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

Chapter 430 Michael's Advice

Finally, four people remained to decide who would receive the Akiba Tournament Ribbon Medal.

In the first match, Xiaoyao decisively demonstrated the results of her hard work over this period.

She defeated her opponent's Pokémon, Sweetie, which looked like a giant blue glowworm, with incredible ease.

"Well done, Haruka."

"But all of my sister's moves look so familiar."

"Haha, being good at learning is an advantage! Win next time, Haruka!"

"Ash, Max, I'll definitely win in the end!"

Seeing Ash and the others cheering from the sidelines, May immediately responded in a cute and adorable way.

She just needed to get back to the players' lounge immediately.

Next up is a spectacular battle between Shun and Grace.

"Ash, who do you think will win?" Brock asked curiously, looking at the two players on the field.

"They are both athletes with three ribbon medals, so their strength should be about the same—"

"I think Grace has a better chance of winning."

"Hey, why?"

"Just my gut feeling."

Ash was deeply impressed by Grace's Medicham's psychic power, which could easily cover the entire venue; her strength is definitely not to be underestimated.

Even though Green Hair has been working very hard these past few days, Ash still feels that he's still lacking something.

As expected, once their battle began, Poison Rose was suppressed by Çalhan.

Although Shun and Poison Rose are more stylish in their moves, they are significantly weaker in terms of raw power.

With his superior speed and formidable strength, Çalhöyük is gradually taking control of the entire battle.

Every time Poison Rose elegantly unleashes a gorgeous attack on her opponent, it is countered by Charem's Hardened Disarm.

Especially Çalem's unreasonable psychic power, which can even forcibly stop and bounce off the petal dance of the Poison Rose.

However, Shun's excellent coordination skills were also evident at this moment.

Even when the battle is going badly, Poison Rose can still fully demonstrate her charm on the battlefield with her elegant movements and highly entertaining combos.

Therefore, the two sides remain neck and neck in terms of scores.

But soon things took a turn for the better when Xiaoshun broke the deadlock.

The five-minute time limit for the game is about to expire, and he needs to quickly regain the initiative on his side.

"This can't go on any longer, shine, Poison Rose!"

After dodging Medicham's Freeze Punch, he immediately had Roselia begin gathering its strongest Grass-type move, Solar Beam.

But it was this blazing sunlight that gave Grace an opportunity; the red-haired girl with twin ponytails happily tossed her two long braids around.

"Charem, unleash a barrage of Freeze Punches on the ground!"

"Rem!"

"What is she trying to do by launching such a fierce attack on the ground?"

The surrounding audience couldn't understand, but Grace crossed her arms and looked completely confident.

The arena was instantly frozen by Çalem's swift Freeze Punch, with several thick ice spikes piercing the ground.

At this moment, the Poison Rose's Sunfire finally finished charging and was launched rapidly toward Çalem.

The seemingly incredibly fast and powerful beam of light was surprisingly deflected by the smooth, mirror-like surface of the ice cone just as it was about to strike the large ice cone on the field.

"How is this possible?" Xiao Shun exclaimed in disbelief.

Several different ice cones were arranged at an astonishing angle, reflecting the rays of the blazing sunlight one after another, and then striking directly at the poisonous rose itself.

All of this happened so quickly that Xiao Shun and Poison Rose didn't have time to react before they were hit by the solar flames they had fired and screamed in pain.

"Now! Çalhanoğlus Flying Knee Strike!"

"Rem!"

With a squatting motion, Çalhan launched an attack, instantly closing in on Poison Rose.

The swift and merciless attack was very much in the style of Ash, which instantly triggered the conditioned reflexes that Shun had developed over the past few days.

He quickly shouted for Poison Rose to get out of the way, but unfortunately, the damage from the intense sunlight had greatly hampered Poison Rose's movements.

The glowing knee struck Poison Rose squarely in the chin, sending her flying and knocking her head to the side, rendering her unable to fight.

Three dull referee bells rang immediately, and Xiao Shun's points were deducted in an instant.

Xiao Shun and Du Qiangwei are eliminated.

"Thank you for your hard work, Poison Rose. You look beautiful when you try your best."

After shaking hands with his opponent, Xiao Shun left gracefully.

"I've lost a battle for the second time now—"

Xiao Shun clenched his fist, which strengthened his resolve to continue improving his strength.

Meanwhile, Xiaoyao, who had watched the entire match on the TV in the lounge, exclaimed in surprise.

"That arrogant little Shun actually lost so decisively."

You should know that it took a lot of effort for Haruka to defeat Shun last time.

Now, even Haruka can see that Shun's strength has increased, yet he has lost even more thoroughly to Grace.

"It seems Miss Grace will indeed be a formidable opponent."

But now that we've finally reached the final stage of the competition for the Ribbon Medal, we absolutely cannot lose!

Xiaoyao patted her pretty face with both hands and mustered up her courage to walk onto the stage.

Next, it will be her turn to fight Miss Grace.

This is on the battlefield.

Seeing the cute face on the other side and the little hands trembling slightly with nervousness, Grace once again flashed her signature funny smile and burst into hearty laughter.

"Xiaoyao, I knew you would be an interesting opponent when I first saw you, and now I've finally met my match."

"Let's have a spectacular battle!"

"Yes, I am Miss Grace, who will never lose!"

Both sides immediately dispatched their own Çalhana and Hunting Butterfly.

As soon as the battle began, the two Pokémon rushed towards each other and unleashed their strongest moves.

"Charem, Psychic!"

"Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly, Silver Whirlwind!"

The silver whirlwind, shimmering with beautiful light, had just risen when telekinesis instantly arrived, forcefully bending its angle upwards to 90 degrees.

"Wow, what powerful psychic abilities! Grace perfectly neutralized Haruka's attack!"

However, no sooner had Miss Vivian, the host, finished speaking than another silver whirlwind from the Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly struck.

In terms of battle experience, May has accumulated a very solid foundation because she has always been with Ash.

Faced with what seemed to be an unsolvable psychic power, it immediately noticed the barely perceptible strain on Çalem's face.

"It won't be easy for Charem to reverse the Silver Whirlwind's elemental advantage. As long as the attack frequency is high enough, it will definitely be able to disrupt the opponent's rhythm of using Nen."

"Hunting Butterfly, use Silver Whirlwind continuously, don't stop attacking!"

"Oops!"

"Seriously, why are you so enthusiastic, Haruka? Charemy uses a yoga pose to dodge!"

"Rem!"

Both Pokémon moved quickly and attacked fiercely, making it seem less like a flashy battle and more like an ordinary one.

But in the back-and-forth exchanges, the two Pokémon's precise control over their respective skills presented a pleasing spectacle, making it feel like a truly magnificent battle.

However, in such a closely contested match, the score will not change.

"Has half the time already passed?"

After glancing at the large screen in the center of the court, Grace immediately decided to intensify her attack.

"Charemie pose, followed by Freeze Punch!"

Çalem quickly assumed a meditation posture, his entire body radiating a dazzling blue light as he floated into the air.

Before the blue light on its body had even dissipated, the Freeze Punch swung down heavily.

The surrounding ice shards were empowered by the power of yoga, and a beautiful, icy blue fist shadow flew out.

The Freeze Punch actually turned into a ranged attack, and this spectacular strike caused May's score to drop significantly.

Ash, watching from the sidelines, was quite surprised. "You can use Ice Punch like that? Not bad, looks like I can use it next time."

The set of movements was so fluid and graceful that even Vivian couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Wow, what a beautiful combination move! How should Haruka respond?"

"Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly, spins silk, unleashes a fierce storm!"

Haruka also used her combo attack. Her entire body began to spin continuously, and the raging storm behind her became a propulsion device, pushing her down rapidly from the sky.

The colorful figure flew quickly across the field, while a powerful thread was spat out from its long mouth, spiraling forward and catching all the flying ice shards.

"What? The silk threads of the Swallowtail butterfly are so tough?"

Grace was beyond her comprehension to have managed to hold off Charem's Freeze Punch without being torn apart.

The silk threads of the hunting swallowtail butterfly still shimmered, catching the fist shadow and flinging it back.

This time, Çalhan's attack hit himself.

Grace's score was immediately reduced by one section.

However, Grace and Çalem had not lost their composure, and she immediately reacted.

"Charem, use a yoga pose to dodge immediately!"

At the critical moment, the fist landed, and dust flew up on the field, leaving a large hole.

However, Çalam had already used a yoga pose to send it flying out of the attack range.

It came to a steady stop in mid-air, minimizing any potential point deductions.

"Ah, we almost turned the score around! Butterfly Hunting Charge!"

"I won't let you succeed, Medicham's Nen!"

The Hunting Butterfly, which was originally charging straight towards Çalem, was suddenly frozen in place, as if time had stopped.

Superpowers are still too unreasonable in one-on-one battles.

However, as Grace said before, the outcome of a Grand Contest depends not only on the contestants' experience, but also on luck and the type matchups between Pokémon.

This time, she was just unlucky. Her Bug/Flying type, Butterfree, completely countered her Fighting/Psychic type, Medicham.

This attack was intentionally orchestrated by Haruka, allowing the Hunting Butterfly to get close.

"When Charem's psychic powers are applied to Butterfree, there is indeed a noticeable pause."

At this moment, Çalam had already stretched out his hands in preparation for using his telekinesis, and Haruka's opportunity had arrived.

"Hunting Butterfly, use your two wings to create a silver whirlwind and subdue Charem!"

Even when immobilized by telekinesis, insect-attribute energy can still circulate within the Hunting Butterfly's body.

Two powerful whirlwinds were suddenly released from its two wings, breaking through Çalam's psychic blockade.

Two dazzling whirlwinds swept through the hall, their restrained yet powerful force firmly binding Çalam's two hands, completely locking its body in place.

Grace lost another section of her score.

"Now! Hunt the swallowtail butterflies and their chirping!"

The hunting swallowtail butterfly's previously curved mouthparts straightened instantly, releasing a melodious sound.

Ordinary insect chirps are hardly pleasant to hear, but the chirps released by Haruka's Hunting Butterfly are exceptionally melodious.

This was clearly something May and Beautifly had practiced specifically for the Grand Contest, and the results were naturally quite impressive.

Fierce silver whirlwinds swept past on both sides, with melodious waves of energy striking Çalem in succession.

This combination of techniques caused Grace's score to plummet.

But Çalem just couldn't break free for a while, and then the time limit for the Spectacular Battle finally came to an end.

"The bell rings, the battle ends!"

As Vivian's voice faded, the final scoreboards on the big screen froze at the point where Haruka had lost half her points and Grace had lost eighty percent.

The final victory belongs to Haruka!

Grace's image instantly disappeared, leaving only Haruka's bright smiling face.

"—So, we won?"

At first, Xiaoyao was a little incredulous, but then a wave of ecstasy washed over her.

"Great! Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly, you really tried your best, we won!"

"Oops!"

Today, Xiaoyao received her first ribbon medal.

Even after the awards ceremony ended and Xiaoshun and Grace came to say goodbye, she still hadn't recovered from her excitement.

"Ash, Max, look! My ribbon badge!"

"Yes, congratulations, Yao! This is a big step in your life."

"Sister, you've been holding that ribbon medal and looking at it for ages. It's time to put it away."

"If you carelessly drop it somewhere and can't get it back, you'll be crying."

"Xiao Sheng, can't you wish me something good? Humph!"

However, after being reminded by Xiaosheng, Xiaoyao reluctantly put the Autumn Leaf Ribbon Medal into the badge box her father had given her.

She then carefully placed the box in her shirt pocket, and then patted it to make sure it was really there.

"Sis, isn't that a bit much?"

Seeing her like this, Xiao Sheng always felt that her older sister was overreacting.

However, Ash could understand May's feelings at that moment.

"No, not at all. This is the first ribbon medal."

"Yes, the first ribbon medal in one's life has a very special commemorative significance for a Coordinator."

"I still keep my first ribbon medal safe and sound."

The sudden sound startled the group who were walking back to the Pokémon Center.

With a quick scan, Xiaozhi immediately recognized the newcomer.

"Mr. Michael, you're still here."

Indeed, the strange man who appeared before them, completely covered up, was none other than Mikoli, who had not yet left.

He carefully checked that no one else was around before removing some of his disguise, revealing his handsome face underneath.

"I was just about to leave, but I suddenly remembered something important, so I came back to find you."

As he spoke, he happily gave Xiaoyao a thumbs up.

"Haruka, you did a fantastic job at the Grand Contest! All your hard work these past few days has paid off. I'm so proud of you."

""

"Thank you, Mr. Michael, this is all thanks to your guidance."

"But what brings you here?"

Well...

Suddenly, Mikuri looked at Ash.

"Ash, you once caught a black Rayquaza, but now you can't find it, right?"

That's right.

After Ash parted ways with Sisley, he went to great lengths to try and summon his NecroKing back.

After all, it's for the future of the Hoenn League and the world. If Rayquaza can be found, then the subsequent resolution of the meteor crisis can be done in the most orthodox and risk-free way.

Although Ash thought that having him directly smash the meteorite was a good idea, he couldn't resist the fact that others were afraid, so he had to compromise a little.

Unfortunately, no matter what Ash does to the Tri-Orifice, he can't summon back the Nugget he loves so much.

This made Ash quite sad.

However, at this moment, Mikuri suddenly smiled and said to Ash.

"Do you want to get it back? If so, I have a way."