Chapter 86: The Importance of the Koga Ninja Frog!

Seeing the target right in front of her, Keerni eagerly swung her fist, her right arm spinning rapidly like a fan blade, her whole body exuding astonishing youthful vigor.

"Lucario, let's go!"

"Luc!"

Lucario nodded,

But before setting off, he didn't forget to glance back at the Koga Ninja Frog standing beside Ash, arms crossed, keeping a cool demeanor.

"Lucario Lucario!"

Just wait, I will definitely prove that I am the correct one.

"Gru..." Wait until you get the stone before saying anything.

Lucario's Waveguide Power is only at an elementary level, still unable to detect the Mew inside the cave.

But the Koga Ninja Frog's Waveguide Power has already been developed to an intermediate level,

thus early on it detected a blazing, flame-like life force hidden behind the altar, nearly identical to Lucario's.

Based on the opponent's type and their comparable strength, the Koga Ninja Frog almost instantly deduced that someone had done this deliberately.

Want to challenge him? Better pass the trial first, you idiot!

Although Lucario has her own ideas about battle, that doesn't mean she's foolish.

After the Koga Ninja Frog's reminder, she quickly sensed something was off and hastily reached out to stop Keerni, who was charging forward head down.

Just then,

A black shadow suddenly leapt high from the altar and, in an instant, lunged at the spot where Lucario and Keerni stood.

Shielding Keerni behind her, Lucario raised both arms high, forming an X shape, and bore the blow.

Boom!

The shadow's heavy, powerful kick sent Lucario flying back more than ten meters.

Lucario's feet dug into the ground like a plow, leaving two long furrows.

After stopping her retreat, Lucario's legs burst with force, shooting forward like an arrow,

a side kick,

the attacker's legs on the ground suddenly exerted force, performing a backflip that instantly escaped Lucario's counterattack range.

and landed steadily on the altar with her long legs.

Only then did Lucario and Keerni finally see the attacker's identity clearly.

It had white-gray feathers resembling an old man's hair, a V-shaped red crest, blue eyes, strong and slender limbs, a fiery red body, and yellow feathers at the bottom.

【Blaziken, Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon, with the Blaze ability; when facing a strong foe, its limbs emit flames and it can leap over tall buildings in a single bound】

Looking at the information from the Pokédex in her hand, Serena blinked in surprise.

"Hey, a Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon? That would completely counter Lucario, wouldn't it?"

After all, Lucario is Steel/Fighting-type, so both Fire and Fighting moves deal double damage to her.

Conversely,

As a Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon, Blaziken is not only not weakened by Fighting moves, but also resists Steel attacks.

"We're completely at a disadvantage."

"But why would a Blaziken appear here?" Clemont rested his chin on his hand, falling into thought.

Ash called out to Keerni, "Never mind all that, Keerni! If you want to get the Mega Stone, just defeat the Blaziken!"

"I understand, thanks Ash! Also, please keep this for me."

While thanking him, Keerni's eyes burned with fighting spirit, and she took off her backpack and threw it to Ash for him to look after.

"Then let's take him down first, Lucario Power-Up Punch!"

"Luc!"

Lucario nodded, her legs bursting with force as she wrapped herself in a gust of wind, charging straight at Blaziken and slamming a fierce punch into its face.

At the critical moment, Blaziken did not retreat but advanced, lifting its right leg high, wreathed in flames.

Fire Kick!

The heavy, powerful kick struck Lucario's chest with even greater speed.

Boom!

Explosive force burst outward, and Lucario's body flew back like a kite with its string cut, crashing to the rear.

"Is Blaziken really faster than Lucario?"

Ash furrowed his brow slightly,

glanced at Blaziken's status screen—level 36.

It had only just evolved, and Lucario, whose level had recently been raised to 36, was actually at the same level.

Its base Speed stat is lower, so there's no reason it should be faster.

Especially when Ash saw that this Blaziken's ability was Blaze rather than Speed Boost, he grew even more puzzled.

Until Ash looked at Blaziken's status panel and saw Speed +1!

What the heck, a pre-battle buff—are they playing dirty?

Fortunately, the person who secretly instructed Keerni's grandfather to have Blaziken block the path didn't go all the way to boost its Attack and Speed to +6, which would have outright ended the match.

Thus, although Blaziken had the speed edge, Lucario still had a fight left in her.

Blaziken seized the moment to press the attack,

her body shot toward Lucario like an arrow, both legs wreathed in flames, delivering successive kicks.

Lucario floundered in her frantic evasion,

in the process, being at a disadvantage triggered Lucario's ability, Indomitable Heart.

Speed +1,

Although only +1, Lucario's base speed is already ten points higher than Blaziken's, and with both at the same level, it instantly made Lucario's speed actually faster than Blaziken's; while dodging, Lucario appeared somewhat embarrassed, but it had never been hit by the opponent's attack.

Keerni keenly noticed this; without thinking, she felt reassured, her attention highly focused.

Seizing the interval in Blaziken's attack, she suddenly gave the order,

「Bullet Punch, then use Bone Rush」」

As long as Bullet Punch can push Blaziken back, she can immediately follow up with Bone Rush, using a Ground-type move to press the advantage and ultimately secure victory.

However, earlier, while Lucario was continuously dodging Blaziken's attacks, Keerni remained silent for a long time,

This had already made Lucario dissatisfied.

Moreover, the opponent is Fire-type, yet the trainer had him use Steel-type moves, reminding him of the previous scolding from the Koga Ninja Frog.

Lucario hesitated.

He gave up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could only be seized with a priority move.

Instead, he directly used Bone Rush!

The cost was that his attack hadn't fully coalesced before the recovering Blaziken on the spot copied Keerni's tactic.

With a flash of electricity, it first knocked Lucario off balance.

Taking advantage of Lucario's unsteady stance, Blaziken unleashed a powerful, heavy kick!

Blaze Kick!!!

Boom!

Explosive power and blazing flames instantly exploded on Lucario's chest.

Lucario's body bent like a shrimp, shot backward like a cannonball, and slammed heavily into the rock wall, suffering severe injuries.

「Croak! 」 again,

Seeing Lucario suffer another big loss for not obeying orders, the Koga Ninja Frog's gaze grew ever more contemptuous.

「Lucario! 」

Just as Keerni was about to step forward, Blaziken, sensing her intention, suddenly spewed a scorching column of fire from its mouth!

The blazing flame almost scorched Keerni's body,

The resulting gust lifted Keerni's skirt and also flung out the group photo from her skirt pocket, which the fire column burned to ashes.

Keerni stumbled and fell to the ground,

Lucario weakly watched all this, then rose and charged at Blaziken again.

But was defeated again by Blaziken,

It reached out, grabbed Lucario's head, and directly treated him like a basketball, flinging him onto the wall.

Thoroughly toyed with.

The people at the doorway, seeing this, all felt somewhat unwilling to watch.

「I can't bear to watch this battle any longer; I must stop them! 」

Kind Serena wanted to intervene, but Ash directly grabbed her waist, preventing her from moving forward.

「Ash?! 」

「This is Keerni and Lucario's battle; we cannot interfere! 」

「Croak croak! 」 Even if Keerni is dragged down by Lucario and burned to death by Blaziken's flames, we cannot intervene!

Ash: "……"

Really, that's quite a violent sarcasm,

It seems the Koga Ninja Frog truly values this Lucario before it,

otherwise he wouldn't be so emotionally involved, so angry.

Lucario, lying in the pond, listened to Ash and the Koga Ninja Frog's conversation, gazing at the fallen Keerni.

The last bit of pride in his heart also gradually faded, "Luc..."