"So you really figured it out!"
Seeing Charizard's actions, Laura Thorne's spirits rose as she confirmed her assumption.
Immediately afterward, she had Chandelure cancel its invisibility state and, with a wave of her hand, launched the move Shadow Ball.
"Flamethrower!"
Violent flames surged forward, directly intercepting the Shadow Ball midair.
After that, Charizard's figure advanced rapidly, while a white glow shone over its wings; it then executed the move Wing Attack.
The wind roared fiercely, and the ghostly purple flames swayed in the air.
After losing the invisibility unique to Ghost-type Pokémon, Chandelure's combat power was greatly reduced.
Ghost-type Pokémon are more adept at fighting through ambushes and long-range attacks. Now that Chandelure was being suppressed by Charizard in both aspects, it gradually began to fall into a disadvantage.
That this Chandelure had been able to pass the first round of the eliminations showed that the power of its Fire-type moves was indeed impressive. However, many of the talents of Ghost-type Pokémon were restricted in battle, such as Chandelure's ability to burn souls with its flames.
In the end, under Charizard's dominant offense, Chandelure had no choice but to accept defeat and lost the ability to battle.
...
The first day of battles came to an end, and the top 8 was determined.
That night, Ethan returned to the hotel carrying an exhausted Charizard.
Just as he had finished taking a shower and was about to fall into a deep sleep, someone unexpectedly knocked on the door of his room.
Ethan went to open it and discovered that the person standing there was a sweet-looking young woman.
"Laura?"
Hearing this, Laura smiled faintly and said, "It's quite late—did I disturb you?"
"No, no, not at all. Please, come in."
Ethan shook his head and quickly invited her inside. Then he poured her a glass of milk and asked, "May I know the reason for your visit at this hour?"
"Mm... I came because I wanted to see your Litwick."
Laura smiled gently, her gaze naturally shifting toward Litwick, who was happily playing with Riolu.
Immediately afterward, she was seen taking out a bottle filled with purple gas from her backpack. She opened it slightly, and a faint violet vapor began to drift out into the air.
On the other side, Litwick seemed to sense something all of a sudden and turned its head; the purple flame on top of its head began to sway.
Suddenly, Litwick's eyes widened. Its body immediately floated over to Laura's side, and it could be seen how that purple mist was drawn toward it and absorbed directly into its mouth.
After devouring that violet vapor, a look of intoxication immediately appeared on Litwick's face. Then it fixed its gaze on the bottle in Laura's hand, a clear desire shining in its eyes.
"It seems that, just like my Chandelure, you also adore this food for Ghost-type Pokémon."
Laura smiled faintly and tossed the bottle into the air. A bit of the purple gas scattered, tracing a violet trail through the air.
Litwick immediately cheered, firmly caught the bottle, and with its small mouth absorbed all the purple gas without letting a single bit escape.
"Is it a food exclusive to the Litwick family?"
Ethan's eyes gleamed slightly. He had been looking for this kind of food for a long time, and he hadn't expected Laura to have it with her.
But after thinking about it a little, he guessed her identity. What remained was to confirm what relationship she had with Rowan Thorne (Translator: Ahem, sorry, I made a mistake back in chapter 308 by naming a family from Arcaia City incorrectly; I had written it as the Blackwell family, but it was actually the Thorne family), of the Pokémon University of Arcaia City.
"Let me introduce myself first. I'm Laura Thorne, and Rowan Thorne is my older brother."
Laura seemed to notice his doubts and smiled as she explained.
"Rowan Thorne... so that's how it is. Then, now tell me—what was the real reason you came to see me?"
"I don't think you came just to see Litwick and give it a snack."
Ethan smiled faintly, while in his mind he began thinking about how he might obtain the recipe for making that purple gas.
"I'm very interested in your Litwick's Substitute move. Also, our family has a lot of experience in training Litwick. I think we could exchange knowledge about Litwick breeding methods."
Laura smiled as she explained her purpose and, at the same time, released her Chandelure.
"Littwwiikk!"
Upon seeing Chandelure, Litwick's eyes immediately lit up.
In that tiny Spirit World, what it desired most was the companionship of someone of its own kind.
Although it now had Ethan, Riolu, and Meltan as companions, this was the first time it had encountered someone of its own lineage.
"The Substitute move is a method of utilizing vital energy. I believe the way Litwick uses Substitute must be related to its unique method of manipulating vital energy."
Seeing Laura directly ask about the Substitute move, Ethan smiled slightly and shared some of his conjectures.
Ever since he had arrived at the Pokémon Researchers' Guild of Solaris City, Ethan had been researching information related to the Substitute move and had managed to summarize several very useful findings.
"The use of vital energy?"
Laura nodded. Ghost-type Pokémon have always had a very close relationship with vital energy. As a trainer who specialized in Ghost-type Pokémon and came from a family devoted to that type, she naturally had knowledge in this area.
Upon hearing Ethan mention vital energy, Laura also shared her own understanding of the topic, making Ethan's eyes light up slightly.
Ethan spoke of vital energy mainly because of Litwick's evolution and also explained in detail the current situation of his Pokémon.
"I see... is it possible that your Litwick has overtrained the Substitute move and exhausted all the vital energy needed for its evolution?"
Laura watched Litwick playing with Chandelure and nodded. Ethan's assumptions made quite a lot of sense.
"After the tournament, you can bring Litwick to my family. In my family, there are many elders who deeply research vital energy. Perhaps they can solve Litwick's evolution problem."
Laura offered her suggestion, though inwardly she was also making her own calculations.
By helping Litwick evolve, her family could also delve deeper into the study of Litwick's Substitute move.
"Alright. When the time comes, I'll definitely go visit the Thorne family."
Ethan smiled faintly; he understood Laura's intentions perfectly.
"By the way, what exactly was the food you gave Litwick?"
"If possible, I'd like to exchange for the formula of that food. As for the conditions of the exchange, you can propose them. If they're within my means, I'll do everything I can to fulfill them."
After hearing Ethan's words, Laura pondered for a moment. Then she looked at Litwick, who was still playing happily, and a hint of mischief appeared in her eyes.
(End of chapter)