Chapter 74: with translation of chapter title

Ash, over here.

Clemont looked puzzled and said, "Speaking of which, why is Miss Karuno here?"

This is because there's an official battle coming up.

An official battle?

After watching a one-sided rout in the venue, everyone stared at each other.

Could it be referring to that match just now?

Of course not, it's an official Elite Four Champion battle! My opponent is Yan Jia. Karuno said with a playful wink.

Yan Jia?!

He's the Kalos region's Elite Four, a Steel-type specialist, and this battle is about to start—do you want to come? I can save you some front-row tickets.

Upon hearing that, Serena's eyes lit up.

Can I? Um, I mean… really won't cause you any trouble?

Although Serena wanted to go, basic propriety held her back.

Karuno gave a small smile.

Of course it won't bother me! Mibo!

She looked behind, called out, and her assistant Mibo, who had been pretending to be invisible, immediately stepped forward.

She lifted her waist bag and pulled out several front-row tickets.

Welcome everyone to Miss Karuno's battle venue.

This lady is...

I'm her manager and assistant in the film industry, Karuno introduced.

Facing everyone's doubtful looks, Assistant Mibo gave a slight bow, her eyes on Ash.

Long time no see, Ash; this time I should call you Duke.

Upon hearing that, Karuno broke into a genuine smile. "Speaking of which, Ash, I haven't yet formally congratulated you! From now on we'll be family."

Afterward...

The group took a private car to the battle venue Karuno mentioned; Karuno went straight backstage to prepare, while the others checked their tickets and took their seats.

In the following few hours,

The group watched as Yan Jia's Mega Scissor Mantis underwent Mega Evolution, only to be overwhelmed by Karuno's type advantage.

After the battle, Ash saw Elite Four Yan Jia in tears.

Imagining a future showdown between myself and Karuno, I shouted, "Come forth, Mewtwo—you're the one!"

Surely, it'll be Karuno who ends up crying.

That woman...

What's wrong, Nana? Ash looked puzzled at the black-long-haired, red-eyed beauty.

She's strong!

Ouch!

Everyone fell over, got up, and Clemont scratched his head, "... I thought something was wrong, but as Champion, isn't it natural for Miss Karuno to be strong?"

Everyone left the venue; the sky had already darkened.

They decided to stay in the nearby town for the night, planning to continue the journey tomorrow.

…… -> "..."

Meanwhile,

Under the pitch-black night, Diancie, having emerged from the underground world, was immediately pursued by two evildoers.

The two lawbreakers, one male and one female,

The male wore ninja garb, the female wore mage garb—namely the famed Ninja Thief and Witch Thief.

They both took a liking to Diancie, whose body resembled a mass of pink diamonds, wanting to profit from her.

After discovering Diancie's ability to create diamonds, they fixated on that ability, hoping to monopolize her and create unlimited wealth.

Driven away by the Koga Ninja Frog and the Ember Fire Fox sent by the two, Diancie was unfortunately separated from the Little Shard Diamond that had followed her.

In panic, she gradually headed toward the city where Ash was.

…… -> "..."

The next morning,

After breakfast, Ash and company intended to continue on the road, walking down the street.

A golden-haired girl in a purple-black ik uniform, radiating fierce energy, blocked Ash on the street.

Hello, I'm Ayaka! I stopped you to challenge the Five Crown King, Duke Ash!

These past two days, talk about Ash has shocked the entire Kalos region.

Thus, a noble girl who often goes online naturally recognized Ash's undisguised identity.

Want to challenge? Then come on!

Facing the challenge, Ash never refuses; the two went to the roadside open-air battle ground.

Standing opposite Ash, Ayaka kept winking at him, sending flirtatious glances.

If I win, please promise me a small request, Lord Duke!

Ash paid no heed: "No problem, I won't lose!"

Ayaka: "..."

Serena: Hehehe!

Clemont: Hehe…

Yurie: Hah!

After snapping out of the initial confusion, Ayaka quickly focused her attention on the battle!

"Then my first Pokémon to send out is... Espeon!"

Accompanied by the female Espeon, a white figure appeared before everyone, and the gazes of Ash and the others all turned toward Nana.

What a coincidence!

However, though it's a coincidence, Ash's move to send out his Pokémon was not slow either.

"It's you, Gardevoir!"

Psychic Type vs Psychic Type!

Even without using Mega Evolution, the shiny Gardevoir still defeated the opponent thanks to Ash's excellent command and its high base stats.

Recalling the defeated Espeon,

Ayaka wasn't discouraged either; instead, she was very happy and applauded admiringly.

"Truly worthy of a five-time champion! The man who built a duke's legend in a day."

He then threw out the second Poké Ball.

"My second, I leave it to you, Pyroar!"

The red light faded, revealing Pyroar's body,

Pyroar has abundant red-and-yellow alternating manes, and the mane shapes differ between females and males.

The male has brown fur encircling the entire face,

while the female's brown fur grows only at the crown, similar to Musashi's one-character hairstyle extending backward,

The individual appearing before everyone is a male with a mane encircling the head.

"Fight fire with fire! It's you, Talonflame!"

Facing the Fire-type Pyroar, Ash sent out the Fire/Flying-type Talonflame,

By using Flame Charge to boost speed, after some back-and-forth, Ash won again!

"You're amazing, as expected, Ash Duke! After this battle, please definitely take a commemorative photo with me, please!"

"No problem!"

"Thank you very much, then I'll bring out my final trump card! Absol, Mega Evolve!"

Along with Ayaka's Poké Ball being thrown,

A white, sheep-like figure appeared before everyone's eyes, differing in that Absol's face showed a terrifying purple-black color, its head bore a scythe-like horn, and its tail was a similar blade-like dark blue-black.

As dazzling seven-colored light enveloped Absol's body, the white fur on Absol began to grow wildly.

After Mega Evolution, Mega Absol's fur became even fluffier,

At the same time, the huge side-swept bangs on Absol's head extended directly to the chest, the scythe-like horn on the head became even larger, a small horn grew on the other side, and two white feather-like wings resembling angel wings sprouted from the shoulders, but these are not actually wings; they serve mainly to intimidate opponents and thus cannot be used for flight.

Facing Mega Evolved Absol, Ash sent out a level 35 Froakie on the verge of evolution.

Through Shadow Sneak, a flash of electric light, and repeatedly pulling back with smokescreen,

Using Sword Dance to boost itself, combined with the recently learned Quick Attack, exploiting Bug-type's double effectiveness against Dark Type, it succeeded in one hit to instantly KO Mega Absol.

"You're strong, Mr. Ash; are you currently collecting badges for eligibility to compete in the Diare Conference?"

While taking the photo, the blonde JK beauty girl naturally linked her arm with Ash's, even deliberately burying his arm deep within the towering mountains, and she leaned entirely on him.

"What a guy, using this to test the weak point of a five-time champion and duke, right? Please give us more of this,"

However,

Noticing Serena's resentful gaze, she puffed her cheeks in anger.

At the same time, Nana's mood seemed not great; her aura turned icy cold, cold as frost.

Ash hurriedly pulled out his arm, trying to push away the JK girl,

but the girl's whole weight was leaning on Ash, so when he pulled his arm, her body lurched forward, and his outstretched hand happened to hook onto……

Speaking conscientiously, Ash truly didn't do it on purpose!

Ayaka the girl wasn't startled but delighted, instead she came closer; Ash hastily pulled back, and the girl then……

Fortunately, a sudden explosion rescued Ash and prevented the girl from continuing to entangle him.

……

In an alley one street away from Ash,

A flying water sword descended from the sky, blocking Diancie's path,

At some point, the figures of the ninja thieves and the Koga ninja frog suddenly appeared ahead.

Diancie turned around intending to run further back,

At that moment, the witch thieves and the crimson fire fox also appeared from the corner.

A fire vortex successfully repelled Diancie,

trapping Diancie in the middle.