Chapter 139: Devon Corporation
"Aerodactyl, Roar!" Roxanne immediately came up with the best solution: force a switch. After a Pokémon is switched out, any stat changes in battle will return to their original state.
Ryan was helpless. Roxanne thought this was the best solution, but she didn't notice what Ryan had said earlier: Altaria had only recently been trained and was his weakest Pokémon. Even Feebas was capable of defeating Altaria, let alone his other Pokémon.
The Roar successfully drove Altaria back, but the next Pokémon to appear was Togekiss. Ruby and the others watched Togekiss enter the field and immediately mourned for Roxanne. It was for no other reason than Togekiss's incredible luck—it was simply too unfair!
"Togekiss, Air Slash!" Ryan simply wanted Roxanne to understand Togekiss's fearsome power!
A disc-like blade of compressed air lashed out at Aerodactyl. Roxanne frowned and ordered Iron Head to counter Togekiss. Logically, using Steel-type attacks against Flying-type attacks is advantageous, and Steel-type attacks also counter Togekiss's Fairy-type.
However, Roxanne forgot one crucial thing: Air Slash has a chance to cause a Pokémon to flinch!
The chance wasn't high, but Togekiss's luck was incredible. Ryan had never seen Togekiss fail to trigger flinching.
Even Ryan's main team had to use their full power to block Air Slashes and prevent the flinching effect in order to defeat Togekiss. As for Roxanne's Aerodactyl? Let's mourn for it.
As the disc-like air blades struck Aerodactyl, Roxanne realized something was wrong: why was each strike causing it to flinch?
The flinched Aerodactyl was unable to fight back and was left vulnerable to Togekiss's repeated Air Slashes.
Roxanne retrieved the incapacitated Aerodactyl. This was a heavy blow to her. After all, Aerodactyl was her ace, but being gradually overwhelmed without being able to fight back was truly agonizing!
"Cradily, please," Roxanne sent out her last Pokémon.
"Aura Sphere." Ryan decided not to bully Roxanne; a single strike would suffice.
"Ingrain," Roxanne commanded.
The Aura Sphere struck Cradily at breakneck speed, but Cradily dug its roots into the rocky ground, absorbing nutrients to restore itself. It took a deep breath and withstood Togekiss's Aura Sphere.
"Keep charging," Roxanne said.
"Scatter the Aura Spheres!" Ryan declared.
Cradily took two quick breaths, reaching maximum power. Simultaneously, Togekiss flapped its wings, launching countless smaller Aura Spheres toward Cradily.
"Energy Ball!" Roxanne exclaimed.
"Extreme Speed! Aura Sphere!" Ryan called out.
Togekiss tried to dodge with Extreme Speed, but Cradily's Energy Ball was too fast, clearly the product of specialized training. Reluctantly, Togekiss abandoned Extreme Speed and instead condensed a massive Aura Sphere, launching it at Cradily.
The two attacks collided, and two massive explosions echoed through the arena. Both Togekiss and Cradily were blasted back, simultaneously knocked out.
"Cradily and Togekiss are both unable to battle, so the winner is Ryan from Pallet Town!"
With the referee's wave of the flag, the match concluded.
Ryan recalled Togekiss, walked over, shook Roxanne's hand, and said, "You're the first person to defeat Togekiss."
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment," Roxanne said helplessly. "And thank you for not using Air Slash again; that's a terrible move to face."
"Then you haven't seen its Metronome technique," Ryan said with a grin.
Roxanne imagined the scene and shuddered with fear. She forced the terrifying image out of her mind and quickly handed the Stone Badge to Ryan.
"By the way, Gym Leader Roxanne, you mentioned that your Aerodactyl was revived from a fossil. Can you tell me where it was revived?" Ruby asked, approaching. "I have a Claw Fossil that I'd like to revive."
"Then you should go to Devon Corporation," Roxanne said. "They have a whole fleet of fossil resurrection machines. You could ask them to help you revive it."
Ruby nodded and said, "Thank you. I'll check it out."
Ryan rubbed his chin and said, "Count me in. I have a lot of fossils to revive, so let's go together."
Under Roxanne's guidance, Ryan and his group followed the electronic map and arrived at Devon Corporation, the largest building in Rustboro City.
After explaining their purpose to the security guard, Ryan and his group were led to a nearby lounge to rest. After a while, a middle-aged man in a purple-striped suit pushed open the door. He looked at Ryan and his group and asked, "Who said they wanted to restore fossils into Pokémon?"
"That's me, Ryan from Pallet Town. And this is Ruby from Littleroot Town. We both have fossils and hope to use your company's Fossil Resurrection Machine to revive Pokémon," Ryan said, standing up.
"Oh, you're Ryan from Pallet Town. I've heard of you. Your breeding center is quite famous," the middle-aged man said.
"I know you too. You're President Stone, right?" Ryan said respectfully. "Your son, Steven. I've had the honor of receiving his guidance."
"Oh, you're an acquaintance of Steven's," President Stone said with a smile. "Since you're an acquaintance, let me explain. This Fossil Resurrection Machine was invented by our company, but it's not fully mature yet. There's a chance it will damage the fossils and prevent Pokémon from being revived. Be prepared."
"It's okay, no problem. I have a large number of fossils here. I wonder if President Stone has enough equipment to revive them all," Ryan said.
"Well, that should be sufficient," said President Stone.
"So what about payment?" Ryan asked.
"As for money, I don't need it," President Stone said. "Since you have a sufficient supply of fossils, I hope you can share some with our company and give us one or two Pokémon for display. In return, we'll promote your breeding center. How does that sound?"
Ryan pondered for a moment. His business was the breeding center, while Devon Corporation focused on technology and machinery. They wouldn't interfere with each other and could benefit mutually.
"Deal," Ryan said.
Afterward, Ryan and his companions were taken to the research center behind the company. Looking at the rows of fossil resurrection machines, Ryan's heart surged with excitement. He had anticipated this situation from the beginning, so he had put all the fossils he'd obtained into his backpack—a total of eighty-two, plus Ruby's one, for a total of eighty-three.
Ryan gave President Stone ten fossils, and the rest were prepared for fossil resurrection.
His own breeding center happened to be lacking fossil Pokémon. With the publicity of a breeding center with fossil Pokémon, Ryan was certain his business would soar to new heights.
The researchers placed the fossils into the machines, and after a series of complex operations, they simply needed to press the start button to begin cultivation.
At this point, Ryan stopped the researchers as they were about to press the switch. Then, Togekiss and another Togekiss appeared. Ryan didn't trust random luck; he left this kind of luck-based process to his Togekiss!
(End of Chapter)
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