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The moment Incineroar arrived, countless Meowth who respectfully called it "Brother Incineroar" greeted it.
The tiger-headed man couldn't help but show an expression of enjoyment, nodding kindly to the greeting Meowth.
Riolu, on its shoulder, looked utterly helpless.
This guy was way too full of itself.
"Hello, Brother Incineroar. Hello, Coach Riolu."
A passing Meowth greeted them.
"Oh, ah, hello!"
Riolu was startled for a moment, quickly responding to the Meowth, then secretly sighed. It really wasn't very used to such situations, even though so much time had passed.
Today, Luxray and Pyroar weren't around. The one in charge was the fourth highest-ranking officer—a male Meowstic.
The same species as the one in Li Xiang's home.
However, unlike Li Xiang's Meowstic, who practiced silence, was a master con artist, and had been a bachelor cat for over twenty years, this Meowstic was not only lively and talkative but also had three female Meowstic as wives!
And it already had a huge number of offspring.
It could be considered a winner in life.
Incineroar wasn't envious of its many wives but rather of its many followers.
Right now, everyone called it "Brother Incineroar," but the only ones truly willing to be its underlings were two little Meowth.
And these two weren't even two months old yet!
"Incineroar, Incineroar, come over here!" Meowstic waved at the red-and-black tiger.
Beside it was a small Pokémon with a dark, coin-like orb embedded in its forehead, black-tipped curved horns, and coffee-colored fur. It had sharp teeth and prominent chest fur that looked like a beard, resembling a demonic cat.
This guy had golden eyes like malt.
—Galarian Meowth, a pure Steel-type Pokémon from the eighth generation.
"Let me introduce you. This is the group leader's grandson, the most talented kid in our group!"
Meowstic patted Galarian Meowth's shoulder human-like. As a Psychic-type Pokémon, it had the highest degree of human-like behavior.
"Hello."
Incineroar blinked. It had heard that the reason the Savage Hounds Gang had a reason to start a gang fight was a battle between this guy and a Midday Lycanroc from the Savage Hounds Gang.
It had defeated an evolved opponent while still unevolved.
However, faced with the friendly greeting from Incineroar, the Galarian Meowth merely glanced up at it without any response.
This made Meowstic very awkward.
"Hey! Give some reaction! He's greeting you!" It poked Galarian Meowth's body.
Galarian Meowth seemed to have its soul summoned back but still didn't speak. It just bowed to Incineroar before turning and leaving.
"Uh... sorry. It might have just been released and isn't fully clear-headed yet."
Meowstic coughed twice. "This afternoon, because of good behavior and its young age, it was released early by the Dean."
Early release...
The cat and dog watched Galarian Meowth standing in the distance, wearing a somewhat dumbfounded expression as it looked around confusedly. They couldn't help but feel this guy seemed a bit silly.
Even Metagross seemed smarter than it.
At least the simpleton Metagross was the honest kind of simple, the type that gets provoked easily and recklessly rushes in—a fake simpleton.
This guy felt genuinely simple.
"Is it really okay?" Incineroar couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, it's fine. Don't let its current appearance fool you. Once it's on the ring, it's ferocious." Meowstic said.
"Uncle Meow, you know that's not what I mean."
"...Alright. This guy is indeed a bit dull when it comes to everyday life."
Meowstic sighed. "As humans say, when the Creator opens a window for someone, he also closes a door."
'Isn't that phrase reversed?'
"Ah-dai has been like this ever since it hatched. It only reacts to battles and things it's interested in. For everything else, it hardly reacts at all. That's why we gave it the nickname Ah-dai."
Its face showed some worry, as if Galarian Meowth were its grandson.
In fact, Meowstic was only two years younger than the group leader.
That's why Incineroar called it Uncle Meow.
"Heeey... Ah-dai, huh."
Riolu watched the not-so-bright cat, showing a thoughtful expression.
Incineroar clicked its tongue and stopped focusing on it.
It was just a Pokémon. No matter how much potential it had, it wasn't really related to Incineroar.
"I'm going to find yesterday's opponents. What about you?"
The big tiger asked Riolu on its shoulder.
"I'll observe for a bit. No rush."
Riolu jumped down and casually said.
It was somewhat interested in Galarian Meowth, mainly because, under Aura vision, the Galarian Meowth's heart wasn't as "calm" as its surface suggested. Instead, it was filled with tidal waves of emotion.
This guy's heart was lively, excited.
But why didn't it show any reaction on the surface?
A physical defect?
Riolu was curious about this, so it walked over. Coincidentally, Galarian Meowth seemed to have found something it was interested in.
'A—Sitrus Berry?'
Riolu was momentarily stunned, then saw this guy grab the Sitrus Berry's stem, extend its furry cat paw, and three claws reflecting a black-gold sheen extended.
Then, Galarian Meowth began to rotate the Sitrus Berry, placing its three claws on it.
There was no juice splashing, nor any particularly flashy, strange performance or effects.
After rotating, the Sitrus Berry was still the same—
The peel fell off. It fell to the ground like a long snake.
The sudden sight made Riolu blink.
Galarian Meowth, meanwhile, gnawed on the peeled, crystal clear Sitrus Berry and walked away.
Still with that blockhead look.
Riolu quickly stepped forward and picked up the peel from the ground.
Generally, Meowth's claws are cylindrical. Peeling fruit isn't very difficult, but achieving what it just did was by no means easy.
"Riolu?"
Riolu looked at the intact peel in its hand, showing a hint of surprise.
If peeling a Sitrus Berry completely was not simple, then separating the peel completely from the flesh with almost no pulp remaining was a sky-high difficulty.
If it weren't for the dim light, Riolu even felt this thing could be translucent.
'Such precise skill!'
Riolu took a Sitrus Berry from a distance and tried it itself, finding that while it could do it, it definitely wasn't as smooth as that guy.
Pretty impressive.
It pondered for a moment, then chased after Galarian Meowth.
"Hey, little brother. Little brother."
"?"
Galarian Meowth, munching on the fruit, turned its head with a look of confusion.
"Interested in battling me? You just got out of confinement; you must be itching for a fight, right?"
Riolu activated its Aura vision, observing Galarian Meowth's heart. The moment it reacted, Riolu instantly got feedback.
"Mm."
Galarian Meowth spoke for the first time, uttering a single word.
Then, it headed towards the ring.
Riolu followed behind.
Their actions successfully attracted the attention of many Meowth.
"Coach Riolu is going to the ring with Ah-dai? Why?"
"Sparring, just sparring! You silly cat, don't you get it?"
"Go, Ah-dai!"
They gathered around, cheering for the dumbfounded Galarian Meowth.
Compared to 'Coach Riolu', the Galarian Meowth they had watched grow up was clearly more popular.
Incineroar, who was in the middle of a battle, also heard the news and instinctively looked over. In that moment, a Sudowoodo punched it in the face.
Thud!
"Focus, focus!"
Sudowoodo shouted discontentedly, retreating several steps.
"Sorry, my fault."
Incineroar rubbed its slightly sore cheek and focused on continuing to brawl with Sudowoodo.
On another side, on an irregularly edged, not particularly large rocky platform, Galarian Meowth stood in place, dully looking at the very curious Riolu not far away.
"Can we start now?"
It suddenly blurted out these words.
"Feel free to start."
Riolu looked at Galarian Meowth with anticipation and prepared for battle.
If it remembered correctly, the variant Meowth, also called Galarian Meowth by Li Xiang, was a very slow physical-attack-oriented Pokémon. It didn't learn many moves, and useful ones were countable on one hand.
Overall, not particularly strong—
Swish!
With a hint of wind sound and a cracking noise, Riolu's vision slightly wavered. The coffee-colored Galarian Meowth transformed into a spiral, like a drill, and instantly burrowed underground.
'Dig?'
'It actually knows that move? Does it not know about Aura?'
Riolu looked underground. Under Aura vision, Galarian Meowth's path was way too obvious.
But...
'Isn't your digging speed a bit too fast? Are you specialized in digging?'
Riolu watched Galarian Meowth reach directly beneath it in almost the blink of an eye. Instead of counterattacking, it let the erupting Galarian Meowth crash into it!
Boom!
A yellowish-brown light exploded!
Dust scattered. Riolu's retreating figure broke through the smoke, shook its slightly sore arm.
It had used the bony plates on the backs of its hands to block Galarian Meowth's Dig. To be honest, the power of this guy's move was much stronger than Riolu had anticipated.
Wasn't its level supposed to be not that high?
Riolu had this fleeting thought, deeply realizing that Meowstic hadn't been boasting. This guy's talent really was top-notch.
'With Li Xiang's help, it would probably become even stronger, right?'
The dog looked at Galarian Meowth swinging its metallic claws and pouncing at it, feeling sorry for it.
In Riolu's view, Li Xiang almost had a heaven-defying talent. No matter what Pokémon, after being trained by him, would become abnormally powerful, powerful to an unreasonable degree.
Clever as Riolu was, it had long realized that its own and Incineroar's growth rates simply couldn't be compared to ordinary trainers' Pokémon.
And it credited all of this to Li Xiang himself.
It was well-known that having a suitable trainer was beneficial to a Pokémon's growth.
In fact, when the trainer was nearby, a Pokémon's combat ability would increase.
After blocking Galarian Meowth's attacks several times, Riolu felt increasingly sorry for this guy.
And then, suddenly, blinding azure lightning erupted!
Galarian Meowth's body was surrounded by flashing thunder. These lightning bolts, with power completely inconsistent with its Special Attack stats, blasted toward Riolu!
'What is this!?'
Riolu instinctively conjured a green shield in front of itself, blocking the terrifying lightning!
The green shield shattered!
Fortunately, Protect managed to block this lightning attack.
However, the surprise on Riolu's face was impossible to wipe away.
A slow, physical-attack-oriented Pokémon actually displayed lightning power completely inconsistent with its Special Attack ability?
What was going on?
It didn't see any charging time either!