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

Chapter 472 Battle in the Sky

After a fun-filled day at the Wings Festival, Ash's Lewy Gym battle finally arrived.

Early in the morning, they followed the gym staff to the Inoyu Gym's exclusive battle arena, a man-made tower located in a forest near the city.

As a man-made structure, its height is even greater than the surrounding hills, and Ash and his friends are about to have a battle at the top of the tower.

When Ash and his friends arrived, Nakie had already been waiting there for a long time.

This was a pre-arranged match. Neither side exchanged many words; they simply smiled at each other and then went to their respective positions.

Once both sides were in position, the referee waved the flag, and the platforms beneath Ash and Natchet's feet began to rise simultaneously, only stopping mid-air.

"As expected of a gym famous for its Flying-type Pokémon, this is the most suitable position to command Pokémon in aerial combat on the battlefield."

Xiao Zhi looked at the device at his feet with great curiosity, a device he was seeing for the first time.

"Wow, Ash and Miss Naki are at such a high position."

"The wind must be really strong there. This is probably one of the gym's tests for challengers. I hope Ash will be alright?"

Xiaoyao felt that her legs would definitely go weak if she stood on it.

"Don't worry, sister, how could Ash be afraid of the wind at this height? You haven't forgotten how he carried us around and we almost got acrophobia, have you?"

"Besides, he's someone who just came back from space."

"Concern leads to confusion."

Before the match began, Naki, who was on the high platform, suddenly squatted down and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Great sky, grant us wings, grant us wings that are as powerful as any gale!"

"Then it guides us through the vast blue world, allowing us to flap our magnificent wings to our hearts' content!"

After shouting, she immediately stood up with her arms outstretched, raising her snow-white chin to face the blue sky and sunshine, like a prayer ritual before an ancient battle.

Ash's comment on this was, "Hmm~, I didn't expect the mature woman to have such a chuunibyou (delusional) side."

"You're such a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) kid." Naki blushed.

"This is a unique ritual of faith in the blue sky that is unique to our city of Yinyu —"

Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed a bit cringeworthy. It's only because Naki herself looks good that she did those moves; otherwise, it would have been incredibly awkward if someone else had done them.

"Ahem, anyway, let's start the match!" Naki said, trying to quickly change the subject.

As long as Ash doesn't send out his legendary Pokémon, Naki, known as the genius Flying Pokémon, is still very confident in her abilities.

She first sent out her starting Pokémon, Pelipper.

A large bird, pure white with a blue head and wingtips and a beak so big it took up half its body, appeared in the sky.

"Kick, kick."

Ash immediately sent out his first Pokémon.

"I choose you, Farfetch'd!"

"Duck!"

"Farfetch'd, isn't this a disadvantage for Ash?"

"Meow, you little bespectacled brat, why are you saying that?"

"My name is Xiaosheng, don't call me Glasses Little Brat!" Xiaosheng adjusted his glasses and angrily grabbed Miaomiao's ears.

Although she was a little annoyed, Xiaosheng still answered Miaomiao's question honestly.

"Because Ash's Farfetch'd is a special form of Farfetch'd from the Galar region, and its type is not Flying but pure Fighting."

"A pure Fighting-type Pokémon is naturally at a great disadvantage against a Water/Flying Pelipper."

"Now that you mention it, that farfalle duck does look a bit different from a regular farfalle duck."

At this moment, Kojiro, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, also exclaimed in surprise.

"Ash is so lucky to have caught a Farfetch'd from Galar in the Hoenn region."

Kojiro, who has been studying the migration patterns of Pokémon recently, naturally knows that some Pokémon from different regions will develop region-specific forms with unique abilities due to geographical barriers.

Such groups are often unable to move across regions, but there are still a very small number of individuals who, through various coincidences, have completed migrations that are normally impossible.

Such a situation is extremely rare to observe, yet Ash managed to encounter it and even capture the opponent.

Kojiro could only attribute it to Ash's incredible luck.

Naki, with her extensive knowledge, was naturally able to see that Ash and Farfetch'd were different from each other.

"This is a truly rare Pokémon. But Ash, are you serious? You sent out a Fighting-type Pokémon for the first one."

"Miss Nakia, as long as my Pokémon and I are full of fighting spirit, a mere type disadvantage is nothing. We will definitely win this battle!"

Even when faced with a situation that baffled his opponent, Ash remained fearless, after all, he was a master of type reversal.

Farfetch'd usually trains quietly, and it hasn't been used in any official battles since Ash caught it.

This can be considered its first battle, and Ash will definitely make it a perfect opening show.

"Farfetch'd, go! Use Wild Swing!"

"Duck!"

Farfetch'd is, after all, a bird Pokémon. Although it is a Fighting-type, it can still easily glide through the air for short periods thanks to its light body and wings.

When facing aerial combat, it will not be in a disadvantageous situation where it is constantly on the ground and vulnerable to attack because it cannot fly.

It leaped down from the railing of the high platform, quickly brandishing the thick, long green onion in its hand that was longer than its body, and swooped down towards the white-billed gull hovering in mid-air.

"Spider, tailwind!"

"Kick, kick!"

Faced with Farfetch'd's aggressive attack, Naki didn't panic. Instead, she calmly and collectedly issued orders to deal with it.

She likes to follow her own plan in battles.

With the flapping of its large wings, a mysterious gust of wind rose from behind the big-billed gull.

Despite the Farfetch'd's leek striking it fiercely, the Big-billed Gull withstood the blows thanks to its powerful defenses.

Suddenly, the wind whipped up by the toucan was strong enough to blow the farfalle duck back.

This forced Farfetch'd to abandon its attack and focus on maintaining its balance in the air.

"Now's your chance, Peacock, attack with your wings!"

Thanks to the tailwind, the Pelipper's speed will double for the next period of time!

The two Pokémon, which were originally about the same speed, suddenly became completely separated.

Accelerated by strong winds, the normally docile bigmouth gulls became as fast as lightning.

Its figure vanished instantly, making it impossible to predict where the next attack would come from.

At that moment, several deep marks, as if slashed by a large sword, appeared on the ground of the arena and on the high platform where the trainers stood.

This is the prelude to the peacock's attack; Naki has actually trained its wing attacks to be this powerful.

The green onion duck immediately folded its wings, held the green onion horizontally in front of its chest, and kept looking around, nervously assuming a defensive posture.

"Duck~"

"Calm down, Farfetch'd." Ash's voice immediately came from behind Farfetch'd, giving it courage.

"Close your eyes and use Focus! Use the same method you use to sense the Sceptile's Leaf Blade during training to feel the direction of the Pelipper's attack!"

"Oh, you dare to close your eyes when faced with the risk of being instantly defeated by my Pelipper?"

Naki found Ash and his Pokémon increasingly interesting.

"Spider, now's the time, attack!"

"Farfetch'd defense!"

Although Farfetch'd hasn't been with Ash for very long and its training isn't quite up to par, Ash is still willing to wholeheartedly believe in his Pokémon.

This is how the bond between humans and Pokémon is established.

Sensing the emotions conveyed by its trainer, Farfetch'd responded with all its might, and after a moment of tranquility, it immediately entered flow mode.

The intuition he had honed through sparring with the Lizard King and the Great Swallow came into play instantly.

Da Cong swung behind him with a loud thud.

The peacock's wing attack was successfully blocked by the Farfetch'd.

"What? That's an amazing reaction!" Naki exclaimed in surprise.

Even Farfetch'd can switch from defense to offense in the blink of an eye.

The green onion, an extension of Farfetch'd's body, is sometimes soft and sometimes hard, and its attack angle changes unpredictably as Farfetch'd swings it.

"Wild swings and punches!"

At Ash's shout, Farfetch'd once again used its signature move, Wild Swipe, which instantly knocked Pelipper back.

It even managed to hit a vital spot.

"Wow, Farfetch'd is amazing! Ash, you've trained it exceptionally well!"

"You flatter me, Miss Naki, your Pelipper is also excellent."

At this moment, Ash silently counted in his mind, "One hit to the vital point."

This gull truly lives up to its name as Nachi's gull; its defense is outstanding. Even when hit by a powerful swipe that strikes a vital spot, it quickly regroups as if nothing happened.

Xiao Zhi was delighted to see this.

"Maybe today I can finally land those three critical hits on Farfetch'd's vital points for its evolution on this Pelipper!"

Just now, he had Farfetch'd use the Energy Gathering skill while defending, precisely to increase his chances of hitting a vital point by two levels.

After all, Farfetch'd's evolution conditions are too demanding; without using the Energy Gathering technique, it's hard to say when it would be completed.

In normal field battles, Farfetch'd's opponents are either too weak and can be knocked down with a single hit to a vital point.

Either it's too strong, or Farfetch'd can only be defeated by a righteous gang fight with its friends.

Sometimes you might even encounter vehicles that are going too fast.

Once an opponent escapes a certain range, Farfetch'd's battle judgment will be reset and refreshed, making it unable to complete the evolution judgment, as it is a natural warrior honed in Galar.

It's really not easy.

Therefore, Ash has high hopes for this gym battle!

As one of the strongest Gym Leaders in the Hoenn region, Nakia's Pokémon are strong and tough enough against Farfetch'd due to her type disadvantage, and she won't be easily defeated.

Furthermore, gym battles are one-on-one battles, and there is no possibility of a Pokémon running away during the battle.

It's one of the perfect places for Farfetch'd to evolve.

Of course, this was just the muscular man's pre-match fantasy; in a real fight, the situation could change in an instant.

Nakie is a mature woman who takes every battle very seriously, and she won't let her Pelipper be easily defeated by Farfetch'd.

"Ash, your Farfetch'd is really amazing, but this is a flying paradise!"

"Children who yearn for the sky will find shelter under the blue sky here. Let me show you the true power of the toucan!"

"Pegasus, use Hurricane!"

"Kick, kick!"

A glint flashed in the beak's sharp eyes, and it quickly began to circle the area while vigorously flapping its wings.

Suddenly, a strong wind arose in the air, disrupting the rhythm of the farfalle duck's flight.

"Is this what a storm is?"

Xiaoyao and the others watching from the sidelines quickly grabbed the chairs they were sitting on to prevent themselves from being sucked in by the storm.

This is a powerful special attack move of the Flying type with a power of 110.

Although it wasn't raining at the time, its hit rate was only 70%, but the large-scale spread of the storm across the area already had a huge impact.

"Fargo duck, fly upwards quickly and break out of the eye of the storm!"

"Duck!"

That's the downside of formal battles like Gym battles; there aren't many natural obstacles on the field, whether on the ground or in the air, for Pokémon to hide from.

Farfetch'd flapped its wings and flew upwards, but it was, after all, a duck, and a fighting duck at that.

How could a flight speed possibly exceed that of a gale?

At this moment, the Peacock increased its speed again, and the range of the storm instantly expanded, sweeping upwards, and Farfetch'd was sucked back in.

"Damn it, ducks can't fly very high after all."

Just then, Ash caught his hat, which was about to be blown away. His beastly instincts were instantly awakened, and his eyes locked onto the Pelipper, which was flapping its wings to hold back the storm, located diagonally below Farfetch'd.

"Farfetch'd, now's your chance! Throw that green onion like a boomerang into the eye of the storm and unleash a combo!"

"Duck? Duck!"

Upon hearing Ash's command, Farfetch'd was startled at first, then struggled to steady itself in the storm and immediately threw its giant green onion downwards.

This scallion is no ordinary scallion; it is thick, heavy, and tough, and the force generated by its rotation actually broke free from the constraints of the eye of the storm.

Even on the outskirts of the storm, pulled by the wind, it caught up with the beak that was circling and unable to escape due to its sustenance skills.

Soon, the spinning leek struck the bigmouth gull.

The leek spun around and struck the big-billed gull several times, one of its attacks hitting a vital spot again.

"What?" Naki exclaimed in disbelief.

"Kill!"

The gull was hit by the series of slashes and immediately paused in pain, the storm instantly dissipating.

"Okay, second time!"

Ash was very lucky in this battle, hitting vital points one after another.

"If we just do it one more time, we can switch Farfetch'd. When the battle ends, Farfetch'd will be able to evolve into Sirfetch'd."

With that in mind, Ash quickly issued another attack command to Farfetch'd.

"Farfetch'd, let's press our advantage and unleash the combo again!"

Although Pelipper can resist Bug-type combos, it can attack multiple times at once, increasing the chance of hitting a vital point.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the weak cry of the Farfetch'd could be heard from the center of the gradually dissipating storm.

The leek bounced back and was caught firmly in the leek duck's hand, but it was too exhausted to fight anymore.

Ash has rarely led Farfetch'd in tough battles, and he's forgotten that Farfetch'd is extremely fragile.

He cannot compare to the other seasoned, muscular Pokémon in his current team.

Farfetch'd, already fragile, was hit by Hurricane, a move that was weak to it. Under the terrifying power of the opponent's STAB move, Farfetch'd was immediately unable to battle.

It floated down to the ground, its eyes filled with mosquito coil circles.

"What? How could it end like this? I can't accept it!" Ash had been so hopeful.

"So close! — Oh, heavens, how cruel you are to me!"