He knows Pokémon better than me.

Now, the chubby squirrel is much clumsier than the gill ichthyosaur.

"Now! Bite with your cheeks!!"

The gill harpy dragon charged out, this time striking first and biting into the body of the savage squirrel.

The latter was about to try to dodge by leaping up again, but his wet body was very stiff.

Thud!
The explosion of water vapor caused the plump squirrel to fly backward, landing heavily on the ground, completely soaked, and immediately fainting.

With a power of 255, a cheek bite is enough to easily determine the winner even without type advantage.

"Wow, that's some strength!"

Ash secretly marveled to himself, thinking that Pokémon from other regions were indeed the most appealing!
Fossil Pokémon have their own unique moves, and the new Regigigas also has its own unique ability and unique moves.

The old things from Kanto and Hoenn have really gotten old!

Of course, what surprised Marie even more was Ash's thought process. Did he come up with a solution to the problem of the cumbersome Dracovish so quickly?
She thought about it all night, and for the time being, she could only think of wearing a "decorative scarf" or placing it in a magic space.

Or, have the Dracovish use Dragon Dance—

As a Dragon-type character, you should be able to learn Dragon Dance, right?
"Marie, you still haven't broadened your horizons!"

Ash saw through Mary's thoughts and said with a smile.

There are far too many factors that influence actual combat, not just these.

Besides "Water Gun", the best move to restrict the opponent's movement is "Tide Whirl"!
Water Gun can only slow down Pokémon with thick fur, such as Squirrel, while Whirlpool can lock down the actions of all Pokémon, even those that are bald!

Similarly, there's the rock blockade—

With its primal power, Dracovish should be able to master the Rock Blockade move quite well, right?

He has no intention of putting a "careful scarf" on the ichthyosaur, restricting it to using only one move; that would make battles too boring.

As he went to retrieve the live, well-fed squirrel, Ash seemed to remember something and turned back to say:
"Oh, and the weather!"

Although the ichthyosaur's characteristic is not "Easy Swim" which doubles its speed in the rain, its body is wet and very slippery, which would presumably allow it to make more agile movements in the rain.

Mary stared blankly at Ash.

As a newcomer who earned six badges right after her debut, Galar has a strong business sense and likes to create hype.

She has already been touted by the Galar media as a strong contender for the "strongest newcomer".

But in front of this peer, he seems to have become quite ordinary?

After seeing off the gluttonous squirrel, the two continued on their way. It must be said that the power of the ichthyosaur was truly terrifying.

Basically, if a cheek bite hits the target, it's an instant kill.

"Gills, gills~!"

Although he had just been resurrected, his energy was exceptionally high, and the red thorns on his chest were swaying with each breath.

Of course, this area should originally resemble the red spines extending from the back of a small alligator to its tail, but now it looks more like...chest hair?

The two continued until they reached the end of Route 6, where there was a cliff and a steep slope ahead, with no ladders leading down the cliff face.

However, in the distance, there was a vast open field and grassland with undulating terrain, and dust could be clearly seen rising from the depression in the middle.

This is the dusty depression where Ash and Hop previously fought at the Pokémon den.

"We've finally arrived! The open field is just ahead!" Standing on the high slope, feeling the strong wind blowing in his face with a bit of sand and dust, Ash couldn't help but say.

I casually recalled both the Beast Dragon and the Dracovish, as the two Pokémon were exhausted from their continuous battle.

However, the gains have been significant; the ichthyosaur has now fully mastered control of its body.

The former is probably about to evolve into an armored dragon!
Mary raised her hand and squinted as she looked out. In the northern wilderness, she could see four rising purple-red beams of light, proving that no one had yet raided the Pokémon dens there. A smile immediately appeared on her face.

boom!boom!
Both of them released their riding Pokémon at the same time. Ash's was Corviknight, while Marie's flying Pokémon was a Dark-type Vulpix.

Xiaozhi: "."

It fits the character's persona.

However, Marie, dressed as a vulture, appeared unusually alluring, even sporting dazzling pink eyeshadow.

It's so... provocative.

The two then used a flying Pokémon to leap down and land in the direction of the wilderness.

Of course, Marnie still obediently stayed on the back of Vulpix, unlike Ash who flew away without any protective measures, grabbing Corviknight's claw with one hand!

North of the wilderness, the two first arrived at a lake area on the west side called "Reverse Scale Lake".

It is estimated that it has a symmetrical relationship with Lake Minas to the south?

However, the level of wild Pokémon in this area is clearly a level higher.

In the southern wilderness, you'll mostly encounter first and second-tier Pokémon; third-tier Ultimate Pokémon usually appear as "bullies."

Here, second and third-tier Pokémon are the norm, and only the best among them become "bully" Pokémon.

Before they even got close to Lake Reverse Scale, the two spotted a long-haired troll walking along the lakeshore like a street urchin.

On the other side of the bushes, a tall Blizzard King was trudging around, surveying the area.

Ash even spotted a rather rare Turtleon over there. He'd only ever seen this Pokémon with Kiawe before, and he'd never even encountered a wild one in Alola!
"This is actually a nice place!"

Ash's inner battle was already raging.

It's too early to talk about baby dragons, and as for gill harpy dragons, that's probably a stretch too much.

But for Tengcuo Xiaojiang, Xiong Tudi, and Wanduo Xiong, it is the best training ground!
On the surface of Reverse Scale Lake, one can occasionally see several small, long, spindle-shaped, brownish-gray fish leaping out of the water.

The guillotine-shaped shuttle is highly aggressive and can launch a surprise attack at any time!

Unlike at Lake Minas or Lake Yaya, you can't safely ride a bicycle on the water here.

However, their focus today is still on Pokémon dens.

On the shore of Reverse Scale Lake, a honeycomb stone platform emitted a bright pinkish-purple beam of light, possessing the power of at least a four-star nest!

Avoiding the wild Pokémon along the way, Ash arrived at the den and took out his phone to perform a Rotom test.

"Beep beep! Pokémon den identified! Type: Electric/Steel. Star rating: Four stars. Weather: Rainy, Roto~!"

The image below is a black silhouette of the Pokémon, resembling a Jigglypuff with a single horn.

Mary leaned closer to look at Ash's Pokédex. Her Pokédex could only identify the star rating and type, but there was no silhouette.

However, given this combination of attributes, plus the chubby silhouette, Mary recognized it at a glance:
"Togodemar?" (End of Chapter)