The special property that Agility possesses is to continuously increase one's speed in battle, making it harder for the opponent to track their movements. However, this kind of speed-boosting move, as a stat-changing technique, also has certain countermeasures that can restrain it.
Fighting-type Pokémon typically don't have any Psychic or spiritual abilities, but Lucario is different. Lucario is a very special kind of Pokémon. If it can develop its spiritual focus through training, it might be able to achieve feats similar to Psychic-type Pokémon.
Although it doesn't possess absolute Psychic power comparable to those specialists, once a Fighting-type Pokémon is affected by Psychic-type moves, it will face severe disadvantages against the formidable attack power that Fighting Pokémon can deliver.
After performing the first Agility boost, coupled with the centrifugal force from its spinning rotation, the power released by Zeraora's Plasma Fists was tremendous. This strike could even penetrate through a mountain. After landing the first successful hit, Zeraora felt something was off about its attack, but the strike had already connected with Lucario.
Although Lucario blocked it with its arms, the attack still couldn't hide the proud look in Zeraora's eyes. After all, among Fighting-type Pokémon, successfully landing each attack on an opponent was a sign of impending victory.
Zeraora continued to press its advantage, using the same method with Plasma Fists—attacking a second time, a third time, and a fourth time. All of these were absorbed by Lucario. Aside from the red glow emanating from its body growing more intense, Lucario didn't seem to do anything else. It simply stood there like a training post, accepting the attacks from Zeraora.
Even though Zeraora sensed something was wrong, once it had started this fight, it would never stop until a victor was decided.
At least during the first few attacks, Lucario kept its eyes open, respectfully accepting Zeraora's assault. However, after the fourth attack, Lucario closed its eyes directly. Although it could use its special abilities to predict in advance from which direction and in what manner Zeraora would attack, and could foresee the trajectory of each strike, this approach felt wrong.
By never using any defensive techniques and always facing the enemy head-on, it seemed like Lucario was taunting Zeraora's integrity—as if it would never attack an unaware Pokémon.
Even in this kind of formal battle, such behavior definitely wouldn't be Lucario's true intent. But once Lucario acted this way, it was essentially taunting Zeraora and disrespecting the battle's sanctity. After all, every battle was important to any Pokémon. Once they accepted such a challenge, they should face it with complete seriousness, instead of waiting passively with eyes closed. Otherwise, what was the point of this fight?
As its body continuously shifted position, Zeraora voiced its anger: "Should I assume your behavior is meant to taunt me? That you don't care about this battle at all? After all, I at least saw you as a respectable and even formidable opponent. Is this how you respond to me in battle?"
Zeraora even looked toward Roy with some dissatisfaction. Roy, whose body still displayed a faint blue aura glow, responded somewhat helplessly: "Don't look at me. I'm innocent here. This battle is between you two. Even though I'm Lucario's Trainer, I said I wouldn't intervene, so I won't interfere with any of these fighting methods. This is entirely Lucario's own choice. So don't worry—just attack. Even if you win this time, Lucario won't have any complaints."
Zeraora didn't detect any deception in Roy's response. It seemed very sincere and direct, so this battle truly had nothing to do with the Pokémon Trainer. Even though Trainers and their Pokémon often fought together and cultivated spiritual communication, Roy said he wouldn't intervene, so he definitely wouldn't interfere.
"Keep fighting. Maybe this is part of Lucario's own training and battle philosophy. As long as this sparring match isn't over, you shouldn't underestimate your opponent unless you can truly knock it to the ground so it has no power to resist."
Roy kindly reminded Zeraora. After all, the current combat method being used was genuinely confusing. This confusion applied to other Pokémon witnessing Lucario's current behavior.
But as Lucario's Trainer, Roy understood very well what method Lucario would use to end this battle, and he was certain that Lucario would never be the loser in this fight.
Lucario, with its eyes closed, wasn't underestimating its opponent. Instead, it was seriously meditating with closed eyes. It could sense that the power of its own Aura had undergone some changes, but these changes weren't obvious, so Lucario usually didn't pay attention to them.
Normally, it only focused on its fighting style and physical strength. But now, suddenly noticing the power of its Aura and grasping some of the transformations occurring within itself, these changes would definitely provide better opportunities in future battles.
It was absolutely unacceptable for any Pokémon to show weakness in front of a Fighting-type Pokémon, because that would be fatal. But if no weakness could be found at all, Fighting-type Pokémon could use Psychic abilities or create weaknesses through other means, then strike those weaknesses with the fighting moves they possessed, unleashing even greater power.
But this understanding had come during the midst of battle.
Lucario, who had been deeply meditating, suddenly opened its eyes. At that moment, an extraordinary change took place—its eyes seemed to flood with that pale blue light. At the same instant, Zeraora, who had been using Agility, suddenly stumbled softly.