He knows Pokémon better than me.

During the break, Ash and Shinji had a simple lunch, and the latter commented on the first round of the Seaside Festival.

"Their skills are all quite good."

Many well-known trainers from the Sinnoh region have come, which shows the popularity of this World Championship.

"Unfortunately, the other four Heavenly Kings did not participate. Mr. Ya Xuan was also absent."

Ash remarked that if the current Sinnoh Elite Four member, Ms. Kikuno, and Mr. Gosho, as well as Aura from Iron Island who can use Aura, were also participating, this tournament would probably be even more interesting.

Looking around, only Kotetsu, Michael who uses a Divine Beast, and Shinji in front of him can be considered decent opponents.

Of course, Shinji only has Ash as his opponent. However, now that he has reached the Super Ball level, he probably won't even run into Ash in the first two rounds.

With the halftime break over and the sun blazing, the second round of matches in the afternoon officially began.

"Ash, ranked 2600th in the Poké Ball class, will battle Lee, ranked 2300th! Please come to the stage, both players!"

This surprised Ash a bit, as he encountered this Fighting-type Gym Leader in the second round.

Ah Li had already stood at one end of the arena, with short pink hair, wearing a training uniform, and many bandages on his face and shoulders, looking like a tomboy who liked to fight.

"Ash, long time no see. This time, I'll show you how much I've improved!"

She first greeted Ash with a respectful fist salute, then clenched her fists and entered battle mode.

When Ash passed by the Veiled Gym back then, the gym leader had just taken over and was a complete newcomer. He was extremely nervous about Ash, the gym inspector who suddenly came to investigate.

Afterwards, he discovered that his position as gym leader had been officially recognized, so Lee was very grateful to Ash.

However, after two years of training, both mentally and physically, Ah Li has become a fully mature dojo master.

"Although I'm no longer the gym inspector, let me see your current strength!"

Ash smiled and said, "Since the other party is a Fighting-type Gym Leader, then I choose you!"
boom!boom!
Both teams simultaneously launched their Poké Balls. Ale's starting lineup consisted of a robust and powerful Machoke, while Ash fielded his new Galar team's youngest member, Kubfu.

"What Pokémon is this?"

Ah Li was taken aback, but this was clearly a fighting-type creature.

It was less than a meter tall and had no visible muscle definition; it was just a baby with no fighting ability.

A newly captured Pokémon? That would be a gross underestimation of her.

"Since that's the case, then don't blame us for being impolite! Macho, use Explosive Fist!!"

With a low roar, Haoli charged forward, his clenched fist glowing white, faintly emitting a booming, explosive sound as he threw a punch.

Ash's eyes also focused; this was Kubrick's first battle.

"Get away!"

The bear apprentice nodded, lowered its head, and shifted to the side, its small size making it easier to dodge.

Lucario's words came to mind: "You can't win by just dodging; the best defense is offense!"
"Bear drink.!"

The bear apprentice let out a low shout, and instead of retreating, he advanced, meeting the attack by brushing against the edge of the explosive fist.

"Split the tiles!"

Then, he brought his fingers together in a chopstick shape and slashed fiercely at Haoli's groin. Xiong's apprentice jumped up slightly, raising the height of his attack in a martial arts manner, and the chop landed on Haoli's chest.

It is not a Dark-type Pokémon.

boom!
Haoli straightened his chest and used his thick pectoral muscles to forcefully block it.

"It's not over yet, break the tile!"

One chop to the neck failed to break the defense, but Xiong's apprentice had already prepared a chop with his other hand and slashed hard at the same spot.

Bang!! This time, Hao Li successfully broke through his opponent's defense and was immediately pushed sideways. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his internal organs were shaking.

"What a quick move!"

Ah Li was taken aback; it was a continuous tile-breaking motion with almost no delay in between.

"Hehe, don't underestimate my bear apprentice!"

Ash smiled smugly. According to Lucario's judgment, his bear apprentice's martial arts style was not the one-hit kill style of Steel Fist, but rather more inclined to continuous attacks.

Therefore, when practicing moves, Lucario doesn't focus on training itself to "defeat the enemy with one punch." Instead, it focuses on increasing attack speed and reducing the gap between two punches to achieve a combo effect that is difficult to see with the naked eye.

"And my bear apprentice can unleash combos that go beyond just Brick Break! Bear apprentice, use Enhanced Punch!!"

The bear disciple understood, raised his fists to his waist, and orange energy flames ignited on his small fists.

Hey!
He then stepped forward, unleashing a powerful punch aimed directly at Hao Li!

"How can this be!!"

Ah Li's expression had changed. As a Fighting-type expert, how could he use Power-Up Punch repeatedly? Wouldn't that be the same as Mega Kangaskhan's Parental Love ability, boosting twice in one turn?

Your Pokémon seems to be illegal!
Ah Li's gaze sharpened. "Since you're going to throw two punches in one round, then we'll throw countless punches in one round!"

"Use close combat!!"

Haoli understood and went to meet him, his clenched fists raining down like a storm, dazzling the eyes, and he had already thrown fifty punches in a few seconds!
However, Xiong's apprentice immediately slid in from the side, almost instantly switching the enhanced punch into a swallow's return move.

Snapped!
Snapped! !

A tricky spinning punch landed on Haoli's back, followed by a second punch. In an instant, two Swallow Returns were unleashed, causing Haoli to stagger forward and almost fall.

Outstanding effect!

"Just what kind of Pokémon is this?!"

Ah Li's expression had completely changed. Her Lucario was already quite rare, but even when it was the same size as Kuma's Riolu, it didn't show such swift movements.

And aren't these two consecutive attack moves a bit too outrageous!
"Grab it, and roll in hell!!"

Haoli suddenly reached backward, preparing to unleash his signature fighting technique.

"Bear drink.!"

However, the bear apprentice had already jumped back to maintain distance, and Haoli's back grab failed.

But the latter had only caught his breath for a second when the bear apprentice, who had been leaping backward, sprang forward like a spring, his small fist glowing with a faint orange light, and struck Haoli in the chest.

Rock crushing!

After the first punch, came the second!

boom! !

Two rock-shattering punches landed almost simultaneously on Gorilla's chest. Although his appearance remained unchanged, his body shattered like rock inside.

"Heroic"

Haoli's eyes rolled back, and he slumped forward, falling in front of his bear apprentice, who was about knee-high.

"The battle is over! Haoli is incapacitated!"

"Aerial shot," Rotom quickly declared.

The sound instantly silenced the entire arena. A tiny Pokémon had won so easily?! (End of Chapter)