Chapter 311: Knuckle Badge
The referee glanced at the status of the Machop and immediately shouted, "Machop is unable to battle!"
No sooner had the referee finished speaking than a dazzling white light radiated from Treecko, its body growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, its height visibly approaching 1.2 meters—knowing that a normal Grovyle is only 90 centimeters tall.
"Grovyle!!"
As the light dissipated, the Grovyle appeared before everyone. A glance revealed that while its arms and legs were slender, they were filled with an aesthetic sense of power.
"It... evolved?"
Outside the arena, May was astonished.
The tactic where Treecko used Grass Knot to trip Machop had already been enough to surprise her for quite a while, but now, to evolve right after a battle? This was simply too inconceivable.
"Ash is becoming increasingly adept at raising his Pokemon; he has actually reached the point where he can judge the timing of a Pokémon's evolution," Brock said in a grave tone.
May was stunned and hurriedly asked, "Brock, do you mean that this was all under Ash's control?"
"Yes!"
"Ash, you really are a skilled Trainer. Next up is this one; go, Makuhita!"
Brawly released the Pokémon that had accompanied him surfing yesterday.
"Makuhita, huh? Grovyle, use Energy Ball to say hello to our opponent!" Ash said.
"Grovyle~"
Grovyle rubbed its hands together, and a greyish-white ball of energy suddenly appeared between them. It launched the Energy Ball toward Makuhita.
"Makuhita, use Force Palm."
Facing the incoming Energy Ball, Makuhita made no move to dodge, instead thrusting its palms forward.
Boom!
When the Energy Ball struck its thrusting palms, an explosion occurred, kicking up a cloud of thick smoke.
As the smoke cleared, it perfectly illustrated the concept of "no smoke, no damage."
"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade."
Two pale green blades extended simultaneously from the elbows of Grovyle's arms.
"Dual blades? That's really troublesome." Seeing Grovyle extend two Leaf Blades, Brawly was slightly taken aback and hurriedly shouted, "Makuhita, wait for the right opportunity to grab it, then use Seismic Toss!"
"Makuhita~"
Makuhita kept its eyes fixed on the charging Grovyle, but Grovyle's speed was simply too fast. Makuhita was struck several times before it could barely react.
It seized the opportunity to reach out and grab Grovyle, then held on tight and leaped upward, executing the motion for Seismic Toss.
"Grovyle, aim for the ground and use Energy Ball!"
Upon hearing this, Grovyle quickly condensed several Energy Balls and hurled them at the ground.
Boom! Boom!
Several explosions stirred up waves of air.
Bang!
A final dull thud rang out; it was the sound of Makuhita successfully executing Seismic Toss while holding Grovyle.
As the dust settled, a faint white light emanated from Makuhita, while Grovyle only had a few minor injuries and was otherwise unharmed.
"Using the air waves generated by the explosion to cushion the impact of the throw? You really are an unexpected challenger." Brawly was also impressed by Ash's maneuver.
He had never seen such a reckless battle before.
But the next second, a light of evolution erupted from his Makuhita's entire body.
"Brock, Ash really can tell when a Pokemon is about to evolve. Yesterday he said Mr. Brawly's Makuhita was close to evolving, and I didn't expect..." May's expression grew even more grave.
If Brawly's Makuhita evolved into Hariyama, the difficulty of her next Gym Challenge would undoubtedly increase several-fold.
"Then May, you must watch Ash's response carefully, otherwise your Gym Challenge will be very troublesome," Brock reminded her.
May nodded, "Mm!"
"Mr. Brawly, now we're even," Ash smiled.
"It seems you have a lot of confidence in your Grovyle, Ash. Hariyama, use Power Up Punch!"
"Grovyle, use Double Team."
Before Hariyama could use Power Up Punch, Grovyle moved quickly, creating numerous afterimages to confuse Hariyama.
Hariyama thrust a palm forward, a white light flared with a 'boom,' and it dispersed several of the shadows, but it failed to locate the real Grovyle.
"Hariyama, use Power Up Punch on all the Grovyle."
"Grovyle, use Giga Drain."
Just as Hariyama threw two palm strikes, Grovyle produced several vines that wrapped around Hariyama, draining its stamina.
Brawly hurriedly shouted, "Hariyama, hurry and break free!"
"Hariyama~"
Hariyama used all its strength, intending to break free with brute force.
"Grovyle, use Solar Beam now."
Energy slowly gathered on the leaves on Grovyle's body.
Seeing this, Brawly couldn't help but become nervous, "Hariyama, come on!"
By the time the last vine was broken, Grovyle had finished charging its energy.
Grovyle opened its mouth and unleashed a dazzling beam of white light.
"Hariyama, use Force Palm, you must block it!"
Hariyama was not naturally fast, so Brawly had no choice but to brace himself and have Hariyama take the hit head-on against Grovyle's fierce assault.
Hariyama was indeed impressive; its large hands acted like shields, managing to block half the power of the Solar Beam.
But in the end, it was still knocked out by the blast.
The referee: "Hariyama is unable to battle, therefore the winner of this match is Ash from Pallet Town!"
After Brawly recalled Hariyama, he took out a badge and said, "Ash, you are an amazing Trainer. This Knuckle Badge is yours."
"Thank you, Mr. Brawly."
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