The Lumiose Venue.
Although the spectators cheered and applauded Ash for his efforts, he was deeply frustrated.
He had had a chance to win.
But Ash had held Charizard and the others back.
Pachira had simply had Houndoom use Sunny Day twice, then poisoned Greninja with Houndoom's Clear Smog,
effectively neutralizing most of Ash's fighting strength.
Pachira walked onto the field and looked at Ash.
"You have outstanding Pokémon and powerful bonds with them, but battles at the highest level demand more than that."
Pachira had seen Ash's problem long ago.
Winning two Pokémon League tournaments had made Ash proud and somewhat complacent. He had even begun to believe that bonds were everything.
Perhaps in front of Li Wei, Blue, and the others,
Ash would not show that side of himself much.
But the truth was,
Ash really had let his success go to his head.
It was clear from his conversation with Pachira that Ash had taken his victory for granted.
He had even declared that he would not join the Elite Four even if he won the match.
That demonstrated his confidence, but it also showed that he really had gotten carried away.
Pachira was not a difficult opponent for Li Wei and the others.
With Milotic on his team,
Li Wei really could teach her a lesson with Origin Pulse.
But that did not mean she would be easy for Ash to beat, especially when there was a significant gap between the two Trainers' command abilities.
The Kalos Region's Elite Four and Champion were routinely mocked, but they were still the Elite Four and Champion.
Pachira wanted Ash to take an honest look at himself.
That was precisely why she had wanted to battle him.
No one had asked Pachira to do this.
She simply saw potential