Olivine Town.
At the All-Around Competition venue.
Just as many people had expected,
Lucario completely dominated Infernape.
The showdown between Incineroar and Machamp
had been a clash of raw strength.
The two had been evenly matched.
It had certainly been an exciting battle.
But Lucario's battle with Infernape felt like a boring, one-sided beatdown to everyone watching...
"What the heck? And here I was looking forward to this!"
"The gap between them is too big."
"If Li Wei wanted to, he could probably knock Infernape out right away."
"Is this match rigged? Why isn't he finishing it?"
The spectators at the sidelines argued heatedly, and their voices gradually reached Infernape's ears.
On one side was Lucario and Li Wei's contempt...
On the other were the spectators' dismissive remarks...
It all reminded Infernape once again of that look in Shinji's eyes... Useless!
Faced with those remarks, Ash's response was, "It's okay, Infernape. We can still win!"
Ash rekindled Infernape's fighting spirit.
The flame atop Infernape's head blazed fiercely. Its eyes burned with unyielding determination, and a low growl rumbled in its throat.
This wasn't Blaze. Ash's encouragement had spurred Infernape into action once more.
Fine, then. Let's keep fighting.
"Bullet Punch!"
"Bullet Punch!"
No matter what move Ash ordered Infernape to use, Li Wei answered with nothing but a single Bullet Punch.
Because Li Wei genuinely feared that if he used another move...
he would knock Infernape out with one hit.
"Huff... huff..."
Infernape panted heavily. It was in poor shape, already covered in injuries.
The repeated setbacks and pain, combined with the contempt it sensed from Li Wei and the disdain of the surrounding spectators...
As its stamina dwindled, the berserk power deep within Infernape gradually began to awaken...
"Here it comes," Cynthia said softly.
Ash and his friends had