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

"Hapoo, let's begin."

Upon hearing Ash's signal, Happu immediately announced, "Now begins the great test of the Island Tour. Tapu Fini, churning in the Poni Sea, please use the power of water—both its strength and gentleness—to help us purify our hearts and bodies."

She had no objection to Ash's blatant laziness; a devout believer would consider participating in the ritual a great honor.

"Challenger Kiawe needs to survive to the end in the grand trial and battle the final Pokémon of the Island King." Hapoo continued reading the rules, "The entire trial consists of three stages. In the first stage, the challenger needs to cooperate with their partner to make the Island King's Pokémon initiate the attack!"

"Mumpfish, go!" "Magoo~"

As soon as Hapoo finished speaking, Ash threw out a Poké Ball.

The Mudkip, who seemed to see through everything, leaped into the arena, and then... started slacking off.

"this…"

Seeing the opponent's complete lack of fighting spirit, Kachi suddenly had a bad feeling...

Chapter 775 The Captain's Qualities

Whether Ash's big test is difficult or not is debatable, but it definitely has pitfalls, and big ones at that.

Kachi was already deeply involved; he had spent so much time mentally preparing himself and finally mustered the fighting spirit…

The first problem we encountered was what to do if our opponent didn't want to fight.

What could he do?

Left with no other choice, Kiawe released Turtlemon, Charizard, and Marowak, and the four of them begged Mudkip around the fish.

Mudkip, however, always seemed to see through everything, only occasionally rubbing its skin.

"Is this test unsolvable?" Mao asked worriedly. "If Mudkip refuses to fight no matter what, won't Kaki be doomed to lose?"

"No, I left a signal for Mudkip. As long as Kiawe can match it, it will attack," Ash explained.

"The code... Ugh, this is so hard!" Kachi was so frustrated that he started pulling his hair.

The Mudkip ignored this and continued scratching its belly.

"Mumpmitv, please!" Kiawe suddenly bowed ninety degrees to Mudkip. "It took me a long time to make up my mind to finally accept Ash's great challenge. I gave it my all! Please... attack me!!"

"Magoo, Maguro~" Mudkip went even further this time, even yawning and sitting on the ground to pick at its toes.

If Kiawe could understand Pokémon, it would know that Mudkip was saying... "What do I care about your beliefs? And I'm really itchy right now!"

"Crawl! Crawl crawl!" Unfortunately, none of the four challengers on the field got the Mudkip's warning. Instead, Crawl was enraged and swung its bone club at Mudkip, unleashing a barrage of angry curses.

Judging from the expressions of the Pokémon present, you can tell that the insults it hurled must have been extremely offensive, the kind with a very high level of profanity.

But Mudkip remained unmoved. Ash had trained it to be very calm, and such verbal attacks couldn't possibly disturb its composure.

"Marauder!" Finally, the hot-tempered Marauder swung Shadow Bone at Mudkip!

"Garra garra, no..."

"Magul!" Before Kachi could stop him, Mudkip immediately glared, dodging the attack in an instant, and at the same time, raised his hand to summon a surging wave!

This reversal undoubtedly startled everyone. Turtlemon and Charizard hurriedly spewed flames to defend themselves, and the entire area was instantly filled with water vapor.

But when the thick fog dissipated, Mudkip had already approached the Marsh, and a powerful Waterfall slammed into it!

"Gala!"

With a pitiful scream, the Mudkip effect activated, and it was helpless as the Mudkip pinned its head to the ground!

And it even added an earthquake as a bonus!

Boom!

After the field shook, Mudkip retreated to its own half, still maintaining its offensive posture.

The heavily damaged Galahad was so bad that it could barely stand!

"Kachi, quickly recall all the Pokémon!" At this moment, an old voice suddenly reminded him.

“Okay, Grandpa… no! Grandpa?!” Kachi answered subconsciously, but his eyes widened the next second!

In the mist surrounding Tapu Fini, he actually saw an old man with a hairstyle and skin color similar to his own—none other than his deceased grandfather, the former king of Akala Island!

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you...?"

"Hurry up and take the Pokémon back!!" The old man didn't have time to explain; he just kept urging Kiawe.

Meanwhile, in the arena, the Mudkip once again stirred up a massive wave!

"Come back quickly!" Kachi didn't have time to think and recalled all his companions before the ultimate move could be unleashed.

"Okay, first stage passed." Xiao Zhi announced the result, then turned to the old man on the sidelines, "Grandpa, giving hints from the sidelines is a bit unfair."

"Xiao Zhi, please forgive him~" The old man grinned. "My grandson is a straight man; he can't understand the intricacies of your test."

"Oh well, he already passed the test before that anyway." Ash shrugged indifferently.

"Ash... what exactly happened? Why did Grandpa..." Kiawe's voice trembled noticeably.

“Your grandfather’s soul was summoned by Tapu Fini’s mist,” Happu explained on his behalf. “This was arranged by Ash, who wanted him to see how you’ve grown.”

"Ash, you..." Kiawe's eyes were filled with emotion.

The test was paused for a while, and Ash let Kiawe catch up with his grandfather.

Meanwhile, the students on the sidelines were discussing the content of the first round.

"Why does Kiawe have to recall the Pokémon? Wouldn't it be better to continue battling?" Mamane asked, puzzled.

"Maybe they're trying to conserve their strength," Lillie guessed. "Ash's rule is that Kiawe has to survive three rounds and then battle his final Pokémon, so Mudkip isn't the one they need to defeat, so they can't waste their strength here."

“That’s right, these are the rules.” Molly, the team leader, added, “When the team leader is guiding the trial, they must understand the rules. They also need to coordinate with the Totem. Ash’s Mudkip is playing the role of a disobedient Totem that doesn’t want to take the trial. It’s actually been sending signals to Kiawe all along.”

"The signal is... it's been scratching itself." Lily realized. "Mumpfish needs to keep its skin moist, but its skin is a bit dry, and it's hoping Ketchum can solve that problem!"

“Correct~” Jasmine nodded approvingly. “Actually, as long as you give Mudkip a mud treatment, it will be willing to fight. Marowak has found another way to beat the game... It just makes Mudkip’s attacks more ferocious.”

"So that's it."

Jasmine's explanation enlightened the students, and they realized that Ash was teaching Kiawe how to be a competent captain.

When dealing with a dominant Pokémon, you either have to cater to its preferences or overwhelm it with sheer power. These are the only two solutions.

Kaki was too eager to fight and didn't carefully observe the Mudkip's situation. In addition, with the addition of the newly captured Marowak, the hard mode was unlocked without any suspense.

The students were still chattering away, but Mao, unusually, didn't join in.

She kept an eye on Ketchum's interaction with her grandfather, and her gaze would occasionally drift to Tapu Fizz.

Can that mysterious mist really allow people to see their deceased loved ones...?

"Ash, let's continue the test!" A moment later, encouraged by his grandfather, Kiawe rallied and stepped onto the battlefield once more.

Ash was already waiting for him, and the Pokémon on the field had been replaced with Crawdron.

"For the second challenge, the challenger must send out a Pokémon to survive three attacks from Crawdible. Friendly reminder: the three attacks may not be consecutive; other attacks may be interspersed in between," Hapoo immediately announced the rules.

"Iron Claw Lobster?" Kachi's eyes lit up immediately. "Then I'll send Blazing Turtle Beast!"

He felt confident that he had the upper hand. In his early years, Blazing Turtle had developed a friendship with a Clawed Lobster from a rivalry, and they were very familiar with each other's fighting styles.

"start!"

"Crawdeck, go!" With Happu's command, Ash immediately directed Crawdeck to charge.

"Blazing Turtle, lure it over, use the trap shell... What?" Kachi confidently commanded the Blazing Turtle to turn around, only to find that the Iron Claw Lobster hadn't even turned on its water jet; it had simply controlled its speed as it ran over.

It easily bypassed the Blazing Turtle Beast's shell and directly confronted it at close range!

Crab Fist!

Bang!

The powerful blow caused the Blazing Tortoise Beast to see stars.

"Oh no, quickly use Iron Wall..."

"Too late, use provocation! Then unleash a barrage of crab punches!"

Bang!Bang!

A single swear word provoked the Blazing Turtle Beast to peek out, and then it opened fire with its two giant pincers.

After Ironclaw Lobster finished its job, Blazing Turtlemon was in even worse shape than Marowak had been...

And this was only because the Iron Claw Lobster had held back its strength; otherwise, the Blazing Tortoise would have been dead by now.

"This kind of mistake is really unacceptable!" Ash's face showed a hint of displeasure. "Once you become a captain, you'll encounter all sorts of challengers. Even with the same Pokémon, there might be different fighting styles. You absolutely can't let your experience make you careless!"

The iron claw lobster is best known for its three signature moves.

But who says that these three blows have to be water spray to knock down the crab's fist?

For creatures like the Blazing Turtle, there's absolutely no need for the small hammer to pry open the cracks; a big hammer will do the trick!

Chapter 776 The Final Barrier, the Flames of the Mythical Beasts!

"I'm sorry... Ash, it was my oversight."