39 Chapter 39: Route 212

Author's Note: Done! All 3 chapters with 9 minutes left in the day!

The next morning, the trio met at the west gate of Pastoria City. To get to Hearthome City, the most direct path was taking Route 212 which took about 2 days to travel westward and another 2 days to travel north. It was one of the longest stretches that trainers would have to cross to get to another city, the only one longer being going from Eterna or Veilstone City to Snowpoint City. 

"Ready to go ladies?" Xander stood at the front of the group and asked the pair behind him. The 2 girls nodded so the trio began to walk out of the city with their heads held high and ready to continue their journey.

The first few hours of travel were pretty tame. Most Pokemon wouldn't approach it due to the high amount of traffic while many trainers were still tired from waking up not too long ago. So around noon, the trio went off to the side of the path. The girls went to gather firewood while Xander took out all the materials and began preparing them for lunch. 

While he was preparing his food, he saw a pair of individuals approaching him. Tamamo let out a growl in warning while Fenris opened his eyes from his sleeping position, glaring at the duo. Mothra seemed to continue napping on Fenris' back even when he heard the others approaching while C.C. walked up to Xander's side and gripped his pants leg.

"Can I help you?" Xander asked, neither politely nor rudely. Since C.C. did not seem to like the group that was approaching, he didn't like them as well. Ralts and her evolutions were very sensitive to the emotions and intentions of others. Whenever a Ralts Pokemon sensed hostility, they would hide. 

"Yeah. You seem to have plenty of food there. You wanna share?" the man asked, not even making contact with Xander or his Pokemon but looking over the food he had laid out before him. 

"Sorry, but this is for me and my companions. You'll have to ask someone else," Xander immediately refused them. He had bought just enough to feed the kids and their Pokemon for 5 days, getting extra just in case they were stuck out in the wild for an extra day. He wouldn't give any of it up to some random strangers. 

"Tsk. How about we battle for some, brat? You lose, you give us half. If you win, we will give you 1 million Pokedollars. Sound interesting?" the man asked, looking at his companion and laughing internally. He was already an Advanced Trainer with a team of fully evolved Pokemon. He was confident that Xander couldn't beat any of his Pokemon. 

Hearing the challenge, Xander felt tempted to accept it but then changed his mind. It was not just his food that he was betting on but the food for everyone. It would be wrong to bet it without their permission. Just as he was about to reject them, he heard Cynthia call out from behind him. 

"We'll bet. But it'll be a 2 on 1," Cynthia knew that they were at a disadvantage in terms of experience. Even though Lucario and Tamamo had reached their final evolution, they might be lacking compared to the trainer. Still, she didn't like backing away from a fight so she was willing to bet if their Pokemon could fight together. 

"Deal!" the man quickly agreed before grabbing one of his Poke Balls and pressing the center button, releasing a large, red Pokemon by his side. 

'Damn. To think I was trying to catch one a couple of weeks ago,' Xander thought as he looked at the Krookodile. 'This guy is really underestimating us.'

Krookodile was a strong Pokemon but since it was a Ground/Dark Pokemon, it was weak to Ice and Fairy which Tamamo was skilled at. If he summoned it, even only guessing that Tamamo could only use Ice Moves, then that meant he truly thought his Pokemon was too strong to be beaten. 

"Tamamo," Xander called out and Tamamo jumped next to him, ready to engage in battle. 

"Lucario. We need you," Cynthia called out to Lucario who was carrying some wood. He dropped the wood and jumped in front of Cynthia, ready to start battling when she gave the command. 

The trio and their Pokemon left the camping spot, leaving Marley and their other Pokemon behind to watch over the food. While they walked away, the man who came with the trainer challenging them followed along. They were going to have their battle in the middle of the road to not mess with any wild Pokemon on accident. 

Many other trainers gathered around to watch, eager to see the competition. Trainers were a nosey bunch that also loved a good show so most would watch whatever battle they could. The fact that Tamamo was also one of the prettiest Pokemon they had seen was another factor that drew in many spectators.

"Just a reminder so you don't back out, you owe us 1 million dollars when we win. If we lose, you get half the food we were about to cook," Xander stated the terms again in front of the crowd. If the guy decided to try and run away, rumors about him being a coward would easily spread.

"I know. Just make sure to cook me something delicious when you lose," the man said. Cynthia and Xander looked at each other, sharing a look as if planning their strategy. 

"Charge in and tank, Lucario!" "Cover him, Tamamo!"

They were going with a very common double-battle strategy. One Pokemon would engage in close combat while another would fight from a distance.

"Crush that Lucario in one blow!" the man yelled, wanting to finish the battle before Tamamo could do any real damage. He knew that he was at a disadvantage with typing so he would use his Pokemon's type advantage against Lucario to beat it quickly before closing the gap on Tamamo who seemed to be a ranged attacker. 

An orange aura covered Krookodile's body before it charged forward toward Lucario, looking like it was going to run him over. Lucario reacted by covering his body in a white aura and crossing his arm in a defensive position. 

Krookodile clashed with Lucario, nearly knocking him over but Lucario was able to remain standing before pushing Krookodile back, knocking it off balance. After that, Lucario's body was covered in a golden aura before the aura focused around his fist and Lucario leaped forward, punching the opposing Pokemon in the torso. 

The larger Pokemon was knocked back several meters, barely able to hold itself up. Just as it was about to recover, it saw a beam of light blue energy quickly coming toward it. The beam collided with the Pokemon, striking it in the torso once more and sending the Pokemon to the ground unconscious. 

[Playback:

Krookodile uses High Horsepower against Lucario. It is super effective. 

Lucario uses Endure and has 1 HP remaining. Lucario uses Counter, its power increased from the damage it took from High Horsepower. It is super effective. 

Krookodile flinches. 

Tamamo uses Ice Beam. It is super effective. It is a critical hit.

Krookodile is unable to battle.]

The man looked at his fainted Pokemon and veins on his neck became visible. It was obvious that he hadn't expected to lose the battle and lose so much money. 

Just as he was about to say something, he looked around at the other trainers and saw their mocking gazes. Some of them were even holding up cameras, recording the entire battle. 

'Crap. If I back out now, the League will probably suspend me,' the man knew that he couldn't afford to have something like this go on his record. Reluctantly, he sent over the money to Cynthia and Xander, giving each of them 500k. 

As soon as the money was transferred, the man glared at the pair before stomping toward Pastoria City. He only had one Pokemon that wasn't injured so he couldn't afford to waste any more time. 

Once their battle was over, Xander and Cynthia returned to their site to start cooking lunch. It was going to be curry with fried chicken.