"Ugh!"
"Bullet Fist—eh?"
Koruni suddenly froze, and her face changed dramatically, "Lucario! Quick, break free!"
But it was too late.
"Flame Fang!"
Boom!
Fierce flames surged up wildly!
The right fist was covered in a silver glow, and the struggling Mega Lucario was engulfed by the flames spewing from the Giant Jaw, instantly turning into a terrifying human-shaped torch!
"Aow—!!"
The screams pierced Koruni's eardrums as she hurriedly shouted:
"Lucario!! Use Revive!"
"...It's useless, it's over."
Baimu waved his hand, and Mega Mawile loosened its right Giant Jaw.
Thud.
The smoked Mega Lucario fell weakly to the ground, the light swirling around it reverted to its original form, and the astonished Koruni stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Huh?"
It took less than a minute, a one-sided beatdown without suspense!
Overwhelming strength!
"Lucario is unable to battle! Mawile wins!" Kokobur announced loudly, looking at Baimu with surprise.
Although he knew the Pokémon was strong through observation, he didn't expect it to be this powerful.
How come he's never heard of such a Trainer?
"Hmm..."
Baimu exchanged glances with Mega Mawile, this was their first battle with a Trainer other than Mikoli and Adam in nearly a month.
Unexpectedly, they had grown to the point where they could crush a Gym Leader with Super Evolution.
"It seems you're truly the strongest spear."
He gave Mawile a thumbs up.
The reverted Mawile rolled its eyes and glanced at its small fists. It had indeed been training hard for the past month, even watching less television.
It was quite angry when it found out the energy level hadn't increased much, but didn't expect that it could become stronger beyond the energy level.
So great.
Mawile liked this sense of slow progress.
"Chido!"
——
Fortunately.
This battle didn't severely affect Koruni's mindset, only dampened her recent momentum.
According to Kokobur, she, who fully mastered Super Evolution, was almost invincible in Gym Battles and even a bit complacent.
The consecutive battles with Ailan and Baimu made her understand what it meant that there's always someone better.
In this regard, Kokobur was quite grateful for his decisive strike.
Dear grandpa.
Baimu silently mourned for Koruni momentarily and formally bid farewell to the two of them. It was probably about time, and if he was lucky, he might run into the Rocket Team trio.
Kokobur was slightly regretful, but he didn't keep them too much.
Across from the Refining Tower.
Under a large tree.
Hoopa emerged from the Golden Ring, yawning and saying, "Xiaobai you're really busy, running around late at night. This time you even have to find Xiaozi."
"It's Ash Ketchum."
Baimu smiled and patted its head, walked towards the open Golden Ring in front of him, waving, "Good night Hoopa."
"Good luck Xiaobai!"
Hoopa waved its fist encouragingly, but the next second it became sleepy again.
On the other side of the Golden Ring.
In the forest.
Baimu stepped out from the Golden Ring, the distant flickering firelight was quite striking.
He hadn't asked Hoopa to open the Golden Ring directly in front of Ash Ketchum, as doing so could indeed save some effort in gaining trust, but it might provoke the sensitive Volcanion.
As a Mythical Pokémon that resents humans, Baimu, who appeared suddenly, could very likely be attacked by it with Steam Explosion or Water Cannon.
He's not a masochist, so naturally, he didn't want to be treated like that.
The fact proved.
Baimu's judgment was correct. Ash Ketchum and his group with Volcanion and Magearna should now be avoiding the pursuit of the antagonists, heading towards the land of Nibel Plateau.
Their nerves were all tense.
As expected.
Just as he was about to step over, a voice implanted directly in his mind demanded:
"Who are you, you guy!?"