May had brought six Pokémon with her from the Hoenn region to the Orange Archipelago this time. Among them, the most powerful were Blastoise and Blaziken.
The Lapras opposite them had an unknown level and unknown strength.
May thought for a moment and decided to play it safe, choosing to send out Blastoise.
"Return, Blaziken!"
Blaziken, who had been burning with fighting spirit at the first sight of Lapras, was a bit unwilling, but in the end, it obeyed the order and was recalled by May.
Riku asked, "May, are you going to use Blastoise?"
May nodded. "That's right. Let's test Lapras's strength first."
"Blastoise and Lapras's types don't have any weaknesses against each other. Even if Lapras is very strong, it can hold on for a while."
"Although Blaziken's Fire-type is strong against Lapras's Ice-type, it's also weak against Lapras's Water-type, so overall it's at a disadvantage!"
"Come on out, Blastoise."
May knew that Riku's knowledge of Pokémon common sense was a bit lacking, so she explained before calling out Blastoise.
Blastoise knew that May had come out with Riku today to train Pokémon. It was actually a bit unwilling to come out.
When it popped out of the Poké Ball, it immediately glanced at Riku.
No matter how many times, it felt that Riku was terrifying—so terrifying that Blastoise didn't want May to have too much contact with him.
May pointed at the Lapras in the center of the lake. "Blastoise, look over there."
"Our mission this time is to help Riku catch Lapras."
"So, after you test out Lapras's strength, you must create opportunities for Riku, create openings, and make sure Lapras is at least slightly distracted so that Riku can throw the Poké Ball."
Blastoise was taken aback. Why did this terrifying man want to catch Lapras? And it even needed its help?
In Blastoise's opinion, this terrifying man could just stomp his foot, and even the strongest Lapras would definitely be so scared that it would beg to be caught.
But Blastoise knew that it had no right to refuse now, nor did it have the courage.
So it immediately nodded, afraid of angering Riku.
"Good luck."
Just then, Riku suddenly patted Blastoise's shell and touched its water cannons.
It was just a simple "good luck," but it brought great pressure to Blastoise.
"Waa waa waa..."
With a venting roar, Blastoise jumped out of the trees and headed straight for the center of the lake.
May was also startled by Blastoise's sudden action, but she was an experienced Pokémon Coordinator after all. Recovering quickly, she issued an order:
"Blastoise, don't jump into the lake!"
"Fight Lapras from the shore!"
Blastoise had already rushed to the shore. Hearing May's exclamation, it calmed down slightly and stopped in time.
May gave Riku a look, telling him to hide well, then ran to Blastoise's side.
"Don't be stupid."
"Lapras is stronger than you when it comes to playing in the water."
"And it's a Water/Ice-type Special Attacker. If you swim in the lake, it might freeze the surface, and you'll be trapped!"
"Also, don't use Water-type super moves. Lapras's ability is Water Absorb, which won't hurt it and will even help it recover HP."
Blastoise nodded and used its eyes to ask May what to do.
May quickly assessed the distance from the center of the lake to the shore:
"It should be fine. Later, you first use Water Gun to provoke Lapras. Let it use Water Absorb without fear, since it hasn't taken any damage yet..."
"Human!" Just as May was instructing Blastoise, a clear and crisp female voice suddenly sounded seriously in her mind.
Startled, May quickly looked up at the Lapras in the center of the lake, her face full of shock and even disbelief as she took two steps back.
"Is... is that you talking to me?"
It was no wonder May was so shocked.
The Pokédex stated that although Lapras could communicate with humans through telepathy, definitely not every Lapras could do it to this extent.
At least...
At least it had to reach the Champion level...
In other words, the Lapras in front of them was at the same level as Drake's Dragonite, the top Trainer of the Orange Archipelago.
In fact, because of type matchups, Drake's Dragonite might not even be Lapras's opponent.
??! (Zaogao! - Oh no!)
The situation was critical!
They absolutely couldn't let Riku face a Champion-level Lapras!
Countless thoughts flashed through May's mind, and finally, she gritted her teeth and issued an order:
"Blastoise, Shell Smash!"
"With such a huge difference in strength, we only have one chance!"
Blastoise felt May's determination and slowly lowered its body.
The heavy shell on Blastoise's back began to arch gradually, making Blastoise's figure appear even larger.
Shell Smash.
Blastoise's desperate move!
Lowering Defense and Special Defense, greatly increasing Attack, Special Attack, and Speed.
It was either you die or I die!
The Lapras, which was swimming quickly towards them, was startled by Blastoise's actions.
Lapras was one of the most intelligent Pokémon besides Mythical and Legendary Pokémon.
Although wild, it understood tactics better than many Pokémon under Trainers.
Lapras retreated instead of advancing, actually trying to slowly swim back to the center of the lake.
In its opinion, Blastoise could only use Water-type moves anyway...
"Blastoise, Flash Cannon!"
"Since Water-type moves won't work on Lapras, then we'll use a Steel-type move!"
Receiving May's command, the two water cannons on Blastoise's back immediately glowed.
This was the only non-Water-type ranged special attack that Blastoise had learned.
May's command was flawless.
And Lapras was quite clever. Seeing that things were not good, it immediately dived into the lake.
Bang!
A Flash Cannon hit the lake surface, splashing water seven or eight meters high.
"Waa—"
"Human, how dare you attack me!"
Lapras was indeed a Champion-level Pokémon. Before Blastoise could even recover from the Flash Cannon, it had already surfaced and was rapidly approaching.
Raising its head high, a dazzling light emanated from Lapras's mouth.
"Not good, that's definitely Ice Beam!"
May exclaimed in alarm, and she could tell that Lapras seemed to have been provoked and was going to take care of her as well.
Thump thump—
Just then, Blastoise suddenly stomped hard on the ground with its two thick legs.
Looking at Blastoise standing in front of her, May was a little flustered.
"Blastoise, Flash Cannon won't recover that quickly, your Water-type moves..."
"Waa—"
Thump!
Lapras indeed used Ice Beam.
But no one expected Blastoise's water cannons to suddenly widen, unleashing a powerful Water-type move it hadn't learned before!
Hydro Pump!
Thump thump thump—
Perhaps Lapras was careless and underestimated its opponent, or perhaps Hydro Pump was stronger and fiercer than Ice Beam.
The Ice Beam Lapras fired only lasted for two seconds before being shattered.
The shocked Lapras, despite having the Water Absorb ability, was still pushed back more than ten meters, completely stunned.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Blastoise, you actually learned Hydro Pump, too... Riku, now!"
Just as May was excited, she suddenly saw a figure dart out of the bushes, heading straight for Lapras.
"Come on in, Lapras!"
The figure that suddenly appeared was Riku, who had been waiting for an opportunity.
He unhesitatingly threw the Poké Ball in his hand at Lapras, as if he were catching some low-level Pokémon.
Lapras had also recovered at this point.
Looking at the human who had suddenly appeared and the Poké Ball flying towards it,
Lapras was both disdainful and furious.
What age was this? Lapras didn't expect that there would still be humans who dared to use sneak attacks to catch Pokémon.
But just as it was about to headbutt the Poké Ball to shatter it,
Lapras froze.
Because it finally saw Riku clearly, saw the terrifying aura surrounding Riku's body.
In that brief moment of stunned, Lapras was sucked into the Poké Ball.
It wasn't a Legendary Pokémon; its own power wasn't enough to shatter the Poké Ball upon contact.
Shake shake shake...
Just a few seconds felt like an eternity.
The Poké Ball was shaking, indicating that Lapras had reacted and was resisting.
"No!"
"Impossible!"
"How could it be so easy, how could there be no resistance..."
"Riku, don't get too close!"
"The first time definitely won't work. If Lapras jumps out of the Poké Ball, then..."
Thump!
A crisp sound came from the Poké Ball.
Lapras was successfully caught.
May, who was still reminding and worrying about Riku, was instantly so frightened that she fell to the ground.
---Support with power stones