Click—
The sound drew Lucas's attention from the Growlithe at her feet to the woman herself. She held a well-maintained camera, capturing his surprised expression.
The woman grinned and pressed the shutter a few more times. "Perfect! I got a great shot of your surprised face—seeing you go from confident in battle to shocked was really interesting~"
Lucas, not a fan of her forwardness, frowned. "Did you get my permission to take my photo?"
"Oh, so you don't like being photographed? Got it!" The woman looked suddenly enlightened, showing Lucas her camera screen. "Here, I've deleted them all. Is that okay now?"
Lucas nodded, reluctantly accepting. Glancing at the growing crowd, he asked, "Still want to battle?"
If not, I'll call someone else.
Although Lucas was curious about her identity and why she had a Hisuian Growlithe, now wasn't the time to chat.
She noticed Lucas just wanted to fight and glanced at his Growlithe, smiling. "Let's battle. But my Pokémon is this one."
A large brown owl appeared before Lucas, standing about 1.6 meters tall—almost as tall as the strongest humans.
Noctowl, a Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon, could rotate its neck 180 degrees, preferred activity at night, and had sharper vision in darkness. It seemed a bit sluggish during the day.
But regardless of Noctowl's condition, Lucas could tell it was strong—several levels above Jamie's. With his own Mudbray, Dachsbun, and Growlithe, even with his command, victory wouldn't be easy.
Given that...
Lucas looked to Delibird, flying innocently at his right. He'd always suspected Delibird was stronger than it let on. After all, it had survived as the leader of its flock on the perilous Glaseado Mountain, learning many moves.
So Lucas was sure: any Delibird that could become the leader in that wild, snowy mountain had to be strong.
"Then I'll send out Delibird."
"Before we start, let's introduce ourselves." The woman twisted the ends of her ombre-dyed short hair, camera in one hand, the other in her pocket. "I'm Perrin, from Sinnoh. I'm a traveling photographer trying to break through a creative slump~"
Lucas nodded—he'd never heard the name before. "I'm Lucas, just an ordinary farmer."
Their eyes met, and in that instant, the battle began.
With the crowd watching eagerly, Perrin made the first move: "Wing Attack!"
Noctowl's wingspan was about half its height, nearly enough to envelop Delibird. Both Pokémon took to the air, Noctowl's white-glowing wings slashing toward Delibird!
Lucas narrowed his eyes and calmly called, "Fake Out!"
Strictly speaking, Perrin wasn't a proper trainer; she didn't know many moves, including Fake Out.
Delibird's wings, doubling as hands, clapped together, sending out a subtle energy wave. The Flying-type energy around Noctowl's wings flickered and vanished, and Noctowl, suddenly paralyzed, fell out of control.
Perrin was stunned. "What kind of move is that? It interrupted Noctowl's attack!"
Intent on finishing quickly, Lucas didn't bother explaining, directing Delibird into a relentless offensive.
Delibird was smaller and weaker than Noctowl, but its skills and command were excellent. With Lucas's guidance, it quickly gained the upper hand, suppressing Perrin and Noctowl.
Eventually, Perrin and Noctowl caught an opening in Delibird's wild-Pokémon habits and used Air Slash to try to turn the tide.
"Present."
At Lucas's timely command, Delibird pulled out several sparkling boxes from its tail and hurled them at Noctowl.
Each box exploded in a fierce blast, filling the air with smoke and blocking Noctowl's Air Slash.
Noctowl's sharp eyes pierced the smoke, locking onto Delibird. Irritated from being on the defensive, Perrin barked, "Brave Bird!"
Noctowl was instantly shrouded in a fiery blue aura, charging straight at Delibird with all its might.
Lucas smiled, having anticipated this. "Blizzard."
A biting wind, thick with snow, swept toward Noctowl. The storm's power amazed even Lucas.
It was unstoppable—Noctowl and its Brave Bird aura were frozen solid, the blizzard even reaching higher into the sky, dropping the temperature around them.
He had underestimated Delibird's strength—no wonder it had been the leader on Glaseado Mountain.
After the battle, Lucas and Perrin tacitly agreed to go their separate ways, but after the crowd dispersed, they met again at a secluded spot on the beach.
"I actually lost... Even though I raised my Pokémon with ancestral techniques!" Perrin was clearly struggling to accept her defeat, though she claimed she was just a photographer, not a trainer.
With just Noctowl and Leafeon, she'd felt confident enough to challenge the Sinnoh League gyms. If Lucas was telling the truth, she'd lost so easily to an ordinary farmer...
Lucas didn't understand her disappointment. He crouched down to examine Perrin's Growlithe more closely, growing more curious.
There was no doubt—the Growlithe by her side really was a Hisuian Growlithe, not a cosplay.
So how did this woman named Perrin get her hands on a Hisuian Growlithe?