"Charizard, Ice Punch!"
"Bang!"
Charizard surged forward, its Ice Punch striking Greninja directly in the abdomen and sending it flying.
"Greninja is unable to battle!"
As Clemont's voice fell, Ash gave a helpless smile.
"Still lost, huh."
Ash smiled bitterly. Although Greninja hadn't evolved, Charizard hadn't evolved either.
Under those circumstances, Greninja had a type advantage over Charizard.
Yet even so, it still couldn't defeat Charizard.
"Nice work, Charizard."
After patting Charizard's wing, Lu Ze praised it as well.
"Roar!"
"Hey, Ash!"
Just as their battle ended, an excited voice came from nearby.
"Shota!"
Ash immediately became excited when he saw who it was.
"Long time no see, Shota!"
Shota ran over excitedly and greeted everyone.
"Come on, let's take a break first and get Greninja healed up."
Ash smiled happily and pulled Shota into the Pokémon Center.
This was already the last Pokémon Center before Snowbelle City.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would reach Snowbelle City tomorrow.
But—
"I've already been to Snowbelle City."
Shota smiled as he spoke to Lu Ze and Ash.
"Look, I've already collected eight Gym Badges."
"That's amazing, Shota!"
Seeing the eight Gym Badges Shota had taken out, Ash immediately got excited.
"I only have seven. Shota has surpassed me."
"What about you, Brother Lu Ze?"
Shota looked at Lu Ze expectantly.
Lu Ze naturally didn't disappoint him. "I've been traveling with Ash, so of course I have seven too."
Although Lu Ze had reached Snowbelle City before Ash that time, he hadn't successfully challenged the Gym.
As everyone knew, Gym Leaders in the Pokémon world generally had side jobs.
Though Wulfric's main job was being a Gym Leader.
But when Lu Ze had gone there that day, Wulfric had taken his family out.
As a result, Lu Ze hadn't been able to challenge