He knows Pokémon better than me.

The next morning, while Xiaozhi was still asleep, he heard a "whooshing" sound under the bed.

I rubbed my eyes and got up, only to find my apprentice gritting his teeth and doing a plank.

It seemed he had been holding on for quite some time; his brows were furrowed, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

"You're really hardworking, apprentice Xiong."

Xiao Zhi glanced out the window at the barely brightening sky, understood, and looked at his bear apprentice with a hint of relief in his eyes.

Because of the bear's earlier evolution, its strength has increased significantly—

The two bears were originally evenly matched, but now the bear apprentice has been left far behind.

"Don't rush, just keep your own pace."

Seeing that the latter was still gritting his teeth and persevering, Ash could only offer a word of comfort: it seems that the next step is to go to the Water Tower to complete the second trial.

However, completing the Tower of Evil isn't actually that difficult; the only challenge is Master Ma on the top floor.

After breakfast, Xiao Zhi went to the training ground in the backyard, where Master Ma was already waiting for him.

Beside him stood a burly martial arts bear master, a rare sight indeed.

"Bear drink.!"

The apprentice, Xiong, immediately bowed politely to his senior.

However, the martial arts bear master's temperament is completely different from its own, and is more in line with the temperament of the bear wearing clothes.

"Is this a one-hit-strike style martial arts bear master?"

Ash spoke up, saying that he had faced this opponent in the Unova World Championship.

The martial arts bear masters of the One-Strike Style and the Combo Style are similar in appearance, the only difference being that the One-Strike Style is more aggressive, so the hair on their head and knees stands up.

Even the headband tied to their heads was flying upwards.

In contrast to the combo style, the hair and headband are drooping down.

"Ash, although your bear-like creature evolved yesterday, it didn't master the strongest technique of the One-Hit Strike style: Dark Strike."

"Hmm, it must be because he's not a martial arts bear master?"

In the past, he wouldn't have bothered with it anymore.

Logically speaking, once the bear apprentice comprehends the ultimate technique, it will naturally use its unique moves when evolving, without needing to learn them separately.

However, the bear-wearing creature's talent is in no way inferior to that of legendary Pokémon, and now it also has the help of Seed Mastery.

Masdeh intends to intervene.

"Master Ma, are you going to have your martial arts master, Bear Master, personally teach that move to the bear wearing a mask?!"

Xiao Zhi understood, and seeing Ma Shide stroking his beard and nodding, he was overjoyed.

"Then the decision is yours!"

He quickly released the bear, and the two two-meter-tall bears, with the same Fighting and Dark attributes, instantly looked at each other.

However, one side has a sharp gaze, while the other is expressionless, making them completely opposite in style.

"Then you should give a demonstration first, Martial Arts Master Xiong."

Mastedt walked to the side and, seeing that Ash had already fed Bewear Master Seed, gave instructions.

The martial arts bear master responded in a deep voice, his sharp eyes scrutinizing the bear in front of him who appeared to be devoid of any murderous intent, while still harboring suspicions.

Despite its doubts, it was still Master Ma's request, so it kept a straight face and dealt with it seriously.

"Martial shout!!" As soon as Martial Arts Master Xiong entered battle stance, his expression became as cold and hard as a rock.

It faced the open space beside it, its fists clenched at its waist as it began to gather strength.

Rub rub rub rub -!
Black and red energy flames erupted around him like flames. The next second, Martial Arts Master Xiong strode forward, concentrating all the black and red energy into his right fist.

Without complicated footwork or any fancy moves, a straight punch was thrown out!
Unique move: Dark Nether Strike!
Although there was no punching bag, this punch felt like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

The powerful punch, accompanied by black and red flames, blasted out with a loud bang, displaying unparalleled dominance!
"Amazing!"

Ash nodded in amazement; this wasn't the first time he'd seen this move.

Dark Strike, while not particularly powerful, is guaranteed to hit vital points 100% of the time, and its damage cannot be judged by common sense.

"lucky--!"

Even the expressionless bear couldn't help but let out a sharp, high-pitched cry.

Under the influence of the seed's mastery, it enters an "enlightened state," and with the perfect match in attributes and style, the bear's eyes gleam brightly.

The next second, one of the bear-wearing arms also burst into black and red flames, and following suit, it threw a straight punch!

"Uh, this is not Dark Nether Strike."

Masted squinted and shook his head.

He must have learned the straight punch pattern of DD's Golden Hook Arm.

The power was a bit outrageous. It wasn't that his eyesight was failing; he could clearly see the surging shockwave of the punch spreading outwards in a ring shape.

"lucky--!!"

The teddy bear let out a long howl, and its fist once again ignited with black and red energy flames as it threw a second punch!
"No. This time it's Hell Thrust."

This time, Xiao Zhi also recognized it; the front end was sharp and protruding, and it wasn't even a fist anymore.

The Dark Strike technique is indeed quite difficult to learn.

Ash fed it several Mastery Seeds, but the straight punches that Bewear threw either "Dark Hook" or "Hell Thrust," failing to achieve the perfect "Dark Strike."

After all, breaking through the limitations required to master the exclusive moves of legendary Pokémon is not so easy.

One-Strike Style: Martial Arts Bear Master demonstrated Dark Nether Strike a few more times. Masted didn't rush to return it to the ball, but let the latter stay behind the bear to guide the movements.

It seems that it's not something that can be learned in a short time.

So the two of them stopped watching from the sidelines and walked to one end of the training field, letting the two bears immerse themselves in practice.

This scene also inspired Xiong's apprentice, who then practiced punching even harder.

Masde saw this and realized that they were about to reach the threshold of evolution.

However, you can't be so hasty in evolving into a combo-based style.

After thinking for a moment, Ma Shide walked to his apprentice Xiong's side, patted the latter's head, and gave him a warning:
"Remember, not all water flows are rapids. What you need to do is first calm your mind."

The bear disciple naturally understood this principle. After meditating for a while, he opened his eyes again, and his gaze became much calmer. He changed his original continuous jabs into a more gentle and continuous Flowing Rock Shattering Fist.

The strange movements made Mastedt turn his head to look at Ash in confusion. What kind of strange boxing technique is this?

Considering the evolution of the combo style, which requires more time to calm down, Master Ma postponed the Water Tower trial by one day.

"Then let's set the time for tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you at the top of the Water Tower. We won't do the trial today; my old bones need to relax."

Ash originally planned to evolve twice in two consecutive days.

Looking at his bear-like apprentice, Xiao Zhi quickly understood Master Ma's meaning and naturally agreed! (End of Chapter)