In that cramped corridor, blinding white light exploded from Bronzor—so intense that both Jason and Gast squeezed their eyes shut on reflex.
A terrifying psychic presence swept over them.
Within the radiance, Bronzor's flat, disk-like body writhed into a violent metamorphosis. Its form lengthened and swelled; the ancient bronze shell thickened. It was no longer a mirror—
—but a hanging bell.
Bronzong.
When the light faded, the evolved Bronzong hovered in the air, quiet and immense. Its body was several times larger, nearly plugging the passage. A psychic pressure many times stronger than before poured off it.
"Keh—ow ow ow ow ow!"
The weakest, Gast, couldn't even resist; she let out a cry and was blasted back like she'd been slapped by an invisible giant, slamming hard into the far wall.
Worse—every crack and wound Jason and Gast had carved into Bronzor washed away beneath the torrent of energy that came with evolution. In a blink, it was as good as new.
DONG!
A deep toll rang from Bronzong's body. A wave of mind-force burst out, shattering all the Stealth Rock Jason had set.
Clearing the field, Bronzong's surface seemed to curl in a humanlike sneer. With a thought, jagged stones surged up under Jason and Gast as well—
Stealth Rock.
"Like setting traps, do you?" Its emotionless voice pressed into their skulls. "Then you can enjoy being pricked."
Hovering above, it stared down at them with a dead, cold gaze—as if they were objects, not beings.
"This is bad," Jason thought, hauling up everything he knew on Bronzong. As a Bronzor, the psychic hits were already nasty; now, post-evo, both defenses and Sp. Atk had spiked hard. It was on another level.
How to fight this?
No time to hesitate. He dropped Fletchling and split-reformed into Maushold.
Tidy Up!
Four little mice whipped out brooms and swept Bronzong's Stealth Rock away in a blur—orange glows blooming over them as Attack and Speed surged.
But even as he finished, Bronzong finished its chant.
From the bell-mouth—like a gaping maw—coalesced a compact sphere of metallic energy blazing silver—
Flash Cannon!
BOOM!
A thick silver beam ripped the air with a razor howl, lancing straight for them.
"Jason—what do we do?!"
Gast felt her body go weak; she pressed close, trying to calm herself. Staring at the four mice before her, she could only pin her hopes on him.
"Hold on to me!"
The moment he spoke, she clamped down on one adult mouse's tail. "Mmph—got it!"
"Tsss—" He winced. "That bite…"
Tail's going to be bald if this keeps up.
He darted wildly through the passage—small body, big speed—ducking the cannon's sweep. Wherever the beam passed, hard stone and special alloy scrap alike melted like butter.
Even with Tidy Up plus the earlier Flame Charge buff, his speed pushed the limit—yet against a near screen-wide, apocalyptic sweep, fancy footwork felt useless. Gast was pinned even harder by Bronzong's typing and raw power; all she could do was bite down and not let go.
He kept an eye on her even while dodging, refusing to let the beam tag her.
"Keh—Jason! I can't hold it!" she wailed.
"Shut up—hang on!" he barked.
Then Bronzong tired of the whack-a-mole. The flashing beam ceased. Its whole body flared with a more dreadful psychic surge.
Time to get serious.
DONG!
Extrasensory—no, Psychic!
An immense, shapeless weight slammed across the passage. Jason and Gast locked up, every motion slowed to a crawl—as if they'd sunk into bottomless mud.
This was it. The last strike. His stomach dropped.
And then—
clang! clang! clang!
Metallic hammering rang from the flank, one after another.
Bringing Bronzong's attention snapping sideways.
The pressure eased; Jason and Gast drew breath. They looked—and saw a pink figure marching in, smashing a railing rhythmically with a heavy hammer as it approached.
The tempo had weight, an intimidation, banging a bottle on bars.
"Oh no no no…"
Cowering behind Jason, Gast let out a bleat more despairing than before. Double-team? Now?
"We couldn't beat one—and another shows up! We're done! Jason, maybe we should just run!"
Jason flicked her a glance but said nothing. For all her trolling, she hadn't bailed—he hadn't expected that.
He looked back toward the hammer-bearer stepping from the dust—Tinkatuff.
One Bronzong already stretched them; adding an unknown Tinkatuff on top… grim.
While he worried how to get himself and his "dead weight" ghost out alive, Tinkatuff did something no one expected.
She flicked her single ponytail; bright eyes cut from the ragged pair to Bronzong—and stayed.
Then she moved.
The tiny frame exploded with speed and power that defied its size, a pink cannonball streaking at Bronzong—hammer raised high, sight locked on the bell.
Jason: "?"
Gast: "Keh? Not… coming for me?"
Bronzong: "Zong? This one's hammered metal too long—now she hammers anything she sees?"