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"Boom!!" A powerful Aura Sphere directly hit Blastoise's back, causing a strong tremor. Blastoise let out a painful wail, its body sent tumbling and flying away, and the Water Pulse it was firing ceased immediately.
Gary's face turned extremely grim. Just now, it wasn't Blastoise's Water Pulse that had defeated Lucario's Aura Sphere; rather, Lucario had deliberately held back, aiming to make Blastoise feel complacent.
As for how Lucario got behind Blastoise, Gary didn't know. It was as if it had appeared using Teleport, but since when could Lucario learn Teleport?
But then again, this was Ash's Lucario, so anything was possible. Whenever something happened involving Ash, people were shocked yet felt a hint of rationality, because he was Ash.
Now was not the time to be shocked. Blastoise had been hit by an Aura Sphere, and even with its heavy defensive power, the damage taken from this Aura Sphere was not light.
"Blastoise, use Water Pulse again!" Gary pondered for a moment and chose to use Water Pulse once more. Under the boost of Mega Launcher, Water Pulse's power could reach the level of a high-tier move, and its burst speed was fast. If he wanted to hit Lucario, he really had no choice but to use this move.
"Kame!" Blastoise aimed its three cannons at Lucario, and a powerful torrent of water erupted once more, striking directly at Lucario's face.
"Aura Sphere, again!" Seeing that Gary still wanted to use Water Pulse against Lucario, Ash didn't stand on ceremony with Gary and immediately served Blastoise an Aura package.
Lucario's figure vanished from its spot again. This time, the Water Pulse didn't even touch an afterimage; it missed completely. The next second, Lucario appeared behind Blastoise, an Aura Sphere already formed in its hand.
Now, Gary was a hundred percent certain. The move Lucario was using was definitely Teleport. Good heavens, Lucario learned Teleport—is it not even trying to hide its cheating anymore?!
However, Gary, who had already suspected this, naturally had a countermeasure: "Now! Use Protect!"
"Kame!" Blastoise instantly stopped its Water Pulse, and an emerald green barrier appeared around it.
"Bang!!" The Aura Sphere hit the barrier, failing to cause even the slightest damage, and Lucario was actually launched high into the sky by the recoil force of the Aura Sphere's explosion.
"Excellent, use Rain Dance!" Seeing that Lucario was left open, Gary did not choose to attack Lucario but instead chose to set up the weather!
Blastoise's attacks would be sharper in the rain, and rainy weather was the most suitable environment for Blastoise; it could also interfere with Lucario's movement and attacks to a certain extent.
Therefore, this rain had to be activated no matter what!
"Kame!" Following Blastoise's cry, the sky began to cloud over. Lucario spun a few times in the air before finally stopping its momentum and starting its descent to the ground.
Now that the prototype of the rain was established, stopping the opponent from using the rain was unrealistic. Ash simply chose to launch another offense: "Lucario, use Quick Attack!"
Although Quick Attack's power was weaker than Aura Sphere, its speed was a level faster. Lucario, having landed on the ground, pushed off with its toes, its figure suddenly darting out, leaving streaks of afterimages in the air. In an instant, it arrived in front of Blastoise and threw a punch!
"Thud!!" A dull sound echoed across the field. Blastoise showed a look of pain, but its Rain Dance motion did not stop. The thick clouds in the sky began to shed a light drizzle.
And Lucario's attack had only just begun. After landing the first punch, Lucario frantically swung its fists, continuously striking Blastoise's shell.
The look of pain on Blastoise's face deepened, and its body was repeatedly forced back, unable to retaliate in the slightest.
"Blastoise, use Iron Defense!" Seeing Blastoise's pained expression, Gary clenched his fist. This scene reminded him of when Pidgeot was beaten helplessly by Annihilape's Outrage, but there was still a difference compared to that previous battle.
That difference was that the opponent's attack was not yet strong enough to prevent Blastoise from using any move at all.
Following Gary's command, Blastoise endured the pain and used the Iron Defense move. A metallic sheen appeared on its body, making its entire frame even harder.
Blastoise's defense was already formidable after MEGA Evolution, and now, coupled with Iron Defense, it could be described as a fortress of bronze and iron walls, virtually impenetrable by ordinary attacks.
The Quick Attack that had originally caused Blastoise some pain now inflicted negligible damage, and the pained expression on Blastoise's face eased.
"Aura Sphere!" Iron Defense only boosts Defense, so Ash chose to continue the attack with the Special Attack-oriented Aura Sphere.
His Lucario was a mixed attacker, valuing both Attack and Special Attack highly, and it could be described as proficient in both types of attacks.
Since you strengthened one type of attack, I'll use the other type of attack to strike you!
Lucario's Quick Attack abruptly stopped. It immediately condensed an Aura Sphere in both hands, then slammed them onto Blastoise's hard shell!
Aura Barrage!
"Boom!!" Two Aura Spheres hit Blastoise squarely. Amidst the fierce explosion, Blastoise was sent flying and finally slid to a stop right at Gary's feet.
"Blastoise, are you alright?!" Gary called out Blastoise's name with slight anxiety. The fallen Blastoise struggled slightly to prop itself up.
Having been hit by continuous attacks, even Blastoise, with its thick hide, had its limits. From the start until now, it had been hit by three Aura Spheres plus an unknown number of Quick Attacks. Even its stamina had now fallen below half.
The only drawback of MEGA Evolution is that it doesn't increase stamina. It is an evolution that boosts all-around attributes, but stamina alone doesn't increase; in fact, MEGA Evolution even increases stamina consumption.
This is completely opposite to Gigantamax. Gigantamax provides the Pokémon with enormous stamina but offers no boost in other attributes, whereas MEGA Evolution comprehensively boosts the Pokémon's attributes but offers no increase in stamina whatsoever.
Therefore, although the rain was now activated, Blastoise's condition was not optimistic. However, Gary was not without countermeasures, but he did not want to use that move until the crucial moment, as its uncertainty was simply too great.
Responding to Gary's call, Blastoise slowly stood up, appearing capable of continuing the fight.
"Good! It's time for our counterattack, Blastoise, use Water Pulse!" It was still Water Pulse as the opening move, but Water Pulse under the rain was incomparable to before!
"Kame!" Blastoise aimed its three cannons at Lucario, then violently unleashed a surging torrent of water. The azure blue water columns split into three directions, sealing off all of Lucario's possible evasion routes.
With the rain's enhancement on Water Pulse, just one of these streams was already comparable to the combined Water Pulse from the cannons before. The effect of Mega Launcher plus the rain was not simply one plus one!
"Aura Sphere!" Facing the Water Pulse that blocked all of Lucario's retreat paths, Ash calmly instructed Lucario to continue using Aura Sphere.
The moment his voice fell, Lucario vanished from its original spot again. Just as Gary had guessed, Lucario could use Teleport!
This was a move that Lucario should not be able to learn. Heaven is fair; the move Teleport is either given to Pokémon whose mobility is not particularly strong and cannot engage in close combat, or to Pokémon that are not particularly agile.
If agile close-combat Pokémon were paired with the ability to close distance using Teleport, wouldn't they just take off?
But Ash was the one who broke the rules of heaven. As long as he could learn Teleport himself, he could teach Teleport to his Pokémon. As for whether he could learn Teleport... hadn't Lucario's current success proven that he could?
The next second, Lucario appeared behind Blastoise again, the Aura Sphere already condensed in its hand.
"If you keep using the same move, even an idiot will catch on! Blastoise, Water Pulse!" Under Gary's command, Blastoise, seemingly prepared, turned its body. Its three cannons aimed at Lucario, who was momentarily stunned in mid-air. A fierce and gleeful smile appeared at its mouth, followed immediately by three powerful jets of water erupting from the cannons!
"Boom!" Lucario, still in mid-air, was hit directly. Although it managed to fire an Aura Sphere in time, the Aura Sphere could only block two of the water columns. The last and largest water column hit it directly, sending it flying.
"Thud!" Lucario fell from the air onto the ground with a heavy sound, showing injuries for the first time.
This time, it was Ash's turn to look grim. He had anticipated that the Teleport location might be guessed, but he hadn't expected Blastoise's initial Water Pulse to be nothing more than a feint.
Otherwise, even if Blastoise and Gary knew where Lucario would appear, it would have been impossible for Blastoise's heavy body to turn around instantly while using such a powerful move.
That was why Ash had felt so confident letting Lucario continue the attack with Aura Sphere.
However, things went contrary to expectations and surpassed Ash's predictions.
"You and Blastoise really have great synergy, Gary. To make Blastoise execute such a powerful attack without verbal communication," Ash praised Gary sincerely.
Although the three Water Pulses that initially attacked Lucario looked impressive, in reality, they were paper tigers, causing virtually no damage—all show and no substance.
The purpose of those three attacks was to lure Lucario into using Teleport to arrive behind Blastoise, so Blastoise could use the power it had reserved to blast away Lucario when it appeared behind him!
As for why Lucario had to appear behind Blastoise, it was because Lucario's mastery of Teleport was not yet proficient enough to allow for instantaneous movement at will. Instead, it needed to dedicate attention to marking a spot and then jumping to that designated point.
There was a spot behind Blastoise that Lucario had marked beforehand, which moved as Blastoise moved. Until Lucario created a new mark, he could only Teleport behind Blastoise, and this had become Lucario's weakness.
"Hmph, you and your Pokémon aren't the only ones with bonds. To be able to undergo MEGA Evolution, the synergy between Blastoise and me goes without saying. Blastoise, give him the final blow, use Hydro Pump!!" Gary waved his hand, no longer wasting words with Ash. He was determined to win this battle!
Hydro Pump's power was far more terrifying than Water Pulse. If Lucario were hit, he definitely wouldn't be able to hold on. Gary seized the gap while Lucario was still trying to recover, preparing to finish Lucario off immediately!
"Kame!" Blastoise roared loudly. The rainwater falling from the sky instantly gathered towards it, and a huge torrent of water enveloped Blastoise's body!
Compared to the original Hydro Pump, the Hydro Pump Blastoise was currently unleashing was a size larger, and the surrounding rainwater continued to gather on Blastoise's body, constantly increasing the power of Blastoise's Hydro Pump.
The next second, Blastoise charged towards Lucario, who had just managed to stand up from the ground, like a dump truck. Its terrifying momentum, coupled with the wave-like water currents wrapped around its body, would have instantly frozen any timid Pokémon in place.
"Lucario, use Detect!"
"Awo!" Lucario backflipped, leaping up from the ground, followed by a flash of brilliance in its eyes. Blastoise, which was charging over, seemed to slow down drastically at that moment, and the most optimal evasion paths appeared in Lucario's vision.
His body naturally rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the massive Hydro Pump.
"Close Combat!!" The moment he dodged, Ash's command followed instantly.
Lucario fiercely clenched its fist and, the moment Blastoise rushed past, suddenly struck out. Countless orange fist shadows appeared on the field, forcefully penetrating the water currents wrapped around Blastoise and fiercely pounding Blastoise's body!
Zero-distance Close Combat!
"Thump, thump, thump!!" Dull striking sounds rang out. Under the powerful force of the Close Combat, Blastoise was directly knocked out of its Hydro Pump state, sent flying backward, and slid to a stop at Gary's feet.