Tinkatuff ignored the complicated looks from Jason and Gast. In her bright eyes there was only one enemy now—Bronzong.
She hefted the massive hammer over her head as if it weighed nothing.
"Tink!"
With a sharp shout, Tinkatuff lunged.
[Brutal Swing]!
A visible black-red aura flashed across her body. In that instant, her tiny frame erupted with power completely at odds with her size.
She rushed in; the giant hammer whirled like a runaway cyclone, carving a blur of afterimages through the air as she slammed it again and again into Bronzong's body!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crisp impacts rang again and again through the narrow passage.
Faced with that rainstorm of blows, the freshly evolved Bronzong could only hunker down for a moment—body and psychic force both thrown into pure defense.
But [Brutal Swing], for all its ferocity, chews through stamina. When Tinkatuff's barrage faltered for a heartbeat from exhaustion, Bronzong seized the opening.
DONG!
A surge of mind-force blasted out and smashed squarely into Tinkatuff. She grunted; the small body—hammer and all—was hurled like a shell by Bronzong's psychic shove and crashed down not far from Jason and Gast.
They traded looks, still unsure what to make of her.
Then the knocked-back Tinkatuff sprang to her feet, didn't even glance at Bronzong, and spun to bellow at them:
"Still staring?! I can't beat it alone!"
Jason: "…"
Gast: "Keh?"
In that moment, both got it.
She was an ally.
"Sorry!"
Jason snapped an answer and didn't hesitate again. Controlling Maushold's four bodies, he fanned out, encircling Bronzong from four angles. Gast cackled, turned to purple smoke, and skittered after him to harass Bronzong from the shadows.
With a strong teammate, the pressure on Jason eased by several notches. And Tinkatuff's combat instincts were genuinely sharp—no commands needed. Battle-hardened, she stuck to Bronzong like glue, smashing into it head-on with that seemingly unstoppable hammer.
Jason, meanwhile, exploited Maushold's agility to jab from Bronzong's blind spots over and over.
As for Gast…
She put the "sneak" in "sneaky," hiding behind Jason and popping out now and then to pull a face or slime the bell with a sudden Lick.
Brutal as it was, Bronzong began to flag under the three-pronged assault. Cracks multiplied across the heavy bronze shell, and its movements slowed.
"Now!"
A spark flashed in Tinkatuff's eyes. She swept a huge boulder up off the floor and drove it toward the top of Bronzong's bell—graceful as a golf swing.
Rock Smash!
Instinctively, Bronzong threw its psychic force up to block the incoming rock—
—and Tinkatuff was already above it.
All her strength poured into the giant hammer as she brought it down on the boulder atop Bronzong's crown.
CLANG!
Another eardrum-rattling impact. The strike landed flush on the bell's top. Bronzong shrieked, reeling into vertigo from the violent concussion.
"Gast—Hypnosis!"
On cue, Gast floated from the shadows and cast Hypnosis. Dazed and unfocused, Bronzong toppled into sleep without a struggle.
"Now!"
Jason pounced on the perfect window with a Dark-type finisher—
Beat Up!
As he triggered the move, Tinkatuff's hammering silhouette and Gast's wicked grin flashed as spectral afterimages merging into his assault. Every hit Jason landed carried their echoes—threefold force woven together. And as a Dark move, it struck Bronzong's Psychic typing for double damage.
DONG!
Jolted awake by the pain, Bronzong let out a wail. The once-unyielding bronze shell was now spiderwebbed with dense cracks.
Finally wounded, the bell shed its lofty arrogance; it knew it couldn't keep fighting. It glared venom at the trio who'd cornered it—Jason, Gast, and Tinkatuff.
"I'll be back!"
A moment later, a razor, grating screech of metal on metal erupted from it—
Metal Sound!
The tooth-aching noise drilled into their ears. Jason winced, instinctively wanting to clap paws over them.
"AAAAA—jerk! You'll ruin my ears!" Gast howled, tumbling dramatically in midair. Tinkatuff pounded the ground with her hammer, trying to drown the shriek with bigger noise.
When the hateful clamor finally died, Gast shot forward, furious, to settle the score—only for Jason's calm voice to drift over: "It's long gone. Chase it if you like."
Deflated, she sagged. "Th… then forget it."
But her excitement returned fast. She floated to his side, eyes full of worship. "We won! We really beat that stupid plate! Jason, I—"
"Huh? Where are you going?"
She'd wanted to share the joy, but Jason didn't even look back—he was already walking straight toward the small ore mound Bronzor had guarded so jealously.
"Jason, wait for me!" she squeaked, and hurried after him.
Tinkatuff watched them for a beat, hesitated, then hefted her hammer and followed as well. She, too, was curious: what lay beneath that little mountain that Bronzor had protected so fiercely?