The drawbacks of Dynamax

At the arena, both Pokémon lay sprawled on the ground. Scyther and Xiao Wu were both badly injured.

Who... who had won?

Bai Le stared at the scene in disbelief. He had never imagined that an ordinary match would turn out like this.

"Xiao Wu, get up!"

Chu Xin's voice rang in Bai Le's ears, pulling him back to reality.

Shocked, Bai Le looked across at Chu Xin, who was anxiously watching Xiao Wu lying on the ground.

That's right, the match wasn't over yet!

Both monsters were down, but whichever one got up first would prove that they could still fight.

Before he knew it, something stirred in Bai Le's heart. He had only come to go through the motions, but now he refused to lose a match like this.

"Scyther! Come on, get up!"

And so a dramatic scene unfolded. Both monsters lay on the ground, clearly unable to battle, yet whichever one stood up now would win the match.

Neither Bai Le nor Chu Xin wanted to lose at such a crucial moment. They called out to their Pokémon with all their strength.

At their partners' calls, Scyther and Xiao Wu both struggled to move. Even now, the two Pokémon stared at each other, still brimming with fighting spirit.

The scene looked a little comical, but everyone watching had their hearts in their throats. Bai Yuan, Zhuo Xing, and Lei Jing in the stands, along with Lei Xiao and Zhuo Yuan at the judges' table, all watched nervously.

"Hey, no way! Is he really going to beat an Elite Four member's student?"

Even now, Zhuo Yuan could not believe what he was seeing. It all felt like a dream.

"Who knows?"

Beside him, Lei Xiao found the situation just as unbelievable. She had never imagined that the somewhat immature boy she had once known would come this far.

"Big brother, come on! Don't lose to an opponent like this!"

Bai Yuan began shouting to Bai Le across the arena, but Lei Jing beside him took offense. An opponent like this? Chu Xin was my greatest rival! How dare you shout that here!

"Chu Xin! Hurry up and get Xiao Wu on his feet! Don't make me look down on you!"

The two boys began cheering for the competitors, spurring the rest of the audience to cheer for their favorites as well. The entire arena rang with encouragement for both contestants!

In the end, however, Xiao Wu stood up first. Scyther's lack of stamina had finally caught up with him. Seeing his opponent get up before him, he could only collapse helplessly onto the ground.

"The match is over! Scyther is unable to battle. Dratini wins!"

When the referee announced the result, Chu Xin excitedly hugged the exhausted Xiao Wu.

"We did it! We're the champions!"

Xiao Wu wearily slumped against Chu Xin. All his hard work had finally paid off.

Nearby, Bai Le looked at Chu Xin in dejection. He had lost after all. He had still underestimated his opponent.

"Scy..."

Scyther looked at Bai Le guiltily. With a helpless expression, Bai Le picked up Scyther, who was even bigger than he was.

"You did really well. I wasn't good enough in this match. I still underestimated our opponent."

Bai Le turned to Chu Xin.

"You're really strong. I lost this match, and I accept it wholeheartedly."

Chu Xin looked at Bai Le earnestly.

"It was a wonderful battle. Your Scyther is really strong too."

Bai Le looked regretfully at the championship trophy in the referee's hands.

"Yeah, it really was a wonderful battle. But Scyther and I will work even harder until we beat you someday! Just wait for my revenge, Chu Xin!"

With that, Bai Le left the arena with Scyther in his arms. This place belonged to the champion, while he would carry this humiliation with him and train even harder!

Meanwhile, Chu Xin ran into a new problem. After he stepped onto the podium as the champion, countless reporters surrounded him, hoping to hear his thoughts on winning. Faced with so many people, Chu Xin was thrown into a fluster. In the end, Zhuo Yuan stepped forward and held the reporters back.

After finally shaking off the reporters, Chu Xin hurried to the Monster Rescue Center with Xiao Wu, where Xiao Wu could receive the best possible treatment.

Aier and Farfetch'd also went to the rescue center. Aier looked at Chu Xin with mixed feelings. Who would have thought this boy would actually defeat Bai Le in the end? Aier had not even expected Chu Xin to beat Lei Jing.

Beside them, Farfetch'd gazed at the injured Xiao Wu in admiration. He had watched Xiao Wu's battle on television too. Was this the world of the strong? What move had made Xiao Wu so huge? Could it be the supreme divine art from the books, the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar?

Without Chu Xin noticing, this Farfetch'd who had narrowly escaped death had become thoroughly engrossed in novels. Now he was full of admiration for Xiao Wu and had clearly made Xiao Wu his idol.

"Quack, quack, quack!" (One day, I'll be like my idol too-Spear-Riding Scallion, with no one daring to come within a hundred paces!)

Chu Xin gave Farfetch'd a puzzled look. What had happened while I wasn't paying attention?

Zhuo Yuan also arrived at the rescue center and looked at Chu Xin with emotion.

"I never thought you'd actually become the champion."

Then Zhuo Yuan looked at Xiao Wu in disbelief.

"You got the Dynamax Energy your monster used from Chen Huan, didn't you?"

Chu Xin looked at Zhuo Yuan in surprise. He had never said who had helped him.

"No need to look so surprised. When it comes to researching Dynamax, no one in the country has studied it more deeply than Chen Huan."

"But Dynamax Energy has serious side effects on monsters. After using it, a monster breaks free of its Monster Handler's control and can't be recalled into a Poké Ball. That's why no one in the country has used Dynamax so far. Not even Chen Huan has tried it."

"So how did you eliminate the effects Dynamax had on your monster?"

Zhuo Yuan looked at Chu Xin seriously, hoping for an answer.

"So Dynamax actually has that kind of effect on Pokémon? But once they break free of the Poké Ball, you can just catch them again. That's not really a problem."

Chu Xin looked at Zhuo Yuan in puzzlement. Although Xiao Wu had broken free of the Poké Ball's restraints, he still regarded Chu Xin as his Trainer. Even Xiao Wu was unwilling to give up the emotional bond between them.

Zhuo Yuan looked at the innocent boy before him. Perhaps they were so resistant to Dynamax Energy precisely because they lacked the boy's pure feelings.

Perhaps Dynamax Energy was not a terrible form of energy at all. Perhaps the fragile emotional bonds between Monster Handlers and their monsters simply could not withstand the challenge.