Chapter 165: Battle in the Valley of Steel
"Then, our top priority now is to find Pokémon with strong teeth in large numbers," Ryan said, recalling Floette and baby Rayquaza.
"Durant," Lillie said.
"Aron," Ruby said.
"Mawile," Sapphire said.
Ryan nodded. These three Pokémon all had strong teeth. Aron primarily feeds on iron, Mawile also feeds on ore, and Durant also has well-developed jaws. While they don't eat iron or ore, their abundance means they can easily help break down meteorites.
"Then, let's stay in the desert for a while," Ryan said, releasing Charizard. "Darkrai, come with me. Let's capture as many Durant as we can first."
Darkrai nodded and followed Ryan. Ryan, Charizard, and Darkrai began searching for Durant nests.
Soon, they discovered a large Durant colony. At Ryan's signal, Darkrai condensed Dark Voids and launched them into the colony below, putting them to sleep.
Ryan then produced Poké Balls, easily capturing them. If any resisted, Charizard would simply follow up with a burst of flames. However, this was still insufficient. Ryan considered using Pheromosa, the ultimate Pokémon capturer. The pheromones released by Pheromosa attract Pokémon with little resistance.
"This would make capturing Pokémon so much easier, with both Dark Void and flames," Ryan thought. After capturing the Durant in that nest, he resumed his search.
He cleared three Durant nests in succession, amassing over two hundred of them. Next up were Mawile and Aron. However, these two Pokémon are most abundant in Granite Cave on Dewford Island. After all, the area is rich in stone and minerals, making it an ideal habitat for these two Pokémon. They'll likely need to visit Dewford Island later. Another location is Steel Valley, which will be the next one they'll pass through. It's home to many Steel-type Pokémon, and there should be an Aron population there.
After Ryan finished capturing them, he immediately led everyone out of the desert, preparing to head to Steel Valley.
However, Ryan wasn't expecting Ruby and Sapphire to recruit Solrock and Lunatone, respectively. It's not quite captures, but rather that Solrock and Lunatone are preparing to follow Ruby and Sapphire to avert the meteorite threat. Whether they can still follow Ruby and Sapphire after that depends on their performance.
After all, the footage from Solrock and Lunatone shows that these two Pokémon are quite powerful, especially their excellent synergy, making them excellent doubles partners. This also fulfills Ruby's previous wish to capture a Plusle and Minun pair.
A few days later, Ryan and his group arrived at Steel Valley. They were surprised to run into Ash and his group there. But come to think of it, since Ash's group didn't have May from the original storyline, they wouldn't be participating in Pokémon Contests. They were probably heading back to Rustboro City after challenging the Lavaridge Gym.
When they encountered Ash and his group, he was commanding a Torkoal against a Steelix.
Both were extremely slow Pokémon, so there was absolutely no finesse required; it was just a matter of trading blows. While the battle wasn't particularly technical, it was still quite exciting and intense, perfectly suited to Ash's style.
While Steelix was significantly stronger than Torkoal, Torkoal had the type advantage. The continuous stream of flames was already overwhelming Steelix, and the final Overheat was the straw that broke the camel's back, instantly knocking it out.
"Great! Torkoal! You did amazing!" Ash excitedly rushed over and said, "Hey, Torkoal. Do you want to come on a journey with me?"
Torkoal happily blew out black smoke and knocked Ash to the ground, clearly eager to follow him. Although Ash was blackened by the smoke, he said happily, "Alright, I caught Torkoal!"
"Congratulations, Ash," Ryan said.
Ash only then noticed them. He looked at Ryan and grinned, "Ryan, we meet again! How about it? My Torkoal is pretty strong, isn't it?"
"It's pretty good. How about a battle? I just caught a Pokémon too, so we can see what we've both achieved recently," Ryan said.
"Okay!" Ash jumped up and said, "Torkoal, please!"
"Before that, Ash, wipe your face. Torkoal needs to rest too," Serena said, handing Ash a towel.
"Thanks, Serena," Ash said after taking the towel and wiping his face.
Lillie and Sapphire looked at Ash and Serena and couldn't help but sigh: "Ash is such a blockhead! I wonder when he'll finally figure it out!"
After a short rest, Ryan and Ash took their positions at opposite ends of the clearing. Brock stepped forward and said, "Ash and Ryan's friendly match officially begins now."
"Go!" the two said in unison.
Torkoal and Bagon appeared on the field. Ash took out his Pokédex and looked at it. "So it's Bagon! It's a very rare Pokémon, but we won't lose. Torkoal, use Flamethrower!"
"Break through! Bagon, charge!" Ryan said.
Torkoal fired a column of fire at Bagon, but Bagon wasn't afraid of fire at all. Bagon was naturally resistant to Fire, Water, and Grass attacks, and its strong skull easily resisted the flames.
It charged directly into Torkoal, but only pushed it back two steps. After all, Torkoal's defenses were no joke. But seeing the two Pokémon almost face to face, Ryan smiled. Don't forget, even though he didn't have experience grinding cheats, he still had a stock of TMs. He had taught Bagon every move it could learn.
"Hydro Pump!" Ryan shouted.
"What?! Torkoal, quickly retreat into your shell!" Ash exclaimed in shock.
Bagon opened its mouth wide, unleashing a massive jet of water straight at Torkoal. Torkoal tried to retreat into its shell to avoid it, but the distance was too close, leaving it no time to react. The Hydro Pump blasted it back, sending it crashing hard into the rock wall, leaving a deep crater in it.
Ash took a deep breath, then exhaled. "I was a bit careless. I knew your Pokémon's movesets were so versatile, but I didn't take precautions. So, let's get serious now."
Ash's expression hardened as he declared, "Iron Defense, then Shell Smash!"
Torkoal stood up and quickly steeled its defense. A metallic sheen appeared on its shell, then shattered as it broke its defensive shell to boost its offensive stats.
"Draco Meteor!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Protect," Ash shouted.
Bagon opened its mouth and launched a ball of energy into the sky. The ball shattered, transforming into a shower of meteors that fell to the ground. However, Torkoal had already erected a protective barrier, blocking the shower of meteors. Then, with surprising speed, it charged toward Bagon like a battering ram.
Ryan was surprised to find the speed of Torkoal after Shell Smash somewhat unusual. Normally, Shell Smash should only increase its speed and offensive stats by two stages, but now its speed was noticeably faster than expected.
"Could it be? Bagon, Double-Edge," Ryan said.
Bagon lowered its head and slammed directly into Torkoal's abdomen, but Torkoal withstood the impact, using the momentum to pin Bagon to the ground. Then, with a powerful Body Slam, Torkoal crashed down hard on Bagon's body. Bagon groaned in pain, losing its ability to battle.
"Come back, Bagon," Ryan said, shaking his head. "I didn't expect you, Ash, to use the Hydro Pump distraction to cover your Shell Smash setup. If you're playing like this, one more Hydro Pump could've knocked out your Torkoal."
"Hehe, I finally beat you once," Ash said. "I know it's risky, but my Torkoal can take the hit. And I believe in it."
Ryan smiled and said, "You've really grown a lot. I hope you can continue to grow, Ash, so that my main team can battle at full strength."
"I definitely will," Ash said seriously.
The two shook hands and then went their separate ways.
(End of Chapter)
[+100 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (30+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01