Chapter 199: The Origin of Fairies
Ryan found Mizuki at the Pokémon Center. She was a cheerful, sunny girl with an optimistic disposition. Ryan extended an invitation to her, but was unsurprisingly rejected. After all, the Pokémon League was still the most powerful organization, and most trainers with ambition would choose to join it.
Those who joined group were generally either struggling trainers looking for opportunities, those who knew the inside story about the organization's true goals, or highly perceptive individuals who sensed something unusual about the guild's establishment and thus chose to join.
The last type consisted of Ryan's fans. After all, Ryan was quite famous, having won two consecutive regional championships and being the youngest trainer with Elite Four-level strength. With these accolades, Ryan had accumulated a large fanbase. These fans knew that Ryan had established his own faction within Team Rocket, and given the organization's generous benefits, many chose to join.
But Mizuki didn't belong to any of these categories. Still young and ambitious, and possessing two legendary Pokémon—Deoxys and Latias—she naturally looked down on what she perceived as a smaller organization like Team Rocket.
Ryan smiled and didn't force the issue. Trainers with Mizuki's skill level were definitely not overlooked by the League, especially with her experience catching legendary Pokémon. She was absolutely a key prospect for the League to cultivate.
Ryan's recruitment attempt failed, and back at the dormitory, he learned Lillie had also been unsuccessful. Delilah already had ties to the Pokémon League. She had accidentally discovered Heatran while exploring a volcano near Stark Mountain in Sinnoh. The two had gotten along well, and Heatran chose to follow her. The League learned of this and promptly recruited her.
Ryan wasn't bothered by the setbacks. Legendary Pokémon were just that—legendary Pokémon. He could obtain as many as he wanted later. He had placed all his hopes on Team Plasma's Genesect project. If the raw materials were sufficient, with Colress's technology, they should be able to mass-produce Genesect.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the first round of preliminaries ended, followed by the second round. Ryan's match was the second of the day, and he was assigned to the first arena in Group E.
His opponent was a skilled Fighting-type Pokémon specialist from the Kalos region, whose ace was a Hawlucha.
The two stood on the battlefield. His opponent was a middle-aged man with bulging muscles, clearly a martial artist himself. Ryan was no less impressive; he hadn't neglected his physical training throughout his travels. While not overly extreme, his physique was undeniably athletic.
At the referee's signal, both Ryan and the man named Korrina's mentor, Gurkinn, simultaneously sent out their Pokémon. Honestly, facing such a renowned Fighting-type master made Ryan a bit nervous—Gurkinn was famous throughout Kalos as a Mega Evolution guru and martial arts expert.
But despite his respect for his opponent, the battle had to continue. Ryan sent out Sylveon, while Gurkinn's Pokémon was his ace, Hawlucha.
Ryan grinned and said, "No hard feelings about the type advantage! Sylveon, use Misty Terrain!"
Sylveon tapped its small foot on the ground, instantly filling the entire field with pink mist. Against the backdrop of the arena, Sylveon looked incredibly cute and elegant.
Ruby nodded from the stands and said, "I'm learning something here."
Gurkinn struck a fighting pose and commanded, "Hawlucha, use Fling!"
Hawlucha pulled out an Iron Ball and hurled it directly at Sylveon. Sylveon didn't move at all; with a gentle flick of its ribbon-like feelers, countless wisps of pink mist enveloped the Iron Ball, reducing its momentum and gradually bringing it to a stop. It halted a meter away from Sylveon and slammed into the ground; the Fling was completely ineffective.
Ryan observed Hawlucha and said, "The Unburden Ability, huh? But in Sylveon's domain, can you really escape? Sylveon, use Swift!"
Sylveon flicked its ribbon feelers, and countless golden stars rained down on Hawlucha from all directions. Hawlucha immediately leaped into the air and then used Flying Press to crush Sylveon. But Sylveon waved its ribbon feelers, creating a vortex of Fairy Wind that swept up Hawlucha, inflicting massive damage.
Ryan smiled as he watched Hawlucha being swept into the vortex. Sylveon's mastery over Fairy-type energy is truly remarkable!
Sylveon's specialty was its profound connection to Fairy-type energy, which enhanced all of its Fairy-type moves. However, Sylveon had never liked battling through brute force alone, so it gradually developed this method of using its power to control the Fairy-type energy within Misty Terrain. It could be said that Sylveon's technique already resembled a domain of sorts.
This Misty Terrain was Sylveon's domain. However, this domain wasn't the same as the territory power wielded by first-tier legendary Pokémon—it was only somewhat similar. Ryan called it a pseudo-domain. But its effect was still considerable. Within Misty Terrain, attacks could be launched from all directions, and it could restrict the movement and power of opposing Pokémon, suppressing the enemy while boosting Sylveon's own capabilities.
But the disadvantage was also obvious: it only lasted for five turns, which was relatively short. Moreover, since it was a recently mastered technique, it could only be used once per battle and couldn't be chained together.
"Brave Bird! Break through! Show your fighting spirit, Hawlucha!!!" Gurkinn shouted passionately.
Hawlucha roared, using Brave Bird to shatter the vortex of Fairy Wind, then charged towards Sylveon. Sylveon scoffed, its two ribbon feelers wrapping around Hawlucha's waist, spinning it around, and slamming it heavily to the ground.
"Now, the finishing blow—Moonblast!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Roost!" Gurkinn countered.
A bright moon appeared above the arena, its intense light striking Hawlucha. But Hawlucha assumed a defensive stance, using Roost. It healed while temporarily losing its Flying-type, managing to withstand Sylveon's Moonblast.
The Misty Terrain effect faded, returning the battlefield to its original state. Hawlucha flexed its slightly sore wings, then launched a powerful Flying Press at Sylveon.
But even having survived the Moonblast, how much HP did Hawlucha have left? Ryan shook his head and said, "Sylveon, finish it with Fairy Wind!"
Sylveon unleashed Fairy Wind, instantly knocking Hawlucha out of the battle mid-flight, causing it to fall helplessly to the ground.
"Hawlucha is unable to battle! Sylveon wins! Therefore, the victory goes to Ryan from Lavender Town!" the referee announced.
Gurkinn sighed, recalled Hawlucha, and walked over to shake hands with Ryan. "As expected, the gap between regular Pokémon and those trained to face legendaries is still vast. Ryan, keep pushing forward—I hope you can win the championship again."
"You can count on it!" Ryan smiled, giving Gurkinn a thumbs up.
The match was over, and since the guild operative's next match was the following day, Ryan and his group promptly went to check on Ash's progress in the tournament.
(End of Chapter)
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