The last day of the Martial Arts Tournament.
Only four contestants remained: an unknown Trainer from Alola, Lucas, Bruno, and Gym Leader Maylene from the Sinnoh region.
"I didn't expect Maylene to make it to the top four," Lucas thought to himself while looking at the list of the top four.
"Huh? Maylene actually made it to the top four." Lucian, sitting in his seat, said with surprise.
Lucas glanced at him sideways and said, "She is a Gym Leader from Sinnoh, after all. Is it really okay for you to say that?"
Lucian didn't care at all and said calmly, "It is precisely because she is a Gym Leader from Sinnoh that I understand her strength even better. As Gym Leaders, both Chuck from Cianwood Gym and Brawly from Dewford Gym are stronger than Maylene."
"So, sometimes luck is part of strength. As long as you don't encounter opponents stronger than yourself, you can keep winning," Cynthia said, sitting beside Lucas.
"Plus, considering Maylene's performance a while ago—actually, I'm very worried about whether she has the ability to continue serving as a Gym Leader."
Lucian pushed up his glasses, "Although she regained her confidence with Ash's help later, I don't know how long this confidence can last."
Lucian's tone was full of a Sinnoh Elite's concern for a Gym Leader.
Lucian was talking about what happened when Ash was still traveling in the Sinnoh region and went to challenge Maylene. At that time, Maylene was defeated by Paul, and after Paul said a few words to her, she lost the confidence to continue serving as a Gym Leader. Later, with Ash's help, she regained this confidence, accepted Ash's challenge, and tied with Ash.
However, Maylene still handed the badge to Ash in the end.
As expected of you, sharp-tongued Paul, you never break character.
Actually, as a Gym Leader in Sinnoh, Maylene's strength could be said to be at the bottom.
But—is it really okay for you to say that?
Lucas looked at Lucian, then at Cynthia.
"These matters were my responsibility before, so I have the right to say these things." Lucian elegantly pushed his glasses.
Lucas: !
You can read minds?!
"I can't read minds, but based on my understanding of you, I roughly guessed what you were saying in your heart."
"?!?"
"Lucian-san, you still claim you can't read minds!"
"Actually, according to Lucian's words, it makes sense, but I think Maylene will be able to shoulder the responsibility of being a Gym Leader as always in the days to come." Cynthia spoke lightly, her tone full of trust in Maylene.
"Since you both said so, let me check for you whether she still has the strength to continue being a Gym Leader," Lucas said.
It just so happened that today's battle paired him and Maylene together, so he could take this opportunity to finish the Gym Leader assessment.
"After all, I am still the person in charge of inspecting the Gyms."
Lucian nodded, "That's true, then I'll leave it to you."
On the field, after Bruno defeated the Trainer from Alola, Lucas stood up.
"Dash, let's go."
Dash stood up from the ground and followed behind Lucas.
"Good luck." Cynthia sat in her seat, looking at Lucas with a smile, and said.
Lucas nodded.
Mustard watched Lucas and Dash's backs and smoothed his eyebrows.
"If it goes on like this, wouldn't we be able to see the battle between Lucas and Elite Bruno this morning?"
Leon sat on the side and nodded, "According to the tournament schedule, that's the case. It's said that they plan to finish the matches in the morning, and then the remaining time can be used for everyone to tour Twinleaf Town again, and finally end this Martial Arts Tournament with a fireworks display at night."
"Leon, who do you think has a better chance of winning the championship, Lucas or Elite Bruno?"
Hearing Master Mustard's question, Leon hesitated for a moment.
"It's hard to say. Lucas's Dash is trained particularly well, but Bruno's Machamp, as his ace, also has strength that cannot be underestimated."
Leon paused before speaking: "However, we will know this answer very soon."
Lucas walked onto the field, looked at Maylene standing opposite, and greeted her politely.
"Ma—Lucas, please take care of me." Maylene bowed respectfully.
"Please take care of me, Maylene." Lucas also bowed, then continued: "Just in time to take advantage of this battle to complete your Gym assessment task?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Maylene hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you."
Lucas nodded, "In that case, bring out your best state. Dash, let's go."
Dash jumped out of the Poké Ball and bumped its fists skillfully.
"Lucario, let's give it our all." Maylene sent out her Lucario.
After the muscular referee announced the start of the match, Lucas did not attack first, just let Dash stand in place, staring at Lucario's movements.
"Lucario, let's go, Bone Rush!"
Lucario generated a blue bone staff in its hand and rushed towards Dash, waving it.
"Brick Break." Lucas said: "Block the Bone Rush."
Dash's palm turned into a hand blade, chopping at the bone staff hitting it.
Lucario's Bone Rush was blocked entirely, and the bone staff was even shattered by Dash's Brick Break.
"Dynamic Punch."
Dash came to the front of Lucario, raised a fist, and hammered it down towards Lucario.
"Close Combat!"
Lucario fiercely launched a counterattack against Dash.
Fists kept hitting Dash. Dash squinted its eyes and kept retreating.
It wasn't until Lucario hit it with a punch that it stopped this wave of attacks.
Lucario fell into confusion.
Maylene bit her lip. How should she fight? This is impossible to fight! How can a Gym Leader beat a Champion!
However, she quickly regained her confidence. Although she might not win, she must try her best. After all, Lucario is fighting with all its might, and as a Trainer, she cannot sit idly by.
"Lucario, are you okay?" Maylene asked.
Lucario shook its handsome head, looked back at Maylene, and nodded.
"Riolu!" Full of fighting spirit, without fear.
Lucas's mouth curled up slightly.
"Lucario, Swords Dance!"
Several light swords appeared out of thin air around Lucario, surrounding it. Lucario danced a war dance to increase its combat power.
Dash stood still.
Swords Dance completed, Lucario's combat power greatly improved.
"Let's go, Lucario, Close Combat!"
Lucario roared and rushed towards Dash, then punched heavily.
Dash calmly took every punch from Lucario.
For the last punch, Lucario seized the opening and smashed it heavily onto Dash's face.
Dash tilted its head slightly, looking at the Lucario in front of it.
"Fire Punch."
The fist flared with flames and slammed into Lucario, knocking it back.
"Riolu!" Lucario shouted in pain. It fell into a burn state.
Lucas: Oh ho? It can still get burned like this?
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
Lucario clasped its hands together, gathered the Aura in its body into its palms, formed a blue ball of light, and threw it at Dash.
"Double-Edge."
Dash rushed towards the Aura Sphere, withstood it, came to Lucario's front, and used its shoulder to hit it heavily.
Lucario flew backwards and smashed deep into the wall behind Maylene.
"Nidoran." Stand up.
Dash watched Lucario, who was pulling itself out of the wall and kneeling on one knee, and reached out its palm to encourage it to stand up.
Lucario's eyes were unfocused, and it stood up shakily.
"Lucario, hold on!"
Hearing Maylene's words, Lucario punched itself in the face, forcibly making itself return to a combat state.
"Lucario, you are the strongest, and we are also the strongest. Go, the final blow, Reversal!"
Maylene raised her leg high, did a triple kick in the air, and shouted.
Lucario opened its mouth, roared angrily, and rushed towards Dash. It squeezed out all its remaining strength and gathered it on its fists.
"Dash, we will also use all our strength, Dynamic Punch!"
Dash let out an agreeing roar, and its huge fist slammed out heavily.
"Riolu—"
Lucario used its last bit of strength to punch Dash in the face, then felt the pain of a missile hitting its abdomen, its eyes rolled back, and drool flowed from the corner of its mouth.
Dash caught the unconscious Lucario with its strong body.
"Nidoran." Thanks for the lesson.
Dash gently placed Lucario on the ground and then raised its fist.
The muscular referee announced Lucas's victory.
Lucas walked to Maylene and shook hands with her.
"Congratulations, assessment passed."
Lucas paused and smiled, "Your strength is very strong. I look forward to you becoming even stronger."
Maylene nodded happily. "Thank you for your guidance."
Lucas stood in the player tunnel, with Gothitelle floating over from the stands beside him.
"Gothitelle."
Gothitelle handed the restorative herbal medicine in its hand to Dash.
Dash frowned and turned its head away in fear.
Lucas was just about to persuade Dash to drink the herbal medicine to maintain the best state to fight Bruno, but before he could speak, he saw Gothitelle take action.
Gothitelle stared at Dash and stuffed the herbal medicine into Dash's hand unquestioningly.
"Gothitelle." Drink it, then go enjoy your match. If you don't drink it, I'll let Lucas replace you and let Machoke and Vex come up to fight.
Under Lucas's gaze, Dash quickly took the herbal medicine and drank it down in one gulp.
Gothitelle nodded with satisfaction.
Lucas gave Gothitelle a thumbs up. As expected of you, Mama Gothitelle!
Dash handed the bottle back to Gothitelle. Gothitelle took the empty bottle and took out three more bottles of herbal medicine.
Dash: (...) Dash's face was almost wrinkled together, visibly scared.
"Nidoran—" So bitter! Don't like it. "Gothitelle?" Hmm?
Dash, amidst Gothitelle's hum, took the second bottle of herbal medicine, unscrewed the cap, brought it to its mouth, hesitated, and then moved it away.
"Nidoran—" The taste—so bad—
Gothitelle showed a faint smile on its face. "Gothitelle?" Hmm?
Dash was listless.
Lucas saw Dash looking like it was going to die and offered a trick.
"You can pinch your nose with your hand, then pour all the herbal medicine into your mouth, and you won't smell the bad smell."
Dash did as told. Three bottles of herbal medicine were held by three hands, and the remaining hand pinched its nose. It opened its mouth and poured them all in.
"Ma Champ—" *Hiccup*—
Dash hiccuped, full of the taste of herbal medicine.
Gothitelle was very satisfied with Dash's performance, so it took out a small bottle of sweet honey and handed it to Dash.
Dash grinned happily, took the sweet honey, and gave Gothitelle a thumbs up. You still understand me!
Gothitelle put the bottle away and followed Dash behind Lucas, walking towards the stands together.
"By the way, didn't you put sweet honey in these herbal medicines when you boiled them?"
Recalling Dash's painful expression when drinking the medicine just now, Lucas asked curiously.
Reasonably speaking, the herbal medicine boiled by Gothitelle usually adds different qualities of sweet honey according to the different medicines, which will make the taste of the herbal medicine softer and more suitable, leaving a hint of sweetness after drinking.
"Gothitelle." I put it in, but for Dash, even if a whole can was poured in, it would still feel bitter.
Gothitelle explained.
Lucas thought it was true; Dash hates bitter things the most.
"Let's go back to the stands and rest for a while. There will probably be another tough battle later."
Lucas brought Gothitelle and Dash back to the stands.
The final will be held in an hour, and the battle for third and fourth place will be in half an hour.
The half hour in between is for Trainers to restore their Pokémon's state. Nurse Joy's temporary Pokémon Center is open outside the venue.
"Doesn't Lucas need to take Dash to recover?" Sonia asked curiously when she saw Lucas bringing Dash and Gothitelle back to the stands.
Lucas sat down beside Cynthia and shook his head with a smile.
"No need, Gothitelle has already recovered it."
Hearing Lucas's explanation, Sonia was still very confused, "But aren't you going to fight Elite Bruno later? Don't you need to restore it to its peak state?"
"Maybe you don't know very well yet. Besides being a top-notch Breeder and Trainer, Lucas is also a very excellent Pokémon doctor."
"Ah?" Sonia was greatly shocked.
"Professor Oak is reviewing him. If nothing goes wrong, he might get a doctorate within two or three years, a Pokémon Doctor specializing in treating Pokémon." Cynthia added.
Sonia: !! Pokémon Doctor?! Can a Pokémon doctor also become a Pokémon Doctor (Professor)?!
Sonia's little mouth never closed.
"So—so amazing—" After a long while, Sonia stammered.
Pokémon Doctor! That is very difficult to achieve. Every Professor is a legendary figure who knows Pokémon very well and has great achievements in a certain field.
I didn't expect Lucas to be so amazing.
Then doesn't that make Lucas a Breeder, a Trainer, and a Pokémon Doctor at the same time? So amazing!
After finishing speaking, she looked at Leon.
Why is there a sudden feeling that Leon can't beat Lucas?
Lucas raised his chin proudly. "Yes, it is indeed me."
Lucas smoothed his hair.
Cynthia and Leon narrowed their eyes and stared at him instantly.
Lucas: ———— It's over————
Smack!
Lucas gasped.
Ninetales retracted its tail lightly. Let you show off.
With Ninetales's interruption, and the results on the field also coming out, everyone turned to look at the match results.
Maylene won the match without any danger.
Next is the battle between Lucas and Bruno.
Lucas stood up and looked at Dash.
"Let's go, Dash."
In the player tunnel on the other side.
Bruno was leading a Machamp tied with a gold belt, walking towards the exit.
"I announce, the final, officially begins!"
"Dash."
"Machamp."
"Go!" x 2
"Machamp Machamp!" x 2
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