"We'll part ways here. If anything comes up, feel free to contact me directly."
"Oh, and one more thing—Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, is a formidable Trainer. If you plan on challenging him, you'd better brace yourself for a tough battle."
After accompanying Ron to Petalburg City, Elite Four Drake was ready to take his leave.
The only reason he had spent so much time with Ron was because the young Trainer was a rising star in the Kanto Pokémon League.
Now that they had arrived in Petalburg City, it was time for Drake to go.
"Thank you, Elite Four Drake, for all your guidance along the way. I look forward to our next meeting."
"I look forward to seeing how much you've improved by then. Until next time."
With that, Drake released his Salamence, taking off in a grand departure.
As he watched Drake's silhouette fade into the distance, Ron wasted no time—he was here for one reason: to test Norman's strength.
Norman was incredibly popular throughout Petalburg City and widely regarded as one of the strongest Gym Leaders in Hoenn.
The only reason he wasn't considered the absolute strongest was because of Wallace, the future successor to Steven as the Hoenn Champion. Compared to Wallace, Norman still had a ways to go.
Even so, no one could deny Norman's strength.
Especially once Ash arrived in the Hoenn region—Norman's daughter, May, and his son, Max, would become part of the main cast. Ron figured he might as well get an early glimpse of Hoenn's protagonist crew.
One thing that always puzzled Ron was how Ash remained ten years old despite traveling for so long.
If May also started her journey at ten, then just how old was she now?
With that curiosity in mind, Ron stepped into Petalburg City.
He didn't even need a map—just asking around was enough to find Norman's Normal-type Gym and catch a glimpse of the mighty Slaking, a Pokémon said to rival Legendary Pokémon in power.
From a stats perspective in the games, Slaking boasted an astonishing base stat total of 670.
Even pseudo-Legendary Pokémon like Dragonite only had a base stat total of 600, and unlike them, Slaking wasn't notoriously difficult to train.
If not for its fixed Ability, Truant, Slaking would have been one of the most sought-after Pokémon, potentially becoming so rare that it faced extinction due to overhunting by Trainers.
The Truant Ability wasn't exactly like in the games, where Slaking would loaf around every other turn, but the effect wasn't too different.
Whether in battle or everyday life, Slaking was always lethargic. Even in combat, it struggled to muster any enthusiasm, making it difficult to unleash its full potential.
Even strategies like pairing Rest with Sleep Talk wouldn't change its sluggish nature.
And yet, Norman had chosen this kind of Pokémon as his ace and cornerstone, achieving remarkable success with it.
Still, even he couldn't completely override Truant—he could only maximize Slaking's potential within its limits.
"Excuse me, I'd like to challenge the Petalburg Gym."
After presenting his Pokédex, Ron successfully registered for a Gym battle.
Now that he was far from the Kanto region, he felt an incredible sense of freedom—like a bird soaring through the sky or a fish swimming in the vast ocean.
He booked a room at the Pokémon Center for a place to stay but wasted no time leaving Petalburg City.
He hadn't forgotten the reason he came here in the first place.
Having rested long enough on the ship, Ron figured it was time to let his Pokémon get some exercise.
First, he disguised himself using a synthetic skin mask and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
He then tapped into his ever-growing psychic abilities to mask Gardevoir's use of Teleport within the Poké Ball.
As soon as the Poké Ball opened, Gengar instinctively dove into Ron's shadow, while Riolu and Frogadier appeared at his sides.
At a glance, Ron looked just like any rookie Trainer who had recently started his journey.
Gardevoir spread out its psychic senses and quickly located a suitable target.
"Keep up, Riolu, Frogadier."
With that, Ron activated Shave and dashed forward.
While both Riolu and Frogadier had started training in the Six Powers (Rokushiki), their physical capabilities were still lacking. At best, they could apply some techniques to enhance their speed, but they weren't yet agile enough to use them as fluidly as Ron.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Riolu locked onto Ron's position using Aura, then motioned for Frogadier to follow as they took off in pursuit.
"Go, Riolu! Use Quick Attack!"
Just as Riolu caught up, before it even had time to steady itself, Ron issued a command.
Without hesitation, Riolu launched forward, becoming a streak of white light as it charged at a startled Teddiursa.
Faced with Riolu's assault, Teddiursa instinctively ignored the creeping sense of danger in its heart and retaliated.
"Riolu, attack freely!"
As the white flash dissipated, Riolu followed up with a powerful punch, striking Teddiursa square on the cheek.
Aura energy surged, and a brilliant blue Aura Sphere formed in Riolu's palm.
Locking onto Teddiursa's position, Riolu swiftly retreated to avoid the aftermath of the impending explosion.
With the power of Aura, Riolu could effortlessly track Teddiursa's movements.
Quick Attack activated again, this time combined with Force Palm. Teddiursa was sent flying out of the lingering smoke, but it wasn't over yet.
Another Aura Sphere rapidly coalesced in Riolu's hands. Thanks to its homing nature, the Aura Sphere easily caught up to the airborne Teddiursa, striking it midair and sending it crashing to the ground.
Upon impact, Teddiursa lost all ability to fight.
Having wrapped up the battle cleanly, Riolu's fighting spirit burned even brighter. Unfortunately, there wasn't a suitable opponent to let it go all out.
Suddenly, an enraged roar echoed through the forest.
A massive Ursaring emerged from the trees.
Upon seeing its fallen child on the ground, Ursaring bared its fangs and let out a furious roar at both Riolu and Ron.
"Gengar, we've got company."
Sensing that this Ursaring was at Level 38, Ron murmured softly.
Dark mist seeped out from Ron's shadow, gradually consuming the surrounding area until only a pitch-black dome remained, encasing Ursaring along with Ron and his team.
The sudden change in environment left Ursaring visibly unsettled.
Gengar's form materialized, floating silently in midair.
An inexplicable chill crawled over Ursaring's body, causing it to shiver involuntarily.
Wisps of shadowy energy drifted in the air. What Ursaring couldn't see was that its stamina was being slowly siphoned away.
This was what Ron had referred to—Gengar's unique talent.
Perhaps influenced by a past encounter with another Gengar, Ron's own Gengar, after having its potential awakened by Fighting Aura, had developed the ability to drain energy from Pokémon, using it to either reinforce its domain or replenish its own stamina.
Within this field, Gengar's Ghost-type moves were greatly amplified.
In other words, the last thing Gengar feared was being outnumbered. The more Pokémon there were, the more energy it could absorb, sustaining itself indefinitely.
In fact, Gengar could even drain an opponent's very life force.
However, to prevent Gengar from straying down a dangerous path, Ron had deliberately refrained from developing this ability further.
After all, even just the power of this domain was enough to make Gengar vastly superior to any opponent of the same level!
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