Noivern hadn't lost its fighting ability, but honestly... it was pretty much done for.
For Drasna, through these two battles, she had felt the intensity of battling against Johan.
It wasn't that Johan's Pokémon were overwhelmingly stronger than hers, but rather she felt the gap between trainers.
Let's not even talk about Tinkaton—its type advantage over Noivern was something that Noivern's flying ability offset to some degree. While Tinkaton was indeed stronger in raw power than Noivern, if you really had to say it was strong enough to completely dominate, that wasn't quite the case.
But the way the battle played out did have some dominating characteristics.
Even when Drasna used a Z-Move to make a desperate play, it was still neutralized by Johan's commands and Tinkaton's own "unique qualities."
As for Larvitar, that was even more obvious.
Larvitar was definitely not as strong as Dragalge in terms of pure power, yet it managed to fight Dragalge almost to a standstill through Johan's commands, tactics, and Larvitar's own inherent "special qualities."
Pokémon battles were based on two components.
One part was naturally the Pokémon's own raw strength, which was an important factor in determining how a Pokémon battle would unfold—in other words, this determined the lower limit.
The second part was the trainer's commanding ability. The more capable the trainer, the more they could demonstrate the importance of the trainer's role.
Based on tactics, on-the-spot adaptability, one's own emotions, the bond with Pokémon, and so on, these determined the upper limit of battles.
Being able to turn around Pokémon battles where one's Pokémon were weaker than the opponent's through tactics and adaptability—this was the important role of trainers.
In the previous two battles, Drasna clearly felt that as a trainer, she was inferior to Johan.
"What a rather discouraging result," Drasna shook her head.
However, the battle had to continue. Giving up halfway wasn't something a strong-willed Elite Four member would do.
So, Drasna threw out her final Poké Ball, summoning her ace Pokémon.
"I'm counting on you, Altaria!"
A Pokémon with wings like fluffy cotton or clouds appeared—it was the beloved Altaria!
"As expected."
Seeing Drasna's final Pokémon, Johan clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.
Unlike Drasna experiencing the role and gap between trainers, Johan's main purpose in agreeing to this battle was to better understand changes in his Pokémon.
Specifically, to understand the condition and situation of Tinkaton and Ninetales after receiving Xerneas's Fairy Aura baptism.
So.
Having seen Tinkaton, Johan was also quite looking forward to the changes in Ninetales.
"Come back, Tinkaton."
"Cha?!"
Tinkaton placed its hand beside its ear and tilted its head, straining to hear what Johan was saying.
What are you saying?!
It shouted extra loud.
Johan: "..."
He really felt like he should ask Drasna for some medical fees after this battle.
In the end, Johan still took out a Poké Ball and recalled Tinkaton.
In its place was...
"Oowoo~~"
The graceful and agile Ninetales stepped onto the messy battlefield with elegant steps.
Altaria was a beloved Pokémon for its beautiful appearance, but if we're really comparing, our Ninetales was not only not inferior, but actually superior.
"Phew—"
Seeing Tinkaton leave, Drasna breathed a slight sigh of relief.
When Noivern was flying in the sky, it was in quite a situation. She still clearly remembered it, and she was really a bit afraid that Altaria would face the same predicament.
To be honest.
Even facing a Fairy-type and Ice-type combination that absolutely countered Dragon-type and Flying-type Pokémon, Drasna felt a bit reluctant to fight Johan's Tinkaton.
It was too frustrating.
Moreover.
Altaria facing Ninetales wasn't completely at a type disadvantage.
She closed her eyes and gently covered the ceremonial ornament on her chest with her hand, specifically the gem in the center.
Buzz—
That gem immediately burst with brilliant rainbow light, overflowing from between her fingers.
"Altaria!"
Drasna opened her eyes again.
"Mega Evolution!"
"Chirp—"
Altaria spread its cloud-like wings, and the Mega Stone on its body resonated strongly with Drasna's Key Stone, instantly being enveloped in evolutionary light.
"Here comes the 'Dragon Traitor'..." Johan looked up at the Mega Evolving Altaria in mid-air and muttered.
As everyone knew, Altaria was a Dragon and Flying-type Humming Pokémon, but after Mega Evolution, its Flying-type would be replaced by Fairy-type.
That is to say, Mega Altaria would be a Dragon and Fairy-type Pokémon.
The nickname "Dragon Traitor" came from this.
"Chirp—!!"
A clear, ethereal cry echoed through the sky. The Mega Evolution light faded, the symbol of Mega Evolution flashed and disappeared, and what appeared before Johan and Ninetales was Mega Altaria!
With Mega Altaria's appearance, it could finally be said to be a match for Ninetales in a beauty contest.
More fluffy and dense white feathers made it look like an elf among the clouds, both agile and beautiful.
Speaking of which.
Actually, the Dragon-type Pokémon of the Kalos region... really had quite a few that weren't afraid of Fairy-types.
For example, the Mega Altaria before them, and the Dragalge from earlier.
Perhaps it was because they lived in a region with many Fairy-types that they "evolved" such abilities.
Of course, even if it was Mega Altaria, facing Fairy-type attacks, it would still take double damage—it just had more ways to deal with them than being completely helpless.
"Oowoo~"
Ninetales stood below, looking up at Mega Altaria in the sky, its azure eyes twinkling with light.
Snowflakes began falling from the sky, and soon turned into a raging blizzard.
Compared to Tinkaton, which could only throw rocks at flying Mega Altaria, Ninetales had much more flexible and free methods when facing the aerial Mega Altaria.
Drasna frowned slightly.
Snow weather.
Although snow weather didn't cause damage like Sandstorm, the extreme cold and temperature would still make Dragon-type Pokémon's bodies cool down, making them less agile.
So, she had to act quickly and decisively!
"Altaria, Dragon Dance!" Drasna waved her hand decisively, officially opening the curtain on this battle.
"Chirp!!"
A long cry echoed through the sky, and Dragon-type energy surged around Altaria as its momentum rapidly climbed.
Boosting Speed and Attack, accelerating the speed to determine victory.
While Mega Altaria was performing Dragon Dance, Ninetales, standing on the ground with all four paws, also began using a move.
"Geomancy!" Johan adjusted his glasses, looking forward with considerable anticipation.
Geomancy?
Drasna was stunned.
What move was that?
She saw.
Ninetales' snow-white body suddenly burst with brilliant rainbow light, and its paws touching the ground seemed to sense the pulse from the earth itself. That vibrant life force caused a circle of pink mist to emanate from its body.
Misty Terrain?
But why did it look different from the Misty Terrain she had seen before?
Ninetales' aura had an obvious boosting trend.
A stat-boosting move?
Drasna was somewhat confused, while Johan appeared quite excited.
"It really learned it."
Although the way it was performed looked quite different from Xerneas, and unlike Xerneas, who as the Life God would be accompanied by rich life energy, Ninetales didn't have those things.
But purely in terms of power boost, Ninetales got it!
This was enough!
Geomancy—through a period of power accumulation, it greatly boosted the user's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed!
This was a very impressive boost.
You have to know, the signature move of Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragon Dance, only brought one level boost each to Speed and Attack, but Geomancy brought six levels of boost in total!
Of course.
Dragon Dance was faster to execute and allowed movement, and many people's tactics even used Dragon Dance as a way to dodge opponent's move attacks.
While Geomancy required a longer accumulation time and couldn't move after execution, or the move would be interrupted.
But it was extremely compatible with Ninetales.
Because Ninetales... had excellent defensive capabilities while stationary!
Having already sensed a great threat from Ninetales, Drasna immediately launched a fierce attack the moment Mega Altaria's Dragon Dance ended.
"Altaria, Hyper Beam!"
"Chirp!!"
Mega Altaria let out a long cry, pink Fairy-type energy surged, and it immediately shot down toward Ninetales like a meteor.
Because after Mega Evolution, Altaria's ability would uniformly become "Pixilate," so the Hyper Beam it used, although originally a Normal-type move, became Fairy-type when executed, and its power was boosted to some degree.
However.
Bang—
Before Mega Altaria could impact Ninetales, it immediately hit a transparent barrier.
Aurora Veil!
"When did it use Aurora Veil?" Drasna was puzzled.
But fortunately, it only slightly hindered Mega Altaria's momentum.
Crack—
The Aurora Veil shattered.
Ninetales, standing on the ground, was completely exposed to Mega Altaria's attack.
"Tsk, not proficient enough," Johan couldn't help clicking his tongue.
Geomancy was powerful, but Ninetales had only learned it and never used it before, so the time it took was much longer than expected.
However, he believed that through frequent practice in the future, it should become more proficient, and the execution time would be faster.
By then, Ninetales could use stacked Aurora Veils to safely complete Geomancy—this was one of the reasons Johan said it was very compatible with this move.
Boom!!
The terrifying impact crashed down heavily, snow on the ground suddenly exploded, and Ninetales was sent flying, sliding on the ground for some distance before barely controlling its form.
"Ice walls?"
Drasna squinted, noticing that just as Mega Altaria was about to impact Ninetales, ice walls that suddenly rose had hindered it again.
So... although Ninetales had taken Hyper Beam's attack, Geomancy had also successfully accumulated!
"Oowoo—!!"
It half-raised its head, azure light seeming to dye Ninetales' snow-white fur into blue-white colors, and its aura reached its peak at this moment!
The next second.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Aurora Veils fell one after another, so fast that both Drasna and Mega Altaria were speechless.
No wait.
Johan lightly pressed his hat brim.
Cough.
Our Ninetales was still as cautious as ever, still the same battle style, even though it had already gained considerable power.
"Altaria, Defog!"
Whoosh—
Mega Altaria flapped its wings vigorously, stirring up winds mixed with ice and snow, making the Aurora Veils in the field immediately unstable.
Defog could clear away foggy weather and moves like Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil, and even clear terrain—it was a very overpowered move.
Drasna obviously had plenty of experience dealing with Ice-type blizzard Aurora Veil and Fairy-type Misty Terrain combinations.
"Oowoo!"
Ninetales puffed out its cheeks, its azure eyes showing a serious expression.
The Aurora Veils were cleared—this made things... unstable.
"Ninetales, Moonblast!"
Johan didn't immediately have Ninetales use its already powerful Ice-type moves, but wanted to first see how its Fairy-type moves had changed.
"Oowoo~~~"
A beam of moonlight descended vertically, and the gathered moonlight became Ninetales' power.
"Altaria, we'll use Moonblast too!" Drasna didn't choose to retreat, still carrying out the strategy she had set from the beginning—quick battle, quick decision!
Both sides' moon powers formed light orbs in front of their respective Pokémon, then flew toward each other.
But once the moves were executed, Drasna immediately felt the gap between Mega Altaria and Ninetales in the same move—quite significant.
This kind of head-to-head confrontation would definitely result in Mega Altaria's defeat, so...
Drasna gritted her teeth and said coldly:
"Altaria, Hyper Beam!"
Rather than sitting and waiting for Ninetales' Moonblast to break through Mega Altaria's Moonblast and then hit it, it was better to take the initiative.
"Chirp!!!"
Mega Altaria understood the previous disadvantage in the clash and the gap between itself and the opponent, so... it could only get close for melee combat, perhaps bringing some trouble to this ranged-focused Ninetales.
So it once again transformed into a pink giant bird, charging toward Moonblast.
"The Fairy-type moves and power have both improved considerably, and this is still without fully digesting it..." Johan, also watching the battle situation, had already seen results that satisfied him.
Previously, Ninetales was strong, but its Ice-type focus was much greater than its Fairy-type focus, making the two types unbalanced.
But now, it was about right.
Although the Fairy-type was still a bit behind, as long as Ninetales was given a bit more time to digest, it should be able to catch up.
"About right..." Johan was quite pleased.
And quite grateful.
Grateful that Elite Four Drasna had given such an excellent testing opportunity.
Since that was the case...
Johan took a deep breath, his expression suddenly became stern, and he said in a low voice: "Ninetales, Absolute Zero!"
Crack crack crack—
A breath of cold air gently exhaled from Ninetales' mouth, and out of nowhere came the sound of ice forming.
Then, frost seemed to spread through the air, rapidly sweeping toward the charging Mega Altaria.
Just look.
Frost formed on Mega Altaria's cloud-like wings, and it rapidly increased.
"This Ice-type power?" Drasna was somewhat shocked.
The moves that Teacher Johan's Ninetales used were all ones she had never heard of, but the power of these moves was truly a bit too impressive!
Mega Altaria's speed dropped sharply, its impact force becoming obviously insufficient.
The key was.
The closer it got to Ninetales, the more it could feel the cold, that bone-chilling cold from outside to inside.
Mega Altaria was ultimately a Dragon-type Pokémon, and cold had too strong a restraining effect on it.
Moreover, it was Ninetales with a two-level Special Attack boost.
So when it braved the cold and charged to Ninetales' front... it had already become a living ice sculpture!
"Oowoo~"
Ninetales gently exhaled a breath of air—Absolute Zero took quite a bit of energy to execute.
However, for safety's sake, it still couldn't help but give Mega Altaria two more Freeze-Dry attacks.
At this point.
The battle was completely over!
To be honest.
Although Drasna had anticipated that she might lose, she really hadn't expected... to lose in such a manner.
Altaria directly frozen into an ice sculpture.
"Such powerful Ice-type moves." Drasna took out a Poké Ball and shot a red beam to recall Altaria.
Her serious and earnest demeanor also returned to her previous gentle, smiling appearance.
"Oowoo~~"
Ninetales trotted back to Johan's side.
Johan couldn't help but tighten his clothes.
His "cold resistance attribute" was higher than his "poison and paralysis resistance attributes" and was still at the edge, but he still felt cold.
When would this "deep blue point allocation" end...
Johan sighed and crouched down to gently stroke Ninetales' soft, smooth fur, taking out two energy cubes to restore stamina and putting them in the little one's mouth.
Don't look at how easily it won—the stamina consumption for Ninetales was actually quite significant.
"Oowoo~~"
Ninetales affectionately licked Johan's cheek.
"You and your Pokémon really have a very good relationship." Drasna walked up to see this scene and said.
"Perhaps this is the reason you and your Pokémon can display such strength."
Johan gently stroked Ninetales and smiled: "It's all the little ones working hard."
Drasna shook her head.
The Pokémon's hard work was certainly important, but the trainer's cultivation and commands were equally crucial—Johan was being modest.
However, she didn't continue to delve deeper into this topic, but said: "With your strength, you should be able to try challenging the Champion."
Champion?
Johan laughed dryly.
"Still far from it."
Setting aside other things, just talking about battling Alder, without unconventional powers, Johan felt he couldn't win.
Actually, Gengar and Ninetales could be said to have the strength to face Champions head-on, and Dragonite, if it went into Outrage, could also fight, but his other Pokémon were still a bit lacking.
After Tinkaton completely digested Xerneas's "gift," it should be able to touch the Champion threshold. Urshifu and Ceruledge... would depend on going all out.
These were two who temporarily needed to go all out to infinitely raise their upper limits.
It seemed like...
He needed to find opportunities to strengthen Urshifu and Ceruledge again.
As for Larvitar...
Continue eating heartily for a while longer.
Of course, his words in Drasna's ears just sounded like modesty.
In Drasna's view, the Ninetales that had just erupted with power should not be inferior to ordinary Champions' ace Pokémon, and she also knew that Johan's ace was Gengar.
It was just that she didn't know that what she saw was Ninetales after using Geomancy—which was enhanced.
But honestly, the role Ninetales could play in "specific" battles could indeed be stronger than Gengar.
"I feel like Drake from your Hoenn region might not be able to beat you either." Drasna seemed quite familiar with Drake.
Perhaps because they were both Dragon-type Elite Four?
But Drake was much older than Drasna, and Drake's strength should be at the Champion threshold in Johan's opinion, possibly just slightly weaker than Alder. He was one of Hoenn's current "faces."
Drake didn't want to be Champion, otherwise the current Hoenn League Champion would probably be him.
"Drake is my superior." Johan smiled.
"What's wrong with superiors? They can still be battled." Drasna said teasingly.
"Uh..."
Johan's expression was awkward.
Seeing his embarrassed look, Drasna couldn't help but laugh out loud.
After laughing, she suddenly showed a serious expression and asked: "How about it, are you interested in coming to work in our Kalos? I could... make you Champion?"
Johan: "..."
No way.
Big sister, you're just an Elite Four, you can appoint Champions?
Moreover...
Johan increasingly felt like he was becoming a hot commodity, with people inviting him wherever he went. Although he wouldn't agree, it was quite satisfying.
"Cough, I'm a Hoenn person."
"What's wrong with being from Hoenn? My hometown is still Celestic Town in Sinnoh."
Johan: "..."
This way, we can't have a conversation.
"Alright then."
Drasna actually was just trying, and really making Johan stay in Kalos to be Champion... she really didn't have that authority.
Moreover, Kalos was different from Unova—Unova was somewhat in a green-and-yellow transition period, while their Kalos still had Diantha.
It was just that Diantha... was busy filming movies all the time.
But that was normal too—their Kalos region trainers all had side businesses, which had almost become a "Kalos tradition."
"Then..."
Drasna stood on tiptoe and like an elder, gently patted Johan's head, tilting her head with curved eyes and smiling cheerfully:
"Work hard, and try to marry our little Cynthia to Hoenn someday."
Johan: "..."
Drasna waved at Johan and left with satisfaction.
You could see that although she lost the battle, she was quite satisfied with the fight.
The Pokémon world was like this.
If you liked each other, you'd battle. If you didn't like each other, you'd also battle. Winning was naturally happy, and losing wasn't a big deal either—as long as you enjoyed the process and had fun.
It was a bit like card players playing cards.
Winning or losing didn't matter—the key was that you had to give me a chance to draw cards!
"That's not right."
Looking at Drasna disappearing from view, Johan suddenly reacted.
Wait, you haven't paid the medical fees yet!
And after finishing a battle, shouldn't you drop some coins or something?
But seeing that Drasna had already "run away," Johan didn't chase after her.
Fortunately, today he had already gotten a Dragonium Z and a complete set of various Poké Balls—the harvest was quite abundant.
More importantly, he had tested Tinkaton and Ninetales' abilities and their changes after receiving Xerneas's Fairy Aura baptism. Overall, he was very satisfied.
[That was quite an interesting human...] The Zygarde core suddenly sighed.
Hm?
Johan looked toward his shoulder.
"You haven't left yet?"
The Zygarde core: "???"
"Cough, I thought that after Xerneas fell asleep and Yveltal left, you had already left too."
So you've been invisible—no weight at all, and I can't sense it with aura either.
But Johan was actually quite envious of Zygarde.
Not that he coveted its strength—this kind of first-class legendary Pokémon, unless it was willing or didn't have so-called "divine duties," there was absolutely no possibility of capture, only making friends.
What he envied was Zygarde's ability to live perfectly without needing to eat, just needing care.
If he had a Pokémon like this... Johan felt he could wake up laughing from dreams.
[I just felt that through you, I could get a good channel for observing humans.]
The Zygarde core snorted coldly.
Johan shrugged.
If the Zygarde core didn't want to leave on its own, he wouldn't drive it away—it was a legendary Pokémon after all.
"Speaking of which..." Johan's mind suddenly stirred, thinking of something. "Do you know if there are any shiny, or rather, differently colored Zygarde?"
White Gundam felt cooler than the original black-green Gundam...
[Differently colored Zygarde?]
But hearing Johan's question, the Zygarde core was stunned.
[What do you mean? Have you seen one?]
"You haven't seen one?"
One person and one core stared at each other for a while, and Johan was the first to give up.
"Alright, I probably saw it in a dream."
The Zygarde core: "..."
Zygarde's reaction made him somewhat puzzled.
He clearly remembered there was a white Zygarde in "Horizons," along with a black Rayquaza...
Could it be that this wasn't the same Pokémon world?
He started walking toward Laverre City, preparing to go to the Pokémon Center to help the little ones recover.
On the way.
"Speaking of which, Zygarde, with your abilities, you should be able to observe some Pokémon hunters, right?" Johan asked while walking.
[Naturally.]
"You don't interfere?"
[That's not my responsibility—it's my partner's job.]
So... this was one of the reasons the other Zygarde core was so unfriendly to humans?
Witnessing too many behaviors that destroyed the environment and balance.
"Then you can sense them, right?"
[Some of them.]
"Great, you're an excellent Zygarde."
The Zygarde core: "..."
This feeling of coaxing a child was what?
But honestly...
[Of course!]
The Zygarde core slightly raised its head.
Laverre City Pokémon Center.
"Cha?"
Tinkaton's loud voice, even with the good soundproofing in each room of the Pokémon Center, was still a bit hard to contain.
"Ka-kaah."
Gengar covered its ears with its hands and bared its teeth at Tinkaton.
Good grief, so you want to compete with me for the high notes?
The other little ones in the room also covered their ears at the same time.
Tinkaton scratched its head, realizing it seemed to have lost control again.
But fortunately, everyone didn't seem to blame it. Ninetales even gently touched Tinkaton's head with its tail, signaling that it was okay.
Of course, ignoring the two tails that had blocked ears, the effect would be even better.
"Gengar, calm down. If it really doesn't work, just pierce your eardrums and you'll be fine."
Sitting at the desk, Johan said calmly, as if joking.
He thought of an anime he had seen before—forgot which one—but when facing enemy sound attacks, they directly pierced their own eardrums to block it, which was somewhat... outrageous.
"Ka-kaah?"
Gengar believed it was true and just wanted to confirm one thing.
Could it heal after piercing?
However, Johan didn't give any response.
Gengar immediately moved forward, removed the earplugs from Johan's ears, and then... put them in its own ears.
"Ka-kaah kaah kaah kaah~~"
The little fat one laughed with hands on hips and head thrown back.
I'm much smarter than you, hehe~
"I should have asked Drasna for some medical fees..." Johan rubbed his temples.
Fortunately, Tinkaton had consumed some stamina from the daytime battle and was somewhat tired. Under Ninetales' comfort, the two little ones soon fell asleep hugging each other.
"That should be about it, right?" Johan looked toward the Zygarde core on the desk with its head held high.
[Mm.]
The Zygarde core nodded slightly.
In front of Johan on the paper were recorded Pokémon hunter group information and bases that could be collected through the Zygarde core and its "cells" spread throughout the Kalos region.
Johan was very satisfied with this.
[You're not planning to go beat them up one by one, are you?]
The Zygarde core couldn't help asking.
Johan put down his pen, took a sip of coffee, and smiled:
"Who said I was going to beat them up one by one myself?"
[Hm?]
"Humans can actually be quite united sometimes." Johan took out his phone and flipped to the "Kalos Region International Police Task Force," which contained the mid-to-high-level International Police responsible for the Kalos region.
Click—
He took a photo of the paper and uploaded it to the group.
Then, with a serious expression, he pressed the voice input button: "These locations have an 80-90% probability of having Pokémon hunter group bases."
Very quickly.
The group flashed with a series of "Received" messages.
And with his single sentence, International Police throughout the Kalos region, League Police, and even Gym Leaders all sprang into action.
When encountering tough nuts to crack, even Elite Four might be deployed.
According to the system established by the League Alliance, Johan, as one of the few "Police Superintendents," had the authority to mobilize Elite Four-level "nuclear weapons" in special moments or wartime.
This was the benefit of "being an official."
With one command, subordinates would handle most matters.
And he could enjoy the credit.
This "social atmosphere" had finally reached Johan.
This day.
Was the beginning of a nightmare for Pokémon hunter groups in the Kalos region.
Zygarde, Order God?
No—top-level investigator!
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Powerstones?
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