Such a large commotion immediately drew the attention of Ace's Pokémon.
Upon reaching Ace's side and seeing the scene before them, all the Pokémon understood what was happening. They all showed envious looks, while their eyes, fixed on Ace, were filled with demands.
"Don't worry, you won't be left out."
Ace chuckled, then raised both hands and said, "Ninetales, Victreebel, step forward."
Ninetales and Victreebel paused for a moment, then their eyes betrayed a hint of ecstasy. Under the envious gazes of the other Pokémon, they approached Ace.
A flame and a piece of emerald green grass soon appeared above Ace's raised hands.
Victreebel immediately stepped up, opened their mouths, and swallowed their respective energy sources.
Gardevoir appeared beside the two of them, taking one by each hand, and immediately used Teleport to bring Ninetales and Victreebel to a slightly farther location.
Immediately after, in Ace's line of sight, a pillar of fire, whose momentum was in no way inferior to the tornado on the left, shot into the sky. The area to the right of the tornado, however, was extremely calm; only the weeds on the ground began to grow rapidly, quickly forming a large patch of tall grass.
Ace and his Pokémon stood there, silently waiting—waiting for their comrades and family, waiting for their safe return.
Time slowly flowed. After Ace and the others had waited for a full four hours, the first one to finish absorbing the energy turned out not to be Aerodactyl, who had started ahead, but Victreebel, who had created the smallest fuss.
Seeing Victreebel skip back, Ace was utterly baffled.
Did it fail?
Just as Ace thought Victreebel had failed to absorb the energy, Victreebel suddenly and mysteriously vanished from the spot. The next moment, Victreebel appeared right next to Ace.
"What's going on? Teleport?"
Ace stared in astonishment and immediately checked Victreebel's status panel.
Pokémon: Victreebel
Gender: Female
Level: 88
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Modest
Talent: Excellent
Exclusive Move: Plant Affinity
Egg Move: Synthesis
Moves: Acid, Vine Whip, Energy Ball, Leaf Storm...
Fold...
"Plant Affinity: The power of Victreebel's Grass-type moves is increased. It can use plants for combat, movement, communication, surveillance, and more."
Ace opened his mouth, his face full of shock.
It must be known that while Victreebel's attack speed was extremely fast, its movement speed had always been its weakness.
But the newly awakened exclusive move could be said to have perfectly compensated for this shortcoming.
Victreebel's sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance beside Ace clearly indicated that it had used plants for movement.
However, this exclusive move also had a flaw: if Victreebel wanted to ensure its movement speed, there absolutely needed to be plants present in the surrounding area.
Once it reached a barren place, this exclusive move of Victreebel would effectively be sealed.
Just as Ace was contemplating Victreebel's future training regimen, the distant tornado and the flames simultaneously dissipated.
Aerodactyl landed next to Ace with a light gust of wind, and Ninetales walked over with an elegant yet brisk pace.
Ace scanned them with a glance and, as expected, both Aerodactyl and Ninetales had succeeded as well.
Aerodactyl's exclusive move was Wing of the Storm, and Ninetales' exclusive move was Burning Flame.
"Wing of the Storm: Aerodactyl can manipulate air currents for single-target or area-of-effect attacks on enemies. By leveraging air currents, Aerodactyl's flying speed can be greatly increased."
"Burning Flame: Ninetales' flames possess combustibility. Every attack is guaranteed to inflict a burn on the opponent. As long as the will does not cease, the burning will not stop."
Powerful!
Extremely powerful!
Ace nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the exclusive moves mastered by the three Pokémon.
With a little more training, Victreebel would surely become the king of the forest. Unless all plants were destroyed, defeating Victreebel in a forest would be virtually impossible.
Aerodactyl, on the other hand, was truly transformed into the king of the skies. Its control over air currents, setting aside other factors, almost completely outclassed Rayquaza's ability.
Especially in terms of flying speed, if Aerodactyl claimed the second spot, no other Pokémon would dare to claim the first!
As for Ninetales, there was no need to elaborate. While its power wasn't as flashy as that of the other Pokémon that absorbed the energy, the single effect of "As long as the will does not cease, the burning will not stop" elevated Ninetales' offensive power to an incredibly terrifying level.
Among the current Four Artillery Squad members, excluding Genesect, whose status was still uncertain, Ninetales' firepower was second to none!
...
Not long after the three Pokémon finished absorbing the energy, Ace received a call from Crystal, asking him to come to Pallet Town.
Ace didn't overthink it. After taking a few of his Pokémon, he hurried to the research lab in Pallet Town under Aerodactyl's guidance.
Inside the former Professor Oak's Laboratory, Ace met Crystal.
Since Professor Oak's retirement, Crystal had taken over his position.
Furthermore, since Crystal was the Capture Specialist, almost every Pokémon from Kanto to the Hoenn region, excluding the Legendary Pokémon, could be tracked down within the lab.
When Crystal saw Ace arrive, she dispensed with excessive pleasantries and directly said, "Ace, we need your help."
Ace frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "What happened?"
Crystal explained the situation to Ace with a worried expression. Ace listened silently to Crystal's words, his brows furrowed tightly.
Based on Crystal's account, Ace grasped the general situation.
Blue and the others had joined the League, and with the help of the League's intelligence system, Blue successfully located her parents.
Undoubtedly, Blue went off to find her parents, but in the process, she unexpectedly discovered signs of Team Rocket.
The two sides then clashed, and now both Red and Green had been dragged into the fray, leading League members to rescue Blue.
However, according to the feedback received, the two sides were currently evenly matched, and they were unable to deal with Team Rocket.
Therefore, a worried Crystal came to Ace, hoping he could intervene and help them out.
Ace remained silent for a moment, but his mind was frantically calling upon the System.
From Crystal's words, it was clear that they had entered a story arc, but in Ace's memory, this arc was clearly supposed to begin about half a year later.
Its premature start was likely due to the series of problems caused by Ace's disruption of the original storyline.
But what puzzled Ace the most was that the main quest had not been updated since his trip to Hoenn, and even now that the story arc had begun, the main quest still hadn't updated.
[Side Quest (Annihilation): Defeat the Neo Team Rocket and completely annihilate Team Rocket. Reward: 50,000 Gold Coins, plus Quest Points based on mission evaluation.]
Ace: ???
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