As the flames dispersed, a ray of sunlight burst forth from Sunkern. The Sunkern that should have been knocked out by a Delphox of this level in one hit now stood there without even a single burn mark.
In fact, under the interplay of firelight and sunlight, it added a unique charm to Sunkern instead.
"A—a magnificent counter!" Marianne exclaimed, then murmured in disbelief, "Can Sunny Day really be used to block Flamethrower?"
Unlike regular battles, Pokémon Contests focused on move application. It was quite common in Contests for an offensive move to be neutralized by the opponent using an offensive move of their own.
But this was the first time Marianne had seen such a situation. She stared at Sunkern incredulously, her mind only able to settle on this barely plausible explanation.
Because obviously, a Sunkern capable of using Razor Leaf with that intensity couldn't possibly stand there completely unharmed after taking a Delphox's Flamethrower.
But regardless, because Sunkern had executed its move in time and demonstrated its charm under the dual illumination of both moves, Serena's Delphox lost ten points.
Even if no one could figure out why.
"What an amazing Sunkern," an elderly man sat down beside Abigail.
Abigail was eating the snacks Bonnie had handed her. Hearing this, she turned her head to look at the old man.
"You are?"
Before the old man could introduce himself, Bonnie beside her recognized him first: "Ah, it's the Coumarine Gym Leader, Ramos!"
Hearing this, Ramos looked at Bonnie, "Oh, it's you. Long time no see. How's Clemont doing lately?"
"He's, well, still as clumsy as ever, but his inventions are much better now—they don't explode as easily," Bonnie thought for a moment before answering.
Ramos nodded, then turned to formally introduce himself to Abigail.
"As she said, I am Ramos, the Coumarine Gym Leader."
Abigail introduced herself in return.
"You're also from Pelican Town? Is that girl on the field your friend?"
Seeing Abigail nod, Ramos smiled and stroked his beard, then turned back to look at Sunkern in the arena.
"Many people look down on seeds. They seem so small and insignificant, yet they never consider that no matter how large a tree grows, it all starts from that tiny seed."
As a Grass-type Gym Leader, it had been a long time since Ramos had seen a Trainer raise a Grass-type Pokémon so excellently.
Just from Sunkern's demeanor, sheen, and even its leaves, it was easy to see it had received meticulous care.
One could say that aside from lacking battle experience, even the Pokémon in Ramos's gym might not match this Sunkern in certain aspects.
"Haley really treasures that Sunkern," Abigail said upon hearing this. "She carries it everywhere, so I suppose she really has raised it well."
But since Abigail had never battled Haley, she didn't know whether that Sunkern had always been this capable or if it had been trained at the farm.
"I see." Ramos smiled as he watched Sunkern. After a moment, he turned back to Abigail. "Then let these two items be my greeting gifts for this Sunkern."
With that, he handed two stones to Abigail.
"These are?" Abigail paused. The Rotom Dex beside her flew up and snapped photos of the two stones.
"It's a Sun Stone and an Eviolite, Rotom!"
"One can be used to evolve it into Sunflora, the other can enhance its current defensive capabilities." Ramos briefly explained, then asked, "By the way, you should be preparing to participate in the League Conference, yes?"
Seeing Abigail nod, Ramos smiled and turned back to look at Sunkern.
"Ah, gifts for Sunkern!" Bonnie leaned in to look at the two stones. "Seems like Ramos really likes that Sunkern."
The match was still raging on at this point.
Meanwhile, back in Pelican Town.
Obviously, Haley had fed that Stardrop slice to Sunkern.
This was unexpected for Ron. He had originally thought Haley would give the Stardrop slice to Minccino—after all, compared to Sunkern, Minccino was much more agile and likely at a higher level.
But how Haley chose to raise her Pokémon was entirely her own business. If there were more Stardrop slices later, Ron would send them over as well.
Speaking of which, during those days traveling in Kalos, he had indeed seen Haley exchange for several TMs at the Pokémon Center for Sunkern.
It seemed for performance purposes, she had taught Sunkern some move combinations learned from past Contests.
As for TMs, they were available for purchase at Pokémon Centers in Kalos. They could be exchanged using items dropped by Pokémon. If you didn't have enough items, you could trade with nearby Trainers for the needed components, or simply purchase them outright.
For example, the items needed for Sunny Day were Sunkern leaves, Torkoal coal, and Litleo mane.
Haley had plenty of leaves shed by her Sunkern and successfully traded with nearby Trainers for the other needed items.
Thinking of this, Ron continued watching the television.
On the other side of the screen, Serena seemed to quickly recover from her shock.
Although she didn't understand how Sunkern had accomplished this, as long as it couldn't one-shot her Delphox, Serena still had room to perform.
And this way, she wouldn't have to worry about crushing Haley's Sunkern due to the level difference.
"Sunkern, use Solar Beam!" Haley shouted to Sunkern on the other side.
With Sunny Day's help, Solar Beam charged instantly, and Sunkern fired a Solar Beam toward the Delphox.
"Delphox, use Fire Spin!"
"Fire Spin and Solar Beam collided!" Marianne watched the battle intently while commentating: "Ah, insufficient attack power! Solar Beam was blocked by Fire Spin! The flames have surrounded Sunkern!"
"Under Sunny Day's influence, the fire's power has increased!"
With Marianne's commentary, Sunkern lost another five points.
Hearing this, Haley couldn't help but pause.
This was completely new knowledge for Haley. But because she had given Sunkern a ring and fed it a Stardrop slice, though she wasn't clear what kind of boost this would provide, out of trust in Ron, Haley still confidently shouted to Sunkern, "Use Leaf Storm!"
As soon as she spoke, a large number of emerald leaves burst forth from within the Fire Spin.
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