Mythical Pokémon Era: Global Ascension

What did it mean to use Icy Wind for an entire match, then suddenly switch to a Water-type skill countered by Grass-type energy?

What happened the next moment made cold sweat stream down Lin Shixian's back!

The Water Energy Ball shot out, carrying a massive wave powerful enough to swallow the entire arena.

The first time Squirtle used a move of its own type, Water Pulse erupted with terrifying force.

But that wasn't the key.

Even with the type advantage, Water Pulse, limited to only 50% effectiveness, couldn't break through Bulbasaur's firepower suppression zone.

But the key was that Water Pulse wasn't targeting Bulbasaur at all.

It was targeting—

"The field!"

Lin Shixian realized something and quickly glanced at the battlefield.

Frost had frozen the ground, and the lingering Ice-type energy had somehow quietly suppressed Grassy Terrain.

Chunks of shattered rock were scattered all over the arena.

If the waves washed over them...

"Bulbasaur, defend with everything you've got!" Lin Shixian had only managed to shout that before the wave, carrying chunks of rock, crashed toward Bulbasaur!

Bulbasaur displayed excellent combat instincts. One pair of Vine Whips constantly shattered the rocks, while the other pair burrowed into the ground to anchor its body and keep it from being swept away.

But overwhelmed by the waves and flying rocks, Bulbasaur failed to notice that Squirtle had already moved.

"Rapid Spin!"

Squirtle withdrew into its shell, which spun across the water like a top.

Like a surfer on a board, it rapidly closed in on Bulbasaur.

Then, the shell leaped high into the air. Squirtle poked its head out, directly above Bulbasaur.

"Icy Wind! Finish it!"

The biting cold wind struck again.

Bulbasaur tried to block it with Magic Leaf, but its energy bar had long since fallen low enough to affect its output. With Grassy Terrain: Modified no longer working, the strength of its move was completely crushed!

"Bulba!!"

Bulbasaur let out a bleak, agonized cry amid the freezing wind.

It had lost again.

That was Bulbasaur's final indignant thought.

The next moment, Bulbasaur's entire body, along with the water surging across the ground, froze into a silent ice sculpture.

Squirtle stared wide-eyed at its own handiwork.

I... actually won?

Afraid that something else might happen, Squirtle cautiously unleashed another Icy Wind to secure the final blow.

"Bulbasaur has lost its ability to battle! The winner is Competitor Roy!"

As soon as the referee announced the result, enthusiastic cheers erupted throughout the venue!

"What is up with that Squirtle's endurance?"

"How did it train? This is unbelievable..."

"It only trained for a week. It shouldn't have changed this much, right? Could it be another exceptionally gifted Pokémon?"

"Then Chief Roy's luck is really incredible!"

The boys discussed it rationally, while the female fans who had already liked Squirtle showered it with praise as if it cost nothing.

"Squirtle, you're amazing!"

"Squirtle, you're such an outstanding Squirtle!"

"Not only are you adorably goofy, you're also this strong!"

"Keep it up!"

Hearing everyone's praise, Squirtle scratched its head, suddenly so happy it almost wanted to cry.

All the hardship it had endured and all the exhaustion it had persisted through these past few days had instantly been rewarded.

It wasn't just Pokémon. Many times, whether a person could persist in doing something depended on receiving positive feedback.

If studying and the college entrance exam had progress bars like games, and filling a certain amount of the bar guaranteed admission to a prestigious university, many people would surely persist until the end.

"Squirtle!"

Squirtle hopped back to Roy's side, pulled a pair of pitch-black sunglasses from his pocket, and put them on. It raised its head slightly, looking somewhat proud.

Silent master pose.jpg.

"Not bad."

Roy smiled. For its first battle, Squirtle had done this much despite fighting against the type disadvantage. He was already satisfied.

It seemed Squirtle had also experienced the joy of battle and the sweetness of victory...

Creatures like Pokémon naturally carried the genes for battle within them. Even the weakest and most timid Pokémon were no exception. This was the result of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

If they did not seek battle or victory, then the moves inherited in every Pokémon's genes would have no meaning.

"So, are you still resisting training?"

"Squirtle!"

In response to Roy's teasing, Squirtle gave a thumbs-up, indicating that it could handle however much training came its way.

"Mm, this battle showed me some new things. Your training plan will be changing too..."

Roy had chosen Lin Shixian as an opponent not merely to build Squirtle's confidence.

Otherwise, he could have gone to the Pokémon Center, matched against weaker opponents, and achieved the same effect.

The real reason was that he wanted an opponent of similar strength to test Squirtle's true level and hopefully identify its weaknesses.

And while he was at it... he got a free look at the training methods of a Gym Leader's disciple.

Battling these second-generation Trainers with deep family knowledge usually brought substantial gains each time, giving Roy plenty of ideas and inspiration.

"In terms of recovery methods and reaction speed, Squirtle still has shortcomings."

Roy reviewed and summarized the battle.

Squirtle currently just had a large energy bar, but its recovery speed was lacking.

In that drawn-out battle just now, if Bulbasaur had held on a little longer, Squirtle would have been the first to lose control of the fight.

As for the weakness of reacting a beat too slowly, it had actually been exposed long ago during its internal sparring match against Riolu...

Squirtle wasn't good at dealing with fast opponents.

Its moves simply couldn't hit them, and once they got close, it could only take a beating.

It wasn't that Roy didn't want to train Squirtle's speed. Its species talent simply wasn't geared in that direction, so training it would yield little for much effort.

To put it in terms of the game's base stats, Squirtle had the lowest Speed among the Starter Pokémon, but the highest Defense.

"If I don't train its reflexes, how can I improve its reaction speed...?"

Back in his private Training Room, Roy pondered for a while before his eyes suddenly lit up.

There seemed to be a kind of Pokémon with weak physical abilities and poor reflexes, yet unbelievably fast reaction speeds...

"Psychic-type..."

Roy thought of Xiao Bin's Abra. It was the only one among Pokémon of the same level that could completely keep up with Riolu's speed.

What it relied on was nothing more than powerful Inner Focus, rather than physical reflexes.

He had found a direction.

But a new question appeared.

"How should Squirtle train its Inner Focus?"

Roy could exchange a Psychic-type Move Disk for Squirtle. He could even exchange one for a Psychic move with Master Level proficiency in one go.

But it was useless. That wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.

—Moves were methods of output, while Attribute values were the power engines.

—Moves had to rely on Attributes to be effective.

Even if Roy gave Squirtle a Psychic move with Master Level proficiency, it still couldn't fully use it because its Inner Focus Attribute value was too low.

Likewise, even if Roy exchanged an Aura Sphere move for Riolu, Riolu couldn't use it without Aura Power generated within its body. It would still need Roy to provide the aura, which was putting the cart before the horse...

Roy gave Squirtle a rundown of the Aura Power Meditation Method he had exchanged before, then watched it expectantly, hoping Squirtle could comprehend the Calm Mind method on its own.

Squirtle: ???

...I'm just a Squirtle. I shouldn't have to bear these expectations.

"So it really won't work."

Roy had only been trying it out, so he wasn't too disappointed.

Unable to think of a solution, Roy decided to... call his teacher.

Professor Xing answered quickly.

"A method for training Inner Focus?"

Professor Xing thought for a moment, then understood Roy's goal and praised him. "Using powerful Inner Focus to make up for insufficient reflexes... not a bad idea."

"However, I have no way of solving this problem either."

"My main fields of research are Electric-type and Fighting-type... I'm not familiar with Psychic-type Pokémon."