Pokémon: Reborn as Lucario

Chapter 131: Manectric VS Riolu

After watching the intense clash of waves between Ruru's [Psybeam] and Voltorb's [Charge Beam] in the first match, the audience was still wanting more. Immediately after, they saw that signature Pokémon of Wattson—Manectric—and the crowd began to cheer.

"Wow, it's the evolution of Electrike, Manectric!"

Due to Zidian City's special urban style, many wild Electric-type Pokémon also loved this city with its seemingly inexhaustible supply of electricity. Therefore, on the outskirts of Zidian City, it was very easy to encounter quite a few Electric-type Pokémon. So, whether it was the residents of Zidian City or the Pokémon trainers who came drawn by its fame, they would all more or less capture one or two Electric-type Pokémon in Zidian City.

Among them, the Electrike Pokémon clan was the most numerous. Thus, Zidian City had a very interesting phenomenon: walking on the streets, one could see people followed by an Electrike everywhere. Even Wattson's granddaughter, Xiao Yu, had an Electrike as her first Pokémon partner.

Over time, the people of Zidian City naturally loved Electrike and its evolved form, Manectric, by extension. It is worth mentioning that even the official police K-9s of Zidian City were Electrike and Manectric. As for Growlithe and Arcanine, well, they could only rank second.

"You have to become a magnificent Manectric like that too, okay?"

Xiao Yu stroked her Electrike's head.

And the Electrike, leaning on the railing, looked at the majestic Manectric on the stage, its eyes full of admiration.

However, the next Pokémon made the audience even more expectant.

Míng Rìzhào gently tossed the Poké Ball in her right hand and then caught it steadily.

She threw it with force.

"Come out, Riolu!"

A blue-and-black figure streaked out at high speed.

"Wow! He's out!"

Amidst the cheers of the audience, that Riolu with slender limbs and an agile posture made a dashing appearance!

He stood majestically on the stage, a black belt wrapped around his waist, the entire Pokémon looking extremely spirited.

On the light screen before him, the opponent's information was displayed.

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[Pokédex]

Encounter Progress: 86/100

Battle Progress: 50/100

[Real-time Analysis]

Pokémon: Leader - Manectric (Male)

Level: lv29

Type: Electric

Trainer: Wattson

Ability: Static (When a Pokémon with this ability is hit by an opponent's direct attack, it may sometimes paralyze the opponent)

Dominion: Manectric Clan (When Manectric and Electrike are present, their movement speed and the casting speed of their Electric-type moves increase)

Moves: Shock Wave (lv3), Thunder Wave (lv3), Fire Fang (lv3), Thunder Fang (lv3), Thunderbolt (lv2), Quick Attack (lv2), Substitute (lv1), Leer (lv1), Howl (lv1)

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A Leader-level title!

Since leaving Newmoon Forest, Rio had never seen a Leader-level title. He didn't expect to see those familiar words again in such a setting.

But thinking about it, it made sense. In Zidian City, Electrike and Manectric made up a large portion of the Electric-type Pokémon. And as the Pokémon of the Gym Leader, Wattson's Manectric was bound to have its unique aspects. Leaving aside other things, just looking at that long list of moves and their corresponding levels, one knew that the Manectric before them was truly worthy of the Leader title.

However, compared to the moves, Rio was more concerned about two other points.

"Xiao Zhao, there are two things to be careful of with Manectric. The first is its ability is Static. If I continuously engage it in close combat, there's a high probability I'll be paralyzed by the electric current on its body. Secondly, it has a special ability that enhances the casting speed of its moves. Electric-type Pokémon are already very fast to begin with. With a further enhancement, I estimate I might not be able to keep up with its movements."

Rio's explanation came through their telepathic link.

Míng Rìzhào understood. She looked at the electric sparks continuously popping off Manectric's body, and the tingling, numbing feeling that filled the air, and had already vaguely guessed as much.

Combining this with the information Rio provided, an idea formed in her mind.

Both Pokémon were on the stage. At this moment, the gym's loudspeaker blared.

"Let the battle... begin!"

Wattson issued the first command.

"Manectric, [Howl]!"

Manectric on the stage lowered its body slightly and howled loudly: "Awoooo!"

As the loud howl echoed throughout the gym, a red light simultaneously emanated from Manectric's body.

[Howl], a status-type Normal move. By howling loudly to boost morale, it allows one's own attacks to have more overwhelming pressure, increasing their power.

"Be careful. It looks like the opponent wants to use close-combat attacks."

Míng Rìzhào gave a short reminder.

After all, [Howl] only boosted the power of physical attacks. But it was just right, as most of the skills Manectric had learned were mainly physical attacks.

Applying a buff before the battle was a standard opening move.

So, Míng Rìzhào and Rio's side did the same.

"Rio, [Agility]."

Rio let out a breath, letting his body become lighter.

It should be known how difficult it was for a Fighting-type Pokémon to learn a support move. Previously, when Míng Rìzhào and Rio battled other trainers, whenever they saw the opposing Pokémon use one support move after another to buff themselves, while they could only stare blankly as the opponent finished buffing, the envy was palpable.

Although Rio often used his speed advantage to interrupt the opponent's buffs, not all support skills required a certain amount of time. Some support skills completed their buff in an instant, and Rio could only call it helpless.

But the [Agility] he had inadvertently comprehended during the motorcycle duel made Míng Rìzhào and Rio grin from ear to ear. Moreover, it was a buff for speed and evasion, perfectly fitting Rio's combat style.

Compared to the phenomenon of red light flashing on Manectric's body after [Howl], Rio's [Agility] was a much more silent change.

However, all the spectators in the venue had stopped their clamor and held their breath, seemingly anticipating the imminent clash.

"[Quick Attack]!"

Míng Rìzhào and Wattson chose the same move in unison!

"Swoosh," "Swoosh."

The sound of air being torn apart rang out. In an instant, two white lights flashed on the stage.

Both were [Quick Attack], but they appeared as different scenes on different Pokémon.

Manectric's [Quick Attack], perhaps because [Howl] had raised its excitement level, the [Quick Attack] it used at this moment, true to its name, was like a flash of lightning, charging forward with ferocious momentum.

And Rio's [Quick Attack] was a graceful charge. His body, made light by [Agility], dragged a white light as it attacked at high speed.

Both Pokémon stared intently at their opponent.

White light versus white light, it seemed they were about to collide fiercely in the next moment.

Suddenly.

"I'm not stupid enough to clash with you directly. After all, with the Static ability, it's very easy for a close-range Pokémon to get paralyzed," a hint of cunning flashed in Rio's eyes. "That would be troublesome."

The graceful white light suddenly faltered.

Manectric didn't have so many thoughts; its charging momentum did not decrease in the slightest.

The moment they were about to make contact.

Rio took a step,巧之又巧 (cleverly and coincidentally) stepping to Manectric's side. Then, using his planted foot as an axis, he made an extremely fast side turn, forcefully clearing the path forward.

"Swoosh," the straight-charging Manectric thus rushed past Rio's side.

Sudden stop, brake, turn, drift—this move was tried and true in Rio's battles. He used his keen observation and powerful body control to, during this high-speed advance, forcefully turn sideways, causing the opponent to be caught off guard as he circled to their side or back, and then he could use other moves to continue the pursuit.

Of course, this action of forcefully changing direction at high speed would also make him feel uncomfortable, but with the guarantee of his powerful physical fitness, this discomfort could also be quickly overcome.

Speaking of which, the number of times Rio had truly used [Quick Attack] to deal damage was truly few and far between. This move was often used by him to complete this kind of high-speed advance as an acceleration skill. It was truly a bit of an injustice to [Quick Attack].

At this time, Rio, having already let Manectric's charge pass, looked at his opponent's back and raised his hands.

"[Aura Sphere]!"

Azure blue Aura rotated and condensed in the palms of Rio's hands, then erupted forth.

Manectric, having disengaged from its [Quick Attack] move, also quickly turned around. Facing the whistling Aura energy projectile, it tentatively tried to dodge to the left.

However, as Manectric moved slightly to the left, the Aura Sphere also swayed in the direction it moved.

"It's useless. My [Aura Sphere] has already locked onto your Aura. The next attack is a guaranteed hit!"

Rio said with full confidence.

"Awoof, awoof? (Pokémon Language) Then what should I do?"

Manectric let out a few low growls, then looked at its trainer.

Wattson laughed heartily.

"A sure-hit move? We have one too!"

"Manectric, use [Shock Wave]."

Manectric let out a howl, and the Electric-type energy on its body flowed even more actively. In the space of a single breath, it had already finished charging.

"Bzzzt," an extremely fast bolt of lightning snaked towards the Aura Sphere.

The speed at which this move was executed surprised both Míng Rìzhào and Rio.

"Is this the special ability of a Leader-level Pokémon that Rio mentioned?" Míng Rìzhào pondered, then quickly glanced around. "With so many Electrike in the audience, it's no wonder Manectric's special ability can be activated."

A long time ago, Rio had already told Míng Rìzhào that his ability to see the opponent's Pokémon information was a special ability of Riolu. After all, since he was the only Riolu left in the world, and there wasn't much information about this species in historical records, the world didn't have a deep understanding of this Pokémon. So Rio had shamelessly twisted his Pokémon species' setting, explaining all those abilities belonging to his system as Riolu's innate talents. Because it was always a bad idea to tell others the truth about him possessing a system.

And Míng Rìzhào wasn't suspicious. After all, in this Pokémon world, there were simply too many Pokémon and humans with special abilities. Leaving aside those great powers that could travel through time and distort space, even she herself could understand the words of Pokémon and communicate with them. And this ability to check a Pokémon's strength and special talents—even the Pokédex could do it. So, a Pokémon with an ability similar to a Pokédex didn't seem that strange.

However, this Pokémon of hers had a few too many special abilities. It had an extra-dimensional backpack (Rio said this was his ability to manipulate space to store objects), it could check the opponent's strength (Rio said this was his ability to inspect other Pokémon with Aura), and it could even pull out some strange gadgets from time to time (Rio said this was, uh, well, um, anyway, an ability he had without knowing how to explain it). Could one Pokémon really have so many strange abilities?

Míng Rìzhào decided that after the battle was over, she would go to some libraries with complete information to do some research. As a trainer, how could she not be familiar with her own Pokémon?

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