Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

The fireworks display ended, and Mitsuko quickly invited everyone inside for dinner.

After a long day of hunger, May and Max were finally able to feast, and Ash joined the ranks of those eating without hesitation.

The sheer amount of food the three of them ate left Kim Ji speechless once again.

"Haha, it's okay, eat as much as you want, we've prepared plenty of food."

For this wedding anniversary, Qianli was hosting all the apprentices at the dojo, so there was naturally a lot of food at the banquet.

However, most people are in the front yard of the dojo, while the back is considered a family banquet, which is only attended by the core members of the Orange Blossom Dojo.

Of course, that's what they say, but apart from the family of Senri, only Satoshi and Kinji are there.

At the banquet, Senri suddenly turned her aura on Ash, who was still stuffing food into his mouth, and Pikachu beside him.

At this moment, Qianli, as a hero of Orange Blossom, reveals his true self.

His entire body seemed to be wrapped in sharp blades, making people afraid to look him in the eye; just getting close to him made them realize how incredibly strong he was.

He truly lives up to his reputation as someone who is no less than any of the Four Heavenly Kings.

"Ash, you've come here this time to officially challenge the Petalburg Gym, right?"

"Hmm!" Xiao Zhi immediately looked up and met Qianli's burning gaze, then nodded.

"And I will definitely beat you, Uncle Qianli, tomorrow."

"Haha, really? Actually, ever since we parted ways before, I've been looking forward to fighting you again with all my might."

"Tomorrow I'll be using Slacker, Hyperactive Monkey, and Slaking from my main team. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course, please fight me with all your might!"

Xiao Sheng was incredulous when his father so easily revealed his lineup for tomorrow.

"Hey, Dad, isn't it okay for you to leak this information?"

"Katsu, I only hope to have a battle with Ash that I will not regret."

At that moment, Qianli's eyes gleamed with the pride of a strong person, and he stood up and extended his hand to Xiaozhi.

Ash grabbed it, showing respect for a worthy opponent.

Chapter 449 The Battle Begins

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a new main quest, "Challenge the Petalburg Gym!": Defeat Petalburg Gym Leader Senri to obtain the Libra Badge!]

【奖励：联盟币+3000；特攻+2；特防+2；自由属性点+3；技能“再来一次”+1】

Early the next morning, Ash and Senri were already ready on the battlefield at Petalburg Gym.

The referee for this challenge was Jin Zhi, and Xiao Yao and Xiao Sheng were also allowed to watch the match with their mother, Mitsuko.

"I'm so excited! This is the first time I've ever watched my own dojo compete!" Xiaosheng said excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm so nervous. I don't want him to lose on either side. What should I do?" May hugged the Pikachu that Ash had entrusted to her care, looking conflicted.

"Pikachu~"

"What are you saying, sister? Of course we should support Dad! Go Dad!"

Qianli smiled and waved to Xiaosheng and the others. At this moment, Jinzhi had finished reading the rules, and the competition officially began.

"Ash, this is my first Pokémon, let's send out Slaking!"

A gray-white sloth with lazy eyes appeared on the field, and Ash quickly took out his first Pokémon.

"You're the one for the first match, Lizard King!"

The Lizard King made his grand entrance with his arms crossed, his well-defined muscles and sharp, triangular eyes a true symbol of strength.

It had a twig in its mouth, like a cowboy smoking a cigarette. Upon seeing its opponent, the lizard king quickly got into a fighting stance.

"Oh, this lizard king looks to be very well raised."

Mitsuko immediately praised Ash after seeing the muscular green lizard he released.

"Compared to this, Dad's Lazy Man seems so weak. Is it really okay to send it out?"

The girl was worried.

"Xiaoyao, don't underestimate your dad's Lazybones. Back when Qianli was young, he made his name with it in his first battle."

"That's right, Dad's so amazing, there'll be no problem!"

In Xiaosheng's mind, his father had never lost, so even when facing Xiaozhi, he would still firmly believe that his father would win.

Meanwhile, on the field, Ash was sizing up Senri's Slaking.

"In Hoenn, Senri is known as a man born for Pokémon, not to be underestimated, but his first lead Pokémon was Slaking...?"

It's no wonder Ash is conflicted now, considering that Slaki's base stats are pretty bad, and it also has a very fatal ability: Laziness.

Pokémon with this ability will rest after each attack, making it a purely negative ability; it's better not to have it at all.

In two rounds of combat, the opponent can attack twice, while the Lazybones can only retaliate once and must be passively attacked the other time.

Ash couldn't figure out how Slaking could defeat his Sceptile.

"Even if it's Uncle Qianli's Lazybones, it's still a Lazybones! Lizard King, let's use a fast attack to finish this quickly, use Leaf Blade!"

"You're oversimplifying things, Ash. Slacker, Shadow Ball."

As the Lizard King locked its gaze on Lazybones and charged forward, Lazybones's lazy eyes instantly brightened.

A jet-black energy ball quickly condensed between its two hooked claws and was hurled at the Lizard King's face.

The Lizard King instinctively tried to dodge, but the Shadow Ball missed completely and exploded in mid-air.

Instantly, a large amount of black smoke was generated with the explosion of the energy ball, and the Lizard King could no longer see anything.

At that moment, a flash of blue light appeared on Ash's body.

"Sceptile King, Slacker is to your lower left, unleash Leaf Blade attacks! Uncle Senri's move is useless against us!"

Any move that obstructs the line of sight is useless against Ash's Aura Sensing, and Senri, despite having her location exposed by Slaking, showed no panic, simply replying calmly.

"Yeah."

At that moment, Leaf Blade slashed down repeatedly, but to everyone's surprise, not a single hair on Lazybones' head was hit.

In the smoke, the lazy old man's body swayed irregularly from side to side. Its movements seemed slow, yet there was a mysterious quality to it, as if it were one with nature and moved with the wind.

Although Ash sensed that Sceptile's attacks were about to succeed each time, it just couldn't touch Slaking no matter what.

"It seems that verbal commands alone are not intuitive enough. Lizard King, jump out and use Leaf Blade again after the smoke clears!"

"Cheers!"

Because the Petalburg Gym's arena is well-ventilated on all sides, the smoke on the field cannot stay for long and dissipates quickly.

At this moment, the Lizard King adjusted its posture once again, gathering leaf blades in both hands and slashing at the Lazybones who was still standing in place with all its might, followed by a loud bang.

The Sceptile's Leaf Blade slashed a large gap in the ground, but it failed to hit Slacker.

It deftly bent over just before the Lizard King's attack, perfectly dodging the blow.

"What?" Ash looked at this scene in surprise.

Senri was equally surprised to see the Lizard King's destruction of the arena.

"That's incredibly powerful, Ash. You've managed to train your new partner in the Hoenn region to this level. Amazing."

In the first practice match when they first met, Ash only had one Pikachu, but so quickly, he already had a new member in his Hoenn team who could stand on his own.

Qianli's appreciation for Xiaozhi is growing stronger.

"Even so, it's still a long way off for the Lizard King to hit my Lazybones; its rest time is up."

"Lazy old man, it's time to pull yourself together."

"Om~"

At this moment, the lazy old man was still lying lazily on the ground in the same posture he had used to dodge the attack. He yawned and then opened his eyes wide and got up again.

Its movements seemed so weak and listless, yet every small step it took was so fast that it left afterimages.

"Lizard King, Seed Machine Gun!"

"Lazybones, awaken your power!"

The Lizard King swiftly pulled its leaf blades from the ground and then rapidly fired a barrage of energy bullets at the Sloth King in front of it, who had just gotten up.

But then Lazy Man subtly shifted his body, and the seed machine gun was easily dodged.

At the same time, several white energy balls rapidly grew larger between its claws, and then in the blink of an eye, they wrapped around the Lizard King's body.

"Cheers?"

These energy orbs were interconnected by special fluctuations, which directly trapped the Lizard King and sent him flying.

Although Slaking's Special Attack is low, the Elite Four Pokémon's high level still allowed it to unleash its Hidden Power attack, causing considerable damage to Sceptile.

Even after the Lizard King was knocked away, these white energy balls did not disappear.

Like a pack of hyenas chasing their prey, they relentlessly pursued the Lizard King, while the Lazybones took the opportunity to rest.

"Wow, that's amazing! Awakened power can be used like this." Xiaoyao felt she had learned something new.

"Yes, in previous battles, Ash was always able to quickly attack and disrupt his opponent's rhythm, and then take control of the entire battle, but I didn't expect that this time it wouldn't work against Slaking."

"Dad sent out the Lazybones first because he was thinking of that scene, right?"

"You've made progress, Kacchan." Mitsuko agreed with Kacchan's words with satisfaction.

"Senri, he has also seriously analyzed Ash's past tactics."

At this moment, Ash stared at Slacker with a furrowed brow.

"It should not be underestimated after all."

How could someone who can appear in the main team of a trainer at the level of an Elite Four member be an ordinary character?

Just like Pikachu in Ash's team, the most inconspicuous ones are often the most dangerous.

Ash originally thought that Sceptile would definitely be able to beat Slaking in terms of speed.