Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"Machoke, show some willpower! Use your bodybuilding skills to get through this!" Ah Si shouted to encourage his partner. Machoke also gathered even stronger power again, intending to take the attack of the Lycanroc head-on!

Bang! !

All the stone pillars shattered with a crash, and the leaping werewolf rammed its head into Hawley's chest, causing its body to shake violently.

Even so, Haoli gritted his teeth and barely survived the attack!

"Good, we finally made it through." Ah Si smiled with satisfaction. "Hao Li, give it a blast!"

"Use a surprise attack... no! Switch to protection immediately!!"

Ash had anticipated that Machamp hadn't lost its ability to fight, so he had prepared for Lycan to launch a surprise attack later.

To his surprise, the mane rock werewolf suddenly showed a hint of panic... it couldn't gather the power to attack!

Bang!

With a powerful punch from Maw of Fire, Lycanroc barely managed to maintain his defense, but was still blasted away along with his shield.

After landing, its body trembled strangely, and then it abnormally degenerated into the appearance of a rock dog!

"Woof..." After scrambling to his feet, Rock Dog was a little confused, completely unaware of what had just happened.

"What's going on?" Rukia stared in astonishment. "Could this also be something Ash arranged on purpose?"

"I don't know... It seems that Xiaozhi is also unaware of what happened." Xiaogang shook his head, completely confused.

The current situation is too bizarre; no one can explain why.

Ash is genuinely confused. Rockruff's condition seems similar to Chikorita's, but the situation is completely different!

After all, he never sincerely prayed for Rock Dog to undergo a Bond Degeneration with him!

Could it be... because of that thing?

Ash looked at the red gem under Rockruff's neck, which was flashing with a faint light.

The first thing that came to Xiaozhi's mind about the source of this strange phenomenon was the rock slab!

"Rockdogler, come back here." After a moment's thought, Ash decided to recall Rockdogler and switch back to Dragapult.

After all that evolution and degeneration, Rockruff was clearly not in a good enough condition to fight anymore, and Ash was unwilling to force his partner to continue the adventure just for a little bit of boost.

"Dorunchi, I can only leave things to you now!"

"Doruk~" It was Draco's first time battling in place of Ash, and he encountered this situation. To be honest, Draco was a little nervous.

But if we look at it from another angle, who wouldn't want to be the main force in a battle?

At least the dragon on its head, Doronmesia, was extremely excited at this moment, determined to defeat their opponent and secure their first victory in their debut appearance together with its mother!

"Then let's give it our all, Dragon Dance!"

"Holli, with bodybuilding!"

The battle resumed, and Ash had Dragapult perform a power-up first, but Sickle followed suit and had Machoke get a power-up too!

Then he preemptively unleashed a fierce attack from Haoli: "Use Bullet Punch!"

"Use electromagnetic waves!"

Bang!

With no defensive abilities, Machoke's punch landed squarely on Dronki's body, but the arc of electricity released by the latter dragged it into a quagmire of paralysis.

"Following the Dragon Dance, a surprise attack by the Hidden Spirits!"

Having taken a hit, Doraki immediately seized the opportunity to create distance. As soon as the Dragon Dance ended, he darted into the alternate dimension to wait for an opportunity.

Of course, Machamp can still easily use its ability to pinpoint the opponent's location.

Ash and Asahi both knew that all that remained of this battle was a final, head-on clash!

"Haoli, concentrate!" "Holi!"

In an instant, Ah Si and Hao Li's spirits and energy changed simultaneously.

It was a state of intense concentration; the two partners were completely focused, and not even the slightest sound could escape their notice.

"Is it coming...? Then let's attack head-on! Doronchi, go for it!!"

Knowing that Ah Si had already used his best skills, Xiao Zhi was not to be outdone and signaled Dragapult to launch a desperate attack!

"Hou Li, use Brick Break!!"

"force!!"

In that instant, Hawley's hand blade seemed to tear through space, and Doronchi felt an unavoidable sharpness rapidly slashing at him!

It has appeared, severing the invisible blade!

At this moment, all Doronchi can do is face the attack head-on!

Bang!

The violent collision caused both Pokémon to stagger and stagger backward, panting.

"As expected of Mr. Si's signature move, it's a truly formidable attack," Xiao Zhi complimented in a deep voice.

Machoke's attack just now wasn't a simple breakthrough in attributes; in that instant, it completely locked onto Doronchi's position and struck a vital point!

Moreover, A-Si and Machamp completed the attack in a very short time, which was much easier than Gary's Scyther.

"Thank you for the compliment, now for the final blow!" Ah Si had already gathered an aura as powerful as a mountain. Judging from Hao Li's clenched fist, it was about to unleash a devastating punch that could strike an invisible target!

"Doruru..." "Dor!"

Doronchi was actually a little unsure of himself; he was worried about whether he could survive such a desperate situation.

However, its offspring remained confident, constantly jumping and bouncing on their mother's head, seemingly looking forward to the final showdown.

"Go ahead, you'll definitely win," Ash suddenly said with a smile. "At a time like this, all I can do is believe in you!"

"Doruk!" Upon hearing this, Doruki became determined and once again dived into the alternate dimension!

Next, it will be the final confrontation!

"Here it comes! Use the Burst Punch!!" Ah Si keenly sensed Doronchi's attack, and Machoke locked onto the spatial ripples first, throwing out his all-or-nothing punch.

"Do~" But to its surprise, it was not Doronchi who peeked out first, but the cub Doronmesia!

The powerful punch struck the little dragon's body. It mimicked its mother's movements, spiraling forward while rubbing against the fist to minimize damage and eventually fly to Haoli's head.

Of course, since it wasn't launched, it didn't cause any damage to Hawley.

However, it did attract Haoli's attention and broke the opponent's highly concentrated momentum!

"Doruk!" Doraki also rushed out of the alternate dimension and charged towards his opponent, meeting Hawley's fist head-on!

The force of the punch caused it a slight pain, but subsequent punches had no effect... Doronchi let it churn inside its body, and then struck its opponent so hard that it could no longer get up!

"Machamp is unable to battle, Draco wins, so Ash is the winner!" Bea announced the final result.

"Well done!" Ash excitedly pumped his fist and immediately rushed forward to hug Draco. "Drowana, you did a fantastic job! I knew you could do it, and so can Dracomesia!"

"Dodo~" Little Dragon happily squinted his eyes and jumped onto Ash's hat, frolicking around.

The mother and child, Dragapult, really fought hard in this battle. When Rockruff suddenly lost its way, they switched from supporting to attacking, and finally helped Ash win the battle.

Especially in the final battle, Ash didn't give any commands at all; the victory was purely due to the mother and son working together!

Chapter 503 The News That Followed, and Xia's Outburst!

After a fierce battle, Ash and Dragapult were overjoyed with their victory and celebrated together.

"Woof~" Rock Dog jumped out of the ball and wagged its tail gratefully at Doronchi.

Seeing this, the latter gently lifted it onto its head and swayed it back and forth softly.

This is actually what it does most often; it takes care of many of Ash's Pokémon... except for Larvitar, which is too big to carry.

"Ash, the final result was really unexpected." Ah Si stepped forward with a smile. "Congratulations on defeating the Azure Gym."

"I won by sheer luck, mainly thanks to the combined efforts of my Pokémon. They really gave me a big surprise today," Ash said modestly. "Mr. Silly and Machamp were also very strong. Your cutting the invisible blade taught us a great lesson."

“Our training is still far from sufficient.” Ah Si quickly waved his hand. “In the end, I was too eager to go all in. If Machoke had continued to use Brick Break, it might have been easier for him to concentrate… but I was afraid that he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Draco. In any case, I lost this match. Please accept the Striking Badge.”

"Thank you so much!" Ash accepted his fourth badge with both hands.

"If you're going to Asahi City later, you can take a ferry from the dock... but Ash, you probably won't need to." Ah Si had heard Bea mention this before; Ash rarely uses transportation when he travels.

"We'll rest for a bit and then head over." Ash nodded, then turned to Bea, "What about you? Want to come to Ophiopogon City with us?"

"Okay, I'll decide where to collect badges once we get there."

Bea is also going to challenge the Johto League. She already got the Azure Gym Badge, so she'll get the rest after returning to the Johto continent.

So everyone agreed immediately. Cai Dou stayed at the dojo to pack her luggage, while Xiao Gang went to buy some supplies for the rest of the trip.

Ash decided to carefully check Rockruff's condition while restoring his Pokémon.

...

"Rockdog... As expected, normal evolution is no problem."

After the Pokémon Center was restored, Ash chose a deserted beach and released Rockruff.