Chapter 115 Arrival of Lillie, Mizuki’s Smeargle

Chapter 115 Arrival of Lillie, Mizuki's Smeargle

The next day, Ron had a break with no battles. He went alone to Silver Town Airport and waited in the lounge.

Around ten o'clock, a plane flew in from the horizon. Once it landed at the airport, Ron finally saw the Aether Foundation logo on the aircraft. He walked over, and as the cabin door opened, a beautiful figure appeared at the entrance. Seeing Ron walking over, Lillie smiled, waved at him, and called out, "Ron! I came to cheer you on!"

Ron smiled and gave the rushing Lillie a hug. Then he asked, "Weren't you supposed to graduate at the end of the year? How come you're here so early?"

"Ta-da~" Lillie pulled out a certificate from her backpack and said, "I graduated early. I'm a top student, you know!"

Ron laughed and patted her on the head. The term "top student" was something Ron had said before, and Lillie picked it up from him. Ron waved to the people from the Aether Foundation, and they waved back—after all, he might become the Aether Foundation's son-in-law in the future, so they were eager to build a good relationship now.

Ron brought Lillie to the hotel in the Silver town. As they opened the door, Celebi and little Rayquaza immediately pounced on him, complaining that he didn't bring them along.

Lillie excitedly took Celebi and rubbed her face against its tiny cheeks. Only then did Ron notice the agate necklace hanging around Lillie's neck—the couple's necklace he had mailed to her. He wore the matching one himself.

Rosa and Ruby also greeted Lillie. The four of them staying in the same room didn't feel crowded at all.

The next day, the final preliminary round began. Ron's opponent was Mizuki. For this match, Ron chose Nidoking, Mienshao, and Aerodactyl.

Then the order of attack was decided, with Ron going first. He sent out Nidoking.

Mizuki smiled and said, "Ron, I know you're strong, but can you beat my Smeargle?!"

Mizuki sent out her Smeargle, and Ron frowned. Smeargle was one of the more troublesome Pokémon. With its Sketch move, it could record and replicate other Pokémon's moves—and unlike the games, where it could only Sketch four moves, a powerful Smeargle in this world could have a vast move pool. You never knew what it might have up its sleeve.

"Smeargle, Spore," said Mizuki.

Smeargle's tail turned green, and with a casual flick in the air, a puff of light green powder drifted toward Nidoking.

"Nidoking, Flamethrower, burn it away," Ron ordered.

Nidoking unleashed a column of fire that incinerated the Spore in the air, then shot the flames directly at Smeargle. But Mizuki just laughed and said, "You fell for it! Smeargle, Sacred Fire!"

Smeargle calmly raised its tail, seemingly accustomed to this kind of situation. The tip turned red as it drew in the air, and a white flame clashed with Nidoking's Flamethrower, burning through it with overwhelming force and shooting straight at Nidoking.

Nidoking tried to dodge, but the flames still grazed him, taking out half of his HP. Ron frowned. This Sacred Fire clearly carried some primal energy. But Smeargle itself didn't possess primal power. Could it be that it could also Sketch the energy within the flames?

And then there was Nidoking—ever since he had gotten closer with Nidoqueen, his strength clearly wasn't what it had been during the Indigo League. Looks like Ron would have to put him through extra training! If he slacked off like this, he'd fall behind the rest of the team.

"Earthquake," Ron shouted.

Nidoking stomped on the ground, sending strong tremors toward Smeargle. But Smeargle blocked the Earthquake with Protect, then unleashed another Sacred Fire at Nidoking.

Ron wanted to use Protect, but realizing that Sacred Fire carried even a sliver of primal power, he knew there was no way to defend against it. So he had no choice but to fight head-on!

"Nidoking, Rock Tomb—on yourself!" Ron commanded.

Nidoking roared, slamming the ground with his arms. Rocks erupted from beneath his feet and formed a wall to block the Sacred Fire.

Then, sensing the moment, Nidoking's horn began to spin rapidly, and he used Drill Run to charge at Smeargle. Smeargle responded with another Sacred Fire. Nidoking charged for a distance but eventually couldn't withstand the heat of the flames and collapsed.

"Nidoking is unable to battle. Smeargle wins," the referee announced.

Ron withdrew Nidoking and looked at Mizuki. "Your Sacred Fire—did you Sketch it from Entei?"

"Yep, that's right. I was lucky to encounter Entei during my journey. Smeargle was fortunate enough to Sketch Sacred Fire and it became my trump card," Mizuki said.

"I see. Then as a sign of respect, I'll send out someone a little stronger. Go, Aerodactyl!" Ron declared.

Aerodactyl's massive figure soared through the sky, showcasing the majesty of an ancient aerial overlord!

"Haha, looks like Ron's getting serious now," Ruby commented.

"Yeah," Rosa added. "I didn't expect that Smeargle to use Entei's Sacred Fire—it really caught Ron off guard. But now that he's serious, Mizuki doesn't stand a chance."

Aerodactyl had now grasped the power of origin and advanced to quasi-legendary level. Originally, this was supposed to be part of a mission involving a legendary Pokémon, but with the discovery of Arceus's Plate shards, the power classifications of legendary Pokémon were redefined. The system's requirement changed to Tier 3 legendaries, so Aerodactyl would have to keep working toward that.

The origin Aerodactyl mastered was Solidity—unyielding like a rock, unaffected by external interference. For Aerodactyl, this meant it wasn't affected by type disadvantages; all incoming damage was halved, giving it extraordinary resistance.

"Aerodactyl, Hyper Beam! Let it see what real firepower is!" Ron shouted.

Aerodactyl opened its massive jaws, and wave after wave of Hyper Beam shot at Smeargle. Smeargle had no time to counter and could only desperately dodge, eventually being overwhelmed and losing the ability to battle.

"No way! Why doesn't your Aerodactyl have any cooldown after using Hyper Beam?!" Mizuki cried out in frustration.

Ron just smiled silently. Ever since he saw that Focus Blast technique used like that in the Battle Tower, Ron had been thinking about modifying other moves too. For instance, Hyper Beam—by reducing its power, he could eliminate the cooldown. Theoretically, unless it faced Rock- or Steel-types who resist Normal moves, consecutive Hyper Beams could be quite intimidating.

The original Hyper Beam had a power of 150. After weakening, it only had 80 power—less powerful, but with no cooldown and the ability to fire repeatedly, it was definitely worth the trade-off.

Mizuki recalled Smeargle and sent out a Jumpluff. Ron continued using Aerodactyl. Although Jumpluff couldn't beat Aerodactyl, its various powders and healing moves did catch Ron's eye.

After giving Jumpluff the respect it deserved, Aerodactyl finished it off with a Fire Fang.

Mizuki's final Pokémon was her ace, Venusaur. The entrenched turret strategy it used greatly interested Ron. He even began to consider whether he should capture a Bulbasaur and train one himself. After all, with the rooted turret strategy combined with the Thick Fat ability of a Mega Evolved Venusaur, it could be a powerful approach.

However, this Venusaur didn't have the Thick Fat ability. With its movement restricted by Ingrain, it could only become a sitting target for Mienshao and was ultimately KO'd.