Tom Rokicki!
After leaving Goldenrod City, she completely disappeared, even the Alliance couldn't accurately grasp information about her.
Unexpectedly, she actually came to the Sinnoh Region, and it seems she's involved in some collaboration with the Hunter Guild.
It's even possible.
She has joined the Hunter Guild.
Then...
Could the impending major internal conflict in the Hunter Guild be related to her?!
Thinking of this, Natsuhiko's heart was shaken.
She wants to join the Hunter Guild?!
For some unknown reason.
Natsuhiko suddenly remembered the time he sought Lance's advice about the Hunter Guild, hesitating on whether to speak, but eventually not saying the words he wanted to.
'Had Lance already known Tom Rokicki might be in the Hunter Guild?'
He then thought.
At Meteor Falls in the Hoenn Region, Lance traveled all the way from Kanto to Hoenn just to capture a Pokémon Hunter.
Was it because that person was related to Tom Rokicki?
Maybe it was even the person who brought Tom Rokicki into the Hunter Guild!
So, Lance has been pursuing her all along?
And now, she's right in front of Natsuhiko!
Tom Rokicki walked out from behind Mr. Mime, her exquisite appearance unchanged, only switching from the feminine attire of a club receptionist to a man-like outfit now.
She glanced at Natsuhiko with a smile.
With gentle steps, she moved effortlessly next to Kawatani Forest, "A strong opponent has come, it's not profitable to fight hard right now."
Kawatani Forest bit his teeth, his face stern, *talking like this now?*
Was everything he paid before all wasted?
He said solemnly, "You promised me."
Seeing his resolute appearance, the smile on Tom Rokicki's face slowly faded.
"Fine."
But as she turned to look at Natsuhiko, a cold glint flashed deep in her eyes.
Facing Natsuhiko, she placed a hand on her right shoulder, bowing slightly in a respectful gesture, "Sorry, old sir, you'll just have to play with me."
With that, the Pokeball in her hand flashed red.
Screech!!!
Crackle, crackle——
Loud bird cries accompanied by brilliant golden thunderlight suddenly appeared in the hall.
Zapdos!
Under his black robe.
Natsuhiko took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the increasingly agitated impulse and the irrational images flashing in his mind.
Not yet.
Even if he has Regice, he probably can't do anything to Tom Rokicki.
She's captured Zapdos, the Elite Trainer Level roster core has initially taken shape, even if it's not fully developed, Regice might not be able to solely suppress her.
Natsuhiko is very aware of his own strength assessment.
With his current power, he's no match for Tom Rokicki.
But it doesn't mean he'll never be her opponent.
His current strength has increased immeasurably since before, the gap between them is narrowing.
At least now, with some external aid, he can more or less face her directly.
Having external aid is also a skill.
So, he must endure!
Endure!
Endure....
Endure nothing!
Enduring makes him angrier, taking a step back makes him feel like he's losing! Now with Regice in hand, she has to pay some interest!
This Zapdos is strong, but compared to Regice, it falls short.
Moreover.
Unlike other Pokémon, Regice doesn't need to worry about attribute suppression, species value distribution.
But with Zapdos, it's different.
Zapdos is an Electric and Flying Type Pokémon, its attributes are very well matched, only having double weaknesses against Rock and Ice types.
As it happens, Regice is an Ice type.
Additionally, Zapdos is typically a Special Attack oriented Pokémon, facing Regice which is a Special Defense expert, it is suppressed.
According to the Alliance's known Pokémon species value charts, Zapdos's Special Attack species value is 125, while Regice's Special Defense species value is 200, which represents Attribute Suppression.
Of course, species values are only for reference, but it can't be denied that Regice has a considerable advantage over Zapdos.
The main point is that this Zapdos was clearly captured and controlled by Tom Rokicki using extraordinary means, it hasn't gone through extensive training yet, there's definitely a lack of momentum.
Natsuhiko took a deep breath.
"Regice, Frozen Beam!"
No need for anything else, just attack!
Natsuhiko felt like maybe the character hidden by Doublade had possessed him now.
At this moment, he just wanted to take a bite out of Tom Rokicki.
Seeing Natsuhiko unhesitatingly instruct Regice to attack, Tom Rokicki's expression slightly changed.
"Zapdos, Light Wall!"
An invisible transparent light wall positioned itself in front of Zapdos.
Frozen Beam pierced through the barrier of Light Wall, hitting Zapdos, its power was clearly weakened considerably.
Moreover, Light Wall is a sustained technique, sacrificing one-time damage to get a further reduction, is absolutely strategic.
Her strength is the strongest on the scene; naturally, she belongs to Regice's tier of ability, more clearly aware of Zapdos's suppression, knowing that Zapdos alone is no match for Regice.
She promptly threw three Pokéballs.
Three Pokémon instantly appeared on the field.
The spreading current almost completely covered the battlefield where Natsuhiko and Tom Rokicki fought.
The three who appeared, were all Electric-type Pokémon.
The Electric and Steel-type Magneton, Electric-type Ampharos, and Electric-type Electrike.
Seeing these three Pokémon, Natsuhiko raised his eyebrows.
Aside from Ampharos, Magneton and Electrike were obviously raised by Tom Rokicki after capturing Zapdos, just looking at them, they were significantly weaker than Ampharos.
But Magneton was clearly meant to suppress Regice.
However, Magneton's Special Defense is not impressive, facing Regice, it's still not enough.
Yet the next second, Tom Rokicki's command made him marvel at the extent of her ambition and boldness.
"Zapdos, Magnetic Field Manipulation!"
Crackle, crackle——
Centered around Zapdos, faint, intricate magnetic fields spread from it, encompassing the three newly appeared Pokémon and Regice.
Meanwhile, Ampharos and Electrike's bodies emitted fluffy threads of electromagnetic energy, covering their entire bodies.
Both their Physical Defense and Special Defense were significantly enhanced.
"Positive charge Ampharos, negative charge Electrike?"
Before when Tom Rokicki fought Zapdos, he hadn't paid much attention, but now seeing the transformation of the two Pokémon, he recognized their traits.
His voice wasn't deliberately suppressed, so naturally, Tom Rokicki heard it.
Knowing Positive Charge is Ampharos's hidden trait, and Negative Charge is Electrike's hidden trait; few know about them, but not too many.
In Tom Rokicki's eyes, Natsuhiko became one of those with extremely rich reserves of knowledge.
As the Positive Charge and Negative Charge traits emerged, Ampharos and Electrike began exchanging currents, significantly boosting their Special Attack.
With Zapdos at its core, had she really constructed a lineup?
Natsuhiko looked at Tom Rokicki with surprise.
She covered her mouth with a laugh, continuing, "Ampharos, Electric Arena."
Crackle——
In an instant, every scene within view seemed to be brushed with gold, the electrical arena thoroughly enveloping the surroundings.
This time.
Natsuhiko was no longer just surprised.
He was incredulous.
Zapdos and Ampharos...
Dual core!
Either no core or directly forming a dual-core lineup?
Tom Rokicki's ambition and boldness are a bit too much!
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Thanks to Master Tianhao Yu for being the Alliance Leader! Requesting more monthly tickets! Nearing the end of the arc, additional updates will be at the arc's conclusion then, anyway, we'll try to maintain five updates these few days!