"Kyuu~"
Hearing the sudden commotion, the cute face of Vulpix instinctively scrunched up in displeasure.
"Whoa! So cute!"
"Oh my gosh! What Pokémon is that?"
Unexpectedly, its little expression caused another round of gasps.
Countless girls in the audience had sparkling stars in their eyes.
Compared with the more commonly seen Fire-type Vulpix, Alolan Vulpix was every bit as charming, if not even more so.
Especially after Silas had carefully raised it, the little Pokémon's appearance could only be described as flawless.
Whether it was the smoothness and luster of its fur or the development of its physique, Alolan Vulpix was in peak condition.
On top of that, Alolan Vulpix from the Alola region was practically unheard of in Johto at present. It was only natural for the audience to be amazed.
"Alright, as you can see, Silas has sent out his Pokémon first.
"This is an Alolan Vulpix from the distant Alola region. It is another regional form of the Vulpix commonly found in Kanto and Johto.
"Now, facing such a rare Pokémon, what kind of Pokémon will our contestant Suneo send out to battle?"
The commentator for Court One had clearly done his homework.
He quickly gave the audience the basic information about Alolan Vulpix, though that was all he could reveal.
Anything more specific would be unfair to the contestants, especially Silas.
For a Trainer, knowing the characteristics and types of every Pokémon was something they were expected to do.
If they needed to obtain information from the commentator, they could hardly be called qualified Trainers.
"Alolan Vulpix? Water and Ice dual type?"
After his initial confusion, Suneo quickly composed himself and began analyzing Alolan Vulpix.
The Whirlpool Cup required Water-type Pokémon, and the name itself contained an obvious hint, so its typing wasn't difficult to guess.
At least, that's what Suneo thought.
His confidence grew slightly.
"I know its type now. It's also a special form of Vulpix, so its strength should probably be about the same as a normal Vulpix. I've got this match in the bag."
It wasn't strange for Suneo to think that way.
Everyone knew that Ninetales was powerful.
But before evolving with a Fire Stone, Vulpix's abilities were rather underwhelming.
It was generally kept as a pet rather than being used as a primary battler.
By the same logic, Alolan Vulpix shouldn't be much different.
Although its Ice typing gave it some resistance to Water-type attacks, that still couldn't completely make up for the difference.
Moreover, Suneo couldn't determine a Pokémon's level simply by looking at it.
Thus, he naively assumed that the adorable Alolan Vulpix standing before him was merely an ordinary-level Pokémon that wasn't suited for battle.
"Tentacool, show them the might of a predator!"
Suneo quickly stopped hesitating and threw out his first Poké Ball.
A blue jellyfish-like Pokémon appeared on the surface of the water, with a diamond-shaped nose.
Two large transparent structures resembling red agates were located on either side of its head, while a smaller one sat in the center of its forehead. Two gray tentacles extended from the lower part of its body.
It was Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokémon commonly found throughout the ocean and surrounding waters.
Aside from being poisonous and somewhat bad-tempered, Tentacool was actually an excellent Pokémon for beginner Trainers.
There was no complicated reason for this.
They were simply extremely common and relatively easy to catch.
After the tide receded, people could often find dried-out Tentacool left behind on the beach.
Don't misunderstand. They weren't dead. They had simply become dehydrated.
All it took was placing a shriveled Tentacool back into the water, and it would quickly recover its vitality.
If a Trainer threw a Poké Ball at it during that moment, there was a fairly high chance of successfully making Tentacool their partner.
After all, when a Pokémon whose body was composed mostly of water became dehydrated, breaking free from the Poké Ball's restraints was undoubtedly difficult.
The only thing Trainers had to prepare for was some basic Antidote for when they got stung.
After being stung a few times, Tentacool would probably learn to behave anyway. It wasn't going to kill anyone.
"Vulpix, use Powder Snow."
As the referee's flag dropped, Silas launched the first attack.
"Vulpix!"
Alolan Vulpix had been feeling hot and waving its little tails around to cool itself down, but it immediately became serious upon hearing the command.
It opened its tiny mouth, and a stream of freezing white snowflakes shot toward Tentacool in the sea.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Suneo face immediately turned as pale as the Powder Snow.
Alolan Vulpix was actually already above Level 30.
On top of that, it had absorbed the gift from Articuno, so its Powder Snow was anything but weak.
Looking at the Powder Snow attack, which was roughly as thick as a person's forearm, Suneo suddenly felt that he might have misunderstood something.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
He gritted his teeth.
"Tentacool, it's only putting on a show! Use Acid and take it down!"
"Dooo!"
Tentacool was somewhat flustered when faced with the incoming attack, but after hearing its Trainer's words, it quickly calmed down.
Its two tentacles hidden beneath the surface of the water swung forward, sending dark purple liquid filled with an ominous aura flying through the air like scattered flower petals.
"Eww~"
The surrounding audience let out sounds of disgust.
Normally, there wouldn't have been anything particularly unpleasant about Tentacool using Acid.
Unfortunately, its opponent was an almost excessively adorable Alolan Vulpix.
People were visual creatures.
When the two attacks were compared side by side, it was only natural that the audience would find the Acid attack somewhat unpleasant.
Suneo's eyelid twitched violently.
He really wanted to say that being cute was useless and that strength was what mattered.
Unfortunately, Tentacool's strength seemed to be inferior to its opponent's as well.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Powder Snow and Acid collided in midair.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
The sound of corrosion continuously rang out.
The purple and white attacks gradually began to dissipate.
It was obvious to the naked eye that the white Powder Snow was disappearing far more slowly than the Acid.
By the time the Acid had been completely exhausted, more than half of Alolan Vulpix's Powder Snow remained.
"Doo!"
Tentacool cried out in pain as the attack struck it.
Fortunately, as a Water-type Pokémon, it had some resistance to Ice-type attacks, so it didn't lose its ability to battle from a single hit.
"But Tentacool's speed seems to have been affected quite severely."
The commentator's voice echoed across Court One.
As if to prove his point, Tentacool angrily waved one of its tentacles.
It looked almost like a stop-motion animation, making for quite an amusing sight.
At least Silas thought so. His opponent probably didn't.
Although Powder Snow hadn't frozen Tentacool, the Pokémon's body was composed mostly of water, so the low temperature had undoubtedly slowed its movements.
Before reaching Level 30 and evolving into Tentacruel, Tentacool generally inhabited relatively warm, shallow waters.
"Moonblast."
Silas and Alolan Vulpix continued their assault.
"Vulpix!"
Sitting gracefully atop the floating platform, Alolan Vulpix stood up and raised its head before letting out a long cry toward the sky.
Once again, the sight melted the hearts of countless girls.
As its opponent, however, Suneo wore an extremely serious expression.
Moonblast was a move he had never even heard of.
But any move associated with things like the sun or moon was unlikely to be weak. Solar Beam was a good example.
Looking at Tentacool, which had yet to recover from its previous attack, Suneo gave his command.
"Mirror Coat!"
"Dooo!"
Upon hearing this, a fierce glint flashed through Tentacool's drooping eyes.
A faint glow gradually enveloped its body.
Mirror Coat reflected the damage of an opponent's special attack back at that same opponent with twice the power. It was a Psychic-type move.
Tentacool itself normally couldn't learn this move. The only way it could acquire it was through breeding.
And its breeding partner in this case was the Corsola commonly found in the waters around the Whirlpool Islands.
"That's a pretty good reaction."
Silas nodded slightly.
Being able to determine in such a short amount of time that the unfamiliar Moonblast was a special attack was quite impressive.
But Silas wasn't worried in the slightest.
Moves such as Mirror Coat and Counter, which reflect damage back at the opponent, all had one prerequisite: the Pokémon using them had to first withstand the opponent's attack without being knocked out.
Silas didn't believe that a Normal-level Tentacool, after already having its stamina considerably depleted, could withstand a Moonblast.
Even if Moonblast's actual damage against Tentacool wasn't particularly high.
As both sides continued using their moves, the spectators gradually became more and more invested in the battle.
Of course, most of their attention was focused on Alolan Vulpix.
Although it was still daytime, with the afternoon sun shining brightly, the use of Moonblast caused a faint moonlight to descend from the sky and envelop the area around Alolan Vulpix.
Framed by the moonlight, Alolan Vulpix looked even more enchanting.
Silas felt that just this one move would be more than enough to earn a good result in a Pokémon Contest.
"Vulpix."
Before long, Moonblast had finished charging.
Alolan Vulpix flicked its fluffy, cloud-like tails, and the seemingly motionless moonlight suddenly burst into brilliant radiance.
A dazzling beam of light shot straight toward Tentacool.
"Hang in there! Tentacool!"
Suneo shouted from his Trainer's platform.
"Too!"
Tentacool nodded fiercely, and the faint glow surrounding its body suddenly transformed into brilliant white light.
It thrust its tentacles forward and charged directly into the beam created by Moonblast.
The small blue figure disappeared into the sea of white.
"Boom!"
The beam swept across the surface of the water, leaving a deep mark on the protective barrier surrounding the battlefield.
But where was Tentacool?
Everyone curiously turned their eyes toward the battlefield.
Apart from Alolan Vulpix standing on the floating platform, there was complete silence.
"Look!"
A sharp-eyed spectator was the first to cry out.
Following the direction he pointed, everyone saw Tentacool slowly emerge from beneath the surface.
Its eyes were spinning in dizzy circles.
"Tentacool is unable to battle! Alolan Vulpix wins!"
The referee immediately swung his flag downward and announced the result.
A thunderous cheer erupted throughout the arena.
In just a few short minutes, Alolan Vulpix had captured the hearts of practically every spectator.
No one had expected such an adorable Pokémon to fight in such a direct and brutal manner.
Two overwhelmingly powerful moves had effortlessly defeated its opponent.
That enormous contrast only made Alolan Vulpix even more endearing.
Suneo helplessly took out his Poké Ball and recalled Tentacool.
He had finally realized it.
Although Alolan Vulpix hadn't evolved yet, its level was definitely not low. It was at least at the Advance level.
He had been deceived by its appearance.
"In that case, the second battle is up to you.
"Go, Sharpedo!"
Almost without hesitation, after the referee completed the standard procedures, Suneo threw out his second Poké Ball.
This time, another Pokémon whose body was predominantly blue appeared.
The bully of the sea, Sharpedo!
"The sea's two troublemakers?"
Silas watched Sharpedo swimming through the water with considerable interest.
Tentacruel and Sharpedo were often regarded as the two notorious troublemakers of the sea.
In the previous battle, his opponent had used Tentacool, the unevolved form of Tentacruel. Silas hadn't expected him to immediately bring out the other one's fully evolved counterpart in the next battle.
Sharpedo, known as the bully of the sea, was naturally no weak Pokémon.
It was ferocious by nature while also being cunning and intelligent. Its razor-sharp teeth could easily bite through steel plates, and even when its teeth broke, they could regenerate at an astonishing speed.
According to records, ships entering its territory would invariably be attacked. More often than not, Sharpedo alone was enough to launch the assault, demonstrating just how frightening its strength could be.
"I wonder if it really tastes that good."
Silas looked at Sharpedo, but his thoughts had already wandered elsewhere.
In the past, Sharpedo's dorsal fin had been regarded as a valuable delicacy, resulting in a tragic history of overfishing.
Simply put, its situation had been somewhat similar to Farfetch'd.
As the Pokémon League's laws became more comprehensive, however, such practices had gradually disappeared from public view.
Silas was rather curious whether Sharpedo's dorsal fin really tasted as good as Slowpoke Tails or Farfetch'd meat.
"Sharpedo, use Aqua Jet to get close to it!"
This time, Suneo was the first to attack.
"Sharr!"
The ferocious Sharpedo let out a roar as a powerful stream of water burst from behind it.
Its entire body shot toward the floating platform where Alolan Vulpix stood at an astonishing speed.
Although it was called a shark, compared with the sharks from Silas's previous life, Sharpedo's body actually resembled a shark-shaped torpedo with only the front half of a conventional shark's body.
Its primary method of propulsion was to expel seawater through openings near its rear, allowing it to swim at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.
Of course, its endurance wasn't particularly good, and it could only maintain its maximum speed for a short distance.
"Jump."
Faced with Sharpedo's aggressive assault, Silas's command sounded remarkably ordinary.
Alolan Vulpix tensed its little face and crouched down, gathering strength.
Just as Sharpedo opened its enormous jaws and attempted to swallow Alolan Vulpix whole, the little Pokémon suddenly vanished from the floating platform.
"Now use Icy Wind and freeze the area behind it."
..
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