A vortex of blazing flames rose from beneath Charmander's feet, forming a solid fire barrier. Even though Charmander was already stronger than Noctowl, this fire barrier managed to deflect all the incoming air blades.
Falkner was stunned, not because the fire vortex had blocked the air blades, but because of Serena's reaction... her reaction was incredibly fast, even unusually fast.
A typical novice trainer, upon seeing the dense barrage of light blades, regardless of their power, would immediately panic. In their panic, they'd be at a loss for how to command their Pokémon, and the final command they could probably come up with would be something as simple as "dodge quickly" or "defend in place."
But Serena was different. Not only did she not panic like a typical novice trainer, but she even instantly thought of the most suitable countermeasure the moment she was attacked, as if she had already mentally rehearsed the scene.
It's hard to imagine that a novice trainer could make such a move. A Pokémon's strength can be attributed to its talent, but this kind of composed response in battle cannot be described by talent alone.
Falkner didn't believe Ash would lie about the travel time. Could this girl, who looked like a novice, have experienced countless battles in just two months?
That was, of course, impossible.
Forget countless battles, Serena hasn't had a single formal battle in the past two months. At most, she's sparred with Ash a few times in informal settings, and that's about it.
Informal battles and formal battles feel completely different, and battling Ash is different from battling anyone else. Of course, battling Ash is much more stressful…
But ultimately, Serena's near-perfect response is entirely due to the tactical analysis Ash gave her last night.
"…Ash has quite a few Pokémon, but since you've only been traveling for two months, and you'll be battling Ash one-on-one, the Pokémon he'll send out will definitely be—Noctowl!"
"That Noctowl is Ash's own…"
"The Pokémon you've raised is currently in its growth phase, making it easier for Falkner to use. Its level is also perfect for a trainer who's only been traveling for two months. Normally, a trainer who's been traveling for two months and already has an advanced Pokémon is considered quite successful; they wouldn't expect you to have a peak advanced Pokémon."
"At the start, use your level advantage without hesitation to use a ranged attack. The opponent's Noctowl will inevitably be caught off guard and unable to dodge, resulting in a direct hit. Of course, defeating the opponent with this attack is wishful thinking, but at least we'll have the initiative."
"After injuring the Noctowl, Falkner will naturally want to counterattack as quickly as possible. Noctowl's physical attacks are quite weak, so it will likely use a powerful, ranged STAB move, which is almost certainly Air Blade. At this point, use Flame Vortex to create a fire barrier and block that attack."
"Then you seize the opening after your opponent uses their move and counterattack. Pokémon of this level will inevitably have an opening after using their move; that's the best opportunity to counterattack." Ash's voice flashed through Serena's mind. The scene on the field was almost exactly as Ash described, from the start of the battle to now, it was a perfect match.
It was as if Ash had actually experienced such a battle… which was, of course, impossible.
This was actually Ash's trainer level far exceeding his opponent's performance. While Falkner was a very good trainer, he paled in comparison to Ash.
For the battle-hardened Ash, even without having battled Falkner before, predicting Falkner's actions wouldn't be difficult.
But to predict to this extent was still far beyond Serena's imagination.
However, now wasn't the time to admire Ash; she needed to focus on the present and win this match first.
"Fennekin, use Flamethrower again!" Seeing the meteor shower of air blades gradually weakening, Serena decisively issued a command to the Fennekin.
The flames around the Fennekin instantly dissipated, and the remaining air blades struck it without causing any damage; they were already at their limit and had no power whatsoever. The Fennekin took a deep breath, gathering dense fiery power in its mouth. Seeing this, Falkner shouted, "Nighthawk, get out of the way!"
"Fox!!" A blazing streak of fire erupted in the air, aimed directly at the Noctowl. The Noctowl tried to dodge, but having just been flapping its wings to create air blades, it had barely stopped its attack and had no strength left to dodge the incredibly fast-moving jet of fire.
And so, without the slightest surprise, the Noctowl was struck directly by the jet of fire once more.
The first time it was hit by the jet of fire, the Noctowl was still full of energy, so it was able to fly out of the flames. Without the continuous damage from the fire, the Noctowl wasn't seriously injured, but this time was different.
This time, the Noctowl couldn't escape the jet of fire because its stamina wasn't as abundant as before, and coupled with the previous burns, its injuries were now compounded. When struck by the jet of fire, the Noctowl let out a truly pitiful cry!
"Noctowl!!" "Falkner's worried shouts didn't save the Noctowl from the flames. Only as the fire subsided did the Noctowl manage to escape.
However, by then, the Noctowl's body was covered in burn marks, and its overall mental state was extremely poor.
"Final blow, use Psychic Power!!"
"Noctowl, don't give up, use Air Blade!"
Falkner still wanted to make a final struggle, and as Falkner had hoped, Noctowl unleashed its air blades. The sharp blades cut into Fennekin, causing her to show a hint of pain, but this powerful skill couldn't stop her from using psychic powers!
The powerful psychic force acted on Noctowl, then suddenly intensified, corroding her body with psychic power and squeezing her exterior with the immense force of the psychic power.
The combined internal and external damage caused Noctowl unbearable pain. Finally, under the final attack of the psychic power, Noctowl's head lolled to the side, her eyes completely lost focus, and she lost consciousness.
"Noctowl is unable to fight. Fennekin wins! The winner of this match is—Serena!"
"Yay!! We won!!" Upon hearing the victory announcement, Serena paused for a second before jumping up in joy. Her Fennekin also rushed back to the field, hugging Serena in celebration.
This first official victory was a fantastic start for Fennekin. All the arduous training and painful memories of the past transformed into a profound sense of accomplishment.
So this is what victory feels like!
She had never understood why Ash's Pokémon trained so relentlessly. Although she received professional guidance, she had only barely managed to achieve the goals each time.
But Ash's Pokémon… Just like before, they always doubled, even tripled, the training volume!
That relentless training method baffled Long-tailed Fox. Normal training was already exhausting enough to make her want to vomit blood; she simply couldn't understand why any Pokémon would voluntarily increase their training volume. What was the reason?
Now Long-tailed Fox understood a little. The sense of accomplishment from victory was so captivating; victory was such a wondrous thing. This was her first official battle victory, but it wouldn't be the last. In the future, she would fight countless times for her trainer, winning countless times!
"Congratulations, this is the Wing Badge of the Violet Gym. Please accept it." After recalling Noctowl, Falkner took out the Violet Gym Badge from his pocket and handed it to Serena, a slightly helpless yet relieved smile on his face.
"Thank you!" Serena accepted the badge with both hands and bowed politely to Falkner.
"Actually, I'm a little curious, how can you predict all of Noctowl's movements so accurately... It feels like every step I take is under your control. Do you often battle Pokémon like Noctowl?"
Falkner couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer and asked the question that had been nagging at him.
From the start to the end of the match, Serena had seen through every single one of his moves: the feint with Flamethrower, the subsequent attack after dodging it, the counterattack with Flamethrower, and finally, the devastating blow against Air Blade to deliver the fatal strike to Noctowl. Everything seemed meticulously planned, making Falkner feel like he'd been walking on a carefully woven spiderweb from the very beginning, a prey waiting to be slaughtered. It's hard to imagine how a novice trainer could execute such precise calculations.
"Actually, it's all thanks to Ash. Yesterday he gave me a crash course on your habits, Gym Leader Falkner, and some battle tips, which is why I was able to perform so smoothly in today's battle."
"Ash..." Serena's words startled Falkner, who then instinctively looked in Ash's direction. Common sense told him this was impossible.
How could someone who had never battled him, relying solely on theoretical information, predict the outcome of a battle to this extent? But in reality, this was a more plausible explanation than that of a novice trainer.
While this explanation was absurd, it still had a degree of possibility. However, a trainer capable of such a feat must have already reached a pinnacle. Could it be... that Ash's current trainer level was already comparable to a champion-level trainer?
If that were true, it would be truly terrifying!
"Complete defeat! I didn't even battle you, Ash. Just remote guidance was enough to defeat me so thoroughly. If I had actually faced you, Ash, I probably would have been beaten even worse." Falkner said with a hint of relief.
Admitting one's shortcomings isn't scary; refusing to admit defeat is. After understanding the reason for his defeat, Falkner didn't dwell on it too much, but rather accepted it, because he had always had extremely high expectations for Ash's trainer level.
Besides, losing to Ash was actually better than losing to a novice trainer, even though Ash didn't even participate in the match.
...After receiving the Wing Badge, everyone rushed to Serena's side to cheer and celebrate. Serena spoke modestly, but her heart was filled with satisfaction. Since starting her journey, her original intention was simply to find Ash and follow in his footsteps. Now, it seemed she had found something else she could do and wanted to do:
Winning the match!
This was the first match; there would be a second, a third, and they would get increasingly tougher. She had to work even harder!
"Ash, which gym are you going to next?"
At the exit of Violet City, May and Max saw Ash and his friends off. May curiously asked Ash where they were headed next. Ash thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Azalea Town next. I heard there's a very powerful Fighting-type Gym Leader there who also uses Lucario. Plus, I need to deliver a Poké Ball to Mr. Steel there, so it's convenient."
"According to Professor Oak's information, a powerful Gym Leader has also settled in Azalea Town. That Gym Leader uses a Fighting-type Pokémon, and a very rare one at that—Lucario."
Aside from him, Ash hasn't seen any other Trainers using Lucario. It's rare to hear of a Trainer using Lucario, especially a Gym Leader; how could he not go check it out?
Furthermore, Mr. Steel, the master Pokémon maker, is also in Azalea Town. Ash hasn't forgotten his mission to deliver the GS Ball to Mr. Steel.
"Azalea Town… I remember now. He's a Gym Leader from the Kalos region. He's supposedly a rather old man, but his strength is considerable! I don't want to leave Violet City so soon, otherwise I would have gone with you."
May lightly touched her snow-white chin with her delicate fingers, a hint of regret on her face.
She had just returned to Violet City and naturally wanted to spend some time with her father. Besides, with him around, he could guide her in becoming stronger. Her father being defeated by Ash didn't mean he was weak; it just meant Ash was too strong.
Therefore, she wouldn't be leaving Violet City anytime soon. Besides, Ash already had three people with him, and adding the two of them, one of whom was a real burden, wasn't really suitable. So, they had to part ways here temporarily.
"It's okay, we might meet again on our journey. And… we'll definitely meet again at the Silver Conference, right?" Ash said, extending his hand with a bright smile.
May paused, then nodded firmly, her soft little hand grasping Ash's large hand: "We will! At the Silver Conference, I'm going to get my revenge!" The two made a promise to fight again in the future. When they meet again, both Ash and May will have undergone a qualitative change, and a higher stage will await them!