James Davy

Pokémon Galar

"Possible relative?" Shiranui speculated, following Liam outside.

Pokémon Galar

Shiranui looked up Toxel's known locations on his phone. "According to this, Toxel are known to be found at Route 7, Bridge Field, Giant's Cap, Hammerlocke Hills, Motostoke Riverbank and Stony Wilderness," he stated.

Pokémon Galar

Shiranui had witnessed the battle and was reminded of Liam's heritage including his family's famous wrath on seeing Pokémon mistreated. He shook his head when the hoodlum tried to take a cheap shot at Liam, breaking one of the unwritten rules of Pokémon training. "If that were me, I'd have had Saisei take her out," he mused.

Pokémon Galar

"That was strange," Shiranui commented, "What was in your bag that got Farfetch'd riled up?"

Pokémon Galar

"Ready on my end," added Shiranui.

Pokémon Galar

"You'll need Braviary eyes to discern an Applin from a regular apple," Shiranui stated, "Those things apparently love to hide in plain sight."

Pokémon Galar

Shiranui got back his healed Pokémon. "I'm ready to head out," he answered.

Pokémon Galar

"Applin?" Liam inquired pushing some buttons on his phone.

"Applin, the Apple Core Pokémon. A Grass and Dragon-Type. It spends its entire life inside an apple. It hides from its natural enemies, bird Pokémon, by pretending it's just an apple and nothing more. As soon as it's born, it burrows into an apple. Not only does the apple serve as its food source, but the flavor of the fruit determines its evolution."
"Neat," Liam said. "I might have to look for one on Route 5."

@bowtiesrcool86

"If you're going to do what I think you're going to do, Applin can't naturally learn any Grass-type moves," Shiranui warned, "You'll have to take Lt. Surge's advice and evolve it before it can learn any moves of its types. From what I researched on the web it evolves into one of two Pokémon by eating an apple. The apple's flavour determines what it'll evolve into and we've seen Milo use one of its evolved forms against Selina."

Pokémon Galar

Shiranui checked his phone on Route 5 and found some information on the local wildlife. "Lombre, Nuzleaf and Applin are among the most commonly found Grass-type Pokémon on Route 5 while Electric types are rare," Shiranui stated, "I've heard rumours of people catching Eldegoss near the stone bridge."

Pokémon Galar

"Our next challenger for today is a regional champion like our previous challenger," Milo introduced, "Put your hands together for Shiranui Tsukiko!" Amidst the applause, some of the audience were startled when a burst of smoke issued from the challenger's end of the field, revealing Shiranui in a ninja pose. "I can see why Allister of all people invited you, challenger," Milo continued, "Time to see if your flair for the dramatic translates to our next battle. Go Gossifleur!" Milo sent out his Gossifleur and Shiranui responded with his Woobat. "Gossifleur, Sing!"
"Kokoro, Acrobatics!" The Woobat swooped at Gossifleur and struck Gossifleur with her nose, leaving the flower knocked out with one heart-shaped hit.
"Gossifleur is unable to battle. Woobat wins!" the Rotom Drone called.

Kokoro fluttered about in joy until she let off a glow of bright white light. Shiranui scanned Kokoro's new form with his Pokédex app. "Swoobat, the Courting Pokémon. A Psychic and Flying type and the evolved form of Woobat. The auspicious shape of this Pokémon's nose apparently led some regions to consider Swoobat a symbol of good luck."

Milo sent out his next Pokémon Eldegoss. "Eldegoss, it's Dynamax time! You’re about to be uprooted!" He recalled Eldergoss to its ball and activated his Dynamax band. The ball grew several times larger and Milo tossed it, revealing that the Pokémon had grown many times bigger. "This’ll really leave you in shock and awe. It’s our Dynamax move! Max Overgrowth!"
"Kokoro, use Fly!" Kokoro quickly increased altitude before Eldegoss unleashed its Dynamax move. Eldegoss' attack missed, but the battlefield grew into a Grassy Terrain.
"Eldegoss, Max Strike!" Kokoro dived at the giant Eldegoss and scored a direct hit that Eldegoss survived. Eldegoss struck Kokoro for a heavy blow that lowered the Swoobat's Speed. "Eldegoss, Max Overgrowth!"
"Kokoro, Acrobatics!" Kokoro did an aileron roll before swooping at Eldegoss and delivering a hit that caused Eldegoss to revert to normal size and faint.

"Eldegoss is unable to battle. The winner of this battle is Shiranui Tsukiko!" the Rotom Drone ruled.
"The power of Grass has wilted… What an incredible Gym Challenger! That must have been a fulfilling Pokémon battle for you! As proof that you have defeated a Gym Leader for the Gym Challenge, allow me to present you with your very own Grass Badge! You need to obtain all eight Gym Badges in order to complete the Gym Challenge and the only way to gather the Badges is to defeat every Gym Leader!
"Some advice for you, Kanto Champion Tsukiko. The Gym Challenge has a set order you’ll need to follow. So that means your next stop should be in Hulbury to meet Nessa. Hulbury’s just beyond Route 5." Shiranui thanked Milo on receiving his badge and Milo was ready for the next challenger after healing Kokoro and his Pokémon.