"Ash is a bit unlucky."
Nemona rested her chin in her hand, watching Ash on the field.
She had a good impression of Ash and Red, and every time she went to World Tree Castle, she would arrange a battle with them.
She felt that she was very similar to the two brothers; they both extremely loved Pokémon battles.
It was a pure love, so they got along very well.
"Hmm, I just don't know what kind of lineup Mammon will use today. If it's not an overly strong lineup, Ash might even be able to defeat a few of Mammon's Pokémon."
Geeta nodded. Although she was indeed crushed in her last match against Mammon.
But Geeta knew in her heart that her strength was inferior to those 'monsters' like Ash and Nemona who had already developed.
If it had been Nemona or Geeta back then, they might have been able to defeat a few of Mammon's main Pokémon.
Of course, this also depended on the Pokémon Mammon used.
On the field.
"Lucario, use Bullet Punch!"
Ash's expression became serious as he immediately gave the command to Lucario.
He knew Mammon was very, very strong, so he was already giving his full attention, ready to face this battle in the best possible state.
Just as Mammon had said, he would let Mammon witness the limits of him, Ash, and his partner!
Lucario remained expressionless, bent its knees slightly, and then shot towards Marshadow like a sharp arrow.
Its speed was incredibly fast!
A Steel-type Bullet Punch, a Steel-type priority move.
If purely considering its own speed, Lucario's speed was actually quite a bit slower than Marshadow's.
However, Lucario knew many priority moves, such as Bullet Punch and Extreme Speed.
However, the Normal-type Extreme Speed would not affect Marshadow.
But Lucario wasn't the only one who knew priority moves.
"Sucker Punch."
Mammon's lips curved slightly.
A black light flashed in Marshadow's eyes, and its small body instantly transformed into a grey-black shadow, attacking.
Its dashing speed was even faster than Lucario's!
In the blink of an eye, Marshadow had already appeared behind Lucario and leaped up, its right arm wreathed in deep black light, fingers curled into a claw, fiercely tearing towards the back of Lucario's head.
A Dark-type Sucker Punch!
"Lucario!" Ash exclaimed in surprise.
But Lucario didn't need Ash's reminder; it instantly felt the threat, and with frantic warnings in its heart, it instinctively lowered its head.
The Sucker Punch's claw grazed the top of Lucario's head.
"Ma?"
Marshadow's large pupils showed confusion as an almost certain hit was dodged.
"Brick Break!"
However, the confusion was only for an instant. Marshadow, whose Sucker Punch missed, pushed off with its left leg, spun around, and used the momentum to fiercely chop down at Lucario.
A Fighting-type Brick Break!
Lucario quickly turned around, crossing its arms and raising them.
Bang!
Brick Break landed heavily on Lucario's arms. Lucario's body was instantly forced down with a muffled grunt, and both its feet sank into the ground.
This Brick Break was simply too heavy.
As Marshadow exerted force again, with a muffled thud, Lucario's entire body was thrown back by a huge force, sliding back nearly ten meters before it regained its balance.
The ground was plowed with two deep marks by Lucario.
Marshadow, however, landed as lightly as air, still with that innocent, adorable expression, tilting its head slightly as it looked at Lucario.
Lucario lowered its arms, which were twitching slightly from the pain, and stared solemnly at the small, grey-black figure.
So strong!!!
Everyone looking at Marshadow now had only these two words in their minds.
It looked harmless, even a bit cute and innocent, but when it moved, it was astonishingly sharp and fierce. This contrast was simply too stark.
"This Marshadow's close combat skills are amazing!"
Brock's face was incredibly grim. Although his strength wasn't considered top-tier, his eyesight and meticulous nature were excellent.
"When Sucker Punch missed, it immediately adjusted its body, relying on its powerful physical coordination to prepare for the next Brick Break."
"This kind of almost instinctive muscle memory and battle technique definitely isn't something that can be trained out casually."
Brock said in a low voice. Marshadow shouldn't have the ability to fly; that much should be correct.
But just now, it had used the Extreme Speed granted by Sucker Punch to instantly get behind Lucario and jump up to attack Lucario's head. Well, because of its small size, it could only jump to hit.
But after Sucker Punch failed, Marshadow had no leverage in the air. Yet, relying on its excellent battle technique and the inertial momentum from swinging Sucker Punch, it forcefully followed up with the next Brick Break!
This kind of technique definitely couldn't be trained in a short time.
"Mammon's training ability is truly excellent."
Brock couldn't help but say so. Marshadow didn't have such exaggerated battle instincts when Mammon caught it, after all, when Mammon caught Marshadow...
Brock and Misty were also present, so Brock was very clear about this.
"But it's going to be tough for Ash."
Misty, however, was more worried about Ash and Lucario.
On the field.
"Aura's premonition?"
Mammon looked at Lucario with interest.
To be honest, he didn't think it was a coincidence that Lucario reacted and narrowly avoided Marshadow's Sucker Punch.
It is well known that Lucario is an Aura Pokémon. It can perceive the Aura emitted by its opponent to read their thoughts and movements.
Simply put, the power of Aura gives Lucario a similar ability to Observation Haki.
So, in a sense, Lucario is one of the Pokémon least afraid of being blind, because Aura sensing can replace the function of eyes to allow it to'see' its opponent.
However, in intense battles, Aura still cannot completely replace visual function, and it's not as perfect as it is theoretically, as Aura sensing is an alternative form of visual capture, which also requires concentration to capture hidden and fast-moving targets.
But the effort of concentrating is naturally not as quick as a glance. However, in certain situations, Aura sensing is more useful, such as for positions that cannot be captured by vision immediately.
And just like Lucario's narrow escape from Marshadow's Sucker Punch, sometimes physical reaction ability is actually the key. Otherwise, even if Aura senses a sneak attack, if the body can't react in time, what's the point?
"Lucario, are you okay?"
Ash asked Lucario with concern.
Lucario shook its head, indicating it was fine, and stared cautiously at Marshadow.
"We can't match Marshadow's speed; it's too fast."
Ash's mind raced. Then he would lure Marshadow to attack!
"Lucario, use Bone Rush!"
Ash immediately had an idea and decisively gave the command.
Long-standing tacit understanding made Lucario immediately understand Ash's intention.
Two bone clubs appeared in its hands as it made a grasping motion, then Lucario swung them hard, and the two bone clubs spun rapidly towards Marshadow.
A Ground-type Bone Rush!
"Sucker Punch." Mammon raised an eyebrow.
Marshadow instantly transformed into a grey-black shadow, easily dodging Bone Rush, and charged towards Lucario like lightning.
Lucario stared intently at Marshadow in Sucker Punch, but even with its eyesight, it couldn't fully capture Marshadow's figure.
Too fast!
In the blink of an eye, Marshadow appeared behind Lucario again, and it was still at the back of its head.
However, this time Marshadow was attacking at full speed and full power, faster and fiercer than the first Sucker Punch!
Marshadow was very confident that this Sucker Punch, this bipedal wolf-dog, would not be able to dodge!
But... "Detect it!" Ash shouted.
A sharp light flashed in Lucario's eyes, and its body twisted and dodged with incredible speed, perfectly avoiding Marshadow's Sucker Punch.
A Fighting-type Detect!
Similar to Protect, it can absolutely dodge the opponent's attack.
"Meteor Mash!"
Ash excitedly threw a punch.
After a perfect dodge, Lucario clenched its right fist, swung it in a meteoric arc, and fiercely hammered towards Marshadow.
"As expected, you were prepared, but Ash, I already anticipated it."
Mammon chuckled softly.
Just as Meteor Mash was about to hit, Marshadow's body instantly began to melt like mercury and pour onto the ground.
"What?"
Ash was stunned.
Meteor Mash swung through, but only hit the air.
Lucario quickly lowered its head. Marshadow had completely fallen to the ground and turned into a shadow, and this shadow was rapidly expanding.
"Wait! Lucario, use Earthquake!"
Ash immediately snapped back to reality. Seeing the giant shadow that was growing larger and larger, completely surrounding Lucario in the center, he felt a bad premonition.
Many Ghost-type Pokémon have the ability to turn into shadows, but that doesn't mean Ghost-type Pokémon that turn into shadows are immune to attacks.
For these'shadows' spread on the ground, one Earthquake can shatter them!
Ash's reaction was truly very fast, so fast that Mammon was surprised. It was clear that compared to last year, Ash had grown astonishingly this year.
However, even so, when Lucario lifted its foot, just about to use Earthquake...
Boom!!
A dark, black energy pillar shot up into the sky, completely engulfing Lucario.
The surging shadow energy was incredibly stunning, almost darkening the entire environment. At the same time, on the surface of this gushing shadow energy, giant orange hollow pupils constantly appeared.
Quiet, eerie, deep, and chilling.
A Ghost-type Spectral Thief! This was Marshadow's exclusive move.
And being relentlessly bombarded and impacted by the energy of Spectral Thief, Lucario couldn't help but show a pained expression, growling in agony.
Although the Ghost-type Spectral Thief doesn't have a type advantage against Lucario, it doesn't matter because Lucario's defense is a bit weak.
After all, for explosive Pokémon like Lucario, which have good speed and can use both physical and special attacks, defense is always their weak point.
Not to mention, Marshadow's physical attack is quite good.
Hmm, although Spectral Thief looks entirely like an outpouring of energy, it is indeed a physical move.
"Lucario!"
Seeing Lucario get hit, Ash was worried and anxious, and quickly shouted encouragement to Lucario.
"Come on, Lucario! Show our backbone! You have to hold on!"
Hearing Ash's words, Mammon raised an eyebrow again.
No, is he not going to live another day? Is he going all out in the very first round?