Chapter 119: Finals, VS Ash
In the battles over the next few days, both Ron and Ash advanced steadily. What's worth mentioning is Ye Yue's Blaziken—it was trained quite well, but it was defeated by Ash's Moltres. With the three legendary birds on his team, Ash made great strides and charged into the finals to face off against Ron.
"Ron, you're not planning to use any Legendary Pokémon?"
Lillie looked at the Pokémon list Ron had submitted and asked.
"Isn't Zeraora and Mewtwo enough?" Ron said.
"I thought you were going to send out all four of your Legendaries," Lillie replied.
"Judging from his lineup, I think Ron wants to defeat the three Legendary Birds with his non-Legendary main team," Ruby walked over and said.
"That's right. Just the three birds—it would be overkill to throw all my Legendaries at them," Ron said. "My Aerodactyl and the others are really strong, not inferior to those three birds. Besides, I've got Mewtwo to anchor the team. It'd be weird if I lost."
"Haha, poor Ash. If it weren't for you, Ron, he'd probably be champion," Rosa laughed.
Ron didn't say anything. He knew that even if he didn't enter, Ash likely wouldn't have taken the championship either. Or rather, it was precisely because of Ron—and because he had Legendary Pokémon—that Ho-Oh had entrusted the three birds to Ash.
Ron laughed freely: That's what makes this interesting! And he had already decided—tomorrow, he would have Aerodactyl battle Articuno, Charizard battle Moltres, and Zeraora battle Zapdos.
The next morning, the stadium was packed with spectators who had come to watch the match.
Ron took a deep breath and walked out from the contestant tunnel, then stood by the field, smiling at Ash as he said, "Sorry, Ash. I've got this championship in the bag!"
"Hehe, I'm not going to hand it over to you that easily!" Ash replied confidently.
With the commentator's passionate narration, the audience learned that both Ron and Ash were trainers with Legendary Pokémon. This battle was destined to be a showdown of legends!
There were no field choices in the finals—it was the standard battle arena. Then the coin toss determined the starting advantage. Ron had the first move.
Ron smiled and said, "Greninja, I'm counting on you."
Greninja appeared on the field, and then Ron's Bond Power activated—Greninja transformed into its Bonded Form.
"Greninja, huh?" Ash said seriously. "Pikachu, I'm counting on you. Quick Attack!"
Pikachu nodded and instantly became a yellow flash, rushing at Bonded Greninja. In a flash, Greninja used Double Team—dozens of copies appeared on the field, and Pikachu only hit a mirage.
"Pikachu, Discharge—hit the whole field!" Ash immediately tried to counter.
But Ron wasn't about to give Ash a chance. He took the Water Shuriken from his back, and dozens of Greninja rushed toward Pikachu, hurling Water Shuriken. The real Greninja weaved through the shadows, landing lightning-fast hits on Pikachu.
"Hang in there, Pikachu!" Ash shouted. "Discharge!"
Ron watched closely as Pikachu's HP clung to a sliver—it just wouldn't faint. Ron sighed helplessly: Now that's what you call plot armor!
Enduring Greninja's assault, Pikachu's entire body lit up with electricity. A surge of current blasted across the battlefield, shattering all the shadow clones and hitting the real Greninja as well—but since Greninja was still a Water-type, the damage wasn't too significant.
"Nice job, Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash called out.
Seeing Pikachu had recovered half its HP, Ron was speechless. Greninja launched a massive Hydro Cannon at Pikachu. The Thunderbolt collided with it—electricity ran down the stream and struck Greninja, highly effective. But with the Water Plate boost, Greninja's Hydro Cannon wasn't easy to take either.
The huge blast sent Pikachu flying, instantly knocking it out of the battle.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out in concern. He ran over to pick up Pikachu and handed him over to Brock and Misty in the stands.
He returned to the field, thought for a moment, then sent out Venusaur. Ron deactivated the Bonded Form, recalled Greninja, and sent out Wobbuffet.
Ron chuckled and said, "Ash, this is the Wobbuffet I got back at the trade tournament. Let's see how it does."
"Then let's see just how strong your Wobbuffet is!" Ash shouted. "Venusaur, Solar Beam!"
"Mirror Coat," Ron commanded.
Wobbuffet put up a shimmering energy barrier. After Venusaur finished absorbing sunlight, it fired the Solar Beam at Wobbuffet. The beam struck the barrier, which shattered—then the Solar Beam, now nearly three times as powerful, curved and blasted straight back at Venusaur.
Venusaur was hit directly and sent flying. Fortunately, since Solar Beam is a Grass-type move, it didn't do too much horrifying damage, but it still took about 30% of its HP.
"Wobbuffet, Counter—charge in!" Ron said.
Wobbuffet raised another barrier and lunged at Venusaur, but the speed was painfully slow. Venusaur easily dodged and scattered Poison Powder toward Wobbuffet.
"Mystical Guard," Ron ordered.
Wobbuffet was shrouded in a mysterious veil that blocked the poison. Ash was a little overwhelmed and shouted, "Venusaur, another Solar Beam!"
"Mirror Coat," Ron said again.
Ash had to cancel Venusaur's move. He pulled out the Poké Ball and said, "Come back, Venusaur."
But Venusaur's shadow was pinned beneath Wobbuffet and couldn't be withdrawn.
Ron laughed. Wobbuffet was really strong now—its reflective ability had two types: one was the shield variant, blocking damage and reflecting it back at triple the power. The other was a film-like coating that covered its whole body, allowing it to take damage but reflect five times as much in return.
This had all been honed through endless practice under Mewtwo's training—getting beaten down by Legendaries so often, it didn't even know how many times it had fainted in a single day. Basically, the moment it woke up, it fainted again. Over and over, that's how it built its strength.
Thinking of this, Wobbuffet couldn't help but shed a tear. Being target practice for a bunch of Legendary Pokémon—it didn't even know how many times it had lost consciousness in one day. It would wake up only to faint again. All its power was earned through that suffering.
"Let's go all out! Venusaur, Body Slam!" Ash shouted helplessly.
Venusaur leapt high and slammed down toward Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet calmly switched from Mirror Coat to Counter and flipped Venusaur away again.
Seeing the shattered Counter shield, Ash's eyes lit up. "Now, Venusaur—Magical Leaf!"
Venusaur immediately fired a flurry of leaves at Wobbuffet, who hadn't put up a shield. But then a thin film rose over Wobbuffet's body, and the Magical Leaf attacks were all reflected straight back, hitting the unprepared Venusaur and knocking it out instantly.
Ash winced as he recalled Venusaur, then sent out Charizard. Ron smiled, recalled Wobbuffet, and sent out Mewtwo.
Ash let out a long sigh. Even if he had to face Mewtwo now, he'd rather do that than go up against Wobbuffet again. That feeling of being unable to beat it or even escape from it—it was just too miserable!