He knows Pokémon better than me.

A dark shadow swept past Blaze Ace's body, and the latter's strength was greatly reduced, causing him to kneel down on the snow with a thud.

"cowry"

Finally freed from the "frozen" state of the cold gaze, but now Flame Ace was in a state of dying embers, panting heavily as it leaned against the snow.

The dream-eating ghost flew back to the direction of Articuno, and after merging with it, the latter was illuminated by a healing green light.

"As expected of a legendary Pokémon, it's really strong!"

Ash couldn't help but praise, "That shock laser shot from the eye, combined with the Dream Eater combo, should be able to succeed on the first encounter, right?"

Once again, I'm amazed at how well-off Pokémon from other regions get to eat meat.

I wish Articuno from my hometown had such a cool and practical signature move!

"Come back first anyway!"

Without hesitation, Ash quickly returned Cinderace to its Pokémon. Now that he roughly knew Galar Articuno's fighting style, he pointed forward:

"It's you I choose, Martial Arts Bear Master!!"

Master Xiong had been standing by with his arms crossed the whole time, watching coldly from the sidelines.

Upon hearing this, I slowly walked forward and stared directly at the sinister Articuno.

Although there is a difference in their levels, they are equal in status, both being legendary Pokémon.

"Foooo.?!"

Articuno was stunned when it saw Martial Arts Bear raise its right leg and raise its arm in a starting stance.

Why does this starting stance look so familiar?
"Water jet!!"

The battle resumed, with Martial Arts Master Xiong launching the first charge. A water-like cloak suddenly burst forth from his body, and upon approaching his opponent, he unleashed a powerful punch!
Instead of flying high to dodge, Galarian Articuno flashed with a purple light, and the next second, seven or eight shadow clones appeared in the air.

It wasn't an illusion or magic trick, but a shadow clone created by powerful mental energy. It even had a physical form, and its shadow could fall on the snow below.

Puff-!
The martial arts master blasted one of the Articuno into pieces, instantly turning it into purple mist that dissipated.

When it regained its footing, the surrounding sky was already enveloped by the shadow of Articuno.

The conventional method of using "hearing" to identify shadow clones is no longer effective, since they now have physical forms.

Even under the perception of waveguide power, each clone has a similar waveguide, making them difficult to distinguish.

"."

At this moment, Martial Arts Master Xiong closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and chose to use his martial arts intuition to determine the true location of his opponent.

Swoosh—!
The next second, it leaped to the side, and two beams of energy lasers shot out from behind, just barely grazing its side.

Another cold, icy gaze!

However, this also allowed Martial Arts Master to successfully locate Articuno's true form. He turned around, stomped on the snow, and rushed toward his target.

"Now! Unleash the water's relentless force!!"

At the same time, Master Martial Arts, with his fists surrounded by thick water currents, used his signature move to strike Articuno's face.

However, from Articuno's perspective, this attack was completely different.

"Fuwu!?"

Its squinty eyes widened instantly, as if the fists lashing out weren't just coming from the Martial Arts Bear Master, but also from that other one—

(picture)

Only now did Articuno realize why the Martial Arts Urshifu gave it such a familiar feeling.
Isn't this the same fist technique used by that humanoid monster?!
Articuno, which should have been facing its enemy head-on with icy gazes, instinctively scrambled into the sky to dodge due to its momentary mental turmoil.

As my gaze shifted downwards, I watched with lingering fear as the martial arts master missed his punches from the water.
They really are doing the exact same moves!
It still remembered the humanoid Pokémon wearing a cloak from half a year ago, which was also trying to practice this kind of fast punch, with the movements being exactly the same.

Later on, even the speed, power, and skill in its punches surpassed those of the humanoid brown bear before it. Therefore, this is...
Are they fellow disciples?
Galar Articuno looked flustered, and its originally elegant and aloof demeanor diminished considerably.

We must fight from a distance!
"Foooo——!!"

Articuno let out a long cry, flapped its wings, and instantly unleashed several purple energy slashes through the air!
Spiritual blade!

In fact, its superpowers and flight-type moves are very effective against Martial Arts Urshifu.

"The water flows continuously!"

Martial Arts Master Xiong quickly steadied himself, focused all his attention, and unleashed a series of punches while his fists were enveloped in the flowing water.

boom! boom! boom!
The mental blades were repeatedly blasted apart, sending up purple mist.

Two pale purple energy beams suddenly shot through the smoke, aiming at Martial Arts Master Xiong's vital points.

A cold gaze!

"Frozen Fist!!"

This time, Martial Arts Master Xiong unleashed frost from his fists, using physical coldness to counteract mental coldness.

The Frozen Fist shattered the energy laser, but the force of the icy gaze also pushed Martial Arts Master Bear backwards on the snow, leaving a trail several meters long.

Finally, a white and purple ice mist exploded, spreading all around.

"Foooo——!!"

However, the next second, a long cry quickly grew louder as the Galar Articuno closed to within five meters.

His eyes shone with an eerie light, but this time it wasn't a cold gaze; instead, it radiated rings of mental energy.

Hypnosis!
After several rounds of fighting, Articuno has calmed down.

Even if the moves are the same, it's not the same person.

The fighting brown bear in front of me is indeed quite strong, but it is still far inferior to that humanoid monster, so I have nothing to be afraid of.

Direct, close-up, face-to-face hypnosis!
The pale golden halo landed in front of Martial Arts Master Xiong, a 100% hit!

However, this tactic of approaching under the cover of smoke is useless against trainers with Aura powers, Ash said in advance:

"It's not that simple, use a tidal vortex!!"

Master Xiong understood, and a water tornado erupted from his entire body. With a punch, the water tornado surged out.

It wasn't attacking Articuno, but rather firing at the open space directly above it.

And when Martial Arts Master Xiong was completely hit by the hypnosis and fell into a deep sleep.

Puff-! !

The swirling water suddenly plunged down, drenching its entire body.

In the freezing cold, being suddenly hit in the face by a whirlpool, even Urshifu, a Water-type Pokémon, was startled.

“Wu He!!”

As his drowsiness dissipated, Martial Arts Master Xiong opened his eyes again and assumed the starting stance for his combo-style attack!

This caused Articuno, who was using the Dream Eater move, to freeze in place.

The ethereal ghostly figure that emerged from its body lunged at the Martial Arts Bear Master, but because the latter had broken free from sleep, the dream-eating technique failed, and the ghostly figure was instead bounced back.

"Hehe~ We won't fall for that twice~!"

Ash smugly touched his nose; they had prepared a strategy to remove status ailments long ago! (End of Chapter)