"The battle is about to begin."
Seeing the scene on the field, everyone in the monitoring room showed serious expressions.
"Reggiistll!"
After walking out of the iron door, Registeel immediately sensed the unpleasant aura surrounding it and let out a roar.
Very soon, it fixed its gaze on Blaziken, who was the one giving off that energy it found so irritating.
"Let's battle, Registeel!"
"Blaziken, use Flamethrower with all your strength!"
With his gaze fixed on Registeel, Lucas issued his challenge.
Blaziken responded with a low roar and opened its mouth, firing a blazing stream of flames.
"Reeggiissttll!"
Provoked by the challenge, Registeel made a gesture with both hands in front of itself.
Terrifying Steel-type energy condensed and transformed into a white ray that shot out.
Boom!
In midair, both attacks collided violently.
Blaziken was already very strong by itself.
And, moreover, at that moment it was inside a volcanic Secret Kingdom, where the power of the Flamethrower move was pushed to the limit.
On the other hand, the power of Registeel's Steel-type moves had been weakened, so when the two attacks collided in the air, they became locked in a stalemate.
"Even under these conditions, it's still evenly matched?"
"As expected of the legendary steel pillar. Even freshly awakened, its power is still terrifying!"
Seeing that, everyone in the monitoring room felt a deep tremor.
Originally, they had thought that under these circumstances, Blaziken should be able to suppress Registeel.
But that Registeel's strength turned out to be unexpectedly high; if it managed to recover to its complete state, its power would be absolutely terrifying!
"Do not worry. Blaziken can handle this Registeel."
The head of the Silver family, who was also watching the battle, showed almost no change in expression.
To guarantee absolute success, they had made exhaustive preparations this time.
Even if long-range fire could not crush it, Blaziken still possessed an extremely powerful close-combat ability.
"Blaziken, use Fire Punch!"
At the same time, Lucas gave the order from the field.
Fighting-type energy could be seen gathering in Blaziken's hands, forming a vortex.
Within the vortex, flames spun and condensed into a large fireball that wrapped around Blaziken's fist, while it charged directly toward Registeel.
Seeing this, Registeel roared and also tried to run toward Blaziken.
But as it took its first step, it suddenly felt an attractive force holding its feet, making movement extremely difficult.
Registeel did not even have time to think before it already felt a scorching wave sweep across its body, making it tremble all over.
Blaziken had already pounced on it, and its fist wrapped in flames and Fighting-type energy struck violently.
Boom!
A brutal roar echoed across the field, and Registeel received enormous damage.
"We did it, Registeel is being suppressed!"
In front of the screens, everyone watched as Blaziken, thanks to its Speed Boost ability, continued increasing its speed.
Once Registeel was restricted by Meltan's Magnet Pull ability, it was completely unable to respond to Blaziken's full-speed attacks.
In addition, by continuing to attack with a combination of Fire-type and Fighting-type moves, Blaziken's fists left one wound after another on Registeel's body.
Judging from the state of the battle, Registeel's defeat was only a matter of time.
Nevertheless, that Registeel's endurance was still truly terrifying; even against attacks that countered it, it managed to hold on for a very long time.
Boom!
Accompanied by another great roar,
Registeel finally ended up falling under Blaziken's fists.
"Go, Poké Ball."
Lucas suppressed the emotion flooding him and took out a high-end Poké Ball.
Tracing an arc through the air, the Poké Ball struck Registeel's body.
Light flashed, and Registeel's body was absorbed into the Poké Ball, which began to shake gently on the ground.
Bang!
Suddenly, the Poké Ball opened.
Registeel reappeared on the field.
Whoosh, whoosh...
Although it had not been captured, judging from its state, it seemed to have very little energy left.
"Registeel, become my partner!"
Lucas took a small step forward, while Blaziken remained in front of him, its entire body wrapped in flames.
Boom!
The instant he finished speaking, Blaziken once again charged forward covered in fire.
The flames transformed into a kind of furious dragon that swallowed Registeel and hurled it brutally into the air.
This time, Registeel no longer got up, and it was successfully absorbed by the Poké Ball Lucas threw.
The Poké Ball rocked slightly on the ground a few times and, finally, with a soft click, the red light went out, signaling that Lucas had successfully captured Registeel.
"We did it."
The head of the Silver family finally revealed a smile.
"Phew... another Divine Envoy, huh? Looks like from now on, I have one more rival."
Ethan inhaled deeply. Once Lucas obtained Registeel's recognition, he would become another formidable enemy.
...
Half a day later.
Ethan and the two professors left the Silver family residence.
Now that the deal had concluded, they had no reason to remain there.
In addition, since Registeel had just been captured, the Silver family had immediately entered a state of maximum alert.
It was evident that, for a time, all their attention would be focused on getting Registeel to recognize Lucas.
Once that happened, combined with the immense amount of resources the Silver family could pour into him, the family would obtain a new Elite-level combat power!
"What a pity we couldn't research Registeel."
On the way back, Professor Reynolds clicked her tongue, clearly disappointed.
A Steel-type legendary... She still had not even been able to study a single Legendary Pokémon in person, much less one that matched her field of specialization exactly.
"There is nothing to regret. You saw that iron door that sealed Registeel. I am one hundred percent certain that the stone door in Sandslash's Secret Kingdom seals Regirock."
"Now we more or less know the principle by which the Silver family opened the iron door. When we return, we can start planning how to open the stone door."
Professor Harris was also quite excited. Regirock was still a Legendary Pokémon... and one that, moreover, was practically in their own hands!
"It seems we gained quite a lot this time."
Ethan also smiled, while glancing sideways at Meltan beside him.
Although Professor Reynolds could not research Registeel, she could still research Meltan.
Both were Steel-type legendaries and, moreover, Meltan, as the Mythical Pokémon creator of steel, even had more prestige than Registeel.
...
In the middle of their conversation, Ethan and the two professors returned to the provisional laboratory.
In the laboratory's backyard, where they raised Pokémon, his parents were currently taking care of a group of Grass-type younglings.
Those little Grass-type Pokémon were precisely the ones Ethan had exchanged for with the Holt family, and all of them mastered the Grassy Terrain move.
When they learned that all those Pokémon belonged to Ethan, his parents volunteered to take care of them.
Especially his mother, perhaps because of her natural skill at cultivating flowers and plants, awakened an unexpected closeness in those Grass-type Pokémon, which made her very happy.
"It seems that later on, I'll be able to leave these Pokémon in Mom's care."
Seeing that scene, Ethan stroked his chin, feeling that it was a very good idea.
He knew that his mother had a true talent for raising, and moreover, those Grass-type Pokémon had been captured precisely for the purpose of helping cultivate flowers and vegetation.
(End of chapter)