Even though Water-type Piplup had resistance against Ice-type attacks, Silas didn't believe it could bridge such a large level gap to defeat Ice Vulpix.
The little one was playful, but it always completed its training seriously. Even among Pokémon of the same level, it was already at the absolute forefront.
Silas was simply curious about how far this Piplup could go.
Brock stood aside and naturally took on the role of referee for this battle.
"Then the battle between Ice Vulpix and Piplup begins now!"
His deep voice echoed through the cavern.
At first, Piplup was startled, but then it was drawn in by the sense of ceremony.
Its eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Don't get distracted during a battle," Silas said casually.
Without any intention of holding back, he immediately commanded, "Ice Vulpix, use Baby-Doll Eyes."
"Vulpix!"
Ice Vulpix let out a soft cry. Its blue-white gradient eyes suddenly widened as a strange wave of energy surged toward Piplup.
Behind Ice Vulpix, a pair of enlarged icy phantom eyes seemed to appear.
"Pip!"
Piplup broke into a cold sweat and instinctively took a step back.
But it quickly regained its composure and assumed a battle stance.
However, an invisible binding sensation made its body feel extremely uncomfortable.
For a newly hatched Pokémon like Piplup, its offensive power was not particularly strong, neither physically nor specially.
Silas could easily imagine its moveset: Water Gun, Peck, and other basic attacks.
Even if it had good talent, learning Bubble Beam and Water Pulse would already be impressive.
Baby-Doll Eyes reduced its Attack, effectively sealing off its close-combat options and forcing it to rely on ranged attacks.
Meanwhile, Silas's Ice Vulpix wasn't particularly strong in close combat either, being pressured into melee would be troublesome.
Piplup's body type was actually more suitable for close-range fighting, even if it was just flipper-and-beak scrapping.
As expected, the moment it felt restrained, Piplup immediately spat out a high-speed Water Gun.
Silas's eyes lit up.
Very good firing speed.
And judging from its reaction, this Piplup had clearly experienced a lot of wild battles.
"Ice Vulpix, use Icy Wind."
Ice Vulpix raised its small forepaws, took a deep breath, and exhaled a stream of freezing blue mist.
The already cold cavern near the underground waterfall dropped in temperature even further.
Silas and Brock instinctively shivered.
Piplup, however, showed little reaction.
After all, it was a penguin. It wouldn't freeze that easily.
Facing the incoming cold wind, Piplup took a deep breath, pushed off the ground, and began sprinting wildly.
Silas's expression turned strange.
Just imagining a penguin running explained everything, it looked less fierce and more absurdly cute.
But its burst speed was not to be underestimated.
Seeing the white glow around it, Silas raised an eyebrow.
"Speed Boost inherited?"
Very good.
Speed was a major weakness for Empoleon in its final form.
You couldn't expect a giant penguin to be fast, but in battle, such a clear weakness would be heavily exploited.
Speed Boost helped make up for that flaw.
Although even with it, Empoleon still wouldn't be particularly fast, but at least it would reach a decent mid-tier level instead of being painfully slow.
Piplup finally escaped the range of Icy Wind after circling around a large rock.
It exhaled slightly in relief.
But Silas immediately cut off that relief.
"Ice Vulpix, use Ice Shard."
Piplup was now trapped in a narrow space between a large rock and the cave wall, almost nowhere to escape.
Earlier, Icy Wind had not been intended to finish it off, but merely to force movement.
"Pip!"
Piplup's expression turned serious.
Water mist gathered around its body as droplets condensed rapidly.
This was a common Water-type technique Rain Dance-like behavior, increasing moisture in the field and weakening Fire-type attacks.
However, against Ice-type moves, it was ineffective.
Even with the underground waterfall enhancing the effect, water droplets could not compare to hardened ice shards.
The Ice Shard projectiles rapidly closed in.
"Pip!"
The water around Piplup intensified, forming a thick ring-shaped current that enveloped its body.
Silas became even more interested.
This indicated that Piplup had also inherited Aqua Ring.
A very useful sustain technique.
"Was its parent a Huntail from Hoenn?" Silas and Brock both reached the same conclusion almost instantly.
While the combination seemed odd in terms of body size compatibility, it was still possible in the Pokémon world.
Huntail was quite attractive to certain Pokémon species.
What impressed Silas even more was how it used Aqua Ring.
Rather than directly forming it at full energy cost, Piplup first used a water manipulation technique to gather energy via "Rain Dance-like moisture control," then shaped it into Aqua Ring.
This drastically reduced its own energy consumption.
For a wild Pokémon at this level, developing such efficiency meant very high battle intuition.
Piplup's expression was serious as its flippers moved rhythmically, accelerating the rotation of the surrounding water ring.
"Zzz—bang!"
The Ice Shard projectiles were immediately drawn into the rotating Aqua Ring the moment they made contact. Before long, under the force of the circulating water, they were shattered into fine ice fragments and absorbed into the flow.
As one of the most popular and frequently seen Water-type techniques, Aqua Ring not only restored the user's stamina but also provided considerable defensive capability.
Piplup quickly recovered the stamina it had spent on its earlier Quick Attack through the Aqua Ring.
It moved to an open area and once again faced Ice Vulpix.
"Pip!"
Piplup cried out loudly, signaling that it was now its turn to attack.
It had been slightly distracted at the beginning of the battle, which was why it had been suppressed, but it refused to accept that outcome.
To this moment, Piplup still believed it could defeat the small opponent in front of it.
Coincidentally, Ice Vulpix thought the same.
It also believed it could easily deal with the little one.
The two small Pokémon locked eyes, both filled with fighting spirit.
"Pip!"
Piplup sprinted forward toward Ice Vulpix.
By now, its earlier restraint had weakened considerably after prolonged movement.
Now it was time to show its opponent what it could do in close combat.
Silas commanded, "Use Psychic on its feet."
Ice Vulpix's eyes gleamed with a faint blue-purple glow, identical to that of Gallade.
Compared to Gallade, however, this glow was much weaker.
But against Piplup, it was more than enough.
"Thud."
Halfway through its sprint, Piplup suddenly felt as if its legs had been restrained by an invisible force. Its upper and lower body lost balance instantly.
Carried by momentum, it fell straight forward onto the ground.
Normally, being clumsy on land meant it would quickly get back up, but in battle, it had no such luxury.
"Ice Vulpix, use Swift."
Silas immediately followed up without hesitation.
White light flashed as the attack rained down toward the fallen Piplup.
The Psychic attack itself had limited damage due to Ice Vulpix's relatively weak psychic power and its narrow focus on Piplup's legs. It mainly disrupted movement rather than causing serious injury.
Piplup was still trying to push itself up.
"Bang bang bang!"
Successive bursts of white light struck its body.
Swift, as its name implied, was extremely fast.
Before Piplup could fully recover, the attack had already landed repeatedly.
"Pip!"
Piplup cried out in pain.
As a Normal-type move, Swift did not benefit from any resistance, making the damage quite effective.
Small cuts appeared across its body, but it still refused to fall.
"Pip!"
It panted heavily, still unwilling to give up.
What a stubborn little one, Silas thought with a faint smile.
That was probably one of the defining traits of the Piplup line.
From this perspective, it made sense that their Hidden Ability was Competitive rather than Defiant.
Neither Piplup, Prinplup, nor Empoleon were Pokémon that enjoyed meaningless conflict.
However, when challenged or when their pride was hurt, they would prove themselves in their own way.
The Emperor Pokémon, Empoleon, truly lived up to its regal classification in both temperament and behavior.
Silas admitted that he somewhat related to that personality.
Piplup's small body swayed slightly.
"Pip…"
It opened its beak and fired another Water Gun.
"Finish it with Powder Snow, then follow up with Ice Shard."
Silas decided it was time to end the battle.
Ice Vulpix swept its fluffy tail, releasing a stream of fine snow that collided head-on with the Water Gun.
The soft, scattered snow surprisingly displayed strong force, directly dispersing the Water Gun.
Although the remaining Powder Snow eventually lost momentum and fell to the ground, it still demonstrated Ice Vulpix's excellent Ice-type control.
The following Ice Shard struck Piplup's already weakened body.
"Pip—ga…"
Piplup raised its flippers to block, staggering backward step by step.
Silas frowned slightly.
"It's about time. You've already reached your limit."
He could tell Piplup was now only holding on through sheer willpower.
The difference in strength was too large; after just a few exchanges, it had already reached its limit.
However, upon hearing this, Piplup's body suddenly surged with renewed strength.
"Pip—GA!"
It shattered several incoming ice fragments with glowing flippers.
Then
"Clink."
A small rock, dislodged from above the cave due to the battle vibrations, struck Piplup squarely on the head.
That final, accidental hit became the last straw.
Its eyes instantly turned into spirals as it collapsed.
Silas and Brock both stared at the absurdly comedic outcome in silence.
That last hit hadn't come from Ice Vulpix, it was just a falling stone.
"What is this, a protagonist power-up followed by a comedy ending?" Silas thought helplessly.
But he was very satisfied with this Piplup.
Without hesitation, he took out a Great Ball and threw it.
No choice, this was the highest-grade Poké Ball he had on hand. He would switch to a Luxury Ball later in City.
"Ding—ding—ding…"
The ball shook only twice before stopping.
"Piplup has been caught!" Brock announced as a proper commentator.
As Silas shifted his gaze, Piplup's data appeared in his mind.
[Piplup
Classification: Penguin Pokémon
Type: Water
Height: 0.48 m (average 0.4 m)
Weight: 6 kg (average 5.2 kg)
Ability: Torrent (Water-type moves become stronger in a pinch when HP is low)
Moves: Quick Attack (Egg Move), Aqua Ring (Egg Move), Pound, Growl, Water Sport, Bubble, Peck, Water Gun, Baby-Doll Eyes
Level: 13 (Normal)
Potential: Elite level potential tier]
...
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