Chapter 84: Lucario and Keerni Trust Crisis!

In the soft evolution white light, Croakhead Frog used Sword Dance while completing evolution!

The limbs became longer and stronger, height shot up from 0.6 meters to 1.8 meters, adult male height.

According to the average height of only 1.5 meters for the Koga Ninja Frog species, Ash's 1.8-meter Koga Ninja Frog undoubtedly developed excellently.

What also relieved Ash was,

After evolution, the Koga Ninja Frog's base stats also saw a significant increase.

The disadvantages previously suffered in base stats will now be completely reversed.

【Pokémon】: Koga Ninja Frog (♂)

【Attribute】: Water+Dark

【Ability】: Bond Phenomenon 1 (When Koga Ninja Frog and Trainer are present, Bond Phenomenon can be activated to enter Bonded Form)

【Level】: lv36

【Skills】: …, Flying Water Hand Sword, Dark Sneak Vital Point, Black Mist, Substitute,

【Carried】: Mysterious Water Drop

【Special Ability】: Waveguide Power (Intermediate)

【Individual】: 6v

【Base Stats】: Total 530, HP 72, Attack 95, Defense 67, Sp. Atk 103, Sp. Def 71, Speed 122,

After evolution, Koga Ninja Frog's base stats rose to 530, actually surpassing Lucario's 525.

However, the difference between them was originally small,

Plus, Koga Ninja Frog's extraordinary speed results in its own output power actually not being as strong as Lucario's.

The good news is that beforehand Ash had already commanded Koga Ninja Frog to complete two Sword Dance boosts, Attack +4!

Such an increase in output power means even Croakhead Frog is enough to arm-wrestle Lucario.

What's more, after evolution, with its base stats greatly increased, Koga Ninja Frog.

On Keerni's side, Ash's consecutive Sword Dance and Croakhead Frog's evolution have already made Keerni realize the situation has become very unfavorable,

She wanted to take advantage of Koga Ninja Frog just having evolved, with everyone's attention focused on Koga Ninja Frog, to strengthen herself a bit.

"Sword Dance!"

Lucario, enduring the pain, stood up from where it had fallen,

Lucario, whose eyes had turned red, outright refused to follow commands, casually condensing an energy bone staff.

Lucario forcefully bent it, snapping it into two bone rods, and charged straight at Koga Ninja Frog.

Ash quickly recognized this move,

"Bone Staff Beat!"

Ground-type move, power 25, game effect is consecutive attacks 2 to 5 times.

But in reality, how many times it attacks depends entirely on the Pokémon's intention using this move.

A Ground-type move attacking Electric-type Pikachu is still okay,

but if used against Water-type Koga Ninja Frog, that's really wishful thinking.

"Water Torrent Burst!"

Koga Ninja Frog's eyes narrowed, looking at Lucario opposite who refused to follow Trainer's commands, a hint of disappointment flashed in its eyes—this was not the battle it wanted.

It's already over; continuing would be meaningless,

The two Pokémon clashed again; Koga Ninja Frog landed a Rushing Punch, the violent water element directly dispelling the bone staff condensed from ground energy.

The attack hit Lucario; the tremendous force directly sent it flying, crashing heavily to the ground, its eyes turning into spirals, falling unconscious.

The impromptu referee Clemont immediately announced the battle result.

"Lucario has lost battle ability, so the winner of this battle is Ash."

"Lucario!"

The winning streak was ended……although somewhat disappointed, Keerni's first concern was placed on her own Pokémon,

She sprinted all the way to the fallen Lucario, took out a pomelo and stuffed it into Lucario's mouth to help it recover stamina.

This detail earned Ash's approving nod.

However, this does not mean Keerni has no problems,

In the battle, Lucario actually refused to follow the Trainer's commands, which is a rather serious problem.

Among them, Lucario bears responsibility, but the greater responsibility lies with the Trainer.

Trainer, trainer, the Trainer bears the responsibility of training Pokémon,

This is not just keeping a pet, giving it enough food and a bit more interaction.

A Trainer should have the demeanor of a Trainer!

The reason this Lucario can so unrestrainedly act in battle is apparently related to Keerni not having given enough pressure and trust in regular training and battles.

As for Keerni, who in the original work has had multiple interactions with me, a sunny, cheerful, beautiful girl, Ash's impression of her is still okay.

Actually, I don't mind lending a hand.

Wanting to change Keerni and Lucario's predicament, saying it's hard is hard, saying it's simple is also simple.

Ash actually has a quickest method, except that this method requires Koga Ninja Frog to play the villain for a moment.

But what Ash didn't expect was that, before he could even open the Waveguide link to Koga Ninja Frog,

Koga Ninja Frog had already begun sternly scolding the Lucario that had finished eating the tree fruit and awakened from unconsciousness.

"Croak… croak croak croak!"

"Why aren't you listening to the Trainer's commands? After Sword Dance, you clearly still had a chance to keep fighting with me."

"Lu—"

What do you know? Her reactions are always half a beat slow; I might as well make the decision myself.

Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit...

Your decision is to use a Ground-type move to attack a Water-type Pokémon—you're not even as good as her! At least I can see hope of victory from her commands, while you're nothing but a flustered, incompetent, rage-filled clown. Even if I gave you ten thousand chances, you could never be my opponent, let alone evolving—even in my Tadpole Frog form I could beat you.

"Lucario!!" Wanna fight?

Lucario's face flushed red with anger, sprang up from the ground, clenched fists, and made a move to strike.

Greninja easily caught that punch with a hand, its momentum unyielding.

"Ribbit… ribbit ribbit ribbit"

Forgot? You just lost to me, yet you dare to boast.

Next, the two Pokémon fought again, still without a trainer's commands.

The sharp Greninja utterly crushed the overconfident Lucario.

"Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit…" Look, even without her commands, you're no match for me.

"Lucario…" That's because your strength exceeds mine.

"Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit…" But I'm executing the tactics my trainer once taught me.

"Lucario…"

Lucario's rebuttal grew weaker and weaker, but looking at her expression, she was clearly still somewhat unwilling to accept defeat.

Seeing Lucario clearly losing the argument against Greninja, Keerni, unaware of what exactly they were arguing about,

Fearing Lucario might suffer psychological trauma, she hurriedly stepped forward to comfort Lucario.

"Losing isn't a big deal; after all, Ash losing to a five-time champion isn't shameful."

"Lucario!"

But Greninja and her strength are clearly quite close; in fact, she was even weaker before—clearly the problem is your command.

Keerni's comfort obviously failed to convince Lucario's competitive heart, and even caused the two to start arguing, leaving the onlookers staring at each other in bewilderment.

Lucario's gaze unintentionally met Greninja's contemptuous stare, her body jolted—could it be…

Really, just as Greninja said?

Does blindly following an unreliable trainer's orders really increase the win rate?

No!

She had tried that before, but it still ended in failure.

Or maybe Greninja is just too strong; give her more power and she can still win.

Greninja's evolution has maxed out, but she still has Mega Evolution!

As long as we reach Stone Forest Town, which Keerni's grandfather mentioned, and obtain the Mega Stone, then I will surely be able to defeat Greninja and prove that her idea is correct.

In battle, once the trainer shows an unprofessional side, it's time for her to rely on battle instinct and make her own judgment.