Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master.

Chapter 396 Leaving Martial Arts Island, A Strange Abandoned Ship

When Iron Fist Warrior appeared, its aura was even stronger than the previous two Pokémon. Without Ash's prompting, Grovyle had already entered a serious state.

"Push it hard!"

"Hali!"

The Iron Palm Warrior immediately launched a fierce attack, thrusting its large palm forward four times in succession.

The palm strike was incredibly powerful, shattering several fountains in succession, and the shockwave nearly knocked the forest lizard off its feet.

But by scattering the fountain, it actually helped Ash, as there was now no obstruction between Grovyle and Ironhide.

"Forest Lizard, use your leaf attack to strike Iron Palm Warrior's face!"

They usually carry a twig in their mouths, and this is where it comes in handy.

The forest lizard used a tree branch as a projectile, imbued it with energy, and shot it towards the Iron Palm Warrior's eye with a whoosh.

Iron Palm Warrior hurriedly reached out to block, but taking advantage of the opening, the Forest Lizard had already reached Iron Palm Warrior's front.

"Leaf Blade!"

"A surprise high-five!"

The forest lizard is incredibly fast, and its energy condensation is as smooth as if it had been coated with tons of lubricating oil.

But at this moment, the Iron Palm Warrior, whose movements were originally slow, suddenly became faster after using the Strike Palm attack.

It slammed its two large hands together rapidly in front of it, and instantly a huge sound mixed with a sonic boom blew the forest lizard away, even dissipating the energy blades that it had just gathered in its hands.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Fujiki immediately gave instructions.

"Iron Palm Warrior, True Qi Fist!"

"Hali!"

The massive body immediately assumed a horse stance, and the Iron Palm Warrior's power gradually gathered in his right fist, his aura continuously rising.

This can be considered the most powerful fighting-type move, but the conditions for using it are also very demanding.

Before throwing a punch, a Pokémon needs to concentrate all its energy. If it is attacked by its opponent before the actual attack is launched, the Focus Punch will fail.

"Forest Lizard, we can't let Iron Palm Warrior finish charging up and use the leaf attack again!"

Although the leaf attack is not very powerful, it is a powerful long-range attack that is sufficient to interrupt the True Qi Fist.

However, the forest lizard remained kneeling on one knee, shaking its head in an attempt to regain its senses.

The sonic boom from the surprise high-five had left it dizzy, and the Pokémon was in a state of fear, completely unable to hear Ash's command.

Even though they instinctively wanted to move, they couldn't get up for a long time.

Upon seeing this, Ash immediately changed his strategy and slowly raised his Aura.

In terms of receiving waveguides, Grovyle is one of those Pokémon that doesn't have much talent.

However, during its previous special training, Ash specifically trained it to receive Ash's commands through subtle waveguide vibrations.

After gently calming the forest lizard down, Ash immediately put it into a defensive stance.

At this moment, the Iron Palm Warrior's True Qi Fist had been fully charged.

"Alright, charge forward like crashing waves, Iron Palm Warrior!"

Each step the Iron Palm Warrior took produced an exceptionally heavy thud, like a pile driver advancing.

Just then, several powerful fountains gushed out, but they couldn't stop its advance at all.

The incoming true qi fist struck the forest lizard in the abdomen, sending it flying.

The forest lizard smashed through several protruding rock pillars at the edge of the arena, its speed not slowing down until it finally came to a stop after crashing deeply into the wall behind it.

The immense force seemed to be shattering the rock walls of the island, causing the entire cave to tremble.

"Oh, are you alright, forest lizard?"

Xiaosheng, who was his companion, quickly called out in concern.

He wanted to run over and check on the forest lizard, but he was almost hit by a rock that had been shaken down by the tremor.

Fortunately, Xiaoyao pulled him back in time, thus escaping a disaster.

"Thank you, sis."

When Xiao Sheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and turned to thank Xiao Yao, he found that his sister was also looking nervously in the direction of the forest lizard.

"It's over, Ash, hurry up and send out the next Pokémon."

"Hmm, but it's still a little short, vine."

"What?"

Just as referee Shinobu saw the scene return to calm and was about to deliver her verdict, Ash suddenly stopped her.

Ash sensed the aura of the Grovyle and smiled slightly.

"The experiment was a success! The forest lizard, with its talent maxed out, was able to withstand even such a powerful attack!"

"Forest lizard, when are you going to stop sleeping in? Get up and make the final push!"

"Cheers!!"

Just then, a huge roar came from the crater that the forest lizard had just created, and a figure covered in green light leaped out and returned to the battlefield.

The Forest Lizard returns with the Lush trait active.

Iron Palm Warrior's True Qi Fist was just a hair's breadth away from defeating the Forest Lizard.

But the forest lizard, enhanced by extreme training, is much more durable than before; it can still retain a sliver of strength after being hit by such a punch.

Its unique lushness ability was triggered, giving it a significant boost in health and doubling its physical attack damage. Although the forest lizard had many wounds, its momentum had reached its peak.

"Moss, is this even possible? You really know how to surprise people, Ash."

Teng Shu looked at the forest lizards on the field with a surprised expression, but he remained confident.

"Iron Palm Warrior, Belly Drum!"

The Iron Palm Warrior on the field immediately slapped his belly with his large palm, making a thumping sound.

"What is it doing?" Xiaoyao immediately asked Xiaosheng, puzzled.

"This move is called 'belly drumming,' which relies on vigorously slapping the belly to perform a mysterious dance, thereby unleashing one's full offensive potential."

"However, while it can maximize the attack power at once, it will also consume half of one's own stamina."

"What exactly is Mr. Fujiki trying to do?"

Iron Palm Warrior's stamina was still in excellent condition, but now, facing the Forest Lizard whose attack power had increased significantly, he had to expend half of his stamina first.

"Given the Iron Palm Warrior's slow pace, is it really worth it?"

However, after the Iron Palm Warrior finished its belly drum dance, a gentle light suddenly emanated from its body, and its strength was instantly restored by a quarter.

"Pomelo?"

"That's right, it's a pomelo!"

Normally, Gym Leaders don't use items in Gym battles, but since this was a battle against Ash, Tengshu used a little personal motive and gave Ironhide a Berry.

The effect of the berry is triggered when a Pokémon's HP drops below half, restoring one-quarter of its HP.

The previous abdominal drumming had just depleted half of the Iron Palm Warrior's stamina.

"Iron Palm Warrior, Bullet Fist!"

Unexpectedly, his Iron Palm Warrior possessed the skill of Bullet Fist.

The Bullet Fist, which is guaranteed to strike first, makes up for the Iron Palm Warrior's lack of speed.

A flash of silver light appeared on the fist, and instantly a metallic fist phantom attacked the forest lizard.

The enhancement effect of Belly Drum is the strongest among all skills; the originally ordinary Bullet Punch's damage is suddenly increased by 4.

This is twice as powerful as the previous enhanced punch.

"Forest Lizard, a flash of lightning!"

Bullet Punch is a priority move and is fast enough, so Ash chose to counter it with a priority move.

The forest lizard's figure quickly transformed into a streak of light, nimbly dodging the bullet punch attack.

With powerful feet, he quickly pressed down on the Iron Palm Warrior's abdomen and kicked him backward, while simultaneously using the reaction force to leap into the air.

"Leaf Blade!"

"Break the tile!"

"Cheers!"

"Hali!"

The cave was being wantonly destroyed by two enhanced monsters.

In this back-and-forth exchange of attacks, shockwaves spread out, shattering all the surrounding rock pillars, and all the nozzles on the field simultaneously spewed out spectacular jets of water.

Shinobu didn't dare stand in the middle anymore and quickly jumped onto the viewing platform where Haruka and the others were.

"Both Pokémon are so strong."

"Is this what it looks like when a Gym Leader goes all out in a battle?"

The fighting girls are now certain that the sparring sessions that Fujiki usually had with them were definitely going easy on them.

At this moment, the terrifying commotion on the field gradually subsided, and the battle was about to be decided.

Although Iron Fist Warrior has the advantage in stamina and attack, Grovyle is twice as fast, plus Grovyle's responsiveness honed under Ash's training.

The Iron Palm Warrior could withstand two Leaf Blades with one attack, but its body could not hold on and it gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.

"Iron Palm Warrior!"

Teng Shu realized something was wrong and shouted, but before he could give any further instructions, the forest lizards, who were already in a bloodthirsty frenzy, launched another attack.

A powerful blade of blade slashed upwards towards the Iron Palm Warrior's chin. After this strike, the thick, massive body finally gave way and collapsed with a loud thud, like a wall.

"Uh—that's right, Iron Palm Warrior is unable to fight, Forest Lizard wins."

"The ultimate winner of this Gym Challenge is Ash Ketchum!"

"Well done, forest lizard!"

"Cheers!"

[Ding! Forest Lizard: Affection +1; Intimacy +2]

Ash was very satisfied with the results of their training on Fighting Island, as demonstrated by Swellow and Grovyle.

This dojo challenge has finally come to a successful conclusion.

"You're really amazing, Ash. Who knows, you might be the one to cause a huge stir in the world someday."

Although he lost, Fujiki played with great enjoyment and showed an even more cheerful smile than before.

At this moment, the storm outside seemed to have stopped, and a ray of sunlight shone into the battlefield through the opening at the top of the cave. Fujiki took out the boxing badge symbolizing the victory over the Martial Arts Gym and handed it to Ash.

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the main quest "Boxing Badge!": Please defeat Martial Arts Dojo Master Fujiki]

【获得奖励：联盟币+5000；体力属性+2：攻击+2：自由属性点+3；技能真气拳+1】

[Ding! Boxing Badge: Pokémon Fighting-type moves will have their power increased by 5% after acquiring this badge!]

"Thank you, Mr. Fujiki. I have benefited greatly from this trip to Martial Arts Island. Thank you for taking care of me during this time."

Although he didn't directly intervene, when Ash was training on the island, lacking food and clothing, or getting lost, there were always people secretly sent by Vine Tree to provide assistance.

This was something that couldn't be hidden from Satoshi, so he was grateful and always treated Fujiki, this kind-hearted person, very well.

However, the vine tree clearly didn't care, because as the gym leader of Fighting Island, he would definitely help not only Ash, but even an ordinary traveler.

"Haha, as long as you guys like Martial Arts Island, that's all that matters."

"So, Ash, where are you guys going next? The closest city with a gym should be Mauville City."

"Yes, that's right, that's where we plan to go next."

"Wait a moment!"

As Ash was counting on his fingers to plan the next part of the journey, May suddenly interrupted.

"Ash, shouldn't we head to Slateport City for my Grand Contest before that?"

"Oh, right!" Ash almost forgot.

"What do you mean 'right'? Honestly, Satoshi! From now on, you absolutely must remember everything I do!"

Otherwise, Xiaoyao will throw a tantrum.

"The hunting swallowtail turkey and I practiced so much for that moment!"

"Oh, it's alright. It's perfect timing since we can pass through Kaina City on our way to Violet City."

Seeing this, Ash quickly laughed it off and turned to look for Max.

"Xiaosheng, is the route planned on the navigator?"

"Of course, you can rest assured that this is something you can handle completely by leaving it to me!"

The bespectacled imp shook the Navigator in its hand, and Ash felt reassured as soon as he saw it.

"That's great!"

Xiao Zhi had a feeling that things would go smoothly from now on!

Then, after saying goodbye to Fujiki and Shinobu, Ash and his friends got lost on the high seas again shortly after boarding the luxury speedboat they had just set off.

"Ah, why did this happen!"

On the deck, Xiao Sheng helplessly patted the navigator in his hand, but there was nothing he could do. The machine screen showed no signal, and he couldn't rely on the navigator now.

"Sigh, people thought we'd be in Kaina City soon."

Haruka lay dejectedly on the sun lounger. The weather was gloomy and there was no sun at all, which made Haruka's mood gloomy as well.

While the two of them were complaining, Ash had already skillfully flown into the air to scout ahead.

However, this is Hoenn, where there is an endless sea everywhere.

Ash didn't dare fly too far, otherwise, with his terrible sense of direction, he would be in big trouble if he couldn't find May and Max's location after flying too far.

Just as Xiao Zhi was thinking about what to do next, suddenly, in the thin mist in front of him, the silhouette of a huge ship appeared and disappeared.

Ash immediately returned to the speedboat and headed in that direction, but upon getting closer, he discovered that it was not a moving ship.

This sea area is full of reefs, and the ship is stranded on a pile of rocks. Judging from the rust spots on them, it seems to have been abandoned for a long time.

"This looks like a wrecked ship." Xiao Sheng looked up at the eerie ship and couldn't help but feel a little scared.

But Xiaoyao suddenly became excited.

"Wow, isn't this just like a scene from a horror movie? Let's go explore!"

"Please, sister, in every horror movie, it's always people like you who die first!"

Xiao Sheng was extremely unwilling to go up, so he hugged Pikachu and hid behind.

"Who knows what might be up there? What if there's something dangerous? I don't want to go!"

"Don't worry, Xiaosheng, there's definitely no one up there!"

Xiaoyao grabbed her younger brother's hand and dragged him toward the ship, while Xiaosheng fought back desperately.

"The scariest thing is when there's no one around, but something else!"

"Yes, Xiaoyao is right. There are no traces of human life on it anymore, but there are other things there."

"See? I told you—ah, other things?"

"Ash, what is it?"

Pokémon.

After anchoring the speedboat, Xiaozhi immediately carried everyone up and flew onto the deck of the giant ship.

Continuing to drift at sea isn't a solution. Why not try looking on this abandoned cruise ship? Maybe we can find some maps or something left behind.

Moreover, there are an unusually large number of Pokémon scents on the ship, so it's always a good deal.

However, shortly after they landed on the deck, the door connecting the ship's cabin behind them suddenly opened.