"Hey, Paul, why is your Samurott so strong?!"
After offering a quick word of consolation to her Pokémon, Leanne rushed over to Paul, her face full of confusion.
If this were a typical Elite Four-level Pokémon, Leanne was confident she could defeat it even with her six Poison-types rotating in and out, but that Samurott? It felt like a walking cheat code!
From the start, it moved faster than a Speed-boosted Beedrill and one-shot both her Gengar and Seviper in close combat, even at full health.
Its offense and speed were off the charts, and it even used precision techniques like Mind's Eye. If her Arbok hadn't successfully baited it, Paul's Samurott could've easily wiped her whole team.
"Do you have some kind of secret training method for your Pokémon? Can you share it with me?"
"Hard training."
Paul gave a simple reply.
"Uh… that's it?"
Leanne blinked in confusion. That answer felt like a complete dodge.
Every top-tier Trainer and Pokémon works hard, that's a given. How else would they get this strong so early in their journey?
Paul's reply might as well have said nothing at all.
Still, he followed up with a bit more:
"Tailored training. Focused ability development."
"Ability development…?"
Leanne nodded slowly, half understanding. She vaguely recalled Professor Oak co-publishing something with Paul on growth-phase training and bloodline awakening methods. She felt like she got it, but also kind of didn't.
Paul then asked her a question of his own:
"What do you think is the greatest strength of Poison-type Pokémon?"
"Poison...?"
For most Pokémon, their greatest strength lies in their typing. Everything else is secondary.
"Exactly. That should be the direction of your training."
Single-type specialists often produce stronger Pokémon because they gain more focused experience and insights.
"Ah… So how exactly should I do that?"
Leanne asked, a little lost.
Truth be told, her whole team being Poison-type was an accident. She never set out to become a Poison-type master. Her real goal was to become Champion—CHAMPION.
Still, there's no rule saying the Champion's team has to be of varied types. So, becoming stronger is what matters!
Fine. Poison-type master it is.
Paul didn't know Leanne's exact ambitions. If he did, he might've offered a small look of pity and murmured, "Shooting for Elite Four might be more realistic."
After all, in this world of elite Trainers, with the likes of Red, Blue, and Ash dominating just the Kanto region, someone like Leanne—a side-story protagonist would struggle to keep up.
Even Paul himself, might not have stood a chance against Lucas or Tobias.
But drive is still a good thing.
Paul didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he posed four challenges:
"Say your opponent can willingly enter status conditions other than poison, like my Ursaluna can. How do you ensure it still gets poisoned?"
"What if your opponent uses abilities like Safeguard to block all status effects? As a Poison-type specialist, how do you get past that to land poison?"
"What if your opponent has the Immunity ability, or is a Poison/Steel type immune to poison by default? What if your Pokémon doesn't have the Corrosion ability? How do you poison them then?"
"And what if your opponent benefits from poison with Poison Heal?"
Leanne's mind blanked. She could maybe handle the first, but the rest?
Safeguard, Immunity, dual-type Poison/Steel, Poison Heal—these were the counters to Toxic!
Even the most powerful Poison-types would struggle in these matchups, especially without a significant power gap.
"This… This is impossible!"
"Maybe. But if you figure out how to overcome all four… then you'd be the world's strongest Poison-type specialist."
Paul smiled cryptically. He was still looking for those answers himself. After all, if you could guarantee your opponent got poisoned no matter what, the scales of victory would always tip your way.
"..."
So you don't know either.
Leanne stared at him, speechless.
'Bzzt! Incoming call from Scott.'
The Arc Phone flew out of Paul's pocket and hovered before him.
"Answer."
With that single command, Scott's round, cheerful face popped up onscreen.
"Hey hey, Paul! Hope I'm not interrupting. Just wanted to let you know: Brandon's finished exploring the ruins and is heading back to Kanto, he's on his way to the Viridian Forest area. He should arrive in a day or two. I'll send you his exact location once he's there. Feel free to challenge him anytime."
Paul gave a courteous nod. "Understood. Thank you."
"I'm really looking forward to your battle with Brandon. Get ready! I'll leave you to it then."
"Got it."
The call ended, and Paul slipped the phone back into his pocket.
He turned and immediately met Leanne's shining, starry-eyed gaze.
Paul: "?"
"I want to watch! I want to see you battle Brandon! When are you going?"
Leanne had also been challenging the Battle Frontier… but her luck had been terrible, and she'd only managed to collect three Symbols so far.
Now that Paul was about to face off against the strongest Frontier Brain, how could she not be excited?
"Watch if you want, but I haven't decided when yet."
Unlike Leanne, Paul didn't feel particularly hyped. He'd already defeated Elite Four-level opponents like Bruno and Brandon from alternate universes, and even taken down Lorelei and Wally in this one.
There were still things to take care of before the Brandon match. He had preparations to make.
"Aw, come on, at least give me a rough estimate! I really wanna see it!"
Leanne pouted and whined like a spoiled child, hoping to wear him down.
"At least a week from now. I'm heading off."
With that, Paul leapt onto Metagross, recalled his non-flying Pokémon, and took off into the sky with his entire team, leaving Leanne and her confused Pokémon behind.
"He just… left like that?"
Leanne stared in a daze at Paul's shrinking figure.
She thought about chasing him, but none of her Pokémon could fly. Beedrill could, technically, but wasn't exactly built for carrying passengers.
"Tch! I will see that match, no matter what!"
Leanne clenched her fists in determination.
"..."
Her Pokémon shared a knowing glance. They'd long since grown used to their Trainer's sudden bursts of dramatic passion.
—
Meanwhile, Paul had more pressing matters. Before his match with Brandon, he needed to visit the Tree of Beginning and reunite with his Pokémon.
The skies swirled with clouds as his diverse team soared through the air, each using their unique flight methods.
Time passed. They flew over oceans, over Rota… until a vast mountain forest came into view.
Dozens of kilometers later, a subtle dizziness crept into Paul's mind. A strange sensation stirred in his chest.
Perhaps it was his growing Psychic powers or his innately unique physique, but Paul could sense that the Tree of Beginning was near.
"We're close. Metagross, lock onto the psychic marker ahead. Correct our flight path. Everyone else, follow."
Metagross' eyes lit up as it began computing flight vectors like a living supercomputer.
Soon after, the landscape opened up and there it stood. Framed by lush forest, the thousand-meter-tall Tree of Beginning loomed majestically before them.
It wasn't their first time visiting, but now that they were stronger, the Pokémon could better grasp the Tree's overwhelming presence.
"Vireeee!"
"Gaaaaar!"
From afar, Electivire and Garchomp locked in a sparring match with the legendary Regi trio—immediately halted their battle and shot through the sky toward Paul.
"Hey—!"
Paul barely got a word out before the two slammed into him with bone-crushing hugs.
"Vireee! Bro! I missed you like crazy!"
Electivire roared with joy, squeezing tightly.
"Gaaaar!"
"Me too!"
Garchomp howled in agreement.
They'd been living with Mewtwo at the Tree for a while now. Their days were filled with constant battles—with Regigigas, with Mewtwo, sometimes even with Mew.
They'd grown fast, so fast they'd reached Champion-level.
But even now, despite how strong they'd become, they were still among the weakest in the Tree's upper levels.
All the Regis were Champion-tier minimum. And Mewtwo? He kept getting stronger and more terrifying by the day.
Even if Electivire and Garchomp could win one-on-one, they couldn't handle ten-on-one. And when they tried to suggest fair duels…
The Regis: "Duels? You two want to duel all of us?"
So yeah—no matter how strong they got, they were still the Tree's punching bags.
Now that their brother had returned, it was reunion time!
But as they looked toward the rest of the team, Electivire and Garchomp noticed everyone staring at them with weird expressions.
"Vireee? What's with the looks? You guys want to throw down?"
Before they could get an answer, Paul's icy voice pierced the moment from within the hug.
"You two… done hugging yet?"
"Gaaaar."
Garchomp, realizing this was just a symbolic hug, quickly let go and poked Electivire.
"Huh?!"
Electivire looked down at Paul in his arms, then quickly released him and floated off, pretending to admire the scenery like nothing happened.
Cough cough… haah…
Paul dropped back onto Metagross, coughing lightly as he caught his breath.
He was tough, but not invincible. A hug from Electivire still left him reeling.
"Down."
He shot a glance at Electivire's guilty figure, then made eye contact with Mewtwo, who stood beside Mew.
The whole team descended to the top level of the Tree.
Paul released the rest of his grounded team—Aggron, Torterra, Ursaluna, and Drapion.
"Raaaa~"
"Ursaah~"
The top platform suddenly felt a lot more crowded.
"Vireee?"
Electivire blinked, then zipped over to Torterra.
"Vireee! You've finally grown strong! I've been dreaming of this moment!"
"Every extra day here just made me want to beat you up more!"
Electivire bear-hugged Torterra's face, excitement blazing in his eyes.
Back when they were on equal footing, Torterra often had the upper hand. Even after Electivire absorbed a Dragon Crystal, it was still a toss-up.
But now—now, Electivire had broken through. Everything had leveled up.
Skills once elusive were now mastered.
He was sure he could win easily now!
"Raaaa!"
Torterra roared back, unshaken. He returned Electivire's gaze with one of equal intensity.
Once again, the flames of battle were reignited between them.
(End of Chapter)
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