Two beams of white light shot out from the Poké Balls.
Landing on the battlefield was a nimble, humanoid Medicham.
Medicham clasped its hands together, its lower half resembling a yogi's pants. It balanced on one leg in an advanced yoga pose.
"What a bizarre stance," Lu Ye muttered, glancing at the Pokédex.
[Medicham – Fighting + Psychic Type]
[Ability: Pure Power]
[Gender: ♀]
[Held Item: Expert Belt]
[Moves: Force Palm, Zen Headbutt, High Jump Kick, Mind Reader…]
Pretty much what Lu Ye expected.
Especially its ability Pure Power, which dramatically boosts Medicham's physical strength.
Its dual Psychic and Fighting typing also gives it decent resistance to other Fighting-types.
Lu Ye glanced at the proud Sirfetch'd and said quietly: "Not that I planned to use any Fighting moves anyway…"
"Sir~fetched!" Sirfetch'd held its leek and gave Medicham a sideways glance.
Even the mentally composed Medicham showed a trace of seriousness.
Its instincts screamed—this was a seasoned warrior.
It needed to be on full alert!
Maylene, with her short pink hair and the bandage on her nose, took a deep breath.
Even if she was facing Teacher Lu, she couldn't back down—not even a step!
"Medicham, yoga pose!"
Following the command, Medicham clasped its hands, regulated its breathing, and released energy formed from psychic power.
Combining the pose with Pure Power, its strength increased severalfold.
In the audience, Brawly watched with sharp eyes and smiled: "I fought her once before. Didn't expect her Machoke would evolve before this tournament."
Agatha nodded slightly, eyes fixed on the calm Sirfetch'd standing before Lu Ye.
That wasn't his Aura Pokémon. And yet, it still gave Agatha an unexplainable sense of pressure.
"A resonance between Trainer and Pokémon…" Agatha muttered softly.
Lu Ye wasn't about to let Maylene have her way.
"First Impression!" Lu Ye shouted.
Sirfetch'd's leek glowed with a fierce white light as it thrust forward like lightning toward Medicham.
As one of the most powerful priority moves, its sudden burst of speed could rival Quick Attack.
Sirfetch'd squinted its eyes.
A monocle with a chain dangled from its right eye, boosting its critical hit rate.
The fighter hadn't yet arrived, but the spear already had!
Maylene was momentarily shocked—she hadn't expected the seemingly bulky Sirfetch'd to go for a rushdown strategy.
But this worked to her advantage!
With a confident grin, Maylene yelled, "Zen Headbutt!"
In this kind of clash, Zen Headbutt clearly had the upper hand.
The crowd gasped, already picturing Sirfetch'd getting sent flying.
"That reckless?" Brawly muttered in surprise. "He really had Sirfetch'd charge in like that?"
"No," Agatha narrowed his eyes. "Those were both feints."
Maylene had kept something in reserve, of course.
Teacher Lu, as a Fighting-type expert, would surely guard against Zen Headbutt.
The real kill move was the follow-up High Jump Kick once Sirfetch'd went on the defensive.
After all… a double-protect isn't something Lu Ye could reliably pull off!
But when Maylene looked up, she was stunned.
Sirfetch'd had thrown its weapon—the leek—straight at Medicham!
"A direct toss!" Lu Ye said.
He and Sirfetch'd had agreed on this strategy before the match.
If they used Poison Jab right away, no one would risk taking a direct hit from that glowing purple leek.
In a tense situation like this, an unexpected flying leek left Maylene momentarily stunned.
"Charem!" Medicham clutched its waist in pain, the long lance grazing it and leaving a long, thin wound.
Luckily, it wasn't poisoned.
Maylene regrouped and shouted,
"Medicham, keep going—Zen Headbutt!"
Medicham, swift as lightning, collided hard with Sirfetch'd. Even with its shield cushioning the blow, Sirfetch'd was knocked back several meters.
---
In the viewing seats.
"Lu Ye's wary of Medicham's High Jump Kick," Brawly said, frowning. "But at this rate, he's on the defensive and has no chance to recover the weapon."
"He doesn't need to," Agatha shook his head, eyes locked on the shield now glowing with a steely sheen, "That wasn't a lack of strategy just now. It was—"
---
Still not blocking? Maylene gritted her teeth.
Fine. Let's just go full force and end it!
At that moment, Lu Ye's calm voice rang out.
"Iron Defense."
Maylene blinked and instinctively looked at Sirfetch'd.
At some point, its shield had taken on a metallic luster, reflecting a dense shine.
Double Iron Defense?
Maylene's eyes widened. She realized what had happened.
Throwing the leek wasn't an offensive move—it was to buy time to stack Iron Defense!
And Medicham's Zen Headbutt hadn't done the damage she'd hoped!
"When the leek is too eye-catching, people tend to ignore things just as flashy."
"The shield serves both offense and defense."
Lu Ye thought to himself: 'After all, Sirfetch'd is known as the 'Sword-and-Shield Beast,' on par with Aegislash!'
"Sirfetch'd, Knock Off!"
With double Iron Defense, Sirfetch'd tanked the Zen Headbutt.
Though running on fumes, it clenched its beak, took a firm step forward,
And raised its shield to charge.
"Sir~fetched! (σ;Д)σ" (This time, I'm definitely gonna carry!!)
Boom!
Knock Off slammed into Medicham's wounded side, knocking off its Expert Belt.
When the target is holding an item, Knock Off deals double damage. Add in a critical hit...
That's triple red damage!
Thud!
Medicham dropped to its knees, barely conscious.
With trembling hands, it formed a glowing orb of white energy—Force Palm—and launched it.
"Sir~fetched!" Sirfetch'd nonchalantly swatted the projectile aside, raised its shield, and slammed it down on the back of Medicham's head.
BOOM!
Dust filled the air. Maylene's pupils shrank.
"The winner—Lu Ye!!"
The silent arena erupted in cheers again.
Brock frowned, murmuring, "That's... the Pokémon Teacher Lu just caught, right?"
It flawlessly followed commands and, driven by belief in victory, landed the decisive crit.
The synergy between Trainer and Pokémon… it was built that fast?
Maylene stared at the composed Sirfetch'd and swallowed hard.
That was a brutal fight... So why did it look like it hadn't even broken a sweat?
Her face paled, as if frozen over. Could it be… was it toying with me just now?
"...Tch," Maylene clenched her fists and let out a long sigh, "I guess… this was always gonna be the result, huh…"
Lu Ye frowned and looked worriedly at Sirfetch'd, who was walking slowly. That last Force Palm should've been enough to knock it out.
So why—
Suddenly, Lu Ye's eyes widened.
Sirfetch'd, trembling, reached for the fallen leek.
But it only managed to touch it. It didn't lift it.
Sirfetch'd stood frozen in place—then collapsed, unconscious.
"Holy sh*t, that's savage!" someone in the crowd laughed.
"Won and still struck a pose—definitely Lu Ye's Pokémon!"
Lu Ye's heart stirred.
So Duck really wanted to be the MVP too, huh…
He returned the unconscious Sirfetch'd to its commemorative ball.
Lu Ye whispered to it,
"Good job, 'Green Onion Pancake.'"
The Poké Ball didn't shake.
Even with Lu Ye's command, that was its limit.
But to the crowd?
That Sirfetch'd, striking a pose after the win, was hands-down the MVP of the day.
"That duck's so damn cool!!"
"Keep going, Master Lu!!"
A flash of red light.
Squirtle appeared beside Lu Ye, silently pushing up its shades.
This match… was the opponent really strong enough to take down Onion Duck?
Cold sweat beaded on Squirtle's forehead.
"Squirtlee!" But it still took a deep breath.
Fine.
The next opponent...
Leave it to me!
---
As Squirtle took the stage—
Gurkinn, who had been watching nearby, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
He was getting on in years, and could no longer fully draw out Korrina and her Lucario's potential.
"If only she could train under him…" But Gurkinn quickly shook his head, "How can I ask him for that, without offering a worthy reward?"
After all, this power… even I have to admit I can't compare…
Elsewhere in the guest seating—
Brawly was shadow-boxing into the air, dodging imaginary attacks: "D*mn! I wanna battle Teacher Lu so bad!!"
Watching his oblivious disciple, Agatha looked conflicted, but held his tongue.
He glanced down at the battlefield, at the smiling Trainer.
Agatha furrowed his brow, deep in thought, 'Maybe… only Blue could match him…'