Chapter 162 The Big Guy Conquers
"Ash? You finally decided to come back! So, did you Slack Off during your trip to the Orange Islands?"
Gary appeared out of nowhere.
"Gary, you haven't left yet?" Ash was a little surprised to see the familiar spiky hair.
"I just wanted to make sure you remembered our agreement."
"The Silver Conference for a decisive battle, of course I remember, but you don't seem to have much of a chance of winning."
"While you were relaxing, I wasn't slacking off at all. Do you want to have a battle to test it out?"
Gary unhappily issued a battle invitation. During Ash's trip to the Orange Islands, he had undergone special training, enduring many hardships to capture a powerful Pokémon.
"Alright, but let's save our official battle for the Silver Conference. For now, let's just have a simple 1-on-1 match."
Ash also wanted to see if Gary had made any progress.
If his skill level was too low, it would be a headache for him, as the Johto region's League level was much higher than Kanto's, and going easy would require excellent acting skills.
Soon, the group arrived at Professor Oak's Laboratory's backyard.
"Gary, which Pokémon are you going to use?" Ash asked, looking at the confident Gary.
"I spent a lot of effort catching this new Pokémon. Go, my partner!"
Gary confidently threw out a Master Ball.
The Poké Ball opened, and a Pokémon with brown and orange mixed spots on its body, metal-like anklet structures on its legs, and a turtle-like shape emitting heat appeared before everyone.
"Heatran! I really didn't expect you, Gary, to be able to catch it," Ash exclaimed.
That's right, the powerful Pokémon Gary caught was Heatran, which lives in volcanic caves, and is also one of the Secondary Gods with the lowest presence. Indeed, its presence in the anime is very low, and its standing is also very low. Who can blame it when its original positioning was that of a standard God? But unfortunately, the designers couldn't create a suitable evolution, so it could only be designated as a Legendary Pokémon.
[Pokémon: Heatran]
[Type: Fire + Steel]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: Elite Intermediate]
[Ability: Flash Fire (When attacked by a Fire-type move, it absorbs the flames, and its own Fire-type moves become stronger.)]
[Potential: Secondary God]
[Moves: Flame Vortex, Metal Claw, Ancient Power, Fire Fang, Crunch, Metal Sound, Earth Power, Stone Edge, Lava Plume.....]
With its Fire/Steel dual typing, aside from being 4x weak to Ground-type and 2x weak to Fighting and Water-types, it has the most 4x resistances. Although its Special Attack is very high, it mostly serves as a tank, but with 130 Special Attack, its offensive capabilities are not bad.
"Pikachu, it's up to you."
Ash didn't think much and sent out Pikachu.
"Pika!"
Pikachu, hearing Ash tell him to go on stage, happily ran to the opposite side of Heatran.
"So confident?" Gary thought to himself.
He had thought Ash would at least send out a Legendary Pokémon to battle, but he didn't expect it to still be Pikachu.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack."
After Pikachu was enveloped in a lightning armor, he moved quickly, and several yellow afterimages appeared on the field for a moment.
"Heatran, Earth Power!"
Heatran stomped the ground with both front paws, causing a violent tremor in the ground.
"Pikachu, fly up and use Thunderbolt."
Pikachu emitted lightning all around him, then, while flying off the ground with all four limbs, he also unleashed a bolt of lightning.
"Heatran, Flamethrower."
Facing the approaching lightning, Heatran opened its mouth and spewed a stream of flames, easily neutralizing the Thunderbolt.
"Pikachu, use Brick Break."
Hearing the command, Pikachu, like a bolt of lightning, rapidly approached Heatran. When he was less than a meter away, he quickly ascended to a certain height, twisted his body, and aimed his tail at Heatran.
Slap!
Pikachu's tail struck Heatran hard on the forehead.
"Such fast speed, but my Heatran won't be defeated so easily. Heatran, use Crunch."
Heatran opened its large mouth and bit at Pikachu. The move was released very quickly, and Pikachu didn't even have time to escape before his tail was bitten.
Fortunately, it wasn't a STAB move, and Pikachu wasn't weak to Dark-type, so he only sustained minor injuries and still had plenty of stamina.
"Gary, your Heatran is pretty good! But how do you plan to deal with the next move?"
"Pikachu, hold onto him and use Thunder."
Pikachu grabbed Heatran's big head, and lightning flashed around his body.
"Heatran, quickly shake him off and then use Dig!"
Heatran shook his head vigorously but couldn't shake off Pikachu, and a stronger bolt of lightning enveloped him.
"Heatran, hold on!"
There was no avoiding it, so he could only endure it. Fortunately, Heatran was not knocked out by Pikachu's Thunder, but he was badly injured, and most importantly, Heatran was paralyzed.
"Alright, this match ends here, Ash."
Gary recalled Heatran, ending the battle. The outcome was already obvious: Pikachu still had energy left, while Heatran was not only injured but also paralyzed.
"Okay, Pikachu, come back."
Ash called Pikachu back.
"Pika Pi Pikachu!" (Ash, I won!)
Pikachu happily ran back to Ash's shoulder, seeking praise.
"I saw it, but Pikachu, your reaction time still needs improvement."
Ash was already very happy that Pikachu didn't hold back.
"Ash, the next time we meet will be our true showdown. When do you plan to depart for the Johto region to collect badges?" Gary asked.
"I have to wait until I send Serena off at the airport before I can decide, at the latest probably in 5 days. What about you, Gary?"
"Heh heh, I'm already ready to depart. Oh, by the way, regarding the information I promised you before, there are legends of Latios and Latias appearing in the Water Metropolis of Alto Mare, and also someone saw a legendary Pokémon near Silver Rock Island in the Whirl Islands."
Gary revealed information about two legendary Pokémon. Both pieces of information were already known to Ash, so their value wasn't high. He would indeed go to the Water Metropolis, and the legendary Pokémon near Silver Rock Island was actually Lugia, but the Lugia there was a mother and child pair.
For Ash, who had already caught Lugia, catching another one didn't have much meaning. Another point was that after catching Articuno, his pressure wasn't as great. Excluding the four ancient Pokémon, as well as Jirachi and Deoxys, he was only one Legendary Pokémon away from a full team lineup: the three legendary birds, Lugia, and Mewtwo. The rest was figuring out how to get the highest reward.
He had a feeling that as long as he could catch the three legendary Pokémon of Hoenn, plus Mewtwo, and then casually add two relatively rare Mythical Pokémon, the rewards would surely be incredibly generous.
"Okay, I understand. Gary, you're not planning to target them as well, are you?"
"That's not for sure. If you drag your feet, Ash, don't blame me for getting there first. Well then, I'm leaving first. Goodbye, Grandpa, everyone!"
Gary turned and left Professor Oak's Laboratory gracefully.
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