He knows Pokémon better than me.

When Ash and Mr. Mime rushed back to the Battle Arena, the entrance was already crowded with people and very lively.

The reason why Magu didn't help pick out gifts today is because a challenger has booked him as his opponent for the gym challenge.

And he's an old acquaintance of Ash's.

Upon entering the lobby and looking at the tournament schedule on the wall, Ash couldn't help but grin.

"Is Hep facing off against Magua?"

After putting away the gifts, he walked towards the audience seats.

Hop's badge progress is a little slower than Yu and Marie's; the Battle Arena is only his seventh gym.

After all, Hop had specifically gone into seclusion with his older brother for a period of time during the journey.

The other two only have the final fistfight arena left.

Upon arriving at the stadium, the thousands of seats were completely filled, and cheers frequently rang out all around.

This level of popularity far surpasses that of the Ice and Snow Ocean Park—

In the Galar region, nothing can compare to a real Dynamax battle.

Xiao Zhi happened to see Mei Rong at the back of the platform, so he went up to her and said hello.

"Good afternoon, Miss Meirong! By the way, why don't you go to the front row of family and friends seats?"

He pointed to the front seat and asked curiously.

"Oh, Ash. Well..."

Mei Rong gave an awkward smile. If she sat in a more conspicuous position, Ma Gua's command might be thrown into chaos. So she simply watched the battle from the very back in an inconspicuous spot.

Xiao Zhi shrugged. It was all the same no matter where he looked, so he decided to stay here.

It's good to have someone to keep me company, and I can exchange a few sharp comments with Mei Rong every now and then.

The Battle Arena has only one arena, but you can switch between the ice arena and the rock arena. If the Gym Leader is Maga, the arena will naturally become a pitted rocky surface.

The Rotom drone had already taken off and was hovering in the air, and the trainers on both sides were in position.

Xiao Zhi glanced around and saw Hop, whom he hadn't seen for a while. Hop was still wearing the same black tracksuit with a gray-blue cashmere coat, and his face always had a confident and sunny smile. He looked determined to win today.

"The rules of the Battle Arena state that each side may use three Pokémon."

As the drone Rotom finished reading, the two simultaneously threw out Poké Balls.

Magua's starting lineup is Potpot, who previously helped move stones in the watchtower, while Hop's starting lineup is a horned sheep with some brown spots.

It looks somewhat similar to the goat that rides in the Kalos region. Ash pulled out his Pokédex:

"Beep beep! Wool-horned sheep, the evolved form of Wool-braided sheep, Normal type. Its long, curved horns are for attracting mates, and its wool is extremely elastic, making it a top-quality material for textiles!"

Ash nodded. As expected, it was the evolved form of the Wooloo that Hop used to love using.

Watchtower Castle also sold quite a few wool sweaters made of woolly horned sheep, but they only accounted for 1/10 of the total and were top-quality items. The remaining 9/10 were made of braided sheep.

As the match began, Magua and Shushu employed very traditional tactics.

"Use power magic!"

After switching between attack and defense, the slender yellow tentacles of the pot-shaped vessel immediately became thick and muscular.

Immediately, its body was enveloped in a silvery-white light, and it spun upwards.

The enhanced power of the spinning top ball after the power trick is exceptionally strong!
However, if you use physical attacks, you'll be right into the trap of Woolworth's gun.

"Defend with cotton!"

Woolle's wool instantly inflated, turning into a giant cotton ball. Its incredible elasticity allowed it to completely ignore the impact of the Gyro Ball, instead deflecting Shuckle away. "Not just Cotton Defense, but also the Fluffy ability?"

Ash squinted, recognizing it; it shared the same characteristic as the bear-wearing creature.

It reduces the damage of contact attacks, essentially giving it a built-in reflect effect, but its weakness is that it is vulnerable to fire.

It significantly increases defense and reduces physical attack damage.
The combination of the two is an absolute killer weapon against physical attack-type enemies!
Hepp pointed his large hand and launched an attack:
"It's our turn, let's use the diving attack!!"

The fuzzy horned sheep instantly turned red and steam rose from its body. Its attack effect looked like it was using a brute force move as it pounced on the potpot!

The higher its own defense, the greater the damage of the pounce, which is very suitable for the woolly sheep's cotton defense.

“Strength and fighting law!”

On the other side, Shushu once again used a power trick, reversing the polarity, attempting to withstand the attack with an overwhelmingly strong defense.

The woolly horned sheep's figure descended like a mountain crashing down, trampling heavily on Hu Hu's body.

Boom!
The ground rocks crumbled, and even cracks appeared on the shell of the pot!

Ash shook his head; Maga was overestimating his Shuttle.

This Pokémon's defense is indeed ridiculously strong, but its HP is too low.

It was simply no match for the powerful strike amplified by the increased strength.

As the dust settled, the woolly horned sheep's front hooves were still planted on the pot-pot, which lay on the spot, its eyes darting around, completely unable to fight.

The first battle ended very quickly.

"This guy's pretty tough. Come back, Pot Pot!"

Maga quickly retrieved his Shuttle. This dark-skinned kid in front of him didn't seem to be a simple trainer after all.

boom!
As the red light fell, Maga's second Pokémon was exceptionally large, nearly reaching three meters in size.

But the structure is unusually simple. The two stone pillars on the left and right sides form the legs, and a flat rock is placed on top, which can be used directly as the body or head.
"Is it Giant Stone Ding this time?"

Ash stroked his chin. He had seen this kind of Pokémon before, near Giant's Bench in the southern Wild Area. It was even the bully there.

Despite its body being composed of just a few rocks, seemingly about to fall apart with the slightest movement, this Pokémon can unleash powerful kicks—

At that time, Flame Ace was still a young kicker, and in terms of kicking power, he was no match for that giant rock spike.

"However, the attack of the woolly-horned sheep is still very dangerous for it."

Beside her, Mei Rong showed a worried expression.

Furthermore, Rockruff only has one ability: a pure Doubles ability.

Energy Points: Increase the power of all attacks used by teammates (excluding yourself) by 30%.

That is, to become an energy point that amplifies your teammates.

Extremely simple and brutal!
However, in singles matches, they become completely useless.

"Woolhorn sheep, pounce!"

The battle resumed, and Hop, as expected, chose to use the same old trick.

Magua pushed up his sunglasses, and this time he shouted the same command:

"Giant Stone Ding, let's use our pounce too!!"

The next second, the massive Stone Ding pounced. Its defense was also outstanding, and combined with its size and weight, the oppressive force of its pounce even surpassed that of the Woolhorn Sheep! (End of Chapter)