Chapter 378: Dawn vs. Akari! Let Your Mother Show You How It's Done!
They were back beneath the towering tree, the group sitting on a picnic blanket.
"So Arceus sent you to Hisui for a trial, Akari?"
Serena looked at Akari in amazement.
"Yep! That day, you and the others even threw me a coming-of-age party, Auntie Serena~"
Akari's pretty, innocent face lit up with a lovely smile, her big eyes curving into crescent moons.
Auntie Serena...
Serena's face did something strange. Akari was clearly the same age as her, which made being called "Auntie" all the weirder.
But going by generations, Akari really did have to call her Auntie...
So Serena pushed down the weirdness and turned her mind to something else.
Namely: Arceus had personally sent Akari to Hisui to train and adventure!
Serena had heard Platinum talk about Sinnoh's mythology. Arceus was the god of creation!
It thinks that highly of Akari?!
Caitlin's delicate brows were slightly knit as well, and she was studying Akari with a discreet gaze. She'd arrived at the same point as Serena.
Caitlin was very, very intelligent, after all.
And she'd thought of something else, too. Back then, Dialga had left its orb with Mammon and told him to give it to the daughter who would one day be born to him.
Could that daughter be Akari?!
Caitlin thought it was extremely likely. The fact that Arceus valued Akari showed just how special and extraordinary she was.
Honestly, Caitlin felt a sudden sense of danger!
She wasn't worried about Platinum herself. Even with Akari as a daughter, Caitlin wasn't especially concerned.
Status through her daughter? As if nobody else can have children.
Caitlin was perfectly healthy. She was confident she'd have Mammon's children someday too, so the advantage of having a child didn't matter much in her eyes.
And besides, she was stronger than Dawn.
But all of that applied under normal circumstances. If the child turned out to be an exceptionally gifted monster, that was no longer a normal circumstance.
And Akari, right now, was clearly not normal!
When it came down to it, she'd overlooked one thing. Akari being able to travel back to Hisui, and meeting Mammon in that past era, was proof in itself of how extraordinary she was.
A shadow flickered across Caitlin's eyes. The air around her cooled by a degree. This could be trouble!
Today her mood had swung up and down over and over, and her thoughts still wouldn't settle.
"Akari, what's Hisui like?" Platinum asked curiously.
Hisui was the old name for the Sinnoh region, after all.
"Hmm~ Mostly it's the difference in environment and technology. The environment in Hisui is pretty different from now, so there are a lot of Pokémon unique to Hisui."
Akari tapped her chin as she thought.
"Hisuian forms?" Serena was intrigued.
For trainers like them, Pokémon were a topic that never got old.
When it came to region-specific Pokémon, there were Alolan forms, Galarian forms, Paldean forms, and so on.
Plenty of Pokémon in the modern regions already had regional form differences, all caused by differences in environment.
So Serena easily understood what Akari meant by "Pokémon unique to Hisui."
"Yep. Like Ursaring's evolution, Ursaluna, or Hisuian Zoroark, stuff like that. There are quite a few."
Akari nodded.
Ursaring can evolve?
Platinum and Serena were both pretty surprised. Ursaring was already one of the stronger Normal-types. An evolution of it was something else entirely.
"I actually caught quite a few Hisuian-form Pokémon on this trip. I've already uploaded basically all the data to the app, so later on you can redeem them with your own merit points," Mammon said with a smile.
Platinum immediately took out her phone and skimmed through it. Sure enough, there were some new Pokémon on the list.
"You're a trainer now too, right, Akari?"
Platinum asked her daughter.
She was pretty interested in Hisuian Pokémon, and Akari must have caught some Hisui-exclusive ones.
Of course, the most important thing was that Platinum really wanted to see how strong Akari was now.
And give her daughter a few pointers while she was at it.
"Yep, Mommy. I'm really strong now, you know."
Akari gave a big smile, her crescent-moon eyes adorable.
"Then let Mommy test your level. Let's have a battle."
Platinum smiled gently at Akari.
"Sure!"
Akari agreed on the spot. She couldn't have asked for anything better.
Battling her mom and showing her how strong she'd become as a trainer: Akari was very motivated.
It was also the perfect chance to see how strong her mom was right now. Akari was very confident in herself.
"Seriously? You two are going to battle?"
Serena was pretty surprised. A trainer battle between mother and daughter? Now this was interesting.
"A battle worth looking forward to," Caitlin said with a soft smile. It was the perfect chance to learn more about Akari.
She had a feeling Akari might be very strong!
Apart from Mammon and Akari, Caitlin was the one present who knew the most about Arceus's existence.
Just how special was Akari, for Arceus to treat her specially and even arrange a trial for her?
This battle might offer a glimpse!
"Yep. Let's see what Akari can do now."
Platinum smiled. She didn't believe she'd lose to Akari.
By Akari's own account, she'd only been in Hisui for about four months.
A trainer who'd only been growing for four months? Of course Platinum didn't think she could lose.
She was Platinum Berlitz, the most talented trainer the Berlitz family had produced in two hundred years!
Even in Team Rocket, where the best of the best gathered, she was among the very top trainers of her age.
Platinum had gone into this battle intending to teach.
Mammon raised an eyebrow and gave Platinum a slightly odd look.
Since they'd decided to battle, they didn't stay seated. They found a clearing nearby.
"Then I'll be the referee." Serena volunteered.
"This battle will now begin. The competitors are Dawn and Akari."
"This will be a full six-on-six battle. When all six of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle, the other side wins."
"Begin!"
Serena announced the rules briefly. This wasn't an official stadium match, after all.
Just a bit of formality.
"Heyyy~ Finally, a proper modern full battle!"
Akari took out a Poké Ball. Her fair face lit up with excitement, her eyes full of eagerness.
It was plain to see that Akari was burning to fight.
Hisui was ancient Sinnoh, after all. Its battle rules and fighting styles were far too "crude" for a modern person like Akari.
And now, at last, she was getting her "first" proper battle!
"Be careful, Akari. I'm very strong, you know."
The Poké Ball in Platinum's hand enlarged as she warned Akari.
"Show me everything you've got!"
"Mm-hmm~! I will!"
Akari's eyes curved into a smile.
Platinum smiled back knowingly, then raised the Poké Ball in front of her, let out a light breath, and her eyes turned calm as she slipped into battle mode.
Pokémon Trainer Platinum would like to battle!
The girl across from her might be her future daughter, but a battle was a battle. As a trainer, taking every battle seriously was the bare minimum.
Platinum threw her Poké Ball.
"All right, my first Pokémon is this one."
"Froslass!"
Froslass, looking as though it were wrapped in a kimono, floated in front of Platinum. It was one of her main battlers, an Ice/Ghost type.
"Mommy, looks like your luck's no good."
Seeing the Froslass, Akari grinned and tossed her own Poké Ball.
"Arcanine! Go!"
With a loud, commanding roar, a majestic, powerfully built canine Pokémon full of energy landed in front of Akari.
"That's a Hisuian Arcanine?"
Serena understood the moment she saw it.
This Arcanine looked very different from an ordinary one. Arcanine's fur was normally flaxen, but this Hisuian Arcanine's fur was a smoky gray-black.
And it looked less like a dog than a lion, awe-inspiring and imposing, especially with the flames coiling around its mouth, as if they might burst out at any moment.
"That's right. Hisuian Arcanine is Fire/Rock, so it does have the type advantage over Froslass."
Mammon nodded and named Hisuian Arcanine's typing.
"That type combination isn't particularly good."
Caitlin ran the numbers in her head and quickly reached a conclusion.
Fire/Rock did have decent resistances, with only four weaknesses.
The problem was that it was four times weak to Ground and Water, and both were very common types.
One quadruple weakness was deadly enough, let alone two.
That typing was honestly worse than the ordinary Arcanine's pure Fire.
"A Pokémon's real strength or weakness comes down to its trainer." Mammon chuckled.
"And it just so happens Akari isn't an ordinary trainer. The Hisuian Arcanine she raised might put on a very impressive showing."
Caitlin and Serena were both taken aback.
Does he mean Mammon has high hopes for Akari?
But Akari only became a trainer four months ago.
"Come on, Akari. Remember to give it your all."
Platinum let Akari move first.
My future daughter, I wonder how strong you've become on your journey through Hisui.
Platinum was really curious. This was her and Mr. Mammon's daughter, after all.
By rights, she ought to have inherited the trainer talent of at least one of them, right?
After all, both she and Mr. Mammon were exceptionally gifted trainers.
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