Chapter 573. The Mind of a God

For the first time in a long time, Alex felt nervous. He was confident when fighting Pokémon because they were rarely intelligent, experienced, or strategic enough to truly surprise him. He was confident when dealing with criminals because they were predictable, and he had years of experience handling them. Even when they banded together, they were still human and, therefore, within his domain of expertise. This virus, however, was a different animal altogether.

How fast could it think? How well could it coordinate the robots and Pokémon? Would he have to exclude Rotom and Knight from the battle because of the risk of them being hacked and taken over? What about his backpack and his Pokémon's storage accessories? Would those have to be hidden somewhere temporarily? Could Poké Balls be hacked as well? Were Rotom's protective measures, including disabling remote access, enough?

Alex mulled over these questions as he stared at the patrolling Paradox Pokémon from atop a skyscraper several miles away, his expression dark. He had considered everything from every possible angle, yet he still couldn't shake the fear weighing on his heart. This wasn't simply another battle fought within the familiar domains of humans and Pokémon. This was a battle against a god.

Artificial intelligence was terrifying precisely because it could think faster than any human. Faster than even Alex, who had reached Master rank. It could analyze countless possibilities in an instant, formulate the optimal strategy, and execute every move with ruthless efficiency. Fighting one was like a human challenging a god, with the AI's only real limitation being the number of pawns it could control.

In this particular case, 18 were visible, having established a perimeter around the government building. They were spread out to cover the entire perimeter without leaving any blind spots, while several patrol groups moved around the building in both erratic and predictable patterns. Whether more were hiding inside was anyone's guess.

Worse, Alex had to fight without damaging the building or taking out the leader. The server inside had to remain intact so he could extract its information. Every command had to be carefully considered because a single mistake could destroy the server or leave one of his Pokémon vulnerable to a lethal counterattack. The possibility of one of them dying felt very real to him.

Suddenly, a sense of comfort and reassurance radiated through his mind as Gardevoir gently manipulated his emotions. The warmth eased the fear weighing on his heart, replacing it with a profound sense of peace. It was comforting, almost like lying in bed with all his women by his side, knowing they were all safe from any danger.

"Thank you, Gardevoir," Alex said, reaching over to stroke her head. "What do you think? Can we take them without suffering any casualties?"

Gardevoir nodded resolutely. If they maintained a defensive formation, she could guarantee everyone's survival regardless of how efficiently their opponents fought.

"Alright, then," Alex decided. "Take a defensive formation and lure them in for a surround. Once they're trapped, send in the attack team and bring them down one limb at a time. Rotom, Knight, and I will sit this battle out. I'll only send in Guzzlord and Ultra Necrozma if we need to retreat. Show me that your mind is far more powerful than a bunch of computers stuck together."

"Gardevoir~" she replied confidently before relaying orders to the others.

They formed up below the building Alex was standing on before moving out as one, charging toward the government building. Stealth, ambushes, and an early advantage were useless against such a coordinated group of Paradox Pokémon, so it was better to engage them directly and see how they responded. She needed to observe their movements and tactics firsthand before committing to a more aggressive strategy.

As expected, the Paradox Pokémon immediately shifted into a defensive formation of their own, leaving only enough behind to guard the building and prevent any third party from infiltrating it. That left Alex's Pokémon facing only a dozen Master ranked opponents, which was manageable for the time being.

Both sides began bombarding each other once they were in range, alternating attacks with Protect to create a near-perfect defensive rhythm. The exchange quickly became a stalemate, with neither side able to land a meaningful blow as explosions and energy beams tore through the ground and surrounding area.

Taking the opportunity to test their enemies further, Gardevoir pressed their numerical advantage and slowly advanced, deliberately pushing the battle closer to the government building and threatening to damage it.

In response, the 6 Pokémon left behind to guard the building charged into the battle, adding their strength to the formation and intercepting the chaotic storm of energy before it could reach the structure. Gardevoir continued advancing regardless, using the stalemate to her advantage and steadily forcing all 18 Paradox Pokémon away from their defensive position.

Then, without warning, the enemy's strategy changed.

All 18 Pokémon split into pairs and charged outward, spreading around Alex's formation before plunging into a chaotic melee.

The attack team reacted immediately, flying toward the flanks and dividing into 3 groups on each side. They targeted 6 of the 9 enemy pairs and attempted to contain them, but the strategy quickly proved ineffective. Containment worked well against a single powerful opponent, but coordinated pairs were a different matter entirely. At best, Alex's Pokémon could guarantee a powerful attack each cycle while being forced to endure 2 attacks in return because of their opponents' superior Speed.

Meanwhile, the defense team struggled to use their attacks effectively, even with moves boasting perfect accuracy such as Aura Sphere and Water Pulse. The Paradox Pokémon were intelligent enough to counter even guaranteed-hit attacks by deliberately maneuvering so that Alex's Pokémon's attacks collided with one another or by positioning themselves behind their opponents and forcing one Pokémon to strike another with its own attack, creating friendly fire.

It was efficiency taken to its extreme.

The chaotic melee should have created countless openings, yet the Paradox Pokémon seemed capable of accounting for every movement around them. It was as if each Pokémon had eyes on every other combatant, allowing them to instantly recognize the optimal move and execute it without hesitation. Alex's Pokémon had trained extensively for chaotic battles, but they had never faced anything like this.

Gardevoir narrowed her eyes and decided to take a gamble. This was only the opening exchange, so there was no reason to be so obstinate. It was better to test every option she could think of while she still had room to experiment.

Immediately, the entire defense and water teams split apart and plunged into the chaotic melee, deliberately putting themselves at a disadvantage. They divided into groups of 3 and began isolating individual Pokémon rather than allowing the Paradox Pokémon to fight in pairs.

The Paradox Pokémon resisted, immediately pulling away rather than willingly engaging in a battle they would obviously lose. They clearly preferred fighting in pairs, where they could maintain their advantage through coordinated Protect rotations, rather than allowing a single Pokémon to be surrounded by multiple opponents.

It was a logical decision. Unfortunately for them, it also revealed another weakness that Gardevoir could exploit.

She leveraged their preference for paired combat and pushed her numerical advantage even further. Of Alex's more than 50 Pokémon, 36 were divided into 9 groups of 4, allowing them to match the Paradox Pokémon's paired coordination while overwhelming them with numbers. With 4 Pokémon working together against each pair, both sides were now capable of dealing roughly equal amounts of damage to each other.

The remaining Pokémon stayed grouped together, using Heal Pulse, Aqua Ring, Life Dew, and other status moves to heal and empower their allies while weakening their enemies. The growing layers of healing, buffs, and debuffs created an increasingly decisive gap in combat effectiveness.

Slowly, the battle began to tilt in Gardevoir's favor.

It didn't matter that many of the defense team's Pokémon lacked the Attack, Defense, or Speed to compete with their opponents individually. They didn't need to. They were winning through overwhelming numbers, relentless coordination, and an ever-growing web of support.

Fully aware of their disadvantage, the Paradox Pokémon began to rampage, deliberately maneuvering toward the other groups and injecting even more chaos into the battlefield. They intentionally forced groups to collide, exploiting the momentary confusion to deal additional damage or escape before Alex's Pokémon could concentrate their attacks. Their superior Speed gave them the mobility to dictate the flow of the melee, and they weren't shy about exploiting it.

Gardevoir pursed her lips, experiencing a lack of control over Alex's Pokémon for the first time in what felt like forever. It was like trying to fight with her limbs bound, unable to perfectly execute the strategies forming in her mind while her opponent effortlessly ran circles around her. It was frustrating to face an enemy that was simply superior in terms of battlefield control.

Still, Gardevoir didn't believe they had gained enough of an advantage to turn the battle around. As long as every Pokémon remained alive, they could endure this temporary setback and eventually overwhelm their opponents through sheer numbers.

Or so she thought.

Without warning, 2 groups collided. In that instant of confusion, all 4 Paradox Pokémon focused on the same target, unleashing a coordinated barrage from every direction. Breloom, who had only just finished using Protect, had no chance to respond. Four opponents above her rank struck simultaneously, knocking her unconscious in a single wave of attacks.

Fortunately, they couldn't deliver a killing blow. Gardevoir immediately intervened, abandoning the chaotic melee for a moment to shield Breloom and pull her to safety.

That moment was all the Paradox Pokémon needed.

They immediately exploited the opening to disrupt the other groups, triggering a cascade of collisions and concentrated attacks. One after another, Alex's Pokémon began to fall, and the battle rapidly spiraled further out of Gardevoir's control.

At a speed she could barely keep up with, the battle was collapsing around her, forcing her to regroup with fewer Pokémon than she had started with. It seemed she was losing the battle, and it was only a matter of time before her comrades started dying.