A New Day at the Beach Training Ground
"Maria, don't make your Flathrower too powerful. You need to coordinate with Rose and Sina."
Stephen was giving special training to his three Houndour.
anwhile, Rihua and Will were conducting a battle exercise.
"Slowbro, Ice Beam!"
At Will's command, Slowbro opened its mouth toward the sky, its blank gaze locking onto the Murkrow soaring high above.
This Murkrow was one of the Pokémon freed during Rihua's earlier attack on a cargo truck belonging to the Caishen Corporation. When Stephen and Rihua retreated, the Murkrow followed them voluntarily, hoping to beco Rihua's Pokémon.
In the next mont, Slowbro unleashed a twisting beam of ice that shattered the air as it zood skyward.
"Murkrow, use Payback."
Rihua gave her order.
Dark energy rippled across Murkrow's body. Circling rapidly above Slowbro, it dodged the Ice Beam while closing in on its target.
If this Dark-type move hits Slowbro, it's going to be super effective.
And it was clear that Rihua's Murkrow was no ordinary Pokémon. Although newly captured, its agility was exceptional, narrowly avoiding the edges of the Ice Beam multiple tis.
The distance between Murkrow and Slowbro grew smaller and smaller!
In less than three seconds, the airborne Murkrow was within two ters of Slowbro.
But just as the gap shrank to less than half a ter, Will suddenly grinned mischievously, as if his trap had sprung. "Such nimble moves... opposite to my Slowbro, huh?"
As his words fell, Slowbro's tail—encased by the Shellder that had transford into a spiny shell—smashed into the ground like a plug, planting itself firmly. The force flipped Slowbro upside down, narrowly avoiding Murkrow's Payback move.
But it wasn't over yet!
The Shellder-like tail spun like a top, and Slowbro's body followed suit with a 180-degree rotation. Its mouth, already charged with energy, was now aid directly at the back of Murkrow's head.
Ice Beam fired again, striking with pinpoint accuracy! Super effective!
Murkrow crashed to the ground in agony.
"How was that? My Slowbro's two-in-one trick, Rihua?" Will said smugly.
As soone destined to beco a mber of the Elite Four in the Indigo League, Will's talent was undeniable. And after spending ti training alongside Stephen, his Pokémon had undergone the most scientific and rigorous training imaginable.
Rihua silently recalled Murkrow. Because Murkrow had fallen with its back to Will, he hadn't seen the final expression on its face—a sinister grin.
Boom—
Rihua sent out her second Pokémon... a Houndoom!
Yes, it was that ill-tempered Houndour.
Two days ago, it had evolved.
"Hmm..." Will cast a glance at Stephen, who was training three Houndours in the distance.
Rihua's Houndour had evolved. There's no way Stephen's three should still be in their baby forms, right? There must be a reason for this. Unless it's a unique case like Growlithe learning certain moves pre-evolution, most Pokémon evolve as soon as they're ready.
But knowing Stephen, he must have his reasons. After all, he'd been taking those three Houndours to the basent for secret training lately... Will pondered.
"Houndoom, Dark Pulse!"
At Rihua's command, Houndoom bared its fangs and unleashed a wave of dark energy.
Boom!
The powerful Dark Pulse, with a wider range than Payback, struck Slowbro head-on.
The explosion's dust cloud hadn't yet settled, but the beach where Rihua and Will were battling was now enveloped in a translucent, crystalline space—like the ability of Trafalgar Law's Room had been activated.
"What a powerful move, but it doesn't seem strong enough to defeat my Slowbro outright."
Erging from the smoke, Will and Slowbro revealed themselves.
Slowbro was covered in injuries from the Dark Pulse, and its movents were visibly sluggish due to the damage. But... its expression was filled with confidence.
"And now, the battle is decided," Will said with the sa confident smile as his Slowbro.
"Trick Room?" Rihua murmured as she surveyed the peculiar space around her.
Trick Room, a special field created by Psychic Pokémon, reverses the speed of all Pokémon within it. The slower Pokémon beco faster!
"Exactly... Slowbro, Scald!"
Will shouted.
In an instant, Slowbro—one of the slowest Pokémon in existence—moved with the speed of a Dragonite's Extre Speed. In the blink of an eye, it appeared in front of Houndoom and opened its mouth to unleash Scald.
But at that mont, Slowbro froze. Its expression, normally blank, beca even more vacant.
"Slow... Slowbro, what's wrong?" Will asked, confused as his Slowbro suddenly stopped mid-action.
"Slow..." Slowbro tried to respond, but its head tilted, and it spun in place before collapsing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand.
When the dust settled, Will saw his Slowbro knocked out, with spirals in its eyes.
"Huh? What? My Slowbro! What just happened!?"
"That move just now... was Perish Song," Stephen said as he approached.
"As expected, I couldn't hide it from you," Rihua replied, unsurprised.
At the last mont, just before Slowbro's Ice Beam had struck, Murkrow had used Perish Song—a move that ensures all who hear it will faint after a few turns.
Payback was just a decoy. Rihua's true goal was to have Murkrow get close enough for Slowbro to hear its quiet Perish Song.
"Ugh, Dark-types always fight so dirty," Will grumbled in frustration.
"Woof!"
Houndoom snarled at Will, startling him.
Will fell back onto the ground, noticing Stephen's three Houndours glaring at him with equally nacing eyes. He suddenly rembered that Stephen also specialized in Dark-types.
Uh-oh... he'd accidentally offended both teammates.
"This 2v2 battle is my win," Rihua declared, staring directly at Stephen. "Stephen, you promised . If I beat Will, you'd help with my revenge plan."
Not just Rihua—Houndoom's eyes also burned with determination.
Rihua was, of course, referring to her plan to take revenge on Aldus, one of the Indigo League's Elite Four.
When Rihua first joined Stephen's group, she had made her intentions clear. But because her strength was lacking at the ti, Stephen hadn't agreed.
A few days later, Stephen told her, "If you can defeat Will, I'll consider it."
And today, Rihua had done just that.
"You're in such a hurry," Stephen remarked, glancing between Rihua, Houndoom, and Will.
In truth, Stephen's willingness to help Rihua wasn't entirely for her sake—or at least, not purely for her sake.
A significant part of the reason was Stephen's interest in Aldus—or rather, in the Caishen family as a whole.
After all, Caishen was the wealthiest family in the Johto region, with two sons who were Elite Four-level trainers. A family like this rivaled even the Dragon Tar Clan.
So why was there no trace of them in Ash's era, just a few years later?
Dr. Stephen, ever curious about the unknown, was eager to find out.
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