should have been much better.
There was only one possible explanation.
The Shadow that belonged to Rock had actually consumed a considerable amount of Amino's strength.
Even though Su Bai's own power had risen dramatically during this period, he hadn't allowed himself to become blindly overconfident.
An Apostle who had first fought a fierce battle against Articuno and then engaged in another intense battle with humanity's highest combat force, the Twelve Zodiac...
Was obviously nowhere near his peak condition!
A trace of unwillingness flashed through Amino's eyes.
He struggled desperately, his voice twisted with resentment.
"I... If it weren't for that damn bird..."
If Articuno hadn't injured him so badly, and if Rock's Shadow hadn't consumed such a tremendous amount of his death energy...
How could he possibly have ended up looking this pathetic?!