"First match. Lucario versus Kangaskhan. Begin!" Ms. Lily, acting as temporary referee, waved a slim arm and declared the duel officially started.
She wasn't particularly familiar with the rules of the competition, but saying "begin" was something she could manage.
The moment her voice landed, Ash and Norman gave their orders to their Pokémon at the same instant.
"Kangaskhan, Mega Punch!"
"Lucario, Power-Up Punch!"
The fists of both Pokémon lit up at the same time, then flew forward together.
Two fists of completely different sizes collided in mid-air. Unsurprisingly, Lucario lost the standoff in under a second, getting flung back, tumbling across the arena before finally sliding to a stop in front of Ash.
A High Level Pokémon clashing fists with a High Elite Four Pokémon was a foregone conclusion. Even with Lucario's attack stat at S-rank, that wasn't enough to bridge a gap of so many tiers on a straight power test. Dodging Kangaskhan's punch and landing his own counter wasn't on the table either.
Was Kangaskhan even an easy target? Despite its bulk, Kangaskhan wasn't a clumsy Pokémon. The only weak point was that its speed wasn't exceptional. With the power gap between Lucario and Kangaskhan being what it was, though, even that small speed advantage of Lucario's was largely cancelled out.
Slipping a hit from Kangaskhan and landing his own was simply not realistic. Even in a fistfight like this, Lucario was already performing well beyond what his level should have allowed.
"Lucario, how are you?"
"Roar!"
Lucario shook his head, then sprang back to his feet, signaling he was fine.
"That punch was a decent test, wasn't it? Let's go all out now."
"Roar!"
Go all out? So that wasn't his full power just now? Norman's eyes narrowed. He wanted to see exactly what Ash's "full power" looked like.
It would be the technique he'd heard of, the one that could massively elevate a Pokémon's level, the move Ash uniquely had access to. This wasn't a secret in the outside world anymore. Any Trainer who paid even passing attention to Ash's matches knew he had this move.
That special power could lift a Pokémon a full major tier. Going by their first exchange, Lucario was sitting at High Level. With that power active, he'd vault to Elite Four. That would put Norman's own Pokémon at a disadvantage.
Norman didn't get flustered, though. He absolutely refused to believe that a forced power boost like that could come without side effects, or that the boosted Pokémon would be equal in every way to one that had reached that tier naturally.
The technique had to have a weakness somewhere. What that weakness was, he'd only know in actual combat. At least in the past matches where Ash had used it, the boost hadn't revealed any obvious cracks.
"Lucario, Mega Evolution!"
Ash raised his arm, and the stone at his wrist let out a dazzling light. The Mega Stone embedded on Lucario answered the Key Stone in Ash's hand. A wash of rainbow light enveloped Lucario, and when the glow faded, Mega Lucario stood on the field.
Ash hadn't planned to use Aura fusion, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to use Mega Evolution. A High Level Pokémon fighting a High Elite Four was rough, but with Mega Evolution stacked on top, the difficulty narrowed considerably.
Mega Evolution lifted a Pokémon across every category except its underlying stamina. With it, Lucario was now roughly at Elite Four Beginner. There was still a real gap between him and Norman's Kangaskhan, but the difference between this and a moment ago was night and day.
"Whoa, the Pokémon evolved! He's even cooler now!"
"Wait, isn't Pokémon evolution supposed to happen only at certain levels? How did that guy just say the word and make his Pokémon evolve?"
"What's Mega Evolution? Mr. Norman didn't teach us about this."
"This is the first time I've ever seen a Pokémon evolve up close."
"He's so handsome! When I go on my journey, I want to catch a Lucario!"
The chatter rolled around the edge of the arena. The Mega Evolution system wasn't a secret to the wider world anymore, but to children of this age, it was still extraordinary. They didn't really know what it was, just that it didn't look like normal evolution.
Watching Ash give a single command and trigger the transformation in his Pokémon, every face along the edge of the field lit up with awe. More than a few of the elementary-aged students silently resolved that when they set out on their own journey one day, they would catch a Lucario for themselves. Catching one was nowhere near that simple, but they didn't need to know that yet.
"Mega Evolution. I've heard about it, but this is the first time I'm seeing it up close. I've gone looking for a Mega Stone that works with one of my Pokémon too, but unfortunately I never tracked one down. I do have a Key Stone, though my Pokémon doesn't seem to be one that can Mega Evolve." Norman shook his head, a trace of regret in his voice.
Kangaskhan's Mega Evolution hadn't been publicly revealed yet, so it was perfectly reasonable for Norman to say he didn't have a Mega-capable Pokémon on his team. After the battle wrapped up, Ash would pass along what he knew about Mega Kangaskhan. For now, this wasn't the moment to bring it up. If he told Norman about it mid-match, whether Norman's head would still be in the battle was anyone's guess.
"We have to keep attacking, Mr. Norman. Lucario, Agility!"
Ash thought for a moment, then ordered Lucario's next move. Lucario's speed had already gone up after Mega Evolution, and with Agility stacked on top of that, his movement became so fast that he was almost a shadow. Norman couldn't track him either.
Almost the instant Ash's voice faded, Lucario was already in front of Kangaskhan, a massive fist clenched, the air tearing as he drove the punch forward.
The blow landed flat against Kangaskhan's body, and the immense force flung it backward dozens of meters before it finally crashed into the boundary barrier of the arena.
That barrier had been set up by Mewtwo at the start of the battle. The shockwaves from this exchange hadn't reached the surrounding spectators precisely because of it.
Kangaskhan slammed into the barrier.
Kangaskhan's hind legs wobbled, its body swayed, but it regained its balance in just a second.
Lucario's expression tightened at the sight. Even with the speed boost from Power-Up Punch carried in by Agility, this was all the damage he could deal? The defense was simply too high.
"That's some speed. With Agility on top of his own pace, Lucario's now well past the speed ceiling of his current tier. He really does live up to a Mega Evolution." Norman's voice carried open admiration.
This was his first time fighting a Mega-Evolved Pokémon, and the first taste was already enough to give him a clear sense of what Mega Evolution gave a Pokémon. No wonder the current world was so thoroughly dominated by the Mega Evolution system, to the point of overshadowing the Gigantamax system.
No geographic restriction, and the power boost was at least as strong as Gigantamax, if not stronger. Outside of the difficulty of acquiring the items and the limit on which species could Mega Evolve, every other column was in the positive.
"Mr. Norman's Kangaskhan is impressive, though. That defense is on another level."
"Right. Lucario, Power-Up Punch again!"
In raw speed under Agility, Lucario could outpace Kangaskhan, but the punch behind it still wasn't enough. The previous hit hadn't done a thing to Kangaskhan, which meant Kangaskhan's defense was still well above Lucario's offense.
Lucario's attack stat had jumped after Mega Evolution, and with Power-Up Punch stacking on top, his attack would climb again. Even so, with all those layers added, the damage on Kangaskhan was minimal. That should tell you how solid this thing was. So Ash had to keep raising Lucario's attack to squeeze out any room to damage Kangaskhan at all.
"Roar!"
Lucario crouched and lunged forward again, faint white light gathering around his fist.
Power-Up Punch. The force packed into the strike kept condensing as he closed the distance, ready to land on Kangaskhan's still-unsteady frame.
In that exact moment, a flash of light crossed Norman's eyes, and he barked an order.
"Kangaskhan, now! Sucker Punch!"
Before he'd even finished, the Kangaskhan that had looked sluggish suddenly erupted with a burst of power. Ignoring Lucario's incoming fist, its massive body stomped the ground like a runaway truck and charged head-on into him.
Sucker Punch had a specific mechanic. If the opponent was using an attacking move, Sucker Punch fired first. If the opponent wasn't, the move did nothing. Norman had timed it precisely. Almost the instant Ash ordered Lucario to attack, Norman was already prepared.
A heavy, dull crack rang out as Kangaskhan's thick, sturdy hand slammed into Lucario's chest. The impact, like a falling hammer, halted Lucario's offensive instantly. The force was enough to nearly pop Lucario's eyes out of his skull.
Both Pokémon glared at each other, but the power difference was clear. Lucario couldn't put a real dent in Kangaskhan, but Kangaskhan could absolutely tear Lucario apart. If Dark-type moves weren't resisted by Fighting-type Pokémon, Lucario would have been afraid that one hit alone would've extinguished his flame. Even with the resistance, the aura on Lucario's fist nearly went out.
"Lucario, don't give up! Show us your fighting spirit!"
Ash's voice snapped Lucario back from his glazed-over state. Then, through the searing pain, Lucario forcibly funneled every scrap of remaining strength into his fist.
"Roar!"
Lucario let out a furious cry, his whole body screaming with the pain, and channeled everything into a fist that tore through the air with a sharp, ringing sound. The strike slammed full-force into Kangaskhan's flank.
The punch landed harder than the lightning-fast one from before. Kangaskhan's massive body shook violently and let out a low groan. It was knocked back into the same boundary barrier it had hit moments earlier.
Even with the same Power-Up Punch, Fighting-type moves carried a type advantage against Kangaskhan, which was Normal-type. And Fighting was Lucario's signature element on top. The power behind this hit was naturally that much stronger.
Surprise flashed across Norman's face. He hadn't expected Lucario to absorb the surprise attack and still land a Power-Up Punch of that magnitude. Lucario's fighting spirit and willpower were far stronger than Norman had given him credit for.
Compared to level and combat power, willpower was the rarer and more valuable trait. You could raise level and combat power with grinding. Cultivating real willpower was much harder.
After taking the surprise hit and watching his attack power start to dissipate, Lucario had been pulled back into the fight by Ash's call alone, and had then unleashed an even stronger Power-Up Punch than the first.
That was what unshakable will looked like.
"Kangaskhan, Mega Punch!"
Respect aside, Norman wasn't backing down in a battle either. Lucario had managed to land his Power-Up Punch and stack his attack stat higher, but immediately after the strike, Lucario dropped to one knee, unable to push any more strength out. This was the perfect window to press.
Kangaskhan roared, body like a heavy truck barreling forward, the ground shaking under each step. The massive presence forced Lucario to look up. A heavy aura pressed down on him until breathing alone was hard.
"Lucario, Agility!" Ash's voice rang out again.
At that critical moment, the call gave Lucario something to push off of. Lucario braced, stomped the ground, and his body flickered backward in an instant, closing the gap with the boundary line and dragging Kangaskhan into a chase.
"Agility raises a Pokémon's speed massively, but it also burns through stamina. Let's see how many more times you can use it, Lucario." Norman watched Kangaskhan's missed attack calmly.
Lucario's natural speed was already startling, faster even than most top-tier Pokémon, but Agility wasn't just a quick burst. It produced a stronger surge of acceleration than ordinary speed moves, and the trade-off was rapid stamina drain. How many more times could Lucario use it? Probably not many.
After the latest Agility, Lucario was already breathing hard. The stamina chipped down by Kangaskhan's last hit had now been finished off by the Agility. Ash's eyes narrowed. He knew Lucario's condition better than anyone, and he knew that pushing further would carry Lucario past exhaustion into something more serious.
Even in his normal state, Lucario's speed couldn't keep up with Kangaskhan's brute charge. The only way to stay ahead was Quick Attack or Agility, the moves that boosted or rode pure speed.
Using moves to force speed up burned a massive amount of stamina, and using anything else while speed was already pushed cost even more. Lucario didn't have much time left.