Chapter 343:
Aogiri Town, Aogiri City.
Since the Pokemon League Conference began, almost every household had turned on their TVs or searched for the live stream on their phones.
As the largest Pokémon event in the Eastova League each year, directly under the League's jurisdiction, it received the best broadcasting resources and was scheduled at the optimal time.
…
January 13th.
This date was right before the Lunar New Year celebrations. Except for essential public service workers and some trainers still traveling who hadn't returned home, almost everyone was already back with their families.
This was the perfect time to hold the competition.
It had become a habit for nearly every family to turn on the TV and watch the Pokemon League Conference during this period, followed by the Grand Festival, known as the largest Pokémon Contests in the Eastova League during the New Year.
…
At Takagi Megumi's house...
Her home was a two-story townhouse. Her parents and grandfather lived there, and she had her own small room upstairs.
"He's on stage, he's on stage!"
She was wearing pajamas, half-lying on her bed. Floragato was curled up beside her, Noibat was perched on her head, and Blastoise was lying on the floor.
The content on the TV in front of her was the Pokemon League Conference .
Hayashi Kaede was standing on the field.
"Brother Kaede~! Brother Kaede is on stage! See that, Blastoise?" Takagi Megumi excitedly patted Blastoise's shoulder.
"Blastoise...!" Blastoise glanced at the TV, its eyes also lighting up, "Blastoise~!"
They say a Pokémon's personality reflects its trainer. Under Takagi Megumi's influence, it had become a battle-loving Pokémon too!
The same went for Floragato and Noibat.
"Hehehe, Serperior is so cool..."
At this moment, Takagi Megumi even imagined herself as Hayashi Kaede, standing in the center of the Pokemon League Conference arena.
She kept patting Blastoise's shoulder, "Blastoise, we're going to the Pokemon League Conference too in the future, just like Brother Kaede! And we'll take first place too!"
"Blastoise~!"
A brilliant light shone in Blastoise's eyes at that moment.
It saw Serperior standing in the arena, and it saw Hayashi Kaede standing there too.
It remembered when Serperior used to train it rigorously.
The stinging Vine Whips...
Although it was a bit traumatic, looking back now, it was also a precious memory.
At this moment, just like Takagi Megumi, it felt the desire to stand on that stage.
And in Aogiri Town at this moment, Takagi Megumi wasn't the only one watching.
In the newly built research institute...
Mona, who had recently come to Aogiri Town, was also holding a phone, leaning on a table, watching the live broadcast.
The person now entering the field clearly surprised her.
Wasn't that the owner of the neighborhood Breeding House in Aogiri Town?
Although she failed to challenge him last time, she had learned a bit about that Breeding House afterward.
Especially that so-called "Sky Challenge"!
Those Pidgeot truly made her marvel. It was hard to imagine someone raising one species of Pokémon to such a uniformly skilled and coordinated level.
And that giant Pidgeot.
Now he was participating in the Pokemon League Conference too.
No wonder he said back then, "You need at least four badges."
*'Let's see how strong his Pokémon really are...'*
Mona thought to herself.
...
Eastova Arena.
Seeing the opposing Blaziken, as Serperior released its Aura, Hayashi Kaede also instinctively used [Eye of Exploration].
[Pokémon: Blaziken]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Blaze]
[Potential: Purple]
[IVs: HP (20) Attack (24) Sp. Atk (25) Defense (18) Sp. Def (27) Speed (25)]
[Level: 53-55]
[Moves: Ember, Peck, Quick Attack, Brick Break, Dig, Agility, Detect, Flamethrower...]
The Blaziken is at Lv. 53–55.
Hayashi Kaede grinned.
This round, despite the type disadvantage, Serperior was much stronger~
"Begin the match!"
With the commentator Satoshi's announcement from above, the bespectacled young man immediately seized the initiative, "Blaziken, Quick Attack, then follow up with Flame Charge!"
Simultaneously, Hayashi Kaede's voice also rang out, "Serperior, Leaf... Grassy Terrain!"
The commands were given almost at the same time.
Though Hayashi Kaede hesitated slightly in the middle.
Both Pokémon also moved almost simultaneously.
*'Using Grassy Terrain against a Fire-type Pokémon, heh....'*
As Hayashi Kaede gave his command, Blaziken's trainer couldn't help but sneer internally in his mind.
Grassy Terrain was nothing more than covering the ground with grass, gathering dense Grass-type energy!
The concentration of Grass energy it could gather depended entirely on the strength of the Pokémon using it.
But for a Fire-type Pokémon, they can just burn it all away.
Blaziken's legs tensed, starting with Quick Attack—this was its setup move to enhance Flame Charge.
It was part of their usual training results.
Its figure turned into a flash of light, soon shimmering with fiery sparks.
Its thoughts were the same; it didn't care at all about Serperior's Grassy Terrain.
What was a mere Grass-type's Grassy Terrain? No need to pay attention.
But as it moved, Blaziken quickly realized something was wrong.
Grass...
Its vision was filled with grass.
One meter, two meters... this grass had grown over two meters tall, like a dense forest, completely covering its body.
Even the flames flickering on its body now only burned the grass briefly before being extinguished immediately.
The grass ran rampant. Soon, it couldn't see Serperior's figure amidst all this grass.
The grass hadn't stopped growing either; it was still slowly spreading, seemingly trying to cover the entire battlefield.
"What kind of joke is this?"
The speed at which the grass grew stunned almost all the spectators present.
Because the grass grew so fast that the opponent's Blaziken hadn't even finished its Quick Attack and Flame Charge combination?!
Seeing the grass cover even Serperior's figure,
The bespectacled young man opposite panicked.
This grass coverage had enveloped both Pokémon.
If not dealt with, how could his Blaziken attack Serperior?
Moreover, in battle, losing sight of your opponent was a major taboo.
He hurriedly shouted, "Flamethrower! Use Flamethrower!"
The Blaziken within the grass opened its mouth. A surge of fire, fanning out widely, instantly incinerated large swathes of grass in front of it.
The bespectacled young man's face showed delight.
But he soon discovered that only the areas directly hit by the flames were burned away around Blaziken's position.
The other areas remained completely unchanged...
Moreover, in the scorched areas, tender green sprouts were already faintly beginning to grow again.
As Blaziken turned its head, the flames followed its direction. Although the grass was burned away where the fire passed, the moment it turned away, new grass would rapidly sprout in the uncovered areas within a second.
At this moment, Blaziken felt as if it was completely immersed in a forest.
And it, a Fighting/Fire-type Pokémon, felt like it was being trapped by its own actions!
The bespectacled young man, watching this scene, had only one thought left in his mind.
*'What the hell kind of Grassy Terrain is this?!'*
"Serperior, Energy Ball!"