Chapter 151: The Fate of a Simp!
After Floragato evolved, it caused a huge sensation among her little friends. They all gathered around the new Meowscarada, praising her for how beautiful she was. This made her feel very proud. After all, loving the spotlight was an innate characteristic of her species, as unchangeable as a Slowpoke's love for lazing around.
And this was with her mask on. Recalling Will's praise, she couldn't even imagine what their expressions would be like if she took it off. They would surely be stunned by her beauty! However, she still didn't take off her mask in front of everyone. Doing so gave her a strange sense of shyness. She didn't want anyone to see that side of her, unless they were someone very, very important.
As she was saying her goodbyes, a small incident occurred that greatly annoyed her. A Cacturne had run up and was fawning all over her. Even when she ignored it, or even sternly told it to get lost, the Cacturne wouldn't leave, sticking to her side like a plaster. It was like a shameless, brainless Growlithe.
Helpless, Meowscarada could only run to Will for help.
"Meow."
"What's wrong?"
Will, who was chatting with the old Dragonite, was a little surprised to see Meowscarada run and hide behind him. Judging by her behavior as a Floragato, she should never have shown fear, no matter how strong the enemy. What's with her today?
But he soon understood, because he saw the Cacturne.
The Cacturne belonged to a member of the Dragonite Clan who had brought it back from the outside. That person had since married and settled down in the homeland, and the Cacturne, a Pokémon that dislikes moving, had naturally stayed.
Half a month ago, the Cacturne's attitude towards the then-Floragato had been very cold, like an adult looking down on a little kid. They had even battled once. The Cacturne, relying on its rich battle experience and its type and movepool advantage, had easily won. After that, it had looked down on her even more.
But now, it was clear that it had been captivated by the evolved Meowscarada. Not only had her appearance changed dramatically, transforming from a "tomboy" into an "intellectual beauty," but her typing had also changed to Grass/Dark, the exact same as Cacturne's. This similarity in their energy composition would only amplify her charm in its eyes.
"Meow~" Meowscarada gently pushed Will from behind, looking up at him with pitiful eyes.
Oh, so you've learned to act spoiled again, Will thought, unmoved. As a Sprigatito, she had been very good at it. But he hadn't indulged her then, and he certainly wasn't going to now. After evolving into a Floragato, she had been too proud to act that way. He had thought he'd never see it again. Who would have thought that after evolving into a Meowscarada, her personality would become more honest, and she would learn to use her looks to her advantage.
"Cac-turne~" the Cacturne said, walking up to Will and giving a polite greeting. It was being polite to Will not because of Meowscarada or the old Dragonite, but purely because Will was strong. It had witnessed his test battle with the matriarch half a month ago. From its perspective, it was no different from a human's; it couldn't even track Will's movements. If it had to fight him, it would lose, 100%.
"This is your own business. You solve it," Will said, glancing at the Cacturne, then turning to his apprentice and pulling her out from behind him. She had to learn to handle these things on her own, not run to her dad every time she had a problem.
"Meow..." Meowscarada stepped out sullenly and glared at the Cacturne. She then raised a paw and beckoned. The meaning was clear: they would solve this the Pokémon way. A battle first, talk later.
"Cac," the Cacturne agreed, nodding and stepping back. It had beaten her before, so it was quite confident this time.
But times had changed. Half a month had passed, and she was no longer the same Floragato. Her evolution into Meowscarada had brought a qualitative leap in her combat power.
First, the type advantage the Cacturne had held was now gone. They were both Grass/Dark. Cacturne was two levels higher, but at this level, that was a tiny gap. Meowscarada's base stats were higher and better distributed, easily making up for it. And a Cacturne was a pure glass cannon, with almost no speed or defense. In essence, it was facing a physical assassin.
Everything else would come down to who had the deeper, more advantageous movepool.
"Meow," Meowscarada grinned, revealing a sharp fang. With a light tap of her foot, the large cat shot forward. The next second, a dozen Meowscarada appeared on the field, charging the Cacturne from all sides. It was a combination of Agility and Double Team, a technique she had learned from Will.
"Cac-! -turne!"
The Cacturne wasn't high-level, but it was well-traveled. Seeing this, it didn't panic. [Pin Missile]! It raised its arms, and countless spikes shot out.
But a gentle breeze suddenly blew across the battlefield. Pink petals appeared between the many clones and, with lightning speed, shot forward, knocking down every single one of the red spikes.
"Cac!" The Cacturne's eyes widened. It quickly crossed its arms in front of itself, and the spikes on its body suddenly extended outwards by five centimeters. [Spiky Shield]!
The many clones crashed into the shield and dissipated. The real Meowscarada was on the side, leisurely using [Hone Claws], sharpening its attack and accuracy. The Cacturne lowered its arms, its spikes retracting, ready to attack. But then it noticed... a seemingly ordinary bouquet of flowers was stuck to its chest.
The next second, BOOM! The bouquet suddenly exploded, and countless petals scattered, dealing a critical blow. It grimaced in pain and stumbled back two steps.
This gave her the opening. One step forward, claws raised high. She used the 4x super-effective Bug-type move [U-turn], slashing down on the Cacturne's head. A sound that made one's scalp tingle rang out, and it collapsed to the ground.
"Cac..." the Cacturne shook its head and admitted defeat. He still had the nasty Ghost-type move [Destiny Bond], but this wasn't a battle that had to be won at all costs. His goal was to win her favor, not to beat her with such a move.
"Meow," Meowscarada lifted her head proudly, turned, and walked back to Will's side, not even giving the loser a second glance.
"Not bad," Will said, stroking her head. He then looked at the Cacturne, who was leaving with its head hung in shame. This battle was never in doubt. Meowscarada was just that much stronger. Her signature move, [Flower Trick], was insanely powerful, with its 100% crit rate. But her own effort couldn't be denied either.
"Shall we go?"
"Meow," she nodded. She just wanted to get out of here.
"Let my clan members take you," the old Dragonite said, walking over. "You plan to head north, right? There is a huge mountain range to the north. It might take you some time to cross it."
"No. We'll walk," Will shook his head, refusing her kind offer.
The reason was simple. Liz had walked the whole way. He had "seen" it. So, since she had walked, he had to walk too. After all, his promise was to always be by her side. On this road, wherever she had walked, he would walk.
"Alright. Then..."
"No need to see us off," Will said with a grin, stopping her.
"Goodbye," the old Dragonite nodded, saying no more.
"Will we meet again?"
"...As long as we're alive, we'll see each other again someday."
The same conversation from a thousand years ago. Only this time, the roles were reversed. Will and the old Dragonite looked at each other and smiled. In that moment, he knew that she had recognized him. They had just both been pretending not to know.
Will led Meowscarada and headed north. The old Dragonite stood in place, watching his back grow smaller and smaller in the distance, just as a thousand years ago, that naive female Dragonair had watched that Dragonite's back as he left.
It seemed that nothing had changed at all.
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