Even if Ash did not send out his Pikachu, the Typhlosion he nurtured in the Hisui still posed a great pressure on him.
"This battle is one-on-one." Cynthia stepped to the side of the battlefield to serve as a referee, "The battle ends when one Pokemon loses the ability to fight."
"Let the battle begin!"
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Rei was the first to initiate the attack.
"Pika — Chu!!!"
Rei's Pikachu leapt high, bright sparks emanating from the sides of its cheeks.
Golden electric currents swiftly converged, forming a more tangible thunderbolt than before and blasting towards Typhlosion.
The surrounding villagers instinctively took a step back, some having witnessed this move before.
Last time, the Thunderbolt hit Ash's Pikachu directly but failed to cause any damage.
But this time, Rei's Pikachu's attack was evidently stronger, and the opponent wasn't Ash's Pikachu.
"Typhlosion, use Infernal Parade to block it!"
The purple-red flames around Typhlosion's neck suddenly flared out.
Several dark fireballs shot out from in front of Typhlosion, colliding head-on with the Thunderbolt.
Boom!
The first two fireballs exploded consecutively, successfully neutralizing the golden electric current.
The remaining fireballs passed through the smoke, continuing to close in on Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge!"
White light enveloped Pikachu's entire body, and it swiftly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding two fireballs.
Seizing the opportunity, Rei immediately shouted, "Keep using Quick Attack and rush forward!"
Pikachu maintained its Quick Attack and charged directly at Typhlosion.
"Typhlosion, use Smokescreen!" Huge amounts of black smoke instantly filled the battlefield.
The smoke obscured the whole field from view, blocking both Rei's and Pikachu's line of sight.
"What... what skill is this?"
Although Rei had seen Typhlosion use Smokescreen before, this was his first personal encounter with such a sight-blocking tactic!
Honestly... it's just incredibly frustrating!
"Use Flame Wheel."
"Uh-oh!"
Boom!!!
The moment Rei sensed danger, a loud boom came from within the smoke.
A yellow figure flew out from the smoke, crashing heavily in front of Rei.
At this moment, Pikachu already had several burn marks on its body; Ash had instructed Typhlosion to hold back, but Pikachu was still somewhat too fragile.
Rei hurriedly picked up Pikachu, and the smoke on the field slowly dissipated, leaving Typhlosion appearing unscathed in front of everyone.
This battle was undoubtedly a complete overpowering.
Ash even allowed Rei to use two extra skills, otherwise Pikachu wouldn't even have the chance to use Thunder Shock before being KO'd!
"Rei's Pikachu lost its ability to battle, this match is won by Ash and Typhlosion."
After Cynthia announced the result, Ash also took out a Pokeball and recalled Typhlosion.
"You did well, Typhlosion."
Then Ash approached Rei, took healing medicine from his Space Backpack, and sprayed it on Pikachu's flame-scorched areas. (A thousand years ago in Hisui, amazing right~ There are Pokeballs, and Space Backpack, I remember the Space Backpack expansion was particularly expensive.)
The healing medicine in the Hisui Region, though simply made, had a very effective healing outcome.
Moments later, Pikachu slowly opened its eyes.
"Pika..."
"Pikachu!" Rei finally relaxed his tense expression, "How do you feel now?"
"Pika."
Pikachu gently raised its paw, indicating it had recovered some strength.
Ash confirmed that it merely overexerted itself and was lightly burned, and felt relieved.
"Typhlosion controlled its power, a bit of rest and you'll recover."
Rei stood holding Pikachu, looking at Ash, the battle intention in his eyes had turned into evident admiration.
"Seems I overestimated myself."
"This past month, Pikachu and I trained a lot, but facing your Typhlosion, it's still hard to pose a real threat."
Rei glanced at the Pikachu in his arms, then looked towards Ash again without showing any signs of discouragement, but remained full of fighting spirit.
"But at least we recognized the current gap, "Next time, we'll endure even longer!"
Enduring longer, not defeating Ash, is due to Rei's self-awareness.
Primarily because the gap is too vast, he can't even see Ash's heel, never mind saying defeating or such.
Better think about how to last a bit longer before Ash now.
"You've indeed improved a lot," Ash said with a smile, "Keep training, and you'll become stronger someday."
"I'll take your word for it."
Rei chuckled, then took out the gray-white Blank Plate from his pocket.
"As per the agreement, this Plate belongs to you."
Ash gazed at the Blank Plate handed to him, hesitated briefly and then reached out to accept it.
For Rei, this plate was merely a mysterious item.
But for Ash and Cynthia, its importance was self-evident, and naturally, they wouldn't.
"Thank you, Rei."
"No need to thank, you won it by strength."
Rei's smile gradually faded as he looked out into the wide wilderness beyond Jubilife Village, his voice became much lower.
"Ash, I entrust the next steps to you."
"The rampaging nobles are affecting Hisui everywhere, many previously safe areas have become inaccessible."
"Jubilife Village needs ore and herbs, and also needs to forage for food from the wild."
"Once the area they can move in continues to shrink, life in the village will be affected."
Rei turned again towards Ash, with a hint of hope in his eyes.
"Since you and Cynthia possess the power to quell nobles, please help the remaining nobles retain their sanity... please bring calm back to Hisui."
"Rest assured," Ash smiled at Rei, "I'll quell all the nobles!"
"Pika Pika!"
The Pikachu on Ash's shoulder raised its paw as well.
Seeing their confident expressions, Rei finally smiled again.
"Then I'll await your good news."
After bidding farewell to Rei, Ash and Cynthia left Jubilife Village along the road.
They didn't immediately blow the Celestica Flute, but instead headed into a secluded forest path.
Ash took out the Arceus Phone, and temporarily placed the Blank Plate into the Space Backpack.
"Should I absorb the third Plate now?" Cynthia asked.
"Let's leave it for now," Ash shook his head, "We don't know if absorbing the third Plate will bring new changes, let's research it at a safe location."
"Makes sense," Cynthia nodded, casting her gaze towards Ash's Arceus Phone, "Let's use the teleportation function to head deep into the Obsidian Fieldlands."
Ash opened the Hisui Map and selected the teleportation spot closest to the Crimson Mirelands.
A blue light rapidly spread from the Arceus Phone, enveloping both of them and Pikachu.
After a brief sensation of weightlessness, the forests outside Jubilife Village vanished.
They found themselves on a grassy patch deep within the Obsidian Fieldlands.
"Much more accustomed to it now," Ash shook his head, almost oblivious to the initial dizziness from using teleportation.
"Indeed, after attempting so many times back and forth yesterday," Cynthia thought of yesterday's repeated teleportation scenes, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy herself.
Ash put away his phone, while Cynthia took out the Celestica Flute.
The clear flute sound spread throughout the field, and before long, a Wyrdeer emerged from the woods before them.
Interestingly, Wyrdeer seems to run extraordinarily fast when refused a ride...
Every time the flute sounds, it arrives in less than ten seconds, perhaps Wyrdeer itself has teleportation abilities?
Just that it can't teleport with people...
"We'll rely on you next," Cynthia said gently, as she gently touched Wyrdeer's forehead.
"Oh~" Wyrdeer nodded warmly.
Ash and Cynthia rode Wyrdeer, and with its help, they began heading toward the Crimson Mirelands.