Pokémon: Reborn as Lucario

Chapter 159: Míng Rìzhào VS Hiker

A classic character, the Hiker, made a shining appearance, just as Rio had hoped.

A familiar face, who, along with the Bug Catcher Boy and the Angler, is known as one of the three cannon fodder musketeers, the Hiker often appears in rugged, rocky areas.

They always carry a hiking staff, a large backpack, and specialize in Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon.

"Come on! It looks like you're a trainer too! Let's have a passionate battle!"

The bearded uncle rushed over enthusiastically, insisting on starting a battle with Míng Rìzhào without taking no for an answer.

Just as a famous saying goes: The moment trainers' eyes meet, a battle begins!

"Me, me!"

Rio jumped up and down, demanding to be sent into battle.

Before Míng Rìzhào could even nod, he had already handed the backpack to Ruru and then proactively returned to his Poké Ball.

Recently, he had figured out that a way to increase intimacy was definitely through battle. Therefore, for all the challenges from various trainers they encountered on the road, Rio always rushed to fight first.

And Míng Rìzhào couldn't refuse him. Her original plan to train Kirlia had to be put on the back burner for now.

"Come out, Graveler!"

The four-armed stone Pokémon was the first to leap out, excitedly slapping the ground.

Graveler, a dual Rock- and Ground-type, was countered by Rio's Fighting-type.

In addition, the lv26 that Rio observed meant that Rio had the advantage in both type and level.

"Rio, [Rock Smash]!"

The strongest of Graveler's base stats were undoubtedly Attack and Defense, while due to its clumsy movements, Speed was its weakest area.

So Míng Rìzhào decisively had Rio launch a quick assault, taking the opponent by surprise.

The blue-and-black little dog Pokémon's figure vanished in an instant. When it reappeared in Graveler's sight, it was surprisingly in a state with its right fist raised high, fully charged with power.

"Graveler, [Harden]."

Feeling the opponent's sharp fist wind, Graveler hurriedly followed its trainer's command, wrapping its four arms tightly around itself and curling into a round ball.

"Hah!"

Rio let out a loud, fierce cry, his fist striking down with unstoppable force.

What is the essence of [Rock Smash]?

To advance without hesitation, to pulverize rock and shatter stone!

"Bang!" Where the fist landed, stone chips flew. Graveler, who had tried to curl into a ball to protect its vital spots, didn't expect this punch to actually break through its hard rock shell, smashing it so hard it hurt.

"Rio, continue with [Rock Smash]."

Seeing that Graveler's hard shell didn't seem to be destroyed by one punch, Míng Rìzhào had Rio continue his attack.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang." Fist shadows, invisible to the naked eye, landed successively on the curled-up Graveler.

More stone chips, mixed with shattered rock, exploded outwards.

"Haha, it's useless! My Graveler's defense is very strong!"

The Hiker stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

In his eyes, Rio continuously hammering Graveler's rock shell with his flesh-and-blood body was really not a wise choice. Although Graveler could only take the beating and was being hit so hard that rubble was scattering, the shattered rocks were just a drop in the ocean and didn't cause any substantial damage to Graveler at all.

Míng Rìzhào returned a big smile.

Because the girl had already seen that although Rio seemed to be striking randomly everywhere, in reality, the landing point of each fist was precisely on the same spot.

If water can drip through stone, then what if it were replaced by Riolu's fierce punches?

"Graveler, counterattack! [Rollout]!"

The Hiker hadn't noticed the look of pain on the stone face of his Graveler, which had taken several consecutive punches. Instead, he mistakenly thought Rio was in close range and that he could take the opportunity to counterattack.

Graveler endured the pain and, taking advantage of still being curled up, began to rotate at high speed on the ground.

Rolling, rolling, rolling, like a huge stone cannonball, Graveler spun as it charged at Rio.

"Heave-ho!"

The spinning Graveler, plus the force of its powerful forward charge—Rio naturally didn't dare to take it head-on.

He gauged Graveler's rolling trajectory and, with a light and nimble leap, dodged the rolling impact.

"Screech—" Graveler made a sharp turn and continued to charge at Rio.

Rio used his left foot as an axis and spun to dodge.

Graveler continued to turn and charge.

Rio dodged again.

After a few rounds, even though the [Rollout] move had accumulated extremely strong kinetic energy from the continuous rolling, since it couldn't hit the agile Rio, it was just a waste of energy.

The Hiker also saw that this [Rollout] move was no longer effective, so he immediately changed moves. "Use [Rock Throw]!"

Graveler stopped rolling, picked up the scattered rocks from the ground, and just as it was about to throw them, suddenly, its body inexplicably tilted to one side.

Míng Rìzhào's eyes lit up.

"Rio, good chance! [Iron Tail]!"

Rio understood tacitly, and a steel-like light flowed over his tail.

Riolu took a step, his front foot planting firmly on the ground.

"Creak!" The force was so great it even left a deep footprint in the ground!

Charging up, turning, and whipping his tail—all in one smooth motion.

The tail, as hard as steel, whipped heavily against Graveler's rocky body.

"Awooo..."

The pain that went straight from its shell to the inside of its body made Graveler unable to bear it any longer. Its eyes turned to "@", and it was unable to battle.

"How did Graveler fall just now?"

The sudden turn of the battle left the Hiker somewhat dumbfounded.

Míng Rìzhào explained to him, "Previously, the [Rock Smash] my Pokémon kept using had already shattered the rock shell at a certain point on Graveler's body. In addition, when you had Graveler use [Rollout], during the rolling process, that injured spot was no longer protected by the hard rock and was actually continuously accumulating damage. The stronger the kinetic energy accumulated by [Rollout], the more painful the damage. So after Graveler stopped, the pain directly made it unable to maintain its body's balance, which gave me a large opening to attack."

After listening to Míng Rìzhào's explanation, the Hiker smiled wryly and recalled his Graveler.

"Pal, I'm sorry. I didn't notice you were injured."

He then turned and shook hands with Míng Rìzhào, saying with a smile, "Little girl, you're quite good. It seems your strength gives you a good chance to challenge the Fuquan Town Pokémon Gym."

Míng Rìzhào immediately became somewhat interested.

"Uncle, do you know about the Fuquan Town Pokémon Gym?"

The Hiker laughed heartily.

"Haha, I live in Fuquan Town. Speaking of the town's gym, its Gym Leader is a very powerful trainer."

The Hiker spread his hands.

"Look at me, my Pokémon are all Rock- or Ground-types. I originally thought I had a type advantage, so I went to challenge the gym with great enthusiasm. But I never expected that Miss Flannery would defeat all the Pokémon I had with just one of her Pokémon."

"Miss Flannery?"

"Ah, yes. The Pokémon Gym in Fuquan Town is a Fire-type gym. The Gym Leader is Flannery. Hmm, you'll have a chance to meet her when you get to Fuquan Town."

"What kind of person is this Gym Leader?"

Fengling, who had heard stories about Verdant Leaf City's Gym Leader Norman and Zidian City's Gym Leader Wattson from Míng Rìzhào, also asked with great curiosity.

"How should I put it?"

The Hiker's face was strange.

"Her strength is very great, but her hobbies are also very strange."

"Strange?"

Míng Rìzhào and Fengling looked at each other.

"Hahaha, you'll know when you meet her."

The Hiker paid the pocket money to Míng Rìzhào and was about to leave.

However, after taking just two steps, he seemed to remember something, turned around, and said to Míng Rìzhào, "By the way, if you want to get to Fuquan Town quickly, taking the cable car on Luminous Mountain was originally the fastest route. But now, the station there seems to be occupied by someone. So, you might need to pass through Luminous Grotto to reach Fuquan Town."

The cable car can't be taken?

This news made Míng Rìzhào look with some worry at the Poké Ball that had captured the unknown Pokémon.

"Ilu, lu? (Pokémon Language) Should I make a trip back to the Pokémon Center in Yuanqi City?"

Kirlia Ruru knew what Míng Rìzhào was worried about and said in a small voice.

Míng Rìzhào began to feel conflicted again. If she chose to pass through Luminous Grotto and then cross the plains at the foot of the volcano to reach Fuquan Town, the time would be more than double what was previously estimated for taking the cable car.

How should she choose?

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