Chapter 105: Too Messy

Having finally broken free from Sabrina's relentless assault, Maki let out a long sigh of relief as he hung up the phone.

"Where does she even learn to say things like that?"

Pondering this question, Maki walked into the bathroom. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he grinned and called out to the Cottonee outside.

"Cottonee, want to join me?"

Unlike Charmeleon, who had a natural aversion to water, Cottonee wasn't particularly against bathing. Maki also thought that soaking in the bath while hugging Cottonee would be a rather enjoyable experience.

"Cotton~"

Cottonee shot Maki a sideways glance and rejected him without hesitation.

Did he think she didn't know what was on his mind? He just wanted to cuddle her and mess around—that wasn't happening.

Besides, if Maki had the guts to say things like this to Sabrina, maybe he wouldn't still be single. She and Charmeleon had overheard the entire phone conversation just now.

In summary, Sabrina had been making a solid effort to advance things, only for Maki to expertly dodge and deflect everything she threw at him.

It was frustrating enough that both she and Charmeleon felt their blood pressure rising.

"Tch, forget it then."

Clicking his tongue, Maki shrugged. He hadn't been holding out much hope anyway. Cottonee had been gradually developing resistance to his "cuddling."

Sigh~ It was so much better when she was just a baby. She used to burrow into his arms all the time—so much cuter back then.

Maki shot Cottonee a sorrowful look, like a parent lamenting that their child had grown up and could no longer be controlled. The unsettling gaze made Cottonee a bit uneasy, but in the end, she decisively chose to go watch a drama with Charmeleon instead.

The next day.

After finishing breakfast with his two Pokémon, Maki made his way to Celadon Gym.

Interestingly, he didn't spot Jasmine at the restaurant that morning. She must have already returned to Johto.

After all, when Maki saw her yesterday, she had been preparing to leave. She had only stuck around because she wanted to watch his Gym challenge for fun.

Speaking of Jasmine, Maki suddenly remembered something…

Did she ever pay him back?

When Erika arrived yesterday, things got so chaotic that everyone seemed to forget about it. Maki didn't think Jasmine would intentionally avoid paying him back, so the only explanation was that she had simply forgotten.

Upon entering Celadon Gym, Maki initially intended to find a staff member to officially register his badge—otherwise, his victory from yesterday would have been for nothing.

However, the first thing he saw inside wasn't a staff member, but Erika sitting there as if she had been waiting for a long time. Upon spotting him, she immediately brightened up and walked over.

"Huh? Why are you here?"

When he had come yesterday, Maki distinctly remembered that the gym had staff members handling this kind of thing.

"Isn't it obvious? I was waiting for you!"

Erika gave him a look that said, Are you seriously asking that question?

Maybe it was because of Sabrina's interrogation last night, but Maki found himself feeling slightly awkward about interacting with girls today.

Also… could someone please tell him if whatever he said in here could be heard by Sabrina? Because Erika's words just now sounded like they could easily lead to some misunderstandings.

"Ahem, ahem!" Maki coughed forcefully a couple of times to cut her off. "Waiting for what? You know the staff can handle the badge registration, right?"

"Oh, Jasmine told me yesterday that she completely forgot to pay you back after returning, so she asked me to do it instead. How did you forget, too?"

As she spoke, Erika pulled out a stack of bills from her pocket and handed them to Maki.

Maki didn't think much of it and simply took the money from her.

"Honestly, it wasn't that much. I wouldn't have minded just covering it."

"Yeah, right. With Jasmine's appetite? I wouldn't dare offer to treat her too often either," Erika remarked, clearly aware of just how much her friend could eat.

"You better not let her hear you say that!" she warned with a playful smile. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned back to Maki.

She returned to the counter and smiled at him.

"Since I'm here, I might as well handle your badge registration myself!"

"Sure, thanks."

Maki nodded and handed over the Rainbow Badge Erika had given him yesterday, along with his Trainer ID.

Once all the necessary information was filled in, Maki officially obtained the Rainbow Badge.

After wrapping up the badge registration, he bid Erika farewell.

For the first time in a while, Maki returned to his loyal Battle Arena.

His Battle Arena ranking was at eleven stars, which was just the right level for Cottonee's training.

If the opponents were too strong, Cottonee might not be able to handle them. But if they were too weak, the training wouldn't be very effective either.

Still, if he compared Cottonee now to Charmander back during their time in Orange City, which one was stronger would be difficult to say. In an actual battle, Cottonee would likely stand no chance against Charmander due to the type disadvantage.

But if type matchups were ignored, Maki still believed Cottonee might have the upper hand. After all... she was incredibly tricky!

...

Cottonee's first opponent took Maki by surprise, as it was a Pokémon rarely seen in the Kanto region.

Herdier—the middle evolution between Lillipup and Stoutland. A medium-sized Pokémon with light blue fur on its face forming a distinct "大" shape. Most of its body was covered in brown fur, while the deep blue fur on its back resembled a small, stiff cape, providing protection to its hindquarters.

"Herdier?"

This was a Pokémon primarily found in the Unova region.

Looking up at his opponent, Maki saw a girl about his age standing across from him. Shifting his gaze downward slightly, he confirmed his suspicion—she was likely from Unova.

After all, based on what he knew, people from Unova seemed to develop better physically...

Even among the female protagonists of various generations, Hilda from Generation V had the best figure, which probably explained the abundance of... well, certain types of fan content about her. Not that Maki had ever looked at such things—he was an upstanding person, after all.

He merely glanced briefly before shifting his gaze away.

"Cotton?"

[Master, what were you just looking at?]

Perched on Maki's shoulder, Cottonee keenly noticed the slight change in his expression and immediately questioned him.

"Hmm... I was merely appreciating the finer things in life with an artistic eye. I hope you won't misunderstand. Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"

Rolling her eyes at her trainer, Cottonee lazily floated onto the battlefield.

"Little K! Do your best!"

The girl standing opposite him cheered on her Herdier, leading Maki to suspect she was a motivational trainer like Ash—one of those who constantly shouted things like "Hang in there!" and "Dodge it!" during battle.

"Cotton~"

Cottonee called out across the field to Herdier. While the exact words were unclear, Herdier's reaction suggested they weren't particularly friendly.

"Herd!"

Herdier bared its fangs at Cottonee, looking visibly agitated.

So... was that a self-taught use of Taunt? Maki mused.

A manual Taunt—no need to waste a move slot.

As the battle commenced, Maki immediately had Cottonee scatter Stun Spore. While this move had no effect on the Grass-type Pokémon in Celadon Gym, it was a different story against Herdier.

Moreover, based on Maki's observations, Prankster didn't just speed up the execution of status moves—it also seemed to slightly enhance their effectiveness.

After all, reality wasn't a game, where everything could be quantified purely by numbers.

As Herdier attempted to dodge, Cottonee followed up with another move—Fairy Wind.

Although Prankster allowed Stun Spore to be used more quickly, the first limitation of powder-based moves was their slow dispersal. If the move was executed quickly but failed to reach the opponent before they moved out of range, it was ultimately ineffective.

Unless one was willing to expend considerable effort to spread the powder across the entire battlefield—which was far from an easy task.

But if the powder's natural dispersal was too slow... why not just blow it directly into the opponent's face?

With the help of Fairy Wind, the originally dense Stun Spore was spread more widely. Since Fairy Wind was an area-of-effect move, this increased the likelihood of contact.

Although this approach slightly reduced Stun Spore's effectiveness, it made it significantly harder for the opponent to evade.

Maki had full confidence in Cottonee's Stun Spore—so long as it made contact, even if Herdier didn't become fully paralyzed, it would still be slowed down, making it harder to dodge attacks.

Just as Herdier escaped the initial range of Stun Spore, it saw a gust of pink wind carrying yellow spores rapidly closing in on it.

Herdier glanced around and realized the entire front area was engulfed in the spores. There was nowhere to dodge—by the time it could escape the range, it would already have made contact with the powder.

"Take Down!"

The Unovan girl clenched her teeth. Since dodging was impossible, she might as well go on the offensive. With Herdier's respectable attack power, a direct hit would deal significant damage.

Herdier's body became shrouded in a pale white glow. After gaining momentum, it leaped into the air and charged straight toward Cottonee's position.

During its approach, Herdier inevitably came into contact with the Stun Spore. While it didn't suffer complete paralysis, its slightly uncomfortable expression indicated that the move had some effect.

And let's not forget—the move mixed with Stun Spore was Fairy Wind, which is also an offensive move! It was inevitable that Herdier would take some damage from Fairy Wind as it charged through both layers of obstacles.

"Moonblast!"

When Maki issued this command, it wasn't just the Unovan girl on the opposing side who was stunned—even the referee hesitated for a moment.

[Can Cottonee even learn Moonblast?]

While wild Cottonee could be found in both Kanto and Johto, their primary habitat was Unova. Naturally, the Unovan girl wasn't unfamiliar with these mischievous Pokémon, which is exactly why she found it so surprising.

As for the referee, who had officiated countless battles, for a brief moment, he wondered if Maki had simply called out the wrong move.

But less than a second later, a sphere of condensed Fairy-type energy materialized in front of Cottonee, leaving everyone momentarily speechless.

"Can Cottonee actually use that move?"

"It shouldn't... right?"

"Aren't you a Pokémon school student? How do you not know this?"

"This is totally breaking the rules!"

Murmurs of discussion rippled through the audience. Not everyone had been paying attention to Maki's battle, and only a few knew for certain that Cottonee shouldn't be able to learn Moonblast. The majority of the spectators were merely baffled that such a small Pokémon could unleash such a high-power move.

The seasoned referee, however, quickly pieced it together. After thinking for a moment, he realized that this wasn't a legitimate Moonblast—it had been triggered through Nature Power.

Even the Unovan girl cast a glance at him, as if to say, [Referee, are you seriously not going to call this out as cheating?]

The referee's guess was correct—this Moonblast was indeed the result of Nature Power.

Before using Nature Power, Cottonee had already executed Fairy Wind. And since that gust of wind had originated from behind her, it naturally left Fairy-type energy lingering in the surroundings.

Because of that, Nature Power automatically converted into Moonblast.

During Maki's Gym Battle, he hadn't used this technique—his first Pokémon in that battle hadn't needed it. The Tri Attack strategy had been sufficient at the time. But now, he finally had the perfect opportunity to test it out.

As for the Ivysaur his opponent had waiting in reserve—it resisted Fairy-type moves. Maki wasn't about to waste energy using Moonblast against it. That would be a pointless effort.

Taking advantage of the lingering effects of Fairy Wind, Cottonee launched a Moonblast directly in front of Herdier.

This attack packed far more power than Tri Attack. After all, Moonblast was a Fairy-type move, giving it a Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB) when used by Cottonee.

"Charge through it!" The Unovan girl issued a command that, in Maki's eyes, wasn't particularly wise.

Given Herdier's raw strength, a Take Down could potentially break through a single unenhanced Moonblast from Cottonee.

But who said there was only one?

Just as Herdier smashed through the first Moonblast, before it could even react, another glowing pink sphere appeared right in front of it.

This was exactly what had left Erika and the others so shocked when Cottonee first demonstrated this ability—the sheer, relentless barrage.

Herdier was struck by two consecutive Moonblasts, sending it crashing to the ground. Before it could even catch its breath, yet another Moonblast slammed into its face.

The Unovan girl's body trembled slightly, as if she had just suffered a deep emotional shock.

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