Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

"Yes, it's my own fault."

"But I only did it this once! Just this once! I didn't go with you!"

"You guys ran into Kona?!"

"If I had known earlier, I... I would have even given up Joe..."

Xiao Gang's voice suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.

His gaze swept quickly around the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

On the left is Miss Joy, distributing medicine to Chansey, with a warm smile.

On the right is Nurse Joy, who is registering trainers' information, and her smile is just as warm.

At this moment, Xiao Gang was facing the most severe philosophical question of his life.

If one sometimes receives the blessing of a rabbi, one can rewind time.

Is it Kona or Joey?

this is a problem.

He was pulling at his hair, muttering to himself.

"One is a gentle, healing type, like spring all year round; the other is a cold, powerful, and aloof type..."

"hateful!"

"How am I supposed to choose?! How am I supposed to choose?!"

Xiaoxia's lips twitched.

No way, you actually got elected?

She turned to Lillie, who had rarely seen such a scene, and whispered something to her.

"Don't be surprised, this person is always like this, you'll get used to it."

"I am indeed a little surprised."

Lillie nodded slightly, but her eyes didn't show much disdain; instead, they revealed a kind of sincere admiration.

"But to say something like that in public..."

"Mr. Xiaogang is really amazing in a way!"

......

Looking at the dejected Brock, Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center was quite troubled.

It's not that I have any fondness for him, but this guy is just acting crazy here.

It really startled the trainers and Pokémon who were passing by.

In the end, it was Xiao Zhi who stepped in and promised Teacher Gang that he would take him along next time he went to return the notebook.

This finally calmed him down.

It was nearing evening.

On the training field, the setting sun cast its rays, turning the lawn into a warm, golden hue.

Ash stood in the center of the field.

He finished with a final Z-Move and then took a deep breath.

"Great! Everyone is in great shape!"

That concludes today's training session! Good luck everyone in tomorrow's competition!

"Pikachu!", "Gag!", "Tsk tsk!", "Bee tsk~"...

"Wow, that was a really smooth Z-Move combo!"

Lillie, who was talking to Gengar, looked somewhat surprised.

"From the start to the exertion of power, there was almost no pause. Xiao Zhi, your control has improved so much!"

"Right!" Ash gave her a thumbs up and grinned, "I practice every single day!"

Lillie pursed her lips, but a sense of awe, which could only be felt by witnessing it firsthand, welled up inside her.

She never imagined that one day, the Z-Move would be associated with the word "smooth transition".

After all, in the Alola region, Z-Moves have always been used as a decisive move to win a battle.

A battle can only be fought once at most, and after the release, both the trainer and the Pokémon need to recover for half a day.

Who else would be like Xiao Zhi, repeatedly refining his starting stance, adjusting the connection angle, and optimizing the rhythm of force in his daily training, and actually turning this trump card into a regular combo?

If it weren't for the limited stamina of Pokémon... Lillie has no doubt that Little Intelligence could use Z-Moves to achieve an infinite power effect!

No wonder Professor Kukui, who was still defending his dissertation, once said that reviving Alola's glory might just depend on whether he could recruit Ash to Alola...

Just then, Xiao Gang, who was outside the venue, brought over the illustrated guide and informed them.

Ash! Your next opponent has been decided!

Upon hearing this, the four of them immediately gathered together.

At first glance.

The character profile screen displays a few lines of brief player information and match records. The avatar is an unfamiliar face, in his early twenties, who doesn't seem particularly special.

"It's the grass field again..." Xiaoxia peeked out, "My opponent's name is... Makoto? Never heard of him."

"We can't let our guard down!"

Xiao Gang said in a serious tone.

"Ash, this is the last game of the qualifiers. If you win, you'll advance directly to the main tournament. Don't relax. The more unassuming your opponent is, the more likely they are to have some unexpected tactics up their sleeve."

"Don't worry, Mr. Gang!" Ash patted his chest. "Pikachu!"

"Alright! Let's finish studying the secret manual that King Lorelei gave you tonight!"

Xiaoxia: "........"

Wait a minute.

Weren't we just talking about the qualifiers? How did we suddenly jump to Kona's secrets?

No, is your map really that short?

So you're studying it all so you can return the book? Is returning the notebook all you're thinking about?

"Um...excuse me..."

Just as Xiaoxia was about to start complaining, a somewhat nervous voice came from not far away.

Are you Ash Ketchum?

The four of them looked up at the same time and saw that the one who spoke was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties.

He was tall and thin, with a healthy tan, and was wearing a trainer's jacket.

He looked somewhat uneasy, but his eyes were fixed on the Charizard in the center of the training field, which was openly and secretly fighting with Gengar.

"Who are you?"

Ash tilted his head, and Pikachu tilted its head too.

"Pikachu?"

"Could they have mistaken me for someone else?"

Xiaoxia put her hands on her hips and looked at the newcomer with suspicion.

After all, there are two people at the tournament who look exactly like Ash.

It's not surprising that they mistook someone for someone else.

"Wait a minute," Brock stared at the young man's face for two seconds, then suddenly remembered something, glanced down at his Pokédex, "You're Ash's rival tomorrow? Makoto?"

The young man paused for a moment, then scratched the back of his head, his face turning slightly red.

"Ah...yes, I am Makoto. I only found out after seeing the battle charts—Ash, your next opponent is me."

"Is something the matter?"

Xiao Zhi asked, his tone not wary, but rather curious.

"actually……"

Cheng took a deep breath, as if to encourage himself.

"I've admired Ash's Charizard for a long time!"

"I've always wanted to see it in person! I saw it by chance today, and I thought I had to say hello before the competition no matter what!"

Xiao Gang: "?"

Xiaoxia: "?"

Lillie: "?"

Wait, who?

Charizard?

You could say you admire Pikachu, or even Ash's Pidgeotto, but Charizard?

real or fake?

Not to mention Brock and his two companions, even Charizard himself was somewhat stunned.

"Roar?"

I?

It stopped its little sparring with Gengar, turned its head to look at Cheng, its big eyes filled with vigilance.

Judging others by one's own standards, could this person be plotting against me?

Xiao Zhi blinked, still unsure how to respond.

"I...I know this is hard to explain!"