Kenta was not the only one surprised to see Blaziken. Even Ash, Misty, Brock, and Erika, who were watching the screen, had never seen a Pokémon like it before.
"What Pokémon is that?" Misty asked in surprise.
In fact, because Xia You had resolved the problem with that Sneasel after arriving at the Ho-Oh Shrine, although Ash and the others had met Tyson there, there had been no occasion for Tyson to reveal his Blaziken. With no interference from Team Rocket either, they naturally never got to see it.
Even during the earlier preliminary rounds and the Round of 16, things had gone smoothly enough that Tyson had never sent Blaziken out, keeping it hidden until now.
Sure enough, its first appearance made quite a visual impact on those who knew nothing about Pokémon from other regions, drawing cries of surprise.
Looking at the cool-looking Pokémon standing upright, Ash took out his Pokédex and scanned the Blaziken on the screen, but he kept getting the same response: "Sorry, no relevant data available."
"No data?"
Seeing their reactions, Xia You sighed. "Stop scanning. I'll tell you about it. This Pokémon is called Blaziken, and its main habitat is the next region we're traveling to-Hoenn. Much like my Gardevoir, it basically doesn't exist on the Kanto or Johto continents. It's something from a different 'version.'"
"Blaziken?" Ignoring Xia You's mention of a "version," Erika picked out the key point. Her gaze lingered on Blaziken's vivid red coloring. "So it's a Fire-type Pokémon?"
"Fire and Fighting. Like Charizard and Typhlosion, it's the Fire-type starter Pokémon of its region-Hoenn."
"A starter Pokémon from Hoenn..." Ash murmured. His eyes grew brighter, and his longing for Hoenn grew stronger. He wished he could leave on his journey right now and begin a new adventure!
Meanwhile, on