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

Boom!

The two energies of cold and heat intertwined once again, but this time the battle became evenly matched... Just as Liu Bo was wondering why his opponent was not going all out, Nidoking suddenly activated, crashing headlong through the mist of intertwined special moves, and braving the remaining wind and snow to rush to the front of Dew Lion!

"Big Blast!!" The extremely oppressive flames crashed down again, and the white sea lion felt as if it had been thrown into a volcano, its entire body about to melt from the heat.

"Freeze yourself with a blizzard! Then go to sleep immediately!" Uncle Liu had no choice but to have the white sea lion create ice layers to block the damage.

Nidoking's close-range attack, risking injury, caught Lyubo off guard. The white sea lion had no room to hide and could only stand still and endure the attack.

But even if Uncle Liu is reckless, he can't let the white sea lion sleep in front of him without any defenses. Freezing his body is undoubtedly the best option...

Little did they know, this was exactly what Xiao Zhi had planned!

"play off!"

"What?!" Seeing Nidoking make the universal hand gesture to the white sea lion through the ice, Liu Bo's expression froze.

After his outburst of anger, the white sea lion found himself unable to sleep for the time being, and all he wanted to do was blow up a blizzard and kill the guy opposite him!

The problem is, it's currently frozen solid. It needs to break through the ice layer on its surface before it can create space to attack its opponent!

"Gas-gathering bomb!"

Clearly, the white sea lion has no chance.

Nidoking's palm shone brightly, and Fighting-type energy quickly solidified into a sphere, which it pressed with all its might towards the ice sculpture in front of it!

Boom! !

The ice shattered into powder in an instant, and the rampaging energy swept wildly through the white sea lion's body, blasting it away without any doubt!

"White Sea Lion!!" Uncle Liu cried out in alarm, clearly seeing that the white sea lion had been severely injured!

Focus Blast is undoubtedly the strongest special attack of the Fighting type, and it also comes with additional effects. After being boosted by Life Orb, it can deal devastating damage to Ice types!

"Big Flame!" Ash's attack was not over yet. Nidoking accurately predicted Dewpriest's flight path and unleashed another scorching flame!

The hailstorm had long since stopped, and the white sea lion couldn't even mount a precise counterattack. As it landed, it was completely engulfed by a large explosion.

"White sea lion... come back, you've already tried your best."

The situation suddenly reversed, and Liu Bo was a little stunned, but he quickly recalled his partner who could no longer fight.

He looked at Ash intently, as if re-examining the boy who was battling him.

Ash is undoubtedly powerful. Whether it's the strength level of his Pokémon or his command ability to adapt to different moves in battle, he is outstanding. It's no exaggeration to say that he is the strongest among his peers.

However, Liu Bo now discovers that Ash's true strength lies in the synergy between him and his Pokémon!

He always gave instructions in the most concise way, but even if he only said the name of a special move, Nidoking could make accurate judgments, knowing how to launch an attack and to what extent to control the power of the special move.

To achieve this, Pokémon are undoubtedly gifted, but the trainers must also put in a tremendous amount of daily effort.

Only trust forged through countless trials can give rise to such tacit understanding…

Unfortunately… Uncle Liu sighed helplessly to himself.

This time, he probably won't be able to meet Ash's expectations.

"Next up is the second one, the long-haired boar you saved before, it's already in a new form!" Uncle Liu threw out another Poké Ball, "Please, Mamoswine!"

"Hmph~" The mountain-sized object landed in the arena, instantly scattering a cloud of ice crystals.

Ash's only impression of this Ice-type Mammoth, with its massive size and huge tusks, is that it was the main handheld Pokémon in the Diamond & Pearl anime's Temple of Light.

On a side note, this shows Sinnoh's unique and inclusive attitude towards Grand Contests.

If this were in Hoenn, with a lump the size of a mammoth, its debut performance would be a complete disaster.

Getting back to the main point, while the evolution of Mamoswine is novel, its power is indeed not satisfactory to Ash... because it is not as good as the previous Dewl.

After all, it was frozen for such a long time, and this period of stagnation cannot be recovered simply through evolution.

"Big Fire!" Nidoking starts with a fire breath, unsurprisingly using the same move again.

"Ivory Boar, use Shadow Clone after the hail!" Uncle Liu seemed to have anticipated this, and immediately had the Ivory Boar activate the snowy weather, which then created a series of shadowy clones!

Nidoking's Explosion burned everything in its path, but ended up burning nothing. Meanwhile, as the snowflakes drifted down, Mamoswine's enormous body began to appear and disappear.

"Snow Cloak ability... Use Blizzard!" Since the opponent has activated the weather, Ash will naturally make good use of it. Ice-type moves hurt Mamoswine much more than they hurt Dewl!

"Ivory Boar, we'll use Blizzard too!" Sure enough, Uncle Liu still chose to use his ultimate move to counterattack.

The clones in the field simultaneously unleashed a blizzard, completely blocking Nidoking's attack path!

"Next, use an earthquake!"

"Jump up, then come back!"

Ash had anticipated Mamoswine's sudden attack. Just as the opponent's big feet slammed down, Nidoking leaped up first and was immediately retrieved into Ash's Poké Ball.

"You did a great job, that was fantastic." Ash gently stroked the Poké Ball to encourage him.

By taking down Dewl and revealing four of Mamoswine's moves, Nidoking's starting performance was nothing short of perfect.

"You're the one to end this battle, Snorlax!"

Having fought this far, Ash didn't want to drag it out any longer, so he sent out his second Pokémon, a super-achiever who loves to eat but isn't lazy!

"Snorlax... Mamoswine, use Earthquake!"

"Jump up, DD Golden Hook Arm!"

As soon as it entered the arena, Snorlax's performance completely shocked Liu Bo.

It's one thing for agile Pokémon to be able to jump, but Liu Bo never expected that a Pokémon of this size could also jump, thus minimizing the damage from the earthquake!

Moreover, this creature was incredibly fast. Once it started spinning like a top, it closed the distance to the ivory pig at an astonishing speed.

Even though Liu Bo managed to get the Ivory Boar to use Shadow Clone and Blizzard in time, the opponent still managed to shatter all the clones one by one with each arm, and the Blizzard it spewed out was also nonchalantly blocked.

Soon, only the ivory pigs, with nowhere to hide, remained in the arena!

"Yawn!" "Haa...ka~"

Snorlax opened its mouth wide, and a yawn bubble landed directly on Mamoswine's face.

"It's over..." Seeing this, Uncle Liu completely gave up struggling.

He has already used up all his special moves, and there are no replacements, so all that's left is to lose!

"Abdominal Drum! Qi Coordinated Fist!"

"Kirby!"

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Snorlax's small eyes. It slapped its belly hard, using the pain to boost its attack power to the limit!

Its other hand was already clenched into a fist, and then it blasted out with all its might!

Boom! !

The ice layer of the entire battlefield suddenly shattered, and countless dense cracks began to spread in all directions, some even extending to the nearby walls!

"Ivory pig!!"

Uncle Liu screamed with his eyes tightly shut, but then he discovered that the ivory pig was completely unharmed.

Ash stopped at the last moment, and Snorlax's fist only slammed into the ground...

But without a doubt, the outcome is already decided!

Chapter 548 Ash's Classroom: Pokémon Strength Analysis

"I've lost, Ash. Please accept the Ice Badge."

Having confirmed that Mamoswine had not been harmed, Uncle Liu readily conceded defeat and handed the seventh badge to Ash.

"Also, I want to thank you for the battle just now."

Uncle Liu should indeed thank Ash. To him, Mamoswine is like family... Back then, he even risked being burned by the opponent's flames to save Mamoswine.

Even in gym battles, Uncle Liu doesn't want Mamoswine to suffer too much damage.

"Now that the battle is over, there's no need to continue attacking," Ash said nonchalantly. "Besides, I also took advantage of the rules, so it wasn't exactly a fair fight."

Ash realized his expectations were wrong; the no-trade rule in gym battles really does affect battles where you're giving it your all.

For a trainer of Liu Bo's caliber, it's common sense that they should switch out after being yawned.

However, due to the rules set by the zoo owner, he could only let the ivory pigs become targets.

"Hearing you say that makes me feel even more ashamed." Uncle Liu waved his hand apologetically. "Xiao Zhi, I'm sorry I can't meet your expectations."

He now knows what Ash needs, but with his current strength, he can't even become that stepping stone.

"Please don't say that, it's my own problem." Ash shook his head earnestly. "Today was indeed a good battle. Your strength as the Gym Leader is beyond doubt, and it really gave my Pokémon a great workout."

As the curator in charge of the seventh badge, Uncle Liu was certainly qualified.

To be fair, neither his status as a gym leader nor his strength below the Elite Four level could put too much pressure on Ash.

Naturally, this fight was as 'simple and unpretentious' as before, and it ended with a single punch in the end.

...

After leaving the Kajitsu Gym, Ash and his friends were very quiet, each of them seemingly deep in thought.