I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon

Chapter 1232: Rhyperior

In the second match, it was Erika's turn to compete. As one of the seed players in this Grass-type Pokémon Duel Tournament, she was highly popular and received a warm round of cheers upon her entrance.

Her opponent was a young man with glasses and a refined appearance. He used a Plant Cloak Wormadam and a Torterra as his Pokémon.

Wormadam has three forms: Plant Cloak, Sandy Cloak, and Trash Cloak, evolving from Burmy depending on the materials it wears. However, only the Plant Cloak form possesses the Grass type.

In Sinnoh, Burmy and Wormadam are extremely common Pokémon, found everywhere from grassy fields and forests to urban areas, akin to the way Wurmple is widespread in Hoenn.

Most Burmy are female and evolve into Wormadam. Male Burmy, which evolve into Mothim, are quite rare.

Mothim is also considered the natural enemy of Combee. It's not because they prey on Combee, but because they love stealing the honey collected by Combee. Their behavior is far from gentlemanly, and in the eyes of Combee, Mothim is nothing short of a notorious bully.

For this match, Erika used a Tangrowth and a Vileplume. The bespectacled young man couldn't last more than a few rounds against her. His Torterra was decent, but his Wormadam was underwhelming, leading to a quick defeat.

Since the final round of the qualifiers determined whether players could advance to the finals, the following matches became increasingly intense.

Ash's match was in the fifth group. He used a Sceptile and a Torterra.

While Ash doesn't specialize in Grass-types and doesn't have a large number of them, his Pokémon are all quite powerful. With Sceptile focusing on offense and Torterra on defense, he quickly overcame his opponent, securing a clean and decisive victory, much like Erika.

Given that many people knew Ash was the recent Sinnoh League Champion, his chances of winning the tournament were considered just as high as Erika's.

Then came the dark horse, Bill.

Bill was young and had never participated in an official competition before, so he was relatively unknown. However, his exceptional performance in this tournament made him impossible to ignore.

Bill's opponent was also formidable, reportedly having reached the top eight in several league tournaments and even achieving third place once. His Pokémon were two identical Leavanny.

Leavanny are slender and agile, known for their flexible and varied movements. After Bill's Sunflora used Sunny Day, the Leavanny quickly utilized their Chlorophyll abilities to dash over to the Sunflora's side in the blink of an eye.

Bill relied heavily on intuition in battle and didn't pay much attention to his opponents' strategies. As a result, he hadn't considered that his opponent's Pokémon might take advantage of the Sunny Day he set up.

Anyone who studied Bill's previous battles would know that he almost always opened with Sunny Day to ensure Sunflora could fire Solar Beam instantly.

Of course, even if he anticipated that his opponents might exploit this, Bill wouldn't mind.

With a sharp clang, the blade-like forearms of the two Leavanny slashed down on the two Sunflora. However, the Sunflora raised their leafy arms to block the attack.

The move used by the Sunflora to counter the Leavanny's Leaf Blade was Slash. Bill had taught this technique to his Sunflora upon being taken in by Scott, who suggested it to help diversify their skill set.

While the Sunflora were indeed strong in special attack, Bill ensured that their physical attack capabilities were at least adequate, so they wouldn't fall behind in close combat.

The Leavanny tried to continue their onslaught, but beautiful flowers suddenly bloomed all around them. In an instant, the Sunflora were surrounded by a protective shield of flowers, rendering the Leavanny's Leaf Blades soft and ineffective.

The Sunflora had used Flower Shield, a defensive move unique to Grass-type Pokémon to guard against close-range attacks.

Sunflora, being less nimble than Leavanny, found defense far easier than evasion when faced with such assaults.

Sensing that something was amiss, the two Leavanny immediately tried to retreat, but it was too late. A tornado of petals surged up, sweeping them into the sky.

The petals were as sharp as blades, and by the time the storm subsided, the two Leavanny had collapsed, unable to continue.

Bill secured his victory, and the matches moved forward.

Anya took the stage in the ninth group.

Although Anya was a Gym Leader, her presence had never been particularly prominent, whether as a Gym Leader or as a Grass-type Trainer. Many people hadn't even heard of her name. However, her stellar performance in this duel tournament had made everyone take notice.

So far, the Pokémon Anya used most frequently was her Cacturne. This Pokémon had displayed incredible strength, reshaping many Trainers' perceptions of what a Cacturne was capable of.

Cacturne is a rather niche Pokémon, rarely seen in battles or used by Trainers.

Her other frequently used Pokémon was her Cherrim. While it wasn't as dazzling as Cacturne, it was equally impressive in its role as a support Pokémon.

Other than these two Pokémon, she had not revealed a third.

Yuga had a gut feeling that Anya's strength went far beyond what she had demonstrated so far.

In this match, Anya once again used her Cacturne and Cherrim.

Her opponent was a shrewd-looking young man, likely in his late twenties, using an Abomasnow and a Cradily.

As a support Pokémon, Anya's Cherrim started by activating Sunny Day and leveraging its Flower Gift ability.

While Anya's side was setting up support, the young man wasn't idle either. His Cradily began using Stockpile, and his Abomasnow used Powder Snow to transform the battlefield into an icy terrain.

The young man wanted to activate Abomasnow's Snow Warning ability but refrained because the hail would negatively affect his Cradily as well, making it an impractical choice.

On the icy battlefield, both Cherrim and Cacturne became sluggish and struggled to move effectively.

To avoid slipping, Cacturne used Ingrain to root itself firmly into the ground. It then instantly fired a Solar Beam at Abomasnow.

However, the Cradily beside Abomasnow was a defensive Pokémon. It used Mirror Coat to reflect the Solar Beam right back at Cacturne. Fortunately, Cacturne quickly deployed Spiky Shield, preventing the double-strength Solar Beam from forcing it out of the battle.

Meanwhile, the Cradily continued using Stockpile, causing its defense and special defense to grow even stronger.

Anya pondered for a moment before giving her Pokémon new instructions: "Cherrim, Helping Hand! Cacturne, Uproar!"

Hearing her command, Cherrim patted Cacturne gently, and a faint glow began to emanate from Cacturne's body. Then Cacturne started to sway its body rhythmically.

As Cacturne swayed, an ear-piercing cacophony began to pour out from its body, amplified by Cherrim's Helping Hand. The noise was so disruptive that the opposing Pokémon clutched their heads in pain, unable to focus. Even the audience outside the battlefield couldn't help but cover their ears to block out the unbearable racket.

The enraged Abomasnow charged straight at Cacturne with a Ice Punch before the young man could even stop it.

Cradily, with its Suction Cups ability, had firmly anchored itself to the icy surface to stabilize its position, but this made it unable to keep up with Abomasnow and defend it.

Anya, however, had been waiting for Abomasnow to come closer all along.

"Cherrim, Weather Ball!"

As Anya's command rang out, a massive fiery energy ball slammed into Abomasnow.

With the weather set to Sunny Day, Weather Ball's power was amplified, and its type shifted to Fire. This was something Abomasnow, a Grass and Ice-type Pokémon, couldn't withstand. It was immediately knocked out of the battle.

However, just as Abomasnow fell, a powerful beam of energy shot forth, instantly engulfing Cherrim, the one that had taken down Abomasnow.

It turned out the young man had ordered his Cradily to unleash its accumulated energy in a Spit Up attack. By this point, Cradily had used Stockpile three times, so its Spit Up delivered maximum power.

With Cherrim and Abomasnow both out of the match, it became a one-on-one between Cacturne and Cradily.

The young man's Cradily had excellent defensive capabilities, but its offensive power was lacking. After being hit by Cacturne's Toxic, Cradily's defenses crumbled, and it quickly succumbed.

After Anya's match concluded, the final round of the qualifying matches was nearing its end, followed by a half-day break.

When the matches were over, Yuga returned home in high spirits.

By the time he arrived, Audino hadn't finished preparing lunch yet, so he wandered around the shop. That's when he saw Ninetales quietly sitting there watching TV. Even when some customers tried to tease it, it ignored them entirely.

"Well, this is rare! Has the sun risen in the west today? Why is our 'old granny' so obediently watching TV?" Yuga teased.

Ninetales rolled its eyes at Yuga. "What do you know!" It claimed it was studying to prepare for making money in the future.

Yuga was about to retort when he suddenly received a call from Ayashi.

It turned out Ayashi had heard about Ryo's loss in the duel tournament and was calling to inquire about it. However, he didn't feel comfortable asking Ryo directly, so he reached out to Yuga instead.

As expected of an older brother, Ayashi was reliable and considerate enough to respect his younger brother's feelings now that Bill was growing up.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Yuga said over the phone. "It's just a tournament. He understands, so don't underestimate him."

After chatting with Ayashi for a while, he sent over a Poké Ball as a gift for Ryo. Inside was a Ferroseed.

Ryo had caught this Pokémon by chance. Initially, he planned to train it himself, but after some thought, he realized he didn't specialize in Grass-types. Feeling it unnecessary to train the Ferroseed, he decided to use this opportunity to gift it to Ryo.

Once the call ended, Yuga went to the gym to see Ryo and handed him the Ferroseed from Ayashi.

Holding the Poké Ball, Ryo was deeply touched. He hadn't expected his older brother to care about him so much even while away.

Earlier, he had also received calls from Anmu and Anlin. They had heard about his loss in the tournament and, though they didn't mention the match during their conversation, Ryo knew they were calling out of concern.

When Yuga returned to the shop, Ayaka stopped him.

"Boss, the package you mentioned arrived this morning. I signed for it and left it at the counter. Don't forget to take it."

"Got it. Thanks!" Yuga replied. Sure enough, he found the package at the counter. Opening it, he discovered it contained the protective gear he had ordered from the League.

Taking the gear, Yuga headed to the kitchen door and called out to Chansey, who was busy cooking.

"Audino, how much longer until lunch is ready?"

"Audino~"

A little while longer!

Hearing this, Yuga thought to himself: Since there's still some time, I might as well go help Rhydon evolve.

Just then, Wigglytuff walked by carrying a bag of groceries. Seeing Yuga blocking the doorway, it put its hands on its hips and scolded, "If you're not helping, why are you standing there in the way?"

Yuga quickly stepped aside, grinning. "I've got something to do soon. Thanks for helping out, you and Audino both."

With a huff, Wigglytuff marched into the kitchen to assist Audino. Meanwhile, Mimikyu slipped out of Yuga's shadow space, glared at him, and then scurried off to help its "wife."

Yuga sighed internally. This PDA is overwhelming.

Yuga then took the Protector to the Ecopark and found Rhydon, informing it about the possibility of its evolution. Rhydon was overjoyed, immediately gazing at Yuga with an eager expression.

However, for Rhydon to evolve while wearing the Protector, a trade was required. Yuga returned it to its Poké Ball and headed to the Pokémon Center.

When Yuga arrived, the center was bustling. Joyka and Blissey were too busy to assist, so Yuga decided to handle it himself.

This wasn't Yuga's first time performing a trade evolution, and he managed the process smoothly on his own.

A few minutes later, Yuga retrieved Rhydon's Poké Ball and took it to the center's backyard.

Given Yuga's popularity in Verdanturf Town, he wanted to avoid drawing a crowd. He found a secluded spot before releasing Rhydon.

As soon as Rhydon emerged, it was enveloped in the light of evolution. Its body grew taller and broader. When the glow finally faded, a brand-new Pokémon stood before Yuga.

With a sturdy build, brown skin, orange-yellow armor, and a larger horn accompanied by a smaller one, the newly evolved Rhyperior looked even more imposing than its pre-evolution.

Rhyperior lowered its gaze to inspect its body, then raised its hands, examining them with great satisfaction. It felt brimming with power.

Evolution really does make a difference.

Seeing Rhyperior's delight, Yuga smiled and said, "Alright, I've fulfilled my promise. Now it's your turn to work hard. Train the Drilbur and Excadrill well, and I'll make sure you're well-rewarded."

Rhyperior nodded enthusiastically, its determination reinvigorated.

When they returned home, Nidoqueen was momentarily stunned upon seeing her husband's new form. He looked so powerful and majestic—she was utterly smitten.

Nidoqueen's admiring gaze filled Rhyperior with pride, thoroughly satisfying its sense of vanity.