"Lu Ze, have a Pokémon Battle with me!"
After dinner, Ash sprang up from the ground when he saw Gastly preparing to train and seriously challenged Lu Ze to a battle.
They still had not reached Anistar City and were currently out in the wilderness.
After these past two days of training, Ash could clearly sense the improvement in both his Noibat and Lu Ze's Gastly.
He knew very well just how quickly Lu Ze's Pokémon grew stronger.
If he did not challenge him now, while the two Pokémon were still roughly equal in strength, his Noibat might not be able to keep up with Gastly's growth later on.
"Sure."
Lu Ze glanced at Ash and the equally energetic, battle-ready Noibat, then nodded in agreement.
"One-on-one or three-on-three?"
"One-on-one."
After thinking it over, Ash ultimately chose a one-on-one battle.
Compared to Lu Ze's current Pokémon, his other Pokémon were still a little weaker.
They would start with a one-on-one. After challenging the Anistar City Gym, he would have a three-on-three match with Lu Ze!
"Alright!"
Once Ash had made his decision, Lu Ze stood and called Gastly back.
"Gastly, get ready to battle!"
"Ke!"
Gastly's white body darted swiftly through the air before quickly arriving in front of Lu Ze.
"Then, the match begins now!"
Watching Lu Ze and Ash's battle, Clemont immediately stepped in as the referee.
"This is a one-on-one Pokémon Battle between Lu Ze and Ash. Both Trainers, please send out your Pokémon!"
As Clemont's words fell, Gastly and Noibat left their Trainers' sides and entered the field.
It was not just Serena and Bonnie watching the battle between the two little ones.
Crobat, Snorlax, Crawdaunt, Lucario, Whimsicott, and the others were watching as well.
On one side were the Pokémon led by Crobat, supporting Noibat.
On