The next day, Eddie handed over the task of supervising the construction site to Selene, and he took the Popplio and the Helioptile to the West District.
The anesthetic used to light up the hidden energy circuit of the Helioptile was running out, so he planned to go to Nurse Joy to buy some more.
Walking into the Pokémon Center, Eddie found that there seemed to be a lot of people here today, so he looked at Nurse Joy in confusion and asked, "Is there anything special happening today? The backyard seems to be very lively."
Nurse Joy helped Eddie pack the medicine and handed it to him, then said with a smile: "It's nothing special, just two trainers who don't have a good relationship are 'dueling', and everyone is watching the fun."
"So that's how it is." Eddie found it funny, so he didn't ask any more questions. What kind of deep hatred could there be that would lead to a duel here?
When he was about to leave with the medicine, the Popplio suddenly grabbed him.
"Woo~Woo~" Let's go and take a look too.
Eddie said speechlessly: "What's so good about this?"
"Woo~Woo~" Go and have a look, go and have a look!
Popplio grabbed Eddie's pants and refused to let go, almost tearing his pants off.
"Okay, okay, stop showing off! I really can't do anything about you, so I'll just take you to see it. What's the point of joining in such a commotion!" Eddie said speechlessly, pulling his pants, and then took the Popplio and the Helioptile to the backyard of the Pokémon Center.
When we arrived at the backyard, we saw two trainers about sixteen or seventeen years old fighting on the battlefield. One was using a Jigglypuff and the other was using a Froakie
The two Pokémon were fighting back and forth, and cheers could be heard from outside the arena from time to time. There were quite a lot of people watching.
"Hey, brother, what's the grudge between these two people?" Eddie asked a boy next to him.
"Hey~ What kind of grudge could there be? These two have set their eyes on the same one..." The young man told Eddie about the grudge between the two in detail.
It turns out that these two people had been on adventures together before, and they were good friends at that time.
Later, the two of them saw the same Pokémon in the wild. That Pokémon was quite rare, and they both wanted to capture it, so they had an argument. Unexpectedly, the Pokémon slipped away in the chaos.
Eventually, the conflict between the two escalated, and they started fighting whenever they met. Today, they met again at the Pokémon Center.
"So that's why!"
Eddie was speechless, thinking that these two people had some deep hatred. He looked down at the Popplio.
"Are you satisfied now? Was this battle interesting?"
"Woo~" So-so.
The Popplio shook its head and said this, and suddenly it stopped moving, staring in one direction without blinking.
"What's wrong?" Eddie looked in the direction the Popplio was looking, puzzled, and saw a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old watching the fun in the crowd not far away.
"Woo~" I want to duel with her!
Hearing Eddie's words, the Popplio suddenly came to its senses. It grabbed Eddie's pants and pointed at the girl and said.
Eddie was confused. You can't just watch others duel and then pick someone to duel! And don't pull my pants for no reason!
"This is not a good idea. We have no grudge against them." Eddie said in embarrassment.
"Woo~woo~woo…"
After the Popplio talked a lot, Eddie finally understood why the Popplio was so excited. It turned out that the girl was the daughter of Captain Sanders, the Popplio's original trainer.
Popplio is going to avenge the "abandonment" incident!
"Do you really want to duel?" Eddie asked hesitantly.
"Woo~" The Popplio nodded firmly.
"Okay, since you insist." Eddie nodded, then led the Popplio and the Helioptile towards the girl.
"Um... hello."
"What's the matter?" The girl was watching the fight enthusiastically when she was suddenly interrupted. There was obvious displeasure on her face.
"You're a trainer, right? Do you want to have a Pokémon battle with me?"
The girl was a little angry at first, but when she heard that Eddie came to challenge her to a fight, the displeasure on her face instantly turned into joy.
"OK!"
As she said this, she looked at the Popplio and the Helioptile at Eddie's feet, and then a look of confusion appeared on her face. "Why is that Popplio glaring at me?"
Obviously the girl has completely forgotten what her former Popplio looked like. Of course, the Popplio's appearance has also undergone some subtle changes.
"My name is Eddie, what's yours?"
"My name is Alia."
Soon the battle on the field ended, and the two duelists decided the winner. The Froakie was not at an advantage in terms of attributes and was ultimately defeated by Jigglypuff.
When the audience saw the fight was over, they were about to disperse, but unexpectedly two more people walked up, so they all stopped and stood back.
Alia took out the Poké Ball and was about to release her Pokémon when she suddenly heard Eddie on the other side say, "I heard you have a Yamper, can you use that Pokémon to fight me?"
That Pokémon was the Pokémon that bullied the Popplio, and it was also captured by Alia's friend from the distant Galar wilderness for her.
Alia paused and wondered, "How did he know I have a Yamper? Have we met before?"
Before I could think about it, Alia asked with a troubled look, "Are you sure? My Yamper has evolved into a Boltund a long time ago. It is my strongest Pokémon."
"Sure, please." Eddie said.
Alia looked at the Helioptile at Eddie's feet, thinking that Eddie wanted to use his Electric-type Pokémon to Battle, which is also an Electric-type Pokémon, to reach a higher level, so she did not refuse and readily released the Boltund.
As soon as the Boltund came out, it barked proudly, its whole body was shining with electric light, and it looked quite arrogant.
It was the first time that Eddie saw this kind of Pokémon in real life. He looked at it with interest and thought that the Boltund was quite handsome.
The moment it saw the Boltund, the Popplio rushed into the center of the venue and glared at its old enemy with resentment.
Alia did not recognize the Popplio, but the Boltund recognized it at a glance. Its arrogant movements paused and it looked at the Popplio with an unnatural expression.
"Why is it you?"
"It's me. I'm going to beat the heck out of you today!" The grumpy little hot pepper went on a rampage online.
The Boltund originally felt a little guilty about the Popplio, but after being scolded by the Popplio, he suddenly became angry.
"Just you? Can you use your skills?"
"Just wait and see, you bastard!"
…
Alia, who was outside the field, pointed at the Popplio and said to Eddie unexpectedly: "You want to use this Popplio?"
"Yeah, is there any problem?" Eddie nodded.
Alia was immediately furious. What else was the problem? She felt that the boy across from her either had poor basic knowledge of Pokémon or looked down on her. Either way, it was unbearable.
"Since you insist, I won't be polite! Boltund, Thunder Fang!" Alia angrily commanded the Boltund to launch the first attack.
The Boltund barked and ran on all fours. In the blink of an eye, it rushed to the side of the Popplio and opened its mouth full of lightning to bite the Popplio.
The Popplio has never had an advantage in speed, so it didn't even think about dodging. It opened its mouth, and a string of notes floated out of it. The Sing made the Boltund's mind dazed.
Sing!
Boom!
Before the Boltund touched the Popplio, it was knocked away by a sound wave mixed with water vapor. It rolled on the ground for several times before standing up again, shaking its head.
It looked at the Popplio and was horrified: "Is this the same Popplio from before?"
Similarly, Alia did not expect that in just one round, her strongest Boltund would fall into a disadvantage.
Before Alia and the Boltund could react, singing rang out again, even more spectacular than before.
Those who heard the song felt their eyelids becoming heavy, but since they were not the direct target of this skill, the situation was not serious, and they could just shake their heads a few times to dispel the sleepiness.
This time, the Popplio no longer used Sing, but the controlled skill, Sing. This skill was learned by the Popplio inadvertently when it was developing its hidden energy circuit.
It has an unparalleled talent in sound skills. As soon as the song sounded, the Boltund fell into a sleep state instantly.
"Popplio, Water Gun!"
Following Eddie's order, a stream of water shot directly at the Boltund.
"Boltund, wake up!" Alia called out anxiously.
However, Alia's call did not have any effect. The Boltund was directly blown away by the water column and smashed hard against the wall not far away. The severe pain finally made it regain consciousness.
While Eddie and Alia were fighting, a girl in white came to the Pokémon Center. She handed the Poké Ball in her hand to Nurse Joy and asked, "Is there anyone fighting in the backyard?"
Nurse Joy smiled and replied, "Yes, it just so happens that your Pokémon's treatment will take some time. If you are interested, you can go and have a look."
The girl nodded and walked towards the backyard. When she pushed through the crowd and saw Eddie in the field, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"It's him!"
The reawakened Boltund was breathing heavily, and it was obvious that it had lost a lot of energy.
At this moment, there was no longer any anger in Alia's heart. She just felt that the reason why Eddie asked her to use the strongest Pokémon to fight, and even used the unfavorable attributes of the Popplio, was because he was confident in his own strength.
Only the Boltund was shouting wildly in his heart: "They are taking revenge!
At this time, the song of the Popplio sounded again, and the Boltund didn't even have time to move, and his eyelids drooped again.
"Boltund! Boltund!"
No matter how Alia called out, the Boltund didn't respond. She was almost going crazy with anxiety. Except for the first time, she and the Boltund had never had another chance to take action.
Theoretically, the probability of a Sing skill putting an opponent to sleep is about 50%. However, in actual combat, due to various factors, this probability may not even reach 40%.
But the Popplio on the opposite side managed to hit the target every time.
"How the heck do we play this?"
"Popplio, Water Gun!"
As Eddie's voice sounded, the Boltund on the opposite side was knocked away by the water column again.
Seeing the miserable appearance of the Boltund and the dejected expression of Alia, Eddie thought guiltily: "Is this too much?"
Although he was seeking revenge for the Popplio, to be honest, if he were in Alia's position, he would have made the same choice.
Even if there was no Gold Finger, he would not have asked Captain Sanders to take in the Popplio.
We cannot say that this behavior is correct. We can only say that this is human nature. People tend to seek benefits and avoid harm.
Moreover, Captain Sanders had given the Popplio to her for free. Now that he was bullying someone else's daughter, he felt a little guilty.
After falling down this time, the Boltund was finally unable to stand up again.
After defeating the Boltund, the Popplio finally got rid of his anger and came to Eddie happily jumping around.
Eddie touched its head and said, "Are you relieved?"
"Just barely!" The Popplio raised its head.
"Once you've gotten your revenge, it's over. Don't hold a grudge against me anymore. Got it?"
"Woo~Woo~" Okay, okay.
The Popplio answered perfunctorily.
At this time, Alia, who had already put away the Boltund, walked up to Eddie and said, "You and your Popplio are very strong. It's an honor to fight with you."
Although she said so, Alia was actually quite shocked. Eddie looked about the same age as her, but his strength was much stronger than hers. It would be hard for anyone not to be shocked. In the past two years, Alia has been traveling and participated in many competitions of all sizes. She has always felt that her strength is pretty good, but today's battle made her fully realize that there are always people better than you.
"Me too." Eddie said with a smile.
At this time, Alia suddenly asked again: "Have we met before? Otherwise, how do you know I have a Yamper?"
Eddie shook his head and replied: "We haven't seen each other, but..." As he said that, he glanced at the Popplio under his feet.
Alia followed Eddie's line of sight and looked at the Popplio again. Seeing that the Popplio was still glaring at her badly, something suddenly flashed through her mind. Then she thought of Eddie's attitude, and then she looked at Eddie in disbelief and asked:
"Could it be...it is...it is..."
"Dad said that he gave the Popplio to a boy about her age, so...but how is this possible?"
Because she was too shocked, Alia even stuttered and stammered for a long time without saying a complete sentence.
Eddie shook his head without saying anything, turned around, and left with the Popplio and the Helioptile.
Alia took a step forward and was about to call Eddie, but suddenly stopped.
After standing there in a daze for a long time, Alia returned home in a daze.
After Eddie left the Pokémon Center and was about to take a ride away, he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.
"Hi, Eddie!"
Eddie turned around and saw a girl in a white dress looking at him coyly.
"It's you?" Eddie asked in surprise.
"So you still remember me!" The girl smiled.