Chapter 427:
"Flare Blitz missed! It was Ally Switch! Then Double Kick and Aerial Ace collided... Blaziken is chasing Mr. time again! You can tell from the way Kaede is battling—he really doesn't want to give Mr. Rime any chance to catch its breath!
As everyone knows, this Mr. Rime of Elite Four Rosaline's isn't just highly skilled in Ice-type moves; its Psychic-type techniques are no less impressive. Its mastery of Trick Room and Skill Swap is simply superb.
It seems Hayashi Kaede wants to end this quickly, using Blaziken's high speed to pressure the opponent and prevent any chance of setting up a Trick Room!"
"Unfortunately, Mr. Rime's moves came out surprisingly fast! It actually managed to set up Light Screen while simultaneously using Psyshock!"
Up above, watching the flood of gifts scrolling across the screen, Satoshi's commentary was rapid-fire, like a machine gun.
Down below.
After recalling Blaziken, Kaede didn't immediately send out his second Pokémon. Instead, he looked toward the opposing Mr. Rime. With his Viridian Power, he could sense that even though it had used Light Screen, the Fire Punch from Blaziken earlier had still inflicted significant damage.
But judging by the speed at which Mr. Rime had executed Light Screen and Psyshock earlier, aside from Serperior's sustained Grassy Terrain, it seemed only Gardevoir could match that pace?
How could it be so fast?
For a moment, Kaede was stumped.
But watching the Mr. Rime still gracefully sliding on the ice, he noticed its internal energy activity rapidly declining, and it suddenly dawned on him.
It was Role Play!
It had copied Blaziken's Speed Boost! With Blaziken's enhanced Speed Boost effect, combined with Mr. Rime's own power level, that was why Mr. Rime could execute move after move in an instant, setting up Light Screen and Psyshock simultaneously!
So, in this round, Blaziken lost because of its own Ability?
Realizing the reason, Hayashi Kaede let out a long, slow breath.
In battles, winning or losing wasn't the most important thing. What truly mattered was the analysis and lessons learned afterward.
At the very least, if you lost, you should know why.
"Don't be discouraged. In this round, I only had the advantage of the terrain. Blaziken's speed and movement were restricted on the ice."
Seeing Kaede hesitate to send out his second Pokémon, Rosaline, still atop her Pidgeot, thought he might be feeling disheartened and offered some comfort.
"Not at all, Elite Four Rosaline, you're being too modest. This ice field was created by Mr. Rime's Ice-type energy; if anything, it was my Blaziken that benefited from it. I was just reflecting on the battle sequence." Hayashi Kaede shook his head, then smiled. "Rosaline, since you came to see Alolan Ninetales, please offer your guidance!"
"Come on out, Alolan Ninetales!"
Pure white fur reflected against the ice, its nine tails standing tall like elegant fans. The long-anticipating Alolan Ninetales* appeared on the ice in a flash of red light.
The scorching sunlight in the sky gradually faded as Blaziken left the field.
"Ninetales~!"
Although it had been inside its Poké Ball, that didn't stop it from knowing its previous teammate had been defeated by the current opponent.
Its vocal tone even carried a hint of change.
"Alolan Ninetales..."
Upon seeing Alolan Ninetales take the field, Rosaline's eyes lit up.
During the Pokémon League Conference, she had been particularly curious about this Alolan Ninetales.
To grow from a newly hatched Pokémon to this level in less than a year...
At first, she thought this Alolan Ninetales might be special. But as she followed Kaede's matches and his rising fame, she realized this Alolan Ninetales wasn't an exception. Almost every one of this young Trainer's Pokémon had reached such a level in an astonishingly short time!
And from the previous battle, it was clear Blaziken's combat experience wasn't particularly rich; it even seemed like it had never battled a Psychic-type Pokémon before.
Hayashi Kaede himself also didn't come across as a highly experienced Trainer.
Just like in the earlier battle: from the start, seeing Mr. Rime execute Role Play so proficiently, he did realize Mr. Rime might use Trick Room and tried to keep Mr. Rime under constant pressure to prevent it from using its Psychic-type moves.
But he overlooked the changes that had already occurred on the battlefield.
This made Rosaline even more curious.
Pokémon... growing so fast... without frequent battles?
She began her journey with her first Pokémon at sixteen, traveling and challenging Gyms across the Eastova region for nearly a year. Then she spent another year training before entering the Pokémon League Conference, where she achieved a top-four finish.
After that, she spent a year traveling to her second region, Galar, to participate in the World Coronation Series.
She ultimately only achieved a top 100 ranking.
Witnessing the battles of the Masters Eight that year, the young Rosaline deeply felt both she and her Pokémon needed more training. So, for years, she traveled constantly, challenging higher peaks with her Pokémon.
Thus, another eight years passed.
In those eight years, she participated in the Eastova Pokémon League Conference, the Kanto Indigo League, the Johto Silver Conference, the Sinnoh Lily of the Valley Conference, and the Kalos Lumiose Conference.
She won first place in many of these competitions and encountered some exceptionally skilled opponents, though such encounters were rare.
As an Elite Four member of the Eastova League, she had even challenged Elite Four members from other regions.
But the difficulty of progressing further still far exceeded her imagination.
Nevertheless, she never gave up.
That was also why she was often outside the Eastova region, traveling abroad.
But now, someone was showing her that a Trainer, in just over half a year, and without much battle experience, could raise his Pokémon to this level?
Rosaline found it hard to believe and naturally became eager to uncover the secret behind it.
And a Pokémon battle became the best way to do just that!
[Pokémon: Alolan Ninetales]
[Gender: Female]
[Type: Ice, Fairy]
[Ability: Snow Warning (+)]
[Potential: Gold]
[IVs: ...]
[Level: 66-68]
[Moves: Hypnosis, Moonblast, Tail Whip, Powder Snow, Ice Shard, Icy Wind, Disable, Blizzard, Dazzling Gleam...]
Truth be told, Alolan Ninetales' power level wasn't significantly different from Blaziken's.
Pokémon growth was like this: the further they progressed, the slower their level increased. Even with Hayashi Kaede providing the best food daily, he couldn't replicate the rapid level-ups and mastery gains of their earlier days.
But as an Ice-type Pokémon, having the chance to battle an Ice-type Elite Four member was the perfect opportunity!
"Alolan Ninetales, let's have a pure Ice-type Pokemon showdown! Ice Beam!"