Hikaru muttered to himself inwardly, then shook his head.
"No need to worry about those three strange Pokémon. If you run into them again next time, just fight them. Maybe it'll cause some kind of unusual change in them."
Maybe after getting beaten up, those three would unexpectedly stop rampaging?
"You figured that out too?" Rika's expression turned rather odd, but then she waved it off.
After taking a deep breath, she put on a confident look.
"But there's no guarantee I'll run into those three again next time, right? Still, even if I do, I'll definitely be the one who wins!"
"And for that, I need to keep sharpening my strength! There's still some time before we head back to the League, so want to spar with me? I haven't had long to train, but I've definitely improved again!"
"This'll be our third battle!"
Rika stretched a little, then looked over at Larry, who had been silent the whole time and seemed lost in thought, and laughed.
"Larry, be the referee for us. We'll head to the Treasure Eatery afterward for a meal. My treat!"
Larry thought about it for a moment, then suddenly said,
"Rika told me a lot about the dream, but I didn't have the same one last night. There's something I want to know."
"Am I going to get pulled in too?"
Hikaru laughed.
"Mr. Larry, you've already worked plenty of overtime, haven't you? And this doesn't count as part of your job."
"You're not seriously worried that Top Champion Geeta is going to assign you some mandatory quota like 'clear 100 floors of the tower,' are you?"
"No need to worry."
"This tower is just a place to challenge your own strength. That's all."
"I don't think Top Champion Geeta has the time to drag you in for even more overtime."
The dullness gradually left Larry's eyes. His expression looked faintly relieved, but also faintly troubled.
"I just hope she doesn't dump all the work onto me because of this... Anyway, now that you're back, that's a real relief."
"Today's overtime has been canceled, and the Area Zero incident has been fully settled. If anything, it almost feels like things are starting to head in a better direction."
"As Rika said, after the battle, let's go celebrate a little at the Treasure Eatery."
Amid that slightly cheerful atmosphere, the battle began.
An excited Rika, a rare energized Larry, and Arven cheering them on from the side.
"My lineup for beating you is complete now. The last three slots are finally filled in!" Rika clenched the Poké Ball in her hand. "Especially the last one. I worked really hard to get this secret weapon!"
Rika had once said that Paldea lacked a certain Pokémon, which meant her team had never been able to reach its final form.
But Geeta seemed to have taken that into consideration, so she had sent over a Poké Ball from another region. That Pokémon had been obtained through the Wonder Trade facility originally developed in Kalos.
And just like that, the final missing piece of Rika's team had snapped into place.
"Go, Gliscor!"
"Garganacl, you're up!"
The two of them sent out their Pokémon, then both froze for a moment.
Rika laughed so hard tears started coming out.
"Ahahaha! Garganacl! Don't tell me you're planning to stall with Salt Cure and Iron Defense? Oh wait, right, status isn't going to work!"
Hikaru immediately frowned slightly and caught on.
"That Gliscor has Toxic Heal, doesn't it? Toxic, Substitute, Protect... then pivoting around."
A complete understanding of the essence of Pokémon battling.
The suffering stall style.
Watching the two of them mock each other, even Larry's expression changed a little. He checked his watch.
"Both of those Pokémon are attrition types."
"This feels like it's going to turn into an extremely long drawn-out struggle, and I..."
"I want to get off work soon."
Things did not go the way Larry had hoped.
Under the helpless gaze of the exhausted salaryman, and with Arven at the side gradually getting sleepy just from watching...
Gliscor's beloved Toxic strategy couldn't be used at all, so it could only keep switching and circling around, while Garganacl launched into a shameless torture style of Salt Cure, Iron Defense, Protect, and Recover.
Of course, Garganacl itself was also deeply unhappy with this fighting style.
"Gurururur..."
Can't we just fight the opponent head-on?
I admit it, human - no, Trainer - with tactics like this, you really did manage to take down one of the opponent's Pokémon, but this way of battling is just too underhanded!
Even if we win, there's no joy in it at all. Every rock in my body is creaking in protest!
They want to fight with everything they've got!
A battle like yours won't put a smile on the opponent's face!
Hikaru: "No, this is just the battle style that suits you best."
"Rock-types are great offensively, but they're actually pretty fragile on the defensive end. You haven't been out in the outside world for 150 years, so I guess you don't really understand type-based battle styles yet, huh?"
"Pokémon battling is cruel. If you don't use things like Protect, Recover, Salt Cure, and Iron Defense, you'll get taken down really fast. And that one you just Salt Cured was Gastrodon. It's Water/Ground, so type-wise it completely counters you."
"Rock-type is weak to Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water, and Grass. It doesn't look like that many weaknesses at first glance, but those are all very common types, so you'll run into them constantly."
Garganacl clearly had thoughts of its own, so Hikaru decided to correct its outlook.
After yet another failed wave of attacks from Rika, Hikaru directly changed Garganacl's fighting style.
"The whole point of Pokémon battling is to make full use of your strengths while avoiding your weaknesses. That's how you win."
"If you insist on fighting only the way you want to fight, then it becomes very easy to expose your flaws while throwing away your strong points."
Scarlet and Violet had a pretty funny mechanic.
When teaching Pokémon moves, the game would let the Pokémon itself "choose" which move it wanted to learn, or whether to keep or discard certain moves.
But because the choices Pokémon made for themselves were often way too absurd, basically no Trainer would ever actually follow the Pokémon's wishes.
Just like the saying went:
Does your Pokémon really want to learn this move? Too bad, it doesn't get a say.
Right now, the inexperienced Garganacl was basically like that. If this were the game, it probably would've had a special mark that said "Has never seen a human."
Because it didn't know how dangerous the outside world was, it wanted to walk out from the safety of a sturdy fortress.
"Still, if you never weather the storm, how are you supposed to see the rainbow?"
"So fine, we'll do it your way. Stone Edge!"
Garganacl's eyes lit up immediately.
That's right! This is how it should be!
Hikaru's sudden change in approach gave Rika an opening, and she immediately sent out her third Pokémon to fight.
It was the last of the three she had newly obtained.
"Gliscor, Gastrodon, and the last one is Great Tusk!"
When Hikaru saw that tusked elephant appear, he nodded.
This Ground/Fighting tusk saint - plenty of them had run loose in the middle layer before, so naturally one or two would have wandered into the upper layer and tried to escape.
The former Titan Great Tusk had been one of the clever ones. It had slipped out of the crater exactly like this, and perhaps its success had inspired the others of its kind. The story had probably spread mouth to mouth through the herd.
Still, even though this Great Tusk was close to Level 60, still in the high 50s, going up against a Level 80 Garganacl meant it was still outmatched in raw level.
But Ground/Fighting, just like Iron Treads' Ground/Steel typing, could hit Garganacl brutally hard!
"Bulk Up!"
Great Tusk roared and, under Rika's guidance, charged fiercely at Garganacl!
Rika: "Great Tusk, use Close Combat!"
The sharp stones smashing into that purple-skinned elephant barely seemed to hurt at all. One +1 Close Combat nearly smashed every rock in Garganacl's body apart!
White salt-rock shattered and fell away in clattering chunks, and Garganacl was shaken to its core.
"See? Not every battle can be solved with raw power." Hikaru spoke to Garganacl at just the right moment. "You may be strong, but that Great Tusk resists Rock fourfold. Every attack you use on it barely even tickles."
"Still, that Great Tusk actually knows Close Combat. Even among others of its kind, that's pretty impressive..." Hikaru nodded.
Close Combat was normally something it only learned at Level 63, but those elephant herds fought each other every day, so learning it on its own wasn't strange. Even so, the impact was enormous.
This was the first time Garganacl truly understood any of this.
It was like a teenager with huge strength but only a vague, immature sense of judgment, someone who needed proper guidance.
Its eyes flashed over and over as, in that instant, it began to understand a great many things.
Because of the existence of that Noivern, it had assumed that even outside-world Pokémon wouldn't be all that strong.
But the elephant in front of it, though huge in body, clearly gave off less pressure than Garganacl itself. That was probably the difference in growth...
A hundred and fifty years of accumulated strength - meaning Level 80 - and it still turned out this helpless?!
And yet Garganacl still wanted to try.
Like any young fighter just starting out, it still wanted to prove itself.
The Great Tusk on the other side had no intention of giving Garganacl a chance to use Recover. Under Rika's command, the second heavy blow came right on schedule.
Bulk Up, Earthquake, and - a critical hit!
Garganacl had been counting on Iron Defense to soften the damage, but instead the opponent boosted itself again and then landed a crit!
A critical hit ignored the target's Defense boosts and sharply increased the damage dealt.
Garganacl staggered, while Rika noticed with surprise that it still wasn't using Recover. Then she glanced at Hikaru's attitude and quickly laughed.
"So you're letting your Pokémon make its own choices?"
"That's an important part of building a bond in battle too. But if it doesn't make the right choice, then it loses. So what are you going to do, Garganacl?"
Rika's voice, together with her shout of "Close Combat!", pushed Garganacl into thought yet again.
Then, after thinking and thinking, it turned its body and looked at Hikaru.
"Gurururur..."
I'm clearly strong, so why is it so frustrating that I can't bring that strength out?
If I don't use a sneaky, grimy fighting style, can't I really win?
"Of course not! Then let's build our understanding again. Wild Pokémon often fight however they please, and because they can't judge the opponent's typing properly, they fail to make the correct decision."
"But with a Trainer, it's completely different!"
Hikaru pointed at the battlefield.
"You want to defeat that Pokémon so badly, don't you?"
"Then you should be starting to understand your own strengths and recognize your weaknesses. Let's strike back!"
Garganacl pulled itself together a little.
Then, gradually, it began truly hearing Hikaru's command.
A secret technique buried deep underground, mastered through intense cold. It didn't get same-type bonus, but against Ground-types that loved close-range brawling, it was devastatingly effective.
"Use Ice Punch!"
Frost burst from Garganacl's fists, and the instant Great Tusk lunged in, it drove Ice Punch straight into its face!
Boom!
Great Tusk used Bulk Up for the third time!
+3 Close Combat!
Rika: "Keep going! Close Combat! Close Combat! Use it over and over!"
Its defenses were dropping lower and lower, but because it had already used Bulk Up three times, its Defense had only fallen by one stage overall.
"Close Combat keeps lowering both defenses, but... Bulk Up patched that up somewhat. Still, even unbreakable defense has its limits!"
Ice Punch blasted Great Tusk solidly and froze it over, sending the elephant crashing to the ground with a thunderous boom.
But Garganacl itself had also fully taken the impact of Close Combat. It swayed in place and let out one last rumble.
"Gurururur..."
So this is what it means to play to your strengths.
The Stone Edge I once took such pride in might be completely useless in some situations, while moves that don't seem all that powerful can unleash incredible force in the right battle.
For the first time, Garganacl understood the essence of battling, and its voice said:
So this is how I'm supposed to fight.
A hundred and fifty years of accumulation and effort had not all been for nothing!
That Ice Punch too had carried a hundred and fifty years of strength.
All I needed was to throw that punch at the right moment.
With that, Hikaru had completed his heart-to-heart with Garganacl and fully helped this salt golem see the path waiting for it in the future.
Garganacl raised a hand, and a strand of light began rising from its fingertips, then gradually ascended into the sky.
"When you step onto the battlefield, every Pokémon there screams out the name 'Salt Cure' in terror."
"Not using Recover was your final act of stubbornness in this battle. Once in a while, letting a Pokémon make its own choice isn't such a bad thing."
Even after defeating Garganacl, Rika was a little tired, but her excitement only grew stronger.
Two of her three Pokémon had already been defeated, so all her hopes now rested on Gliscor!
So then, what would Hikaru send out next?
"I already understand Garganacl's heart. Now all that's left is you!"
"Can you finally break through that losing streak? Or rather, now that you've made it to the modern era, maybe it's time for you to adjust a little!"
The Master Ball burst open with a pop!
Flutter Mane spread her fairy-like wings and let out a shrill, mocking cry full of dissatisfaction!
Do you think I'm just going to fail again like before?
"Hah?"
Flutter Mane turned and glared at Hikaru, glaring at her new Trainer.
"Haba-baba!"
Watch me properly! Watch what I look like when I win!
I'm not going to let all of you keep treating me like a scrub forever. One day, I'm going to say all the things I never managed to say before!
A bunch of scrubs! Scrubs! None of you can do anything without me!
Instead of me just endlessly playing the role of the "useless little sister"!
Huh? Wait, what's this on my head?
Flutter Mane suddenly noticed a pair of glasses had somehow appeared on her head. When she saw her Trainer pulling out a little branch-like item, she looked puzzled.
But then she immediately sensed that those glasses held some kind of incredible power.
"Haha?"
"Choice Specs. A held item that raises the holder's Special Attack by 50%, but it can only use the first move it selects after entering the field."
Hikaru snapped his fingers and looked up at the sky.
At the same moment, Rika also jerked her head upward!
Blazing light flooded the battlefield sky!
That Garganacl, which had not seen the sun for 150 years, imitated the light of the stellar crystal and unleashed a self-taught secret technique!
"Sunny Day! Flutter Mane's Ability, Protosynthesis, has activated! Its Special Attack rose!"
Rika: "That Pokémon's an ancient one too? And it even has an item!"
But her own Gliscor was carrying a berry that resisted Ice attacks, wasn't it? So did that mean this thing was going to use...?! Rika's expression shifted a little.
Hikaru answered plainly.
"A Choice Specs Flutter Mane's role is that of a high-speed wallbreaker. She doesn't need to defend at all. Against Gliscor, all she needs to do is mindlessly spam one move!"
Looking at Gliscor, which was holding a Toxic Orb and preparing to start its Substitute, Protect, Toxic marathon, Hikaru shook his head.
The marathon had hit a wall.
Even in real-time battle formats, Toxic-Sub-Protect was an extremely effective fighting style, and also Gliscor's signature specialty.
After all, it had wings. Once poisoned, using Substitute and Protect was basically just a defensive measure for when it couldn't keep flying.
Then, tack on Earthquake, and that alone was enough to disgust most opponents. Against Ice-type enemies, Gliscor could even use Fire Fang as counterplay.
But if it could counter others, naturally others could counter it too.
For example, Flutter Mane knew an Ice-type move. Its power wasn't especially high, and under normal circumstances it was mostly used for speed control, but Gliscor had a quadruple weakness to Ice.
Which meant that if it landed, the damage would still be absolutely absurd!
Hikaru: "When a move is super effective against one type, its damage is doubled."
"And when a move is super effective against both of a target's types, its damage becomes four times normal!"
"An Ice-type move deals exactly four times damage to Gliscor."
"So a move with 55 base power becomes 220, and with the Choice Specs boost, that effectively reaches 330!"
"Flutter Mane, use Icy Wind!"
Icy Wind wasn't a high-powered move, but this was the move known as the 'mini Ice Age'!
Its range was every opposing Pokémon it could target!
If the opponent didn't have Wide Guard, then it simply couldn't block it!
"Haba-babababa!"
Cold energy overflowed from Flutter Mane's body. A freezing snowstorm instantly whipped into being and howled straight at the Gliscor on the opposite side!
You might be able to block the freezing wind once or twice with Substitute and Protect, but this is a super-effective move. Can you really block it three times? Four times?
If all you do is defend over and over, then that means you're giving up your right to attack!
"Ha-hihihihi!"
Flutter Mane desperately wanted to secure a real victory, so that this human Hikaru would finally look at her differently!
And at last, she could say that one line she had never managed to say before!
Hehe, scrub Gliscor!
You can't even take one Icy Wind from me~!
A scrub like you can get mad all you want, it won't matter! I love teasing you. Watching you get all worked up is way too fun! Hurry up and show me how useless you are!
At the same time, I'm going to seize this chance!
"Ha! Ba!"
Take a good look! This is the style of a true high-speed wallbreaker!
Even while she was delivering bratty little menace lines and enraging Gliscor, she simultaneously used her speed to surge forward!
That was part of the strategy too!
To stop being looked down on by that human, and to stop being humiliated by that iron woman!
Hehe!
Suddenly, Flutter Mane's smile vanished, replaced by fierce anger.
Hababa!
I'm definitely going to win!
(End of Chapter)
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