Chapter 1016: Ability - Parental Bond
Cotton Guard is a move that can rapidly enhance one's defense. After using Cotton Guard twice, Furfrou's defense was strengthened to the extreme.
However, Leafeon's attacking rhythm was very fast, utilizing each move with full power. While Furfrou used Cotton Guard to reinforce its defense, Leafeon employed Swords Dance to enhance its attacks, repeatedly using the Leaf Blade move, make Furfrou struggled to cope.
"Leaf... Leafeon..."
Under Yuga's command, Leafeon suddenly stopped its attack, squatting down on the ground. A Verdanturf appeared on its two front paws, which it then placed near its mouth, producing a clear and melodious flute sound on the field.
Originally panting heavily and tired, Furfrou, upon hearing this flute sound, started to feel drowsy, her eyelids drooping, becoming increasingly sleepy.
Ilima, noticing the situation, immediately tried to awaken Furfrou, but despite his efforts, Furfrou eventually fell asleep.
Due to the Grass Whistle move, Furfrou fell into a sleep state, leaving its vulnerable. After enduring three Leaf Blade attacks from Leafeon, it finally lost its ability to battle.
After defeating Furfrou, Leafeon's yellow-green skin slowly emitted a light green glow under the sunlight, gradually becoming more energetic.
Seeing Leafeon recovering its strength through Synthesis move, Ilima sighed and retrieved the unconscious Furfrou.
Ilima's second Pokémon was an Alolan regional Pokémon, Gumshoos.
It's said that Officer Jenny in the Alolan region does not have a Herdier or a Growlithe by her side, but a Gumshoos.
As this was Yuga's first encounter with Gumshoos, he couldn't help but take a few more glances. To be honest, this Pokémon didn't look particularly attractive, standing with its hands behind its back, exuding an air of maturity.
Observing Ilima's second Pokémon still being a Normal-type Pokémon, Yuga asked a question, "Are you a Normal-type trainer?"
"Yes," Ilima replied.
Yuga nodded without further words, and the battle resumed.
The mature-looking Gumshoos didn't launch an attack on its own, calmly standing on the field with its eyes squinted. However, when Leafeon swung its tail and used Leaf Blade against it, Gumshoos opened its mouth and directly bit onto Leafeon's tail.
With its tail bitten, Leafeon let out a painful groan from its mouth. However, Gumshoos stubbornly held on, ignoring Leafeon's struggles, despite how it tried to kick and wriggle free.
This Gumshoos's characteristic was Strong Jaw, which significantly empowered biting moves, thus allowing it to instantly grip Leafeon with the Bite move.
Bang!
Gumshoos fiercely twisted its head while biting Leafeon's tail and forcefully tossed it away, creating fine cracks on the ground upon impact.
Gumshoos didn't pursue the advantage, instead it stood calmly in place, observing Leafeon as it struggled to rise from the ground.
Leafeon managed to get back on its feet, shook its dazed head, endured the pain, and glared fiercely at Gumshoos across the field.
However, the "Insensitive" Gumshoos didn't react to Leafeon's anger; its narrow eyes showed no change in emotion.
The enraged Leafeon once again used Grass Whistle, but as the melodious flute sound echoed, Gumshoos immediately produced an unpleasant grinding sound from its mouth, disrupting the Grass Whistle.
Furfrou had fall because of this move, so Ilima had prepared for the risk of Grass Whistle and used a Uproar move to counter it, used the noise generated by Uproar move to offset the Grass Whistle.
The hypnotic effect of the Grass Whistle move relies on its melodious and soothing rhythm. However, now, with the grinding noise from the Gumshoos, not to mention the hypnotic effect, it's literally ruined the move.
As Grass Whistle failed, Leafeon charged towards Gumshoos again, launching an attack.
Yet, Gumshoos's moves - Bite, Crunch, and Throat Chop - effectively blocked Leafeon's assaults. Leafeon not only failed to gain the upper hand but also ended up with injuries all over.
Though Leafeon couldn't capitalize on the advantage, Yuga finally identified Gumshoos's weakness amidst Leafeon's repeated attacks.
This particular Gumshoos was notably slow, explaining its stationary stance and lack of initiative in its movements, even when having the chance to seize victory.
All this stemmed from Gumshoos's lack of agility.
"Leafeon, use Seed Bomb!"
Once the weakness was spotted, the solution became simple: if you're not agile, I'll just keep my distance.
Hence, Leafeon began bombarding Gumshoos from a distance with Seed Bomb. As Gumshoos lacked long-range physical attacks and had poor Special Attack capabilities, it quickly lost its previous composure.
Under the continuous long-range harassment by Leafeon, Gumshoos soon became as battered as Leafeon.
Seeing victory within reach, Gumshoos suddenly rushed towards Leafeon. However, its speed was slow, appearing unlikely to catch the agile Leafeon.
But just as Leafeon was about to dodge, Gumshoos suddenly stomped, erecting an earthen wall, blocking Leafeon's evasion path. Leafeon collided directly with the wall, losing the chance to evade.
Yuga hadn't expected Gumshoos to use Rock Tomb move at that moment and watched Leafeon get hit by Gumshoos.
Gumshoos used its Normal-type ultimate move, Thrash, at the moment of impact, aiming to deliver a fatal blow to Leafeon, and drafeat its with one-hit.
As expected, Leafeon couldn't withstand this move, collapsing to the ground.
However, Gumshoos wasn't spared from the effects of its own chaotic rampage. The side effect was confusion, causing Gumshoos to even attack itself, consequently following in Leafeon's footsteps.
Both Pokémon had collapsed, effectively reaching a draw.
At this point, each side was left with one last Pokémon. Yuga's side held a Sceptile, while Ilima had a Kangaskhan.
The Sceptile that used by Yuga was one of the earliest resident of the Ecopark. With its blue potential, it was currently among the top Grass-type Pokémon in the Ecopark and was just a half-step away from being Elite level Pokémon.
On the other hand, Ilima's Kangaskhan was slightly lower in level compared to Yuga's Sceptile, but the critical point was that Yuga noticed a Mega Evolution Stone on Kangaskhan.
As expected, after releasing Kangaskhan, Ilima immediately had Kangaskhan undergo a Mega Evolution.
...
Mega Kangaskhan
Type: Normal
Ability: Parental Bond
Gender: Female
Potential: Blue
Level: 63
Moves: Double Hit, Leer, Fake Out, Comet Punch, Mega Punch, Chip Away, Dizzy Punch, Reversal, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Counter, Crush Claw, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Drain Punch, Water Pulse..
...
Following the Mega Evolution, Kangaskhan directly broke into the Elite level, surpassing Yuga's Sceptile.
Observing the two Kangaskhan, one larger and one smaller, Yuga felt a headache. "This is troublesome. Not an easy battle!"
As time passed, Yuga encountered more and more trainers equipped with Mega Evolution Stones. He had a premonition that the secret of Mega Evolution Stones would soon be revealed. Although Mega Evolution was no longer a complete secret, it had yet to become common knowledge.
"Kangaskhan, Dizzy Punch!"
Under Ilima's command, the mother and child Kangaskhan flanked from left and right, swinging their fists simultaneously at Sceptile.
Fortunately, Sceptile was remarkably agile; it leaped in place, easily evading the attacks of the Kangaskhan pair, stepping on the mother's head and jumping behind her, launching an Energy Ball at her back.
Yuga's Sceptile wasn't like Ash's; it didn't consistently engage in close combat. It excelled in Special Attack and used physical close-combat moves only when necessary. Relying on them for primary attacks would be suicidal.
After the Energy Ball struck the Kangaskhan's back, she staggered but quickly stabilized, then immediately counterattacked with her little Kangaskhan.
Under the effect of the Parental Bond ability, the little Kangaskhan in her pouch possessed striking power. As long as the mother didn't fall, the baby wouldn't get hurt.
This meant Sceptile had to handle both the mother and the baby Kangaskhan at the same time.
Though the little Kangaskhan only inherited a quarter of the mother's strength, it was enough to illustrate the impressive effect of the Parental Bond ability. Since the baby Kangaskhan wouldn't be knocked out or hurt, the challenge became more substantial.
After the Mega Evolution, the mother and baby Kangaskhan were fast. Sceptile kept retreating while leaping, but the Kangaskhan pair stuck close, continuously using Dizzy Punch to prevent Sceptile from creating distance.
Boom!
The Kangaskhan mother's fist, carrying a powerful gust, struck Sceptile. Though Sceptile quickly crossed its arms using Dragon Claw to block the massive punch, it was still continuously pushed backward, leaving long scratches on the ground with its sharp claws.
At that moment, the baby Kangaskhan stepped forward and punched Sceptile's abdomen. Sceptile was sent flying backward but, while doing so, it spat out a Dragon Pulse, hitting the Kangaskhan mother's abdomen.
Seeing the mother hurt, the baby Kangaskhan hurriedly ran to her side, eyes filled with teary water. Yuga's Sceptile quickly retreated, using its exceptional jumping ability to create a considerable distance from the two Kangaskhan.
The damage received by Sceptile from the baby Kangaskhan was considerably less compared to taking a hit from the Dragon Pulse.
Seeing the baby Kangaskhan's performance, Ilima shook his head in disappointment, feeling that his training of the baby Kangaskhan was insufficient, resulting in it being easily affected.
He hadn't possessed the Mega Kangaskhan Stone for a long time and was currently in the exploration stage. However, today's battle made him realize that to fully utilize the Parental Bond ability, the baby Kangaskhan's adaptability and response in battles had to be improved.
Under the Parental Bond ability, the Kangaskhan mother and child form an inseparable unit, where cooperation between them is crucial.
The injured Kangaskhan mother wanted to reassure the baby Kangaskhan, but seeing the Sceptile on the opposite side lifting its foot, she instinctively wanted to push the baby away, forgetting that under the Parental Bond ability, the baby wouldn't be hurt.
However, this action caused the Kangaskhan mother to lose the opportunity to evade. A green light rapidly spread from under the Sceptile's feet towards the Kangaskhan pair. In the blink of an eye, the two Kangaskhan were submerged in the green column of light, and the Kangaskhan mother let out a scream.
It was Sceptile's Grass Pledge!
Witnessing the scene on the field, Ilima massaged his forehead with a headache. He didn't expect the Kangaskhan mother to make a mistake as well. It was evident they weren't adapting well to the new battle style post-Mega Evolution. Both Kangaskhan were too concerned about each other, unable to bring out the immense strength of the Parental Bond ability.
Even though the Mega Kangaskhan's level was already higher than the Sceptile's!
As the green light dissipated, the Kangaskhan mother knelt on one knee, panting heavily, and the baby Kangaskhan looked flustered, standing confusedly beside her mother.
At this moment, the Sceptile shot a brown seed towards the Kangaskhan mother. This time, the Kangaskhan mother remembered not to be concerned about the baby, only needing to evade herself. However, being injured, she temporarily failed to dodge.
The brown seed fell by the Kangaskhan mother's feet and instantly sprouted roots, green vines climbing up her sturdy thighs and spreading across her body.
A flash of green light on the vines absorbed the Kangaskhan mother's vitality, transferring it to Sceptile's body.
Seeing the Kangaskhan mother bound by the parasitic seed, Ilima knew his chances of winning this battle were slim. The main reason was his insufficient training for the Kangaskhan mother and child after Mega Evolution.
However, a gamble was still worth trying.
The Kangaskhan mother gently called out to the baby Kangaskhan, who, teary-eyed, nodded and ran out.
"Kangaskhan!!!"
The Kangaskhan mother vigorously struggled, breaking the vines that restrained her, leaving only a small part still attached to her.
These remaining vines would continue the parasitic effect, transferring the Kangaskhan mother's vitality to Sceptile at intervals.
The two Kangaskhan rallied, charging once again toward Sceptile, faster this time.
First, the Kangaskhan used the deceptive move Swagger (Effect: Confuses the opponent but increases their attack), their only means to stop the Sceptile, with full dodging abilities.
Sceptile fell into confusion as expected.
Next, the Kangaskhan used Reversal (Effect: The lower the health, the higher the power).
At this point, the Kangaskhan was heavily injured, with the parasitic seed drawing vitality. Using Reversal was apt.
In its confused state, Sceptile couldn't react, and the Kangaskhan mother and child bumped into Sceptile.
This collision directly incapacitated Sceptile due to its confused state. However, the parasitic seed took the last bit of vitality from the Kangaskhan mother, causing her to fall and exit the Mega Evolution form.
Without the support of the Parental Bond ability, the baby Kangaskhan also returned to its original form, sat on the ground, nudged the unconscious mother, and, seeing her unresponsive, teary-eyed, crawled back into her pouch.
Retrieving Sceptile into the Poké Ball, Yuga nodded at Ilima, and Ilima, holding the Verdant Badge on a tray, approached Ilima.
"Congratulations, this is the Verdant Badge. It's yours now," Yuga smiled at Ilima.
"Thank you."
Ilima graciously accepted the badge without being stubborn about a fair win.
"Have you challenged the Petalburg Gym?" Seeing Ilima taking the badge, Yuga asked him.
Ilima shook his head. "No, I haven't."
Yuga nodded and suggested, "Since you're a Normal-type Trainer, you should visit the Petalburg Gym. Mr. Norman is a highly skilled Normal-type Trainer. Perhaps you can learn something from him. Also, you need more practice with Mega Evolution."
Ilima genuinely expressed his gratitude. "Thank you for the advice, Gym Leader Shimizu."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
bearnard_bear97
bearnard_bear97 Can you count Mega Kangashkan as 2vs1?ʕ•ε•ʔ
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