A Camerupt That Couldn't Use Eruption

Though Servine wasn't as badly off as she looked, the prolonged fighting had still left her exhausted.

The blood she shed and her shattered scales were certainly real, as were her injuries. They simply weren't as serious as they appeared.

"Once the battles are over, we can discuss our experiences raising Servine in depth. As for now..."

Ye Lan returned to his designated trainer's area. Although he probably wouldn't get the other trainer's move manual, learning that such a family existed in the Unova Region still filled him with excitement.

Who knew how long these secluded families had existed? If they truly specialized in the Snivy evolutionary line, their knowledge of it certainly couldn't compare to that of a rookie trainer like him, who had entered the Pokémon world less than six months ago.

Move manuals weren't even what interested Ye Lan most. If their heritage really stretched back so far, had they already unraveled the secrets of Serperior's Mega Evolution?

In the anime XY & Z, Ash's Froakie had evolved into Greninja in the long-secluded Ninja Village.

And Greninja's Bond Phenomenon form had first appeared in a painting left by their predecessors in the Ninja Village's shrine.

In other words, Ash's Greninja might not have been the first to master the power of the Bond Phenomenon. Someone among the Ninja Village's ancestors had achieved it too.

After all, the Unova Region's three Starter Pokémon had all gotten a raw deal. Not one could Mega Evolve, as though the developers had forgotten them.

"Maybe this so-called royal candidate is a solution they came up with."

Shaking his head, Ye Lan stopped dwelling on it. He was penniless and had nothing to bargain with. Thinking any further was pointless.

Meeting the host's questioning gaze, Ye Lan refocused on the battle and answered, "I choose to keep battling!"

The spectators had grown somewhat numb to it all, and his answer hardly surprised them.

They had figured it out: as long as Ye Lan's Servine could still use moves, he wouldn't stop.

Ye Lan didn't have to wait long before his thirteenth opponent stepped onto the battlefield.

At the referee's signal, his opponent threw a Poké Ball, and a Pokémon that looked much like a camel appeared on the field.

Its humps were rocks shaped like volcanoes, and orange-red skin covered its sturdy limbs. Three bright blue circular markings adorned each side of its body. With its body lowered, it looked ready to charge its opponent at any moment.

Name: Camerupt

Sex: Male

Type: Fire/Ground

Ability: Magma Armor. Effect: A Pokémon with this Ability cannot be frozen. If it gains this Ability while already frozen, it immediately thaws out; when near a Pokémon Egg, it accelerates hatching.

Known moves: Ember, Magnitude, Focus Energy, Flame Charge, Earthquake, Earth Power, Yawn, Take Down

Egg Moves: Energy Ball, Trick Room

Rank: Intermediate, peak

Evolution progress: None (already evolved into final form)

Looking at Camerupt's stats, Ye Lan desperately wanted to make a snide comment, but he was afraid he would burst out laughing.

Being a Camerupt that couldn't use Eruption was one thing, but its Egg Move was actually the Grass-type Energy Ball.

Despite sounding like an early-game basic move, Eruption was anything but.

Not only did it have an incredible base power of 150, but it also had 100 percent accuracy in the games.

The Pokémon that could learn it were Cyndaquil, Quilava, Typhlosion, Camerupt, Torkoal, Entei, and Groudon.

Two of those seven Pokémon were Legendary Pokémon, which said plenty about Eruption's caliber.

Still, Ye Lan felt that in reality, a Mythical Pokémon with uniquely special powers like Mew should also be able to use Eruption by transforming into one of those seven Pokémon.

"His stats are lousy, but at least he's a Fire-type Pokémon."

Over the past several matches, every opponent except Mia had used a Fire-type Pokémon.

Ye Lan wouldn't believe for a second that the battle arena hadn't rigged things.

Fire-type Pokémon could easily break free of Leech Seed's thorny vines, leaving Servine with only Giga Drain to sustain herself.

"Camerupt, Focus Energy!" Camerupt's trainer gave the command with an excited expression.

Ye Lan now had twelve consecutive wins. Even half the battle points he had earned today would be an astronomical sum to his opponent.

Ye Lan's Servine was already badly injured, and the consecutive battles had severely drained her stamina. His own Pokémon even had the type advantage. How was this any different from getting points for free?!

But before he could enjoy that thought for long, Camerupt's cries of pain dragged him back to reality.

Camerupt was only halfway through Focus Energy when a dense barrage of Magical Leaves interrupted him.

Bloody gashes appeared all over Camerupt's body, and the pain forced him to retreat several steps.

Servine slid swiftly across the ground and was already closing in on Camerupt's flank.

Her Leaf Blade was ready to strike, thrusting toward the soft belly unprotected by rock.

"Camerupt, Flame Charge!" In his panic, Camerupt's trainer immediately brought out his trump card.

Prediction. He'd actually predicted my move!

He had expected the badly injured, weakened Servine not to attack first, making this the perfect opportunity to strengthen his Pokémon.

Yet his opponent had attacked without hesitation. Not only that, Servine had already closed in on Camerupt's flank, seemingly unconcerned that a Fire-type move from Camerupt could knock her out in one hit.

Raging flames erupted from within Camerupt, engulfing the entire battlefield.

Even Ye Lan, standing at the edge of the field, felt a searing heat against his face, reminding him of warming himself by a wood fire back home as a child.

Flame Charge wasn't Blast Burn, the Fire-type Starter Pokémon's ultimate move. Besides packing tremendous power, this move could also increase the user's speed.

Even so, for Camerupt, who was still only at the intermediate rank, using it meant releasing too much Fire-type energy in a short time, leaving him utterly weakened.

In the spectator stands, Cottonee sat on Cheng Xiaolu's lap and covered her eyes with her little hands, only to peek through the gaps out of curiosity about the outcome.

"Cotton!"

The Big Sis she had only acknowledged half a day ago looked as though she was about to be roasted...

The flames dispersed. On the field, there was only a Camerupt with spirals in his eyes, while Servine was nowhere to be seen.

Just as everyone began to wonder, Servine's grubby head suddenly poked out from beneath Camerupt's body.

At the sight, Ye Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just moments earlier, before Camerupt unleashed Flame Charge, Servine had already reached his flank.

A powerful Iron Tail had launched Camerupt into the air, successfully finishing off the weakened Pokémon. Then, as his body fell, she had slipped beneath him and coiled herself up, using Camerupt's body to shield herself from the flames.

Even as Servine sweated profusely from the heat beneath him, she hadn't forgotten Ye Lan's tactical instructions, and that was how she had managed to preserve the last of her stamina.

This was a strategy Ye Lan had chosen only because he had no other option.

Circumstances left him little choice. After defeating that royal Servine, his own Servine's condition had deteriorated badly. She simply didn't have enough stamina left for a drawn-out battle.

The sight of Trick Room gave Ye Lan a headache. There was nothing he could do—even knowing his opponent had a wide-area move like Flame Charge, he had to go for it.

"Mia's parents, take a good, close look. She really caused us a lot of trouble!"

(While I was writing this chapter, leaks about Pokémon Legends: Z-A suggested that the three Unova Starter Pokémon might get Mega Evolutions. Fellow Snivy fans, let's look forward to it together~)