Although Xia You's words were a little unfair to Brock, Ash and Max said nothing.
After all, his reasoning made sense.
They were all friends, but Xia You had never traveled with Brock, so they were inevitably a little less close. Besides, everyone thought differently, and their emotional leanings naturally differed too. Xia You was free to cheer for whoever he wanted, without any such concerns.
Only Ash and Max, who had been teammates with both May and Brock-and one of whom was May's younger brother-found it difficult to speak up.
Their attention returned to the arena, where the battle was still underway.
After that setback, Brock finally managed to put some distance between them and wanted Marshtomp to repeat its earlier tactic, using Mud Shot to restrict Munchlax's movements.
But May would not let Brock have his way. She immediately ordered Munchlax to use Solar Beam. The next second, powerful energy burst forth, not only interrupting Marshtomp's Mud Shot but also dealing it a devastating blow!
This time, Marshtomp had no choice but to flee in disarray.
It was clear that the two finalists were undoubtedly a cut above the other contestants.
Compared with the other contestants' earlier battles, this match was a back-and-forth affair. Both sides seemed evenly matched, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed it.
For some reason, though, people kept feeling that this style of battling did not quite fit a Pokémon Contest. Instead, it seemed more like a duel between Pokémon Trainers...
But none of that mattered. Whether it was a Contest Battle or an ordinary battle, all that mattered was that it was exciting!
Still, even the most exciting battle had to produce a winner eventually.
In the end, May's Munchlax performed better. After seizing an opportunity to close in on Marshtomp, it defeated Brock's