Pokémon from Galar

Apple flapped its wings and flew into the field, staring at the blue raven with great imposing presence, showing no fear even though it was being restrained.

After all, the Apple-Wrapped Dragon knew the Shifting Lizard the earliest. Back then, when Yuri had just brought it home, it had little fighting ability and was usually timid.

Then they quickly became familiar with each other, sharing fear, huddling together and trembling, and the two Pokémon, who were strangely connected, got along quite well.

There was no desire for revenge or anything like that. Pingguolong just felt that the lizard had fought so hard for him, and if they still failed, that would be truly shameful.

"Gah—!"

Blue Raven clearly sensed its opponent's fighting spirit, but Hop patted Blue Raven's head, recalled it into its Poké Ball, and then sent out Scorbunny once again.

Blue Raven's Flying type is effective against its opponent, but if it were to fight a fully-powered Appledra, there's no guarantee it could defeat the opponent before it falls.

Therefore, we need to let the young Tengchu open up the situation first in order to increase our chances of winning.

"just--!"

After a short rest, the young Tengchu player was in much better spirits. Even while inside the ball, he had noticed the mutated lizard's performance. Although he was a little disappointed that he couldn't fight the mutated lizard, he figured it wouldn't matter if he had a different opponent.

Its own flames were eager to burn something!

Hop was determined this time to buy several TMs for all his Pokémon to learn. He had just happened to come across an opportunity and bought a Brave Bird TM for his Raven.

Otherwise, in the battle just now, trying to defeat the Shattered Lizard would only have come at a higher cost. We absolutely need to teach everyone a powerful STAB move as a trump card...

Hep pondered this for a moment before refocusing his attention on the battle.

"Are you ready, Hep?"

"Haha~ Alright, alright, let's continue! Young General Tengju, Charged Flame Strike!"

"just--!"

Hop was at a loss. The most powerful fire-type move he had was Heal Charge Flame Strike. He should have just asked his brother for a Flame Strike TM.

Tengju, unlike Hep, didn't have as many thoughts. The explosive flames erupted again, and the brief moment of respite allowed him to better unleash the power of the flames that the raging fire had brought him.

"Hold on! Then use Dragon's Breath!"

"Squeak—!"

"Kick him away with a double kick!"

Suddenly, the Apple Wing Dragon folded its wings, creating a protective light barrier that intercepted the flames of its charged attack. Just as the Tengchu Little General's attack faltered, it suddenly spread its wings, opened its mouth wide, and unleashed its fully charged dragon-type energy.

Tengju Xiaojiang reacted quickly, suddenly exerting force from his waist and abdomen, raising his foot and kicking directly at the apple shell on the lower part of the Apple Dragon, causing the direction of the dragon's breath to change, and the destructive dragon energy shot straight into the sky.

"Let's unleash another charged flame attack!"

Before the young general had even landed, and while the dragon was still tumbling in mid-air, unable to regain its balance, Hop's command was relayed once again.

This is a bit troublesome. The young general's charged flame attack is quite powerful. If he keeps attacking like this, the Pingguo Dragon might be able to defend against it once, but it might not be able to defend against it indefinitely.

And if he really gets his speed up again, he might actually be defeated.

Yuri felt she should take a gamble; with the stamina of the Tengju Junior, another hit from the skill would definitely mean elimination. Unfortunately, the Apple Dragon's energy control wasn't as good as the Transforming Lizard's.

Otherwise, with the tornado interfering, a follow-up effective attack could have minimized the damage. Unfortunately, reality isn't about "what ifs," and the level of transformation into a lizard does indeed involve talent, which cannot be forced in the short term.

"Apple Wrapper! Hold your ground, attack with your wings!"

"Squeak—!"

Pingguolong steadied itself, then flapped its wings to increase its altitude. Looking at Tengchu Xiaojiang, who had just landed and was rushing towards it at an even faster speed, its flying-type energy slowly condensed.

"just--!!"

"Squeak—!!"

As Tengcui Xiaojiang leaped into the air with astonishing momentum, charging towards Pingguolong in mid-air, Pingguolong also flapped its wings and swooped down towards Tengcui Xiaojiang!

boom--!!

As the two Pokémon collided, a burst of raging flames erupted, engulfing both Pokémon and making the trainers' faces burn with the dazzling light.

"Young Tengchu! Are you alright?"

"Pingguolong! Are you alright?"

pat-

As soon as Yuri and Hep finished speaking, a humanoid figure suddenly fell out of the firelight and landed on the grass with a thud.

"just……"

"It's alright! You've done very well. Come back and rest, young Tengcu."

Hop maintained his smile, comforting his Pokémon, and then pressed the switch to recall Scorbunny.

"Squeak..."

The flames gradually subsided, revealing the Appledragon, which also showed signs of exhaustion. Even in its raging fire state, its charged flame attack wasn't easy to withstand; the Appledragon landed somewhat laboriously in front of Yuri, folding its wings as if to catch its breath.

P.S.: Third update finished lol. Only the final battles are left, I'll talk about that tomorrow. I'm exhausted. I don't know how those prolific writers manage to do it, I'm so envious.

Chapter Seventy-One: The battle concludes, and we arrive at Water Boat Town.

"This is the last one!"

Hop sent Blue Raven onto the field once again, his tension growing. Yuri's Appledra Dragon seemed to be in bad shape after taking the Charged Flame Strike.

However, to be honest, the Blue Raven on my side is only worse off than the Apple Dragon. The previous attack by the Dark Lizard was too fierce. If it were in better condition, it might have already been defeated.

"Gah—!"

The Blue Raven, who reappeared on the field, also knew the current situation: both sides only had one Pokémon left, or rather, Hop's side only had one Pokémon left, while Yuri's side still had Cottoncan to use.

However, no matter what, it's just a normal battle. There's no need for a 4v3 situation. Yuri herself couldn't do something like that.

So the actual situation is that the last Pokémon on both sides is not in good condition, but Raven has a type advantage against Appledra.

"That's true, let's finish this match quickly!"

Yuri said this, then waved her hand and shouted loudly at Apple Dragon:

"Apple Wrapper! Wing Attack!"

"Squeak—!"

The Apple-Wrapped Dragon reacted quickly upon hearing this, flapping its wings rapidly before swooping down towards the Blue Crow.

"The blue raven dodges, then pecks at the food!"

"Gah—!"

Compared to the Blue Raven, the Apple Wing Dragon's flying ability was somewhat weaker; its wing attacks were easily dodged. Seeing this, Yuri quickly shouted:

"Retract into your shell! Then breathe dragon's breath!"

"squeak--!"

Apple Dragon's reaction speed was not slow. After realizing that its opponent had dodged the attack, it remained on high alert. Naturally, the moment it heard Yuri's voice, it closed its wings and maintained its defensive posture.

Bang bang—!

The Blue Raven's peck landed squarely on the Appledra's shell. What was originally an ordinary apple had become hard and solid after the Appledra evolved, so the peck attack did not have much effect.

The attack and defense happened very quickly. Although Hop wanted Blue Raven to dodge, the pecking attack had already been launched. If he spoke again to force Blue Raven to change its move, it might even cause Blue Raven to lose its composure and fail to execute the move.

And only after seeing the attack land did he seize the moment and shout loudly:

"Get out of the way, Blue Raven!"

"Gah—?!"

Almost without Hep's prompting, the Blue Raven, whose attack had failed to produce the desired effect, instantly realized it needed to retreat. However, the Appledragon was unwilling to give it that chance.

I deliberately withstood an attack so that the dragon's breath attack could hit me. How could I let the opportunity slip away like that!

"Squeak—!!"

With a roar, the Appledragon, which had been flying backward, suddenly spread its wings and aimed the dragon-type energy that had been gathered at the Blue Raven, which had not yet had time to change direction, at the Blue Raven in an instant!

boom--!

Both Pokémon were sent flying backward, losing their balance, and then fell to the ground simultaneously.

"Squeak-"

After rolling around on the ground with its wings closed, the Pingguolong opened its wings again and took flight, its gaze fixed on the direction where the blue raven, shrouded in smoke and dust, had fallen.

The dust settled quickly, and Blue Raven's appearance appeared smoothly before everyone.

"quack……"

Struggling to cry out, the Blue Raven drooped its left wing. Although it could still stand up with difficulty, the injury to its wing was severe, and it would be unable to fly again for at least this battle.

"..."

Yuri silently looked at Hop opposite her. After losing its ability to fly, Blue Raven obviously couldn't continue fighting. A bird that can't fly, how much fighting power does it have left?

"...Blue Raven, you've worked hard, you did a great job, come back now."

Hop maintained his usual smile as he looked at his Pokémon, Blue Raven, walked over, patted its head, and then took out a bottle of healing medicine and sprayed it on the drooping wings.

"This time it was my command that was flawed. Don't worry about it. Just get some rest."

Having recalled the Blue Raven, Hop turned back to Yuri, a crack appearing in his smile.

"I concede, Yuri. You won this battle... Even though we both have the Grass Crest, Yuri, you're stronger."

Frustrated, Hep rubbed his hair, his expression honestly filled with resentment.

"This time, I guess I was lucky. I didn't expect the lizard to evolve halfway through."

Yuri smiled and shook her head slightly. She didn't really care that much about winning or losing the battle with Hop. Regardless of the outcome, both she and Hop were steadily improving, and that was what made her happy.

"No, a loss is a loss. You're getting stronger so fast, Yuri. I guess I need to work harder too!"

Hep adjusted his mindset quickly. After all, they were old rivals and had won and lost against each other before. He figured he could win back what he lost this time.

Marie then walked over with her Pokémon, and looking at the Poké Balls hanging from Yuri and Hop's waists, she said:

"Let's hurry up and get to Waterloo Town. Your Pokémon are waiting for Nurse Joy's treatment."

"Haha~ You're right, it'd be better to get to the Pokémon Center quickly!"

Hop touched the Poké Ball at his waist and laughed. Yuri nodded with a worried look, then subconsciously took Marie's hand and walked towards the gate of Waterboat Town, which was already clearly visible in the distance.