"I see. During Anorith's time living in the sea, its eight legs degenerated into eight wings. It uses its wings like oars to paddle through water at considerable speed."
Sieg silently read the information, thinking to himself, no wonder it had the Swift Swim hidden ability.
So it originally lived in the sea during ancient times.
Of course, modern Anorith possessed Rock/Bug typing. Apparently, current water quality differs from ancient times, causing them to become terrestrial creatures and thus lose their Water-type.
However, the above were merely researchers' speculations without definitive proof, after all, these were Pokémon from a hundred million years ago.
Simultaneously, looking at the luxurious egg move list on Anorith's data, Sieg couldn't help but sigh at Steven's incredible luck.
Because this Anorith not only possessed extremely superior stats across the board, outstanding even among its peers, but had also inherited a full four moves.
Rapid Spin, Iron Defense, Cross Poison, and Aqua Jet.
"Sieg, want to have a battle with my Anorith?" Steven suddenly proposed, his eyes flickering with heated battle spirit.
"Hm? Sure, I'll train my newly hatched Pokémon as well." Sieg paused momentarily before smiling in agreement.
After all, opportunities to battle a future Champion were rare, and he'd never fought an ancient fossil Pokémon at close range before.
"Sieg, be careful. Cousin Steven is very strong," Luna whispered as she leaned closer.
"Oh, you've battled him?"
Facing Sieg's question, Luna nodded gravely: "Once. All three of my Pokémon together couldn't defeat his Metang. Our Pokémon levels were similar too, I was completely outmatched in trainer commands and Pokémon training."
Mentioning that humiliating battle, Luna looked dejected.
Born into wealth, whenever she found opponents to battle, they would most likely go easy on her.
When she battled unfamiliar trainers, her carefully raised Pokémon would quickly demolish these opponents.
That battle with Steven had dealt her quite a blow. She'd only gradually recovered under her parents' comfort.
"Don't worry, I'm not dueling his main team anyway. It's just an ordinary Pokémon sparring match." Sieg patted Luna's head confidently.
He turned and walked toward the battle field, not seeing Luna's flushed cheeks and shy expression behind him.
"Ahhh~ Sieg patted my head."
The battle location both sides chose was the center of the lawn, no special environment, just the simplest field.
Various servants regularly cleaned and maintained it, so it was immediately usable.
"Go, Anorith."
"Sandile, prepare for battle."
The Pokémon both sides deployed weren't high level, around ten or so each.
However, Sieg still didn't dare underestimate his opponent, because Anorith's Bug-type countered Sandile's Dark-type, already placing him at a type disadvantage.
Fortunately, at Anorith's current level, it couldn't learn any high-power Bug-type moves, at most just Fury Cutter and String Shot.
"Sieg, is this the one you captured in Route 117's desert?" Steven asked curiously.
After all, when they'd previously met, Sieg's team hadn't included Sandile. Considering Sandile's unique habitat of living exclusively in sandy areas...
This thought instantly surfaced in Steven's mind.
Sieg didn't hide anything, speaking quite frankly: "Yeah, perhaps it was my luck. I encountered Sandile just hours before leaving the desert."
Steven's eyes flashed with a hint of envy. After all, when he'd been selecting Pokémon, Sandile had been within consideration.
"But my Anorith isn't bad either, one of a kind in the world!" Steven's lips curved upward, his mood clearly excellent.
After both sides prepared themselves, the match quickly began.
"Anorith, Water Gun."
"Sandile, block it with Sand Tomb while counterattacking!"
Anorith directly sprayed Water Gun from its mouth. Though lacking Water-type, it used the technique quite skillfully, seemingly a method retained from ancient times.
After all, they were suspected to be Water-type back then.
Sandile had consumed talent enhancement potions with rare ground minerals as the main ingredient. Its Ground-type aptitude had already reached an incredible level.
Its comprehension of Ground-type techniques improved visibly day by day.
A vortex-like sand pit quickly appeared ahead, followed by countless flying sands surging across the field.
First condensing into a sand wall that blocked the Water Gun attack, then overwhelming yellow sands assaulted Anorith.
"Anorith, fly up quickly!"
Anorith's eight wings, degenerated from eight legs, could barely sustain flight. It quite easily dodged Sand Tomb.
However, this played perfectly into Sieg's plans. Airborne opponents were often the hardest to evade attacks.
"Sandile, use Rock Tomb."
Sandile had learned this move through a TM. Though ity learned it only days ago, it could still execute it stably.
Sandile's claws struck the ground forcefully, then its tail continuously slapped the earth, launching rocks toward the sky.
Airborne Anorith was instantly struck by countless small rocks. While the damage wasn't lethal, its wings suffered slight damage, forcing it to descend unwillingly.
"Anorith, Fury Cutter."
Steven frowned slightly but still commanded calmly.
He'd discovered a disadvantage of ancient Pokémon, no previous trainer experience to reference. He could only personally explore this Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses to devise specialized development and tactics.
"Sandile, don't be afraid. Use Bite for a direct clash." Sieg naturally didn't fear close combat.
After all, having fought constantly since birth, Sandile's combat awareness was incredibly high, it definitely wouldn't lose to a Pokémon that had slept in fossils for years.
Sure enough, once both Pokémon made contact, they began exchanging techniques. Sandile roared wildly with its massive jaws, leaving wound after wound on Anorith's body.
Anorith could only take advantage of getting hit, trading damage to use Fury Cutter, scraping shallow marks on Sandile's back scales.
"Sandile, use Torment."
Taking advantage of Anorith's breathing pause, Sieg directly used Torment. This move prevented opponents from using the same technique consecutively.
In other words, Fury Cutter was directly sealed. After all, it was a super-effective Bug-type move, Sieg couldn't be too cautious.
"Anorith, Aqua Jet!"
At Steven's command, Anorith endured the bite wounds covering its body and used Aqua Jet.
Its body wrapped in rushing water, then shot toward Sandile like a bullet.
Sieg's expression remained unchanged, knowing this battle's outcome was likely already decided.
"Sandile, use Protect."
As Sandile quite easily blocked the attack, Steven immediately waved his hands repeatedly, calling out his surrender.
"Stop, stop, stop! I concede!"