Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

Chapter 546 Kaji Gym, VS Dew Lion

After finishing his auditing classes at the Ninja Academy, Ash did not start any gym battles.

He first gave the Crobat enough time to rest and adjust it to its best condition, and then he even re-tried his own hands.

Not only did they leave Crobat and Steelix, the two veterans, to oversee things, they also summoned back Nidoking from Pinnacle Island, Snorlax from Oak's lab, and even Lapras, who was swimming in the sea with Lugia and her cub!

He also spent a whole day adjusting the Pokémon and his own condition.

And so, it wasn't until the third day after they arrived in Kaji Town that Ash appeared at the gym entrance, full of fighting spirit!

"Ash is so serious today, is it because of the pressure from Uncle Liu?" Misty couldn't help but worry about Ash's serious demeanor.

“The old men in the League are not easy to deal with,” Xiao Lan said with a smile. “Besides, Xiao Zhi has other expectations for Liu Bo.”

"Other expectations..."

"You'll find out when the time comes." Xiao Lan didn't say it explicitly, but she also hoped that Xiao Zhineng would meet her expectations.

The premise is that Uncle Liu truly lives up to his name in winter.

...

The interior of the Kaji Gym is a pure white world of ice and snow. The entire gym is like a flattened iceberg, and it is always filled with the cold of winter.

Beneath their feet lay a smooth, mirror-like ice surface, surrounded by pools of varying sizes, where many Water/Ice type Pokémon—such as Sea Lion, Shellder, and Lapras—were leisurely frolicking.

These are all Pokémon bred by Plumber and will appear in Gym battles, but Ash's target today is not them.

Deep inside the gym, an old man, who already knew Ash would be coming to challenge them, greeted everyone with a broad smile.

Compared to the freezing cold of the dojo, he gave people a feeling that could only be described as a gentle breeze.

"Ash, I've been waiting for you for so long! You've finally arrived!" Uncle Liu greeted him warmly. "Ever since our hasty parting last time, I've been looking forward to when you'll officially come to challenge my gym."

When facing Xiao Zhi, Liu Bo couldn't put on the same wintery demeanor he showed to outsiders, after all, Xiao Zhi was the savior of his long-haired pig.

"I'm also really looking forward to... formally challenging Mr. Liubo!" Ash tried his best to keep his voice steady, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his words.

“We’ll be able to battle soon… but speaking of which, your progress is a bit slow.” Uncle Liu didn’t notice Ash’s mood and continued to laugh kindly and warmly. “That kid from the Oak family came by not long ago.”

"Stingy Green?" Little Blue perked up immediately. "How is he? Did you give him a good beating, Grandpa?"

"It's more like I got beaten up by him," Uncle Liu chuckled, waving his hand. "These rising stars are really something. He only used one Aerodactyl to defeat two of my Pokémon, and if I'm not mistaken, his should have..."

"Elite Four level!" Ash said in a deep voice, picking up where Plum was headed. "Very good, Gary has finally been able to fully unleash the power of Aerodactyl... That's how it should be, otherwise this tournament won't be worth watching!"

Ash was undoubtedly very happy for Gary, and he was also even more excited, knowing that he definitely wouldn't be bored at this tournament!

"Xiao Zhi?" Uncle Liu finally realized the situation. He examined him carefully for a long time, and his fighting spirit began to rise. "I don't know if I can help you, but I will give it my all in this battle!"

"Thank you very much!" Ash bowed deeply to Uncle Liu and turned to step into his battle position.

"What's wrong with them? Why is Uncle Liu so serious?" Xiao Gang asked, puzzled.

“Ash is looking forward to a battle between two equally matched strong opponents… but none of the trainers he’s encountered along the way, including Matsushita and the Ninja Brothers, have been able to meet his expectations,” Blue explained. “That’s why he’s pinning his hopes on Pine.”

"The rules of the competition are two against two, and my first one is it... my old partner who has been with me for many years, Dewl!" The gym battle officially began, and Liu Bo sent out his current absolute main force.

This choice immediately caught Xiaoxia's eye, and she quickly sent out her own white sea lion to observe.

What she needs most right now is to gain experience in battles between strong opponents.

Unlike Xiaoxia's excitement, Xiaozhi frowned almost imperceptibly.

This white sea lion was strong, but it still couldn't put enough pressure on him.

As Liu Bo's main force, Dewprik is also an old Pokémon that has only lived for a few decades. Xiao Zhi can feel the powerful energy in its body... but correspondingly, its physical functions have inevitably begun to deteriorate.

With such a strong main force, it's clear that Liu Bo is currently unable to reach the Heavenly King level. No wonder he was able to break through with Xiao Mao, and he was even entangled with someone like Lambda before.

Sigh, it's a bit of a shame... Crobat, Steelix, and even Pikachu, their absolute mainstays, will probably all have to be spectators today.

"I'm counting on you for the first battle, Nidoking!"

Surprisingly, Ash sent out a Flame-type Dewprik, which seemed to have a very unfavorable typing, when facing the Water/Ice type Dewprik.

"An unexpected choice, but this Nidoking's color is quite unique." Liu Bo raised an eyebrow and solemnly shouted, "Ash, attack!"

"Nidoking, Multi-Shot!" "Roar...Roar!!"

boom!

Nidoran slammed his feet into the ice of the arena to stabilize himself. Taking advantage of the first strike, he accumulated the fire energy in his mouth to the limit and then unleashed a divine fire that was several meters wide and tall!

"That's... Dew Lion! Quickly use Blizzard to counter it!!" Seeing that the top of the "big" character was about to reach the gym's roof, Liu Bo was taken aback and hurriedly had Dew Lion unleash an endless blizzard to fight back.

The interplay of fire and snow instantly enveloped the entire area in a white mist.

But Liu Bo was soon astonished to find that the white mist was instantly evaporated, and the blizzard that the white sea lion had launched with all its might was also melting away. Then he was hit by a powerful and irresistible flame!

"What astonishing power this is... Even with the boost from items and abilities, it's still incredible." Based on Liu Bo's experience, after just one move, he already knew that he was facing Nidoking who had forcibly used the Life Orb.

Even so, he was still incredibly surprised by the power of this "Big Explosion" move.

"This counts as mastering a move. Fire Blast has always been Nidoking's signature move, something he's focused on honing. With a little time to charge it up, he can achieve this effect," Ash explained, his eyes remaining sharp. "Nidoking, keep using Fire Blast!"

"Roar!" Another large burst of flame shot out, but this time it was much smaller than before, though it flew much faster!

"White Sea Lion, dive into the water and use Hail!" Uncle Liu's response was incredibly swift. The White Sea Lion displayed remarkable gliding speed on the ice, and despite being grazed by flames on its tail, it finally managed to escape into the water.

After that, it launched a puck into the air, summoning falling ice shards across the entire arena.

"Next up, Blizzard!"

boom!

The white sea lion in the water opened its mouth and spewed out dense blizzard, which quickly spread into a cold current that covered the entire area!

"Let's meet this head-on, we'll use Blizzard too!" Ash refused to be outdone, and Nidoking also summoned a blizzard to clash head-on with Dewprik across the entire field!

The cold wind swept up snowflakes, which froze into ice crystals and then fell helplessly. As Nidoking and Dew Lion were locked in a stalemate, the ice on the entire field grew thicker and thicker!

"Amazing!" Uncle Liu was secretly shocked. Ash's Nidoking had truly honed its moves that matched its ability to an incredibly powerful level.

My side is Ice-type, yet with its STAB (Same Type Advantage) it can only manage a draw?

"In that case... White Sea Lion, go to sleep."

Feeling that continuing the stalemate was pointless, Uncle Liu took the initiative to change tactics.

As the white sea lion withdrew its power, Nidoking's blizzard engulfed the white sea lion's body without any obstruction... But the white sea lion simply closed its eyes indifferently and fell fast asleep amidst the blizzard.

After all, it's a Water/Ice type with the Thick Fat ability, giving it eight times the resistance to Ice-type moves. Ash knew this, and he was just using the same multi-target move to wear down his opponent.

"Nidoking, close the distance quickly!" Seeing that Dewl was sleeping without any defenses, Ash's eyes suddenly sharpened, and Nidoking charged towards Dewl's location at the same time!

"daydream!"

Click!

With Liu Bo's command, the ice crystals around the white sea lion suddenly shattered, and its horns suddenly glowed white. It even spun around with its eyes closed and stabbed at Nidoking with all its might!

One-hit kill, Unicorn Drill!

"Get out of the way!" Fortunately, the situation turned out alright. Nidoking, which was charging forward, lashed the ground with its tail, barely changing its course and narrowly missing the white sea lion...

"Use Blizzard!" But just then, the white sea lion, awakened from its slumber, unleashed a torrent of snowflakes without hesitation!

Under the influence of the hail, Nidoking's body was instantly engulfed by endless frost!

"This... Is Ash being suppressed?" Misty couldn't help but worry upon seeing this.

"Sleeping and talking in his sleep, and he even drew a one-hit kill move. Anyone would find it very troublesome to face him." Xiao Gang couldn't help but sigh. Uncle Liu's fighting style was simply unreasonable and powerful!

“The hailstorm before was also foreshadowing, to ensure that the blizzard would hit immediately when the Dew Lion woke up... Now, it’s up to you how you’re going to deal with it, brother.” Lila’s expression changed slightly. Ash’s disadvantage made her a little concerned, but she wasn’t worried.

She now secretly admired Liu Bo; he was definitely the most powerful gym leader she had ever met.

"Don't worry, Ash will be fine... You can tell from his expression." In contrast, Blue remained absolutely confident.

And just as she said, Xiaozhi's expression remained calm, seemingly completely unconcerned about his current predicament.

His eyes were like analytical lasers, completely seeing through everything about Uncle Liu!

Now, it's time to fight back!

Chapter 547 One-Punch Kirby, Rejecting Fancy Tactics

"How was that, Ash? This is the power of me and Dewprik!"

Having gained the upper hand with his trump card, Uncle Liu appeared brimming with confidence.

Sleeping Ice and Snow—that's his signature battle tactic, and it's disgusted countless trainers who came to challenge him.

"A brilliant tactic," Ash nodded approvingly, his expression unwavering. "I'm going to continue the attack... Flamethrower!"

"Roar!" King Nidoran let out a terrifying roar, and a wave of heat swept through the area once again!

"White Sea Lion... let's use a blizzard to fight it off!" Uncle Liu hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to let the White Sea Lion blow out a blizzard to withstand the attack.

Nidoking's Flamethrower was fast and urgent, and the pool on the field had been frozen by the previous blizzard, so Lipton was not confident that he could dodge the attack.

In a battle between masters, a single mistake can decide the outcome!