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

Since Milotic carries Leech Seed, its stamina will keep decreasing, and Toxic won't affect Steel-types, so Skarmory will definitely have the advantage in the end.

"Mildano, Whirlpool! Then come back!" Ash could also plan all of this. He didn't linger in the battle and finished it off with a single Whirlpool.

"Snorlax, please do it one more time!"

"Skeleton, come back after you've provoked me!" Steven didn't want Skarmory to face off against Snorlax. In fact, many of his Pokémon had a lot of trouble when they encountered Snorlax.

Although Snorlax only revealed two weak moves, Desire and Knock Off, it is incredibly resilient. If it gets caught in its path, it will be worn down to death.

In Daigo's opinion, Ash's frequent use of Snorlax is probably an attempt to lure out his Metagross.

Just like when he faced Metagross in the previous round, he wanted to wear down Metagross's stamina as much as possible so that his own Metagross could finish the job!

Of course, Steven couldn't let things unfold as Ash had planned, so he had to deal with the troublesome Snorlax first.

“In that case… I’ll leave it to you, Ancient Armor!” After a moment’s thought, Steven revealed his fourth Pokémon, another fossil from Hoenn.

"This one..." Ash's eyes darted around, and he decided to keep Snorlax on the field.

The Ancient Armor is probably after the TuTu Helmet, so let's just let it succeed.

"Snorlax, shoot it down!" Ash launched the first attack after the opponent took its position.

"Ancient Armor, Water Jet!" As a slow Pokémon, Steven's Ancient Armor was indeed equipped with a priority movement move. It was enveloped in a fierce water jet and dodged the stone bullet attack with a single acceleration.

However, the Ancient Armor did not collide with Snorlax; instead, it bypassed it and went around to the back!

"Use the slap!" The reflected damage from the convex helmet is real, and Daigo must make sure that every bit of his energy is spent in the right place.

Bang!

The Ancient Armor swung its claws and slammed them heavily onto Snorlax's back, sending the Bumpy Helmet flying!

"Snorlax, turn around and hug it!" Unexpectedly, Snorlax did not attack. Instead, it turned around at an extremely fast speed, opened its arms, and hugged the Ancient Armor tightly!

"This... Ancient Armor, kick it down right now!" Because of Ancient Armor's earlier flanking maneuver, Snorlax is now blocking their path, leaving them no room to catch the ball!

Steven instinctively sensed something was wrong and quickly had his Ancient Armor unleash a Fighting move that was extremely damaging to Snorlax, in an attempt to break free of its restraints.

"Snorlax... Double the payback!" "Snorlax!"

"Oops…"

Snorlax was struck hard on the foot by the Ancient Armor, but it stubbornly refused to fall and instead returned the damage even more violently!

Bang! !

The ancient armor was slammed into the ground by a powerful force, and its health bar was instantly emptied!

Ash's Snorlax has always focused on training its HP rather than its defense. This allows it to withstand a significant amount of damage and makes it well-suited for counter-attack tactics.

However, it rarely uses this fighting style because it hurts to be hit, it doesn't require much skill, and most importantly, it's troublesome to wait for the opponent to make the first move.

Such unconventional tactics can be effective when used occasionally. Ancient Armor suffered from its own powerful attack, and Steven lost his second Pokémon as a result.

It's hard to say whether it's worth it for a helmet with a protruding design.

This is actually the difference between him and Ash; they are both looking for the key to breaking the deadlock, but they are aiming in two different directions.

Steven was single-mindedly focused on dealing with Snorlax. This champion-level fat monster, equipped with a bulging helmet, would affect the entire team's damage output and would also interfere with Metagross, so it had to be dealt with in advance.

Ash wants to take down all of Steven's Pokémon except Metagross!

Anyone will do, as long as Daigo's numbers are reduced to the maximum extent possible, our advantage will grow stronger and stronger.

Reducing the number of enemy personnel can compress the opponent's rotation space, making it increasingly difficult for Daigo to perform some tactical operations, while on the contrary, it allows oneself to more easily control the battle.

For example, right now, when Steven discovered that Snorlax had used up all four of its moves with a counterattack followed by a sleep, he immediately sent out Claydol, a special attacker. But Ash had already switched his partner to Greninja.

From now on, apart from Metagross, no one can force Greninja out of the battle.

"Psychic earth puppet, wall of light!"

Greninja, Water Shuriken!

"Use teleportation immediately! Then use Flash Magic!"

"Dodge it and then use Black Mist!"

The two sides clashed again. As Claydol erected a light wall, Greninja suddenly threw out a series of shurikens. The powerful shurikens rushed in at high speed before the light screen closed, almost hitting Claydol.

Upon seeing this, Daigo immediately commanded his psychic clay doll to teleport behind Greninja, its entire body shining with colorful light as it attempted to attack Greninja. However, Greninja cleverly dodged the attack, and then dragged the arena into complete darkness.

The once bustling arena suddenly became eerily quiet, as Greninja seemed to transform into a ghost lurking in the darkness, patiently searching for an opportunity to attack.

Ash was also waiting. Someone as cautious as Steven wouldn't leave a Claydol, who was at a significant disadvantage, on the field.

"Your turn, Skarmory!" Sure enough, Daigo sent out Skarmory again, and this time he didn't let it land.

"Water Shuriken!"

"Dodge and then provoke!"

The moment the Steel Bird's wings parted the mist, several shurikens flew swiftly towards it. Although the Steel Bird couldn't completely dodge them, it managed to successfully block Greninja's transformation moves.

"Let's just attack directly, use water shuriken continuously!"

"Dodge as much as possible, then use Iron Wall!"

It was another tug-of-war. Although the Skarmory had the advantage of flight, it was impossible for it to dodge all the continuous shuriken attacks.

However, Steven insisted on strengthening Skarmory's defense, and the provocations never stopped, precisely blocking Greninja's Black Mist move.

Ash probably already guessed what Steven's Skarmory's final move would be.

If we consider Skarmory's current maxed-out defense, that move could indeed potentially one-shot Greninja.

However, because it was constantly floating in the sky and dared not use its roost, the armored bird was extremely weak.

It's another tightrope walking duel, and they each only have one chance!

"Skeleton, provoke it and then charge down!" Finally, Daigo seemed to sense that the time had come.

After circling and mocking it in the air, the Skarmory suddenly folded its wings and swooped down, launching a final attack on the Greninja below!

Due to the influence of gravity, it fell faster and faster, almost like a shooting star about to hit the ground!

Greninja, use Water Shuriken!

"Dodge and use a pounce!" "Gah!"

With a hoarse cry, the armored bird spread its wings as it swooped down, dodging the shuriken attack with a few somersaults, and then spread its body to pounce on the Greninja that was right next to it!

Pounce, a powerful fighting move that calculates damage by replacing the attack with the user's own defense. Skarmory already has high physical defense, and it's been boosted to the limit, so this attack could definitely take down Greninja...

"A flash of lightning!" "Click!"

A flash of white light suddenly appeared on Greninja's body. Just as Skarmory was about to pounce, its body suddenly sprang forward, flashing to the side at almost instantaneous speed!

Boom!

The Skarmory crashed heavily to the ground, even creating huge cracks in the field... but it overlooked its most important target!

"Greninja, test the sword!"

Clang!

The blue figure, dragging a sharp, black blade, passed by the fallen armored bird.

In the archea's view, the last thing it saw was the red 'scarf' that brushed past its body...

Instant kill in a flash!

Chapter 954 The Fierce Battle Continues, Daigo's Plans

Another 3-0 score...

After several rounds of exchanges, Steven lost half of his team, and Ash's powerful offensive was astonishing.

"This feels really weird..." Rukia asked from the stands, puzzled. "It seems like Daigo is easier to beat than my uncle?"

"Because Ash gave it his all," Serena said with a smile.

"All-out... hasn't he always been giving it his all?" Xiaoyao was also completely confused.

Ash always says he'll give it his all in battle.

“Before, it was just his full strength as a trainer, but now it's the combined full strength of him and his partner!” Higanbana explained. “With only Steven left as their opponent, he no longer needs to hold back!”

The battle on the road to victory is too long. Ash only has one team, but he has to fight against three Elite Four members and two Champions, a total of thirty powerful Pokémon!

It's not good to attack too aggressively at the beginning; you'll definitely run out of steam later.

Using your best tactics from the start is also not a good idea, as it will give the opponents who come later time to prepare.

In fact, Ash has been changing his tactics ever since he embarked on the path to becoming a champion.

The fight against Fuyou was a direct confrontation, the fight against Genji was a confident team push, the defeat of Kagetsu involved continuous Ultimate U-turns, and finally, the defeat of Mikuri was achieved by using a spike trap…

Throughout the four battles, Ash's style kept changing, and no one could figure out his specific tactics!

At the same time, he rarely uses his Pokémon's best tactics. Milotic's Coil Hypnosis and Snorlax's Belly Drum Punch were only used when facing Wallace.

So to some extent, Rukia was right; Michael is indeed harder to beat than Daigo.

The difficulty in beating him lies in figuring out how to defeat a champion in the least strenuous way.