While Lucas was rushing back to the Breeding House, Shauna and Tomoyo, who was holding a Dratini Egg, were sitting in the lounge area where a cartoon was playing on the wall-mounted TV.
Tomoyo watched Shauna, who was wearing a stethoscope on her ears and carefully examining the Dratini Egg in her arms.
Shauna put away the stethoscope, nodded in imitation of Lucas's mannerisms, and then handed the stethoscope to the side.
Chimecho: ?! (°—°)
Chimecho tilted its head and looked at Shauna.
Shauna held it out for a while, but seeing that Chimecho didn't take the stethoscope from her hand, she turned her head and found Chimecho tilting its head back at her.
"Chime~"
I don't have hands.
Shauna's small eyes darted around awkwardly, then she put the stethoscope away herself and gave a sheepish giggle.
Tomoyo couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"How is it?"
Tomoyo asked.
Shauna nodded like a little adult, "It's very healthy, Little Tomoyo."
Tomoyo took a deep breath.
"I believe as long as Little Tomoyo nurtures it well, it will hatch very soon. I believe as long as Little Tomoyo stays with it with all her heart—"
Before Shauna could finish her sentence, Tomoyo reached out and pinched her chubby cheek.
"Little Shauna, that's a grammatical error."
Tomoyo said, "And you're being repetitive."
Tomoyo sighed, "Most importantly, stop trying to act like Uncle."
With her cheek being pinched by Tomoyo, Shauna gave a silly grin.
"Okaaaay, Little Tomoyo."
While the two were playing around, a student Trainer from Jubilife Academy walked into the Breeding House.
"Excuse me, is it possible to challenge the Breeding House here?"
Shauna and Tomoyo both looked toward the Trainer.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer was startled by Tomoyo and Shauna, "Can I not challenge the Breeding House here? I heard from a friend that challenges are accepted here."
Tomoyo looked at Shauna, and Shauna spoke up clearly, "That's right, you can challenge the Breeding House here."
The Trainer breathed a sigh of relief; he had thought he was in the wrong place.
Shauna took a deep breath.
And then—
"Everyone, we have a guest!!!!"
Her small voice erupted with powerful energy.
In no time, a group of Pokémon walked out from behind the counter.
The Jubilife Academy Trainer's legs went weak at the sight.
A challenge—surely I'm not fighting all of them by myself—
Luxray came to Shauna's side and looked at her.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Luxray—"
Just as Shauna's voice trailed off, she felt Tomoyo tugging on her Mime Jr. costume.
Shauna turned back to look at Tomoyo, who was blushing slightly.
"Can I... give it a try?"
Shauna was stunned for a moment, and even the surrounding Pokémon were looking at Tomoyo.
"Sure!"
Shauna broke into a wide grin.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
After saying that, Shauna looked at Luxray, "Luxray, sorry, can you let Little Tomoyo have this one?"
Luxray nodded gently.
Then Shauna looked at the Trainer who had come to challenge them.
"The one you need to challenge is the Breeding House's Miss Power. You only need to defeat her to succeed in your challenge."
The Trainer looked at Tomoyo, who was clearly not yet of age to go on a journey, and was momentarily stunned.
?
His classmates must have been exaggerating; this Breeding House didn't seem all that strong.
Thinking about how many of his classmates were saying how powerful this place was, the Trainer wanted to laugh.
It was all rumors. Oh well, since he was already here, he might as well have a casual challenge.
Shauna and Tomoyo led the Trainer to the battle court outside. Mrs. Fujino also came over, and several guests from the Canteen stepped out to watch.
Shauna took the referee flags from Mrs. Fujino's hand and, under Mrs. Fujino's encouraging gaze, walked to the referee's stand.
Once the Trainer and Tomoyo were standing on the court, Shauna began to introduce the rules.
Dressed in her Mime Jr. costume, her voice was clear, "The rules for challenging the Breeding House are: you can send out all the Pokémon you have on hand. For every Pokémon you send out, the Breeding House will send out the same number. If you achieve victory, your challenge is successful."
After speaking, Shauna looked at the Trainer, "Challenger, how many Pokémon do you plan to send out?"
The Trainer answered casually, "Three will be enough."
As soon as he said that, the Pokémon of the Breeding House narrowed their eyes instantly.
Vespiquen flew in the air, sharpening her claws.
Electric arcs surged over Luxray's body.
Seviper's tail glowed with a purple light.
Even Staraptor stopped preening its feathers.
Tomoyo gave a sweet smile, then looked at the Pokémon beside the court and asked, "Gogoat, can you help me out?"
The leader of the Gogoat was startled for a second, then jumped happily into the court.
Seeing that the Breeding House's first combatant was a Gogoat, the Trainer threw out a Poké Ball without hesitation.
It was a Drapion.
Accept your defeat!
The challenging Trainer smirked and then ordered Drapion to use Fire Fang.
Tomoyo watched the Drapion with flames erupting from its mouth, remaining calm.
Uncle said that when facing a move that has a type advantage, you should dodge first.
"Evade it, Gogoat."
Gogoat agilely dodged the Fire Fang.
"Use Vine Whip to restrain it."
Thick vines extended from Gogoat's body, binding Drapion's pincers. Then, before the eyes of the confident Jubilife Academy Trainer, Gogoat used the vines to forcibly hoist Drapion up and repeatedly Slam it back and forth.
It was applying its own experience of being slammed around with great force onto the Drapion.
Drapion struggled, but found the vines incredibly tough and the strength behind them immense.
By the time the Vine Whip ended, Drapion stood up shakily, not yet having regained its bearings.
"Leaf Blade."
Gogoat condensed a massive green blade, held it in its mouth, and charged at Drapion.
Gogoat elegantly retracted the Leaf Blade, and Drapion collapsed to the ground as the blade vanished.
First blood! A dragon emerges from the mountain!
The Jubilife Academy Trainer was dumbfounded.
He recalled Drapion and sent out a Heracross as his second Pokémon.
Tomoyo looked toward Miltank, "Can you help me, Miltank?"
Miltank patted her belly and walked onto the court.
The Trainer struck first, "Close Combat!"
Tomoyo recalled the moves Miltank could learn; she had memorized many Pokémon moves at home recently.
She tentatively said, "High Horsepower?"
Miltank watched the charging Heracross, stomped her hooves on the ground, and met it head-on.
Boom!
The scene of Miltank being sent flying, which the Trainer had imagined, didn't happen. Instead, it was his Heracross that was knocked back, while Miltank showed almost no signs of injury.
?!
Isn't it double effective?!
The Jubilife Academy Trainer was lost in confusion.
Miltank patted her belly.
Your moves are far inferior to those of the Machamp in this Breeding House, especially that one. I get beaten up every day; if I couldn't even take your move, I would have been kicked out of the Breeding House long ago.
"Body Slam!"
Miltank leaped high and then crashed down heavily.
Take this!
Under Heracross's terrified gaze, the over-nourished Miltank slammed down with immense weight.
When Miltank stood up, Heracross's inner wings were even hanging out.
The Trainer swallowed hard.
So... so strong...
"Little Tomoyo, you're amazing!"
Shauna clapped for Tomoyo.
The Trainer recalled Heracross, pursed his lips, and sent out his final Pokémon.
It was an Empoleon.
Tomoyo took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
"You can do it, Little Tomoyo."
Tomoyo comforted herself.
Then she looked at the Rhyperior watching from the sidelines.
She really wanted to battle alongside Rhyperior.
"Rhyperior, can we fight together?"
Rhyperior didn't hesitate for a second, stepping onto the field and high-fiving Miltank.
"Liquidation."
Empoleon swung a blade of water at Rhyperior.
"Hammer Arm!"
Both of Rhyperior's arms glowed with white light, forcibly smashing the water blade aside as it charged toward Empoleon.
Trainer: ???
A smile appeared on Tomoyo's face.
"Go! Hammer Arm!"
Rhyperior's arm slammed heavily into Empoleon, sending it flying.
"Hydro Pump!"
A powerful Hydro Pump erupted.
"Rhyperior, Flash Cannon!"
Tomoyo's voice suddenly rose in volume.
Powerful metallic energy poured out from the holes in Rhyperior's palms, canceling out the Hydro Pump.
Tomoyo pointed a finger, dressed in the Dragonite costume she had designed herself, her voice booming and her posture bold.
"Rhyperior, Earthquake!"
The ground began to shake violently, eventually swallowing Empoleon.
Before the dust could settle, Tomoyo continued to command, "Keep going with Hammer Arm! Hammer Arm! Hammer Arm!"
Mrs. Fujino watched the completely different Tomoyo during the battle, her mouth agape.
Even Shauna's mouth was wide open.
Rhyperior charged into the dust cloud.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the dust settled, Rhyperior was thumping its chest and roaring at the sky.
"Roar!"
Who else is there!!!
Meanwhile, Empoleon lay in a crater, covered in bruises.
Tomoyo's face was flushed, and she let out a breath, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
The surrounding spectators looked at each other.
What a strong little girl—it's just that her style is a bit...
The Trainer who had come to challenge the Breeding House looked at the result—shut out by a girl who wasn't even ten years old—and recalled his Pokémon, feeling utterly crushed.
And Shauna announced the result at that moment.
"Challenge failed, Little Tomoyo wins!"
After saying that, she ran to Tomoyo's side, took her hand, and raised it high.
Applause rang out from all around.
"What's going on?"
Lucas's voice came through.
As he got off Latias's back, he noticed many people gathered around the battle court. After Latias concealed her body, he walked over and asked.
"Uncle."
Shauna immediately pounced on him.
"You're back?"
Lucas pinched Shauna's little cheek, "That's right."
"Gen gengar—"
I'm back too.
Gengar popped out.
Shauna giggled and gave Gengar a kiss, then looked at Lucas, "Uncle, someone came to challenge the Breeding House just now. Then Little Tomoyo said she wanted to try battling, so I let her on the field. Guess what the result was?"
"Oh? What happened?"
"Of course Little Tomoyo won."
Shauna said proudly.
Lucas was very surprised, "Oh? Little Tomoyo, that's impressive."
Tomoyo lowered her head shyly.
Shauna kept talking on the side, "Uncle, you don't know how cool Little Tomoyo was just now. She was pointing her finger at that big penguin and shouting Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm, Hammer Arm!"
Shauna's imitation was spot on.
After listening, Lucas looked at Tomoyo.
He couldn't help but chuckle.
He didn't expect Little Tomoyo to have such a battle style.
Lucas burst into laughter.
No wonder she likes Pokémon like Rhyperior and Machamp.
Violence and steamrolling.
Tomoyo is Power!
Lucas scanned the area but didn't see the challenging Trainer; he learned about what happened with that Trainer from Vespiquen and Staraptor.
A rude Trainer; if he's gone, then he's gone.
Lucas took Shauna and Tomoyo's small hands, "Let's go, let's head back. I'll make something delicious for you."
"Thank you, Uncle~"
"Thank you, Uncle~"
"Thank you, Uncle~" (Latias)
"Gen gengar~"
(Thank you, Uncle~)
"Beat it, Ghosty."
Gengar: ∑(A)
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