He knows Pokémon better than me.

"Greatsword Demon, incapacitated!"

After a while, the Greatsword Demon was pulled up by the rescuers below, already floating on the sea surface unconscious.

"Damn it, its power is so strong!"

Kotetsu looked at the Warhammer Dragon in front of him with apprehension; its destructive power was simply too great to overcome in a direct confrontation.

"In that case, Lucario!"

He immediately deployed his ace Lucario.

Upon seeing a familiar Pokémon, Ash's eyes lit up, but he quickly looked away. It was still an ordinary Lucario, which could only use simple Aura to fight and did not possess Aura Power.

However, judging from its relatively high level, this is probably Kotetsu's starter Pokémon.

"Lucario, tsk."

On the other side, Piao Tai frowned, as both Fighting and Steel types perfectly countered his Warhammer Dragon.

The battle resumed, and Piao Tai took the initiative to launch an attack:
"Warhammer Dragon, Flamethrower!"

However, Warhammer Dragon is quite specialized, and its flamethrower is not particularly powerful.

"Bone with the bone stick!"

Lucario condensed his bone rod and pressed down, easily splitting the flames apart.

"Now! Mind Hammer!"

Under the cover of flames, the Warhammer Dragon charged forward, its hard, deep blue head glowing white as it crashed into its target.

"This attack is useless, Shadow Clone!"

Kotetsu's command gradually became more and more skillful. This kind of feint attack was naturally ineffective against Pokémon like Lucario, which could sense things through auras.

Not to mention the cumbersome Warhammer Dragon, whose charge causes the ground to tremble, making it completely ineffective for a sneak attack.

The mental hammer charged wildly, but it only shattered a few of Lucario's phantoms, and the attack missed its mark.

"earthquake!"

The Warhammer Dragon slammed its foot heavily on the ground, causing the ground to tremble violently and the seismic waves to spread throughout the entire area.

"Lucario, jump!"

Lucario and many other shadows leaped up simultaneously, dodging the earthquake while jumping toward the center.

Hey!
The fact that it even stepped on the head of the Warhammer Dragon and used the momentum to leap into the air, thus outmaneuvering its opponent, demonstrates the agility of this Lucario.

"Now! Wave missile!"

In mid-air, Lucario quickly conjured a wave missile and launched it, while Wardras tried to forcefully sweep it away with its tail.

Phew~!

However, the wave missile took an unusual detour, avoiding the Warhammer Dragon's tail.

Boom boom!

Finally, it struck the Warhammer Dragon precisely on the back, causing an explosion!
Outstanding effect!

The powerful energy surge from behind caused the Warhammer Dragon to kneel down on one knee.

"Use a sandstorm!!"

Piao Tai hasn't given up yet. As an expert in rock properties, he's preparing to take advantage of the sandstorm to create an opportunity.

With a roar, the Warhammer Dragon spun around, instantly whipping up a yellowish sandstorm that swept across the entire area.

"Hehe, I already told you, the tactic of obscuring vision is completely ineffective against my Lucario!"

However, Kotetsu merely smiled smugly and gave the order:
"One more time, Aura Missile!"

Lucario understood and assumed a swivel motion to gather power.

"War Cry!!" Suddenly, Warhammer Dragon burst out of the sandstorm and closed to within five meters of Lucario.

Its entire upper body lunged forward, and scorching flames burned between its gaping teeth.

Flame fang!
As a physical attack-oriented Pokémon with exceptional strength, Warhammer Dragon's Flame Fang attack is extremely powerful!
"Luca."

However, Lucario's breathing was steady, and it had sensed the movement of Warhammer Dragon from the moment it began to move, according to its waveguide perception.

Hey!
He leaped up a step ahead, easily avoiding the fiery fang bite.

While in mid-air, the wave missile in its hand had already gathered its maximum power, so it was launched.

The precisely targeted wave missile struck the Warhammer Dragon's face and exploded with a deafening roar.

Boom! !
A huge explosion erupted on the spot, and the aura of waveguide spread out, giving everyone on the overpass a strange feeling as if their underwear had been exposed.

Outstanding effect!

As the fog dissipated, the Warhammer Dragon collapsed heavily to the ground, completely unconscious.

On the other side, Lucario still stood there looking dashing.

"Warhammer Dragon is unable to fight!"

"Therefore, Kotetsu has won this ranking match! The real-time rankings for both players have been updated!"

"Aerial shot," Rotom quickly said, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

Although no one knows Kotetsu, everyone knows Lucario. It is a rare Pokémon native to Sinnoh and has always been one of the top two most popular Pokémon in the Sinnoh region, along with Garchomp.

"Hey Lucario, great job!"

Kotetsu chuckled, realizing that Kotetsu was indeed very strong.

I glanced at my ranking and saw that I had risen from 1280 to 996 – breaking into the top 1000 and directly advancing to the Super Ball level!
"Haha, that's how it should be! Next up is the advanced ball level, then the master ball level!!"

He laughed heartily, finally having the chance to prove his true strength as the great god Kotetsu.

On the other side, Piao Tai smiled wryly, recalled his Hammer Dragon, quickly shook hands, and rushed to the Pokémon Center.
His ranking dropped from 1999 to 2500, but he hasn't been eliminated yet and still has a chance.

But then I saw the burly, reddish-brown-haired man who would appear in the next match, walking onto the field wearing a cloak and dragging a shovel in his hand.
Piao Tai blushed involuntarily.

It was still a bit embarrassing to lose in front of one's own father.

"Hahaha, Piao Tai, you still need to practice more. Now I'll show you my strength!"

As they passed each other, Donggua, the leader of the Water Vein Dojo, laughed heartily, completely ignoring Piaotai's flushed face.

On the overpass, Ash was astonished by Kotetsu's victory.

"This guy's actually pretty good."

Although it looks very unreliable, and the style of relying on a rubber band on its head to stimulate inspiration is also very abstract, I have to say that Lucario is quite impressive.

Although it cannot use the power of aura to accomplish more, it is much stronger than the Lucario of Lee at the Veil City Gym.

The first round is about to end, and after looking at all these rounds, I estimate that Kotetsu will achieve a good result.

The first round of matches ended just after noon.

If there was anything that caught Ash's eye later on, it was the battle against Michael, Mr. Bigleaf's younger brother.

Heatran attacked immediately, using its signature move Lava Storm to easily defeat both of Snowpeak Gym Leader Song's Pokémon.

Even if Xiaosong hadn't used an Ice-type Pokémon, the result probably wouldn't have been much different.

"This kid has turned into a mythical beast man!"

Ash was a little surprised. He still remembered that he and Michael had been exploring Heatran's trail in the Battle Frontier.

Ultimately, the latter gained Heatran's approval and received his exclusive token, the Volcanic Stone.
Unexpectedly, a few years later, Michael has even managed to tame that Heatran! (End of Chapter)