Chapter 222: The Leaf God
Although Will had immediately learned to swim, Lorelei had no intention of taking him back to show off. The two little ones wandered on the beach for a while, said hello to the other wild Pokémon, and then went home.
Back home, Lorelei immediately sat on the sofa, hugging Will.
"It's the Kanto Conference semi-finals today! It's super exciting!"
Lorelei expertly used the remote to turn on the TV.
Will's eyes lit up at the sight of the large screen. It had been so long since he'd watched TV! Since coming to this world, he hadn't seen a TV, let alone a smartphone or computer. Now, he could finally re-engage with modern electronics.
"Piplup, drink your water."
"Oh."
Gulp, gulp~
Lorelei's mother, hearing the noise, peeked her head out of the kitchen. Seeing the little penguin letting her daughter hold him so obediently, she couldn't help but nod. With her daughter's personality, if she had ended up with a normal Piplup, they would have been fighting every day.
But thankfully, the Piplup they'd found wasn't exactly normal. He didn't get angry even when being cared for.
The TV turned on.
On the screen, a Nurse Joy was standing in the middle of the stadium, holding a microphone and introducing the two competitors.
On the left was a male challenger from Johto.
On the right was a female challenger from Sinnoh.
According to Lorelei's muttering, the other semi-final match was between challengers from Unova and Hoenn.
How amusing. The Kanto Conference semi-finals, and not a single one of the top four was from Kanto. And Kanto was supposed to be the birthplace of Pokémon battling. The Kanto natives in the audience must have been feeling a bit awkward.
But Will's attention was focused on the challenger from Sinnoh.
The female challenger had long, golden hair and looked at least 80% similar to Celestia. Will was almost certain at a glance. This person was a descendant of Celestia... Cynthia's mother.
Perhaps a baby Cynthia was sitting in the audience right now, being held by her father as she cheered for her mom. Unfortunately, the camera didn't pan to the audience, so he couldn't confirm it.
"Carmela is my idol, you know! Even though she lost in the finals of the Sinnoh Conference last time, she's definitely going to win this time!" Lorelei's voice sounded from above Will's head.
Hearing the name, Will was even more certain of his guess, and his interest was piqued.
The battle began.
Both sides threw out their Pokémon.
The Johto challenger sent out a Donphan. Although Donphan looks like a primeval elephant, it's actually only a little over a meter tall. Even the Donphan Will had seen in the ancient Era of Primal Beasts was only about two meters. But size doesn't determine strength. Donphan may be small, but its base stats total 500, putting its talent in the same category as a starter Pokémon.
"Carmela will probably use Garchomp or Lucario," Will thought, grinning, feeling like he'd seen it all. Based on Cynthia's teams in the games, Garchomp and Lucario were always her mainstays, no matter the version.
The next moment, Carmela threw out a Sceptile.
...
"I knew it! Haha, Sceptile is one of Carmela's two ace Pokémon!"
"..."
Will stared at the Sceptile on the field, a strange feeling in his heart.
He wondered if Carmela had been influenced by her ancestor, Celestia, and thus had a soft spot for Sceptile. After all, of all of Cynthia's lineage, Celestia was the only one he had a connection with.
Other than that, Will really couldn't think of a reason why Sceptile would be Carmela's ace. The Treecko line was from Hoenn, half a hemisphere away from Sinnoh. If she were to pick a different ace, a Roserade would have made much more sense.
"Sceptile... ah... Even though I like Water- and Ice-type Pokémon more, Sceptile is amazing, too. After all, one of them was the 'Leaf God'!"
"Leaf God? Tell me more."
Will's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked up at Lorelei's chin.
He was 100% certain this "Leaf God" was him.
This third life of his was different from his second. If you praised his second life (as a Dragonite), he'd be embarrassed. But if you praised his third life (as Sceptile)... he was wide awake.
"Hmm? Piplup is interested in the Leaf God? Hehe, that's a legend from here in northern Kanto!" Lorelei said, rubbing the suddenly excited penguin's round head.
"The Leaf God is the first and only Pokémon to be posthumously deified by the League as a 'God.' The other 'gods' people talk about are mostly just folk legends."
"And the Leaf God's true form... was an extraordinarily huge, unique Sceptile."
"He had the power to fight one-on-two and completely overwhelm twoLugia!"
"Lugia! The God of the Sea, with thousands of years of legends and murals!"
"Not only that, the League also said the Leaf God saved the world from a great disaster. Many residents who used to live in Rota City saw it with their own eyes, but the specific details weren't released, so there are many different stories."
...
Once Lorelei started talking about the Leaf God, she couldn't stop.
The Leaf God had apparently become a figure of faith for the people of Kanto and a source of pride for the people of Hoenn. In Lorelei's words, although the Leaf God was a new legend, his status and power were, in many people's minds, already superior to Ho-Oh and Lugia.
Of course, many people still insisted that Ho-Oh and Lugia were more sacred.
"That's right! The Leaf God is the coolest and the strongest!" Will thought, so pleased with himself that he jumped up in excitement.
Thwack.
With his sudden jump, Lorelei had no time to react. He slammed right into her chin, knocking her sideways.
Even though Will was still a baby, his big head was definitely harder than Lorelei's chin.
He didn't even notice that Lorelei was now lying flat on the sofa.
He was feeling pleased, but he also felt the latter opinion was more correct. The Alpha Mega Sceptile he had become was indeed stronger than Lugia and Ho-Oh, and not just by a little.
But in terms of "sanctity" or "greatness"... Will really couldn't compare.
It wasn't just about his influence on the world, but his contributions. In places humans couldn't see, Ho-Oh and Lugia had saved the world countless times, stopped innumerable wars, and would save it countless more times in the future. The few times humans did see them were so long ago that they were only recorded in ancient texts, making it hard for modern people to believe.
Modern people had only seen Will's one time. The one time that was recorded in photographs. That's why this was the result.
"Piplup!"
Bonk!
"Ow!"
Will clutched his head. He turned to the side in anger. Unbelievable! Lorelei dared to hit him on the head! Not even Liz or Meowscarada had ever hit him on the head! And she had just been praising him...
But when Will's gaze landed on Lorelei, his anger vanished. Her chin was bright red.
He looked up, processing the trajectory.
"Hehe." Will flashed a boot-licking smile.
When you're living under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.
"Hmph! Just watch the TV! It's the best part!" Lorelei huffed, and she stopped hugging Will, dumping him on the cushion beside her.
"Phew." Will sighed in relief. He was genuinely afraid he'd get another beating; this little girl was not afraid to use her fists.
He obediently sat and watched the match with her.
"Whoa, they're improving fast," Will mused, watching the battle unfold.
These modern trainers were already starting to combine moves and use abilities. For example, in one exchange, the Johto trainer's Luxray used Electric Terrain to boost its power.
But Carmela, using a predictive switch, recalled her Umbreon and sent out an Electivire. She used its Motor Drive ability to nullify the electric damage and boost its own speed.
"Impressive," Will thought, shaking his head.
The command level of these trainers was so much higher than it was over a hundred years ago. To be blunt, over a hundred years ago, you were better off letting the Pokémon fight on instinct than letting a trainer "command" it.
But now, it was completely different. A smart trainer could genuinely, massively increase a Pokémon's win rate.
However, for the average spectator, this kind of battle probably wasn't as "exciting" as the simple slugfests from a century ago. Two Pokémon just blasting moves at each other definitely had a stronger visual impact.
But these tactics... unless you had a rich theoretical knowledge of battling, you wouldn't necessarily understand what was happening.
Take Electric Terrain. To an uninformed person, it just looked like the field was crackling with electricity; they'd have no idea what it actually did. Or Electivire's Motor Drive. They wouldn't know what had changed, or even that it had nullified the electric attack. They'd probably just think the Electivire was tough and had tanked the hit.
"So cool~" Lorelei watched the TV, her eyes sparkling.
Will glanced at her. He knew it. Lorelei was exactly the type of spectator he was talking about—one who couldn't understand the tactics at all.
But that was fine. Lorelei was still just a little kid. Even the seemingly brainless 10-year-old Ash needed 20 years of battle experience to finally become a Master.
She just needed time to learn.
Besides, she had him.
And Will still hadn't figured out if Lorelei just wanted to be famous, or if she actually loved battling. If it was the former, she didn't need to do battle tournaments at all. The Contest path was much faster.
And that would make his life a little easier, too.
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