He knows Pokémon better than me.

On the viewing platform at the cape, a slender, dark-skinned beauty's eyes lit up, and she waved repeatedly:

"Ash, it really is you!"

"Lulina, uh, have we arrived at Waterboat Town?"

Ash belatedly realized that the shoreline was the same Cape of Water, which he had visited before, with two statues of Toxtricity standing next to the lighthouse at the end.

But when did Lulina get a gill ichthyosaur?
We're halfway through our journey, so it's time to go ashore and rest.

Ash looked at Mr. Mime, who understood immediately and smiled.

"Bari~!"

He then pointed his finger, and his telekinesis landed on Ash, who quickly floated lightly onto the two-meter-high shore.

Then its eyes glowed blue, and it channeled its psychic power, sending itself and Pikachu up with it.

In order to defeat Leon's strongest ice-walking doll, Mr. Mime has been meditating and training to improve his mental strength since leaving the aquarium.

After getting ashore, Ash waved towards the outside of the railing:

"Take a good rest, Lapras~"

For Pokémon with water-storing abilities, the ocean is the perfect resting place.

"Come back too."

On the other side, Lulina also retrieved the armored warrior who had just saved her from the emergency back into the ball.

"Gills! Gills!"

The gill ichthyosaur, still shaken, swam to a low-lying platform nearby, panting as it came ashore, shaking its body.

When it was practicing swimming in the sea, it suddenly saw someone feeding it. Who could resist that? Of course, it would open its mouth to take the food.
Unexpectedly, a ferocious and menacing figure suddenly appeared.

"So, Ash, what are you doing in the waters around here all of a sudden?"

Lulina asked in confusion, her pretty brows furrowing slightly.

Honestly, we're already at her doorstep, why didn't we stop by to visit her and deepen our friendship!
"Hehe, I'm just passing through, heading south from Zhanjing Town."

Xiao Zhi rubbed his head and chuckled awkwardly as he explained.

Reaching Shuizhou Town means you've completed one-third of the swim.

Just then, the Gillfish Dragon shook off the water and walked bumblingly to Lulina's side. The latter immediately patted the Gillfish Dragon's shoulder with a hint of smugness and playfulness:

"What do you think of my ichthyosaur?"

Ever since she witnessed the power of Dracovish at Ash's place, as a Water-type Trainer, she naturally wanted to own one herself.

Fortunately, fossil Pokémon are not yet popular in the Galar region, so the price of four fossils is not high.

After successfully collecting the fish and dragon fossils needed to reconstruct the ichthyosaur, she was able to contact the unkempt and clumsy researcher using the phone number that Ash had given her.

After learning Lulina's identity, the latter naturally agreed readily and even gave her a 3% discount.

She's both a dojo owner and a celebrity model.

They are undoubtedly the perfect choice to promote fossil Pokémon!

Ash will shine in the World Championships, and Lyrina will also be able to showcase her skills at the League Conference, which is attended by Gym Leaders. If they can achieve outstanding results in both areas...

She has a feeling that fossil Pokémon will become incredibly popular next year!
She'll be charging several times more when that happens!

If that doesn't work, there's always another place to establish your own research institute.

This is also the idea of ​​several fossil researchers scattered throughout the Galar region.

"Finally, the ichthyosaur came back to life!"

Lulina smiled broadly, finding the Gilling Dragon increasingly adorable.

However, there's still a bit of a tight schedule to get this newborn ichthyosaur to the top tier of strength before the League Conference opens. "No problem, as long as it can land a preemptive gill bite, the ichthyosaur can easily kill opponents of higher levels."

Xiao Zhi said with a smile, "I understand this perfectly well."

Lulina nodded. The key now was how to get the Dracovish to bite the target first. As a Water-type trainer, she had quite a few ideas.

For example, just now, she had the ichthyosaur practice swimming underwater, using its "waterfall climbing" technique for high-speed movement.

It's a pity that it's hard to learn "water jet," otherwise that would be the perfect combo move.

Time had almost passed, and Ash thought for a moment before releasing his Dracovish.

"Gills!"

Upon seeing the other party, Lulina's Gillfish Dragon immediately shuddered and hid behind Lulina.

However, Ash's Dracovish also recovered from its Outrage state, its fierce aura dissipated, and it regained its rationality.

What followed was hunger—

After playing all morning, just as I was about to eat, I found myself chasing others at sea. I was starving after using Reverse Scale repeatedly!

"Eat up, ichthyosaur!"

Ash smiled and tossed out a few cube food, which the latter immediately caught and sat down to chew on.

When he looked at Lulina's gill bream again, his angry expression had vanished, replaced by a憨厚 (honest and simple) look.

"Gills~"

It even wiggled its short flippers as if to give a friendly greeting.

As long as you don't touch their sore spot, Dracovish, with its naturally easygoing personality, is completely harmless, just like Goose.

"Gills!"

Seeing this, Lulina's gill damselfish dared to approach, but this time, it dared not steal other people's food.

Ash and Lurina exchanged a smile.

When the two Dracovish were put together, Ash's was clearly a size larger, showing that the special training he had received recently had been very effective.

After the gill ichthyosaur finished its lunch, it stood up again, full of energy.

Since I'm already here, and we've run into each other, as a senior, I should at least give the latter a few pointers.

So Ash directed the clearing on the nearby coastline:
"Ichthyosaurus, use Frozen Fang! Oh, and remember to move slowly."

The gill ichthyosaur understood, leaped over the railing of the viewing platform, its teeth radiating a chilling aura, and bit down on the earthen slope.

The astonishingly cold air instantly condensed into several ice pillars, displaying incredible power.

"Gills!"

Lurina's gill ichthyosaur nodded repeatedly, its face showing envy—

Its recovery time is not long, and its current biting moves are limited to the "cheek bite" that it was born with.

However, given its "Strong Forehead" trait, even other biting moves are not as powerful.
"Uh, my ichthyosaur still has the water storage property."

At this point, Lulina suddenly interrupted, her face showing embarrassment.

Not all ichthyosaurs are lucky enough to be born with the "Strong Forehead" trait.

This Pokémon has three random abilities: "Strong Jaws," "Water Absorb," and "Sand Rush."

The other two traits are also quite useful. For example, Sand Rush doubles your speed in sandstorm weather, making it easier to use Cheek Bite in a sandstorm team.

However, the sandstorm will also cause you to continuously lose health.

While its water-storage ability is powerful, none of them are as well-suited to the Dracovish as its strength, allowing it to focus on extreme and brutal damage output. (End of Chapter)