"If it's between Electric and Dragon..."
Platinum was still hesitating. Her gaze kept moving back and forth between Regidrago and Regieleki.
She was still struggling with which one to choose.
Actually, if she made the choice based on her current team, Platinum felt she should choose Regieleki.
Regieleki was an Electric type, and she didn't have an Electric-type main Pokémon on her team, whereas she already had a Dragon type.
She already had Garchomp.
However, that wasn't really a problem. Garchomp could serve as her Ground-type main Pokémon, and Regidrago, being a pure Dragon type, wouldn't usually overlap with Garchomp's role anyway.
The main issue was that Platinum didn't know what these two giants were best at.
"Regieleki is a high-speed type Pokémon, while Regidrago is the high-stamina type. However, because of their Abilities, their offensive power is also very strong."
Damian naturally understood what Platinum was thinking. He gave her a simple introduction to the two Pokémon.
In fact, the base stats of Regieleki and Regidrago in the games were very similar. The main difference was in their HP and Speed.
Regidrago's base HP was 200, while Regieleki's base Speed was 200.
Because of their Abilities, their attack power was also very good. This was especially true for Regidrago.
Its signature move, Dragon Energy, was basically the Dragon-type version of Eruption or Water Spout.
It was a very powerful move. When you added the boost from the Dragon's Maw Ability to Dragon Energy, the power of a full-health Regidrago using that move was easy to imagine.
If Regidrago used Terastallization to become a pure Dragon type and boost it even further, the power would be absurd.
As for Regieleki, although it didn't have a move as explosive as a theoretical Electric-type Eruption, it had Extreme Speed.
In reality, Regieleki's incredible speed combined with Extreme Speed would make it a nightmare to face, unless the opponent used something like Trick Room to reverse the speed order.
Well, if it relied on Extreme Speed, Regieleki's damage might not look overwhelming at first glance. But even constant chip damage would be terrifying if it came fast enough.
Besides, Regieleki's offensive power was actually quite solid. It was not just scraping away tiny bits of damage.
If they were talking purely about combat strength, how should it be put?
The high-speed Regieleki was slightly better than the high-stamina Regidrago. But in a real battle, performance still depended on the opponent.
Regieleki could easily pull off amazing plays. If things went well, it could take down three or four opponents in a row, or even sweep an entire team on its own.
However, if the opponent found an opening, Regieleki could also be knocked out in one hit. After all, its body was quite fragile.
Regidrago, on the other hand, had a higher margin for error. It was hard to say which one was truly better.
"One is speed-focused, and one is stamina-focused..."
But what Damian said was enough. Platinum now understood the strengths of these two giants.
"Damian, I want to try for Regieleki."
Platinum's gaze settled on Regieleki. That's right, she still chose Regieleki.
Platinum actually already had one speed-type Pokémon: Pheromosa.
There was no doubt that Pheromosa was powerful and extremely aggressive.
But Regieleki could not only fill the missing type on her team, it was also an excellent high-speed attacker.
"Alright."
Damian nodded to Shadow Mewtwo. Shadow Mewtwo waved its arm and released its control over Regieleki.
At the same time, Shadow Mewtwo used its psychic power to move Regidrago aside, slamming it heavily into the ground.
There was a loud boom!
When everyone looked again, Regidrago was buried deep in the ground, unconscious.
Clearly, Regidrago had lost the ability to battle.
"Huh?"
Gloria was shocked once again.
Wait, what?
You just said Regidrago's advantage was its stamina, and now you one-shotted it with a Psychic attack?
This was way too much.
"Go ahead, Platinum. Be careful. Regieleki won't be easy to handle," Damian warned Platinum.
"Okay!"
Platinum nodded seriously. She then slowly stepped to the front of the group and looked up at Regieleki in the air.
"Regi...!"
The dots on Regieleki's face flashed constantly. It looked at Shadow Mewtwo, who gave off terrifying pressure, and then at the already defeated Regidrago.
"Regieleki, I want to challenge you."
Platinum enlarged the Poké Ball in her hand and spoke to Regieleki in a serious voice.
"If I can defeat you, please become my partner."
"Regi!!"
Regieleki looked down at the human girl. Its cry, mixed with the sound of electricity, became much sharper. The golden lightning on Regieleki's body suddenly became bright and blinding.
Clearly, Regieleki had accepted the challenge.
It also understood that it had no other choice.
"Entei!"
Platinum threw her Poké Ball with force. With a majestic roar, Entei, one of Ho-Oh's guards, leaped out.
It held its head high and stared at Regieleki.
The Legendary Pokémon Entei!
Because she knew Regieleki's strength was its speed, Platinum did not use Garchomp.
Trying to fight a speed battle with Pheromosa against Regieleki wasn't safe either. After all, Platinum knew exactly where Pheromosa's weakness was.
Pheromosa's defense was too low. It wasn't reliable enough.
Entei, however, was very suitable. Entei's combat power was among the best on her team, and Entei also knew Extreme Speed.
"Wow! It's an Entei!"
Seeing Platinum send out Entei, Gloria was shocked yet again.
That was a Legendary Pokémon too!!
This meant that if she caught this Regieleki, this girl, who looked about the same age as her, would have two Legendary Pokémon!
This... this was just incredible, wasn't it?
"Yeah, pretty good, right? The benefits in Team Rocket are very good."
Damian spoke with a smile as he threw a Poké Ball at Regidrago.
With Shadow Mewtwo secretly helping, the Poké Ball shook only twice before it stopped. Regidrago was caught.
Damian put Regidrago's Poké Ball into his backpack.
"Damian, you are amazing!"
Gloria gave a cute exclamation of praise. She was truly impressed. A Legendary Pokémon had been caught so easily.
And as expected, was this really a Team Rocket benefit?
Gloria watched Entei and Regieleki, who had already started fighting.
She was quite curious about this girl's skill level.
And she was curious about Regieleki too.
"Regi... Regi-gi...!"
Regieleki's electronic voice, which sounded like an electric current, kept ringing out. Golden lightning crackled wildly.
In the next instant, Regieleki suddenly dashed right above Entei. It pulled its arms in, and the bright electric light on its body made it look like a source of light.
The Transistor Ability was activating at full power.
"Eruption!" Platinum shouted decisively.
Roar!!
Entei's roar was deafening. Its whole body lit up with a hot red glow.
The ground under Entei's feet cracked, and hot red flames poured out.
Zzzzzzt!
A moment later, Regieleki threw its arms wide. Terrifying currents of electricity rained down wildly. The dense lightning was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
It was Regieleki's signature move, the Electric-type Thunder Cage!
Under the effect of Transistor, the power of this Thunder Cage increased significantly.
However, Entei refused to back down.
Boom!
Violent, surging flames erupted. Like a volcanic blast, the Eruption shot up from the ground to meet the lightning falling from the sky.
The Fire-type move, Eruption!
The flames and lightning collided head-on in midair. The dark red and bright yellow colors crashed into each other wildly, lighting up the entire ruin.
Waves of air expanded and shook the area again and again. Eruption and Thunder Cage were locked in a dead struggle.
Heat from the flames and violent lightning filled the sight of Damian and the others.
The next second, along with Entei's angry roar, the flames of Eruption burst out once more. The two attacks could no longer maintain their balance and exploded heavily.
Rumble!
A massive wave of energy shook the area. The entire ruin trembled violently. The shockwave pushed both Regieleki and Entei back.
Platinum immediately released Garchomp to protect herself.
Damian and the others, under the protection of Shadow Mewtwo's psychic power, were naturally unaffected.
"So strong!!"
Gloria looked at Entei and Regieleki with glowing eyes. At first, she had some doubts. She wondered whether Regidrago had gone down so easily because these two giants weren't actually that strong.
But now that she had seen the collision between Entei and Regieleki, she knew that was completely impossible!
"This Regieleki..."
Serena's brow furrowed slightly as she watched Regieleki steady itself.
This Regieleki's strength was even a bit higher than that of the three Galarian Legendary Birds. Yet Damian had said Regieleki's specialty was speed.
But just now, that Electric-type move had actually clashed head-on with Entei's full-power Eruption and seemed to match it evenly. It was simply outrageous.
Its strength was shockingly high.
"Yeah. For Platinum, this is going to be a tough battle," Damian said, nodding as he understood Serena's point.
"Damian!"
Gloria couldn't hold back anymore. She hesitated for a moment before speaking to Damian.
"What is it, Gloria?" Damian turned his head and looked at Gloria with confusion.
"I wanted to ask... if I want to join Team Rocket, are there any specific requirements?"