"Is this the future Big Bro?"
Looking at the normally developed Chimchar on the field, whose expression was still a little nervous, Xiaoyun's mind began to race. He stared at the seemingly ordinary Chimchar with a somewhat eager gaze.
Apart from Paul, only he knew how much potential this Chimchar held within him. If he could bring out his Blaze perfectly, this little fellow could beat up Legendary Pokémon.
If Paul hadn't witnessed his ability, he probably would have abandoned this somewhat timid Chimchar long ago.
"Ook?"
Sensing a gaze fixed on it, Chimchar turned toward Xiaoyun, who returned a friendly smile.
This made Chimchar a little curious about the boy. It was clearly their first meeting, so why did the boy make it feel as though he had known it for a long time?
What Chimchar didn't know was that the boy was already thinking about how to trick Paul into handing it over.
"Aipom, use Focus Punch."
"Stop looking around. Interrupt it with Scratch."
Paul snapped at Chimchar, who was looking at Xiaoyun, thinking that he really was a careless fellow, daring to get distracted during a battle. If not for that power, he would never have caught this Chimchar.
"Chim, chim."
Chimchar felt a little frightened after Paul snapped at him, but he still charged forward with Scratch and interrupted Aipom's Focus Punch.
Seeing Aipom's attack interrupted, Ash switched moves and used Swift to lock on to Chimchar.
Because Swift was a sure-hit move that was difficult to dodge, Paul had Chimchar counter it with Ember.
After the moves canceled each other out, Ash prepared to have Aipom attack with Focus Punch again, while Paul ordered Chimchar to use Flame Wheel and strike Aipom first.
Just as Paul was about to have Chimchar finish Aipom with Flame Wheel, Ash had a sudden idea: he used Aipom's tail to spring out of the way, then had Aipom gather power in midair and end the battle with a Focus Punch.
"What a useless fellow. Still can't bring out that power?" Paul said with some disappointment as he recalled Chimchar.
"What's wrong with him? Chimchar clearly worked hard to battle for him."
When Dawn saw that Paul not only failed to comfort Chimchar after his defeat but complained instead, she spoke with some indignation.
"True, he's a little too strict in that regard. But Chimchar is his Pokémon right now, so we have no right to interfere," Xiaoyun said, spreading his hands helplessly.
"Elekid, prepare for battle."
"This last match is yours, Pikachu."
Meanwhile, Paul and Ash sent out their final Pokémon at the same time.
Paul sent out Elekid, whose yellow body represented lightning and whose head resembled a charger.
Ash, meanwhile, sent out his ace Pokémon, Pika.
"Ele."
"Pika."
With Elekid and Pika taking the field one after another, the battle between Electric-type Pokémon began.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt."
As always, Ash started by testing his opponent with his unchanging Thunderbolt.
"Pika!" Electricity began building in Pikachu's cheeks, and then a powerful Thunderbolt shot toward Elekid.
But Paul showed no intention of having Elekid dodge, letting him take it head-on instead. It was hard to tell whether Pika was acting or this Elekid was simply too strong.
After taking a Thunderbolt head-on, Elekid was practically unscathed and even looked at Pikachu with a provocative gaze.
"Thunder!" Paul calmly commanded next.
"Ele!" Hearing the command, Elekid kept swinging his arms, and then electricity began gathering steadily in his charger-like head.
Immediately afterward, a bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky toward Pikachu.
Although Ash was surprised by Elekid's defense, he didn't have Pikachu take this Thunder head-on.
He then had Pikachu use Quick Attack to close in, while Paul had Elekid block with Light Screen.
Bang!
After a round of fighting, Ash finally found an opening and hurriedly ordered Pikachu to approach with Iron Tail. Paul ordered Elekid to block Iron Tail with Brick Break and attack with Thunder Punch using his other hand.
But our Pika wasn't so easily hit.
"Pika!"
Pikachu then began showing off its moves. With a nimble turn, it knocked Elekid back with Iron Tail, then performed a 360-degree spin in midair and lashed out at Elekid with Iron Tail again.
But Elekid refused to be outdone. He gritted his teeth and endured the Iron Tail, then gathered power in his right hand and struck Pika with Thunder Punch.
As both sides' moves struck each other, Elekid and Pika finally fell to the ground together.
Paul said nothing, merely recalling Elekid in silence. After a while, he said to Ash, who held Pikachu in his arms, "I lost this match."
"Elekid fell first in that battle. I have to admit, your Pikachu does have something special. It's more flexible when carrying out commands and has plenty of experience."
"But that's all. I won't lose the next battle."
Although he still had a Starly that could continue battling, the proud Paul refused to acknowledge that sort of victory and declared himself the loser.
"You're free." Paul then opened Starly's Poké Ball and pressed the release button, setting it free.
"What are you doing?! That Starly just won a match for you!" Seeing Paul start releasing Pokémon again, Ash couldn't take it anymore and loudly demanded an explanation.
"Nothing. It won just now, but it still didn't meet my expectations. My resources are limited, and there's no need to keep training it."
Paul spoke without any change in his expression. To him, if a Pokémon had no training value, he would release it outright. He had no spare resources to keep a Pokémon for nothing.
"Professor Rowan, I'll be taking my leave." Ignoring Ash, who was still trying to reason with him, Paul walked up to Professor Rowan and bowed, preparing to say goodbye.
"Wait a moment, Paul. Would you mind having another Pokémon battle?"
"A Pokémon battle? Who's the opponent?" Paul didn't refuse, first asking Professor Rowan who his opponent would be to see whether the battle was necessary.
"Xiaoyun, come over here." Professor Rowan beckoned Xiaoyun forward, indicating that he was the one.
"All right, Professor." Somehow, the spectator had become part of the spectacle. Xiaoyun was a little bewildered, but he still stepped forward. He wasn't afraid of a battle, anyway.
"Him? Professor, you want me to battle him?" Paul looked toward the boy Professor Rowan had called over, who had just been watching from the sidelines, wondering why he was being asked to battle a complete stranger.
"Yes, Xiaoyun. I think you two are very similar in certain ways, yet different in others, which is why I proposed this battle. But it's fine. Only do it if you want to; there's no need to force yourselves."
Professor Rowan was also very curious whether Xiaoyun could bring about some change in Paul.
"Since the Professor proposed it, I accept. But I'm curious-what makes the Professor think so highly of you?" Paul agreed to Professor Rowan's proposal, but he still looked at Xiaoyun with his cold expression and spoke with some disdain.
"Well, well, it feels like I'm being underestimated. In that case, would you mind letting me set the rules?"
Seeing the trace of disdain on Paul's face as he looked at him, Xiaoyun had an idea and spoke.
"What rules?"
"You've traveled to other regions before, right?" Xiaoyun thought there was some confusion in Paul's cold expression, so he continued:
"The rules are one-on-one. You can use your old Pokémon, with no restrictions, and we don't need a referee. Whoever hits the ground first loses, and the loser has to agree to one request from the winner. How about it?"
"Interesting. We'll do as you say. I hope your strength won't disappoint me, and that you're not all talk."
After hearing the rules, Paul's expression grew serious. He switched the Poké Ball in his hand for another and put away his disdain as he looked at Xiaoyun.
Only now did he begin seriously sizing up the black-clad, black-eyed boy before him, who was close to his own age.