The soul penetrates Xiaozhi and destroys Gou Hao at the beginning

"The armored warriors used the water-flow-crack technique to defend themselves."

"Aim at the ground!"

Guzma intended for the armored warrior to use Water Slash to block the freezing beam, but unexpectedly, the Primarina's attack target wasn't the armored warrior at all.

Under the attack of the freezing beam, the entire battlefield turned into an ice surface.

Feeling as if he had been tricked, Guzma flew into a rage and roared,

"Damn it, they wasted so much of my time!"

"You wish! Armored warrior, unleash the Abyss Thrust!"

"West Lion Seaman, dodge and then use the power of the moon."

Although this move wasn't very effective, if it hit, Primarina would be temporarily unable to use its signature move, Hyper Voice. Therefore, Ash fully utilized Primarina's superior mobility on the ice.

On the ice, Primarina seemed to have regained her sense of movement in the water, her speed greatly increased, easily dodging the Abyssal Thrust and unleashing a Moon Power in a counterattack.

The pink light blast, imbued with fairy-type energy, struck the armored warrior head-on, knocking him off his feet and nearly causing him to stumble and fall onto the ice.

"The Moon Power of the Western Lion Sea Serpent struck the Armored Warrior and caused it great damage," Shi Kuang said excitedly.

"It actually withstood the power of the moon," Mao exclaimed in surprise.

"The armored warriors are indeed very strong," Kachi agreed.

"Hmph, no matter how many times you try, you can't beat me. The weak should just go home obediently."

The armored warrior unleashed a barrage of needle-shaped projectiles.

“I return those words to you verbatim, West Lion Sea Ren, unleash your mighty voice.”

The roar of the western lion sea lion, imbued with water-based energy, successfully blocked the dense barrage of missiles fired from the sky with an area-of-effect (AOE) skill.

"There are things in this world that are absolutely invincible, and I'll show you that now."

The armored warrior continued firing his pinballs.

"West Lion Seaman, dodge and then use the power of the moon."

The West Lion Seaman nimbly dodged and weaved across the ice, though the dense, overwhelming barrage of missiles, enough to blot out the sky when fired in volleys, rained down relentlessly like machine gun bullets.

But just like a master of drawing outlines of the human body, he couldn't hit the West Lion Sea Ren, but he did make the originally smooth ice surface look like a sieve.

After avoiding his opponent's attack, the West Lionheart seized the opportunity to get behind the armored warrior and unleashed a backhand attack with the power of the moon, severely injuring the armored warrior once again.

"Lion Seaman, unleash the power of the moon once more."

"I am strong, how can I be killed here? We are the victors."

The armored warriors will cause the water to burst forth and break apart."

The West Lionheart unleashed its lunar power once more, but this time it was cleaved in two by the armored warrior's blade.

Having finally managed to halt the West Lionhairen who had been dominating the battlefield, Guzma immediately ordered his armored warriors to press their advantage.

"The final blow, the armored warrior, unleashes a poison strike."

"West Lion Sea Ren, exert your spirit and focus."

The armored warrior leaped up, gathering poison energy to launch an attack, but was once again caught by the psychic power of the West Lion Seaman and slammed hard to the ground.

"Now is the time, Lionheart, unleash the power of the moon."

Ash knew the importance of finishing off the enemy, so before the armored warrior could get up, he had Primarina deliver another Moonblast, severely injuring the armored warrior once more, fearing that he might not be able to kill it.

Unfortunately, this time the armored warrior blocked it by joining the shields on his forearms together.

In these several rounds, Ash consistently used his longer reach to defeat his shorter reach, gaining a significant advantage.

They fully utilized the sixteen-character strategy of "When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy tires, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue."

Xiao Zhi couldn't help but marvel once again at the wisdom of his ancestors and the brilliance of the great man.

"What a wonderful offensive and defensive battle! Neither side gave an inch, it was so captivating that it was impossible to look away!" Shi Kuang exclaimed excitedly.

The armored warrior, no longer fleeing, chose to confront the attack head-on, using the shields on his hands to block the moon's power. This deeply shocked Guzma.

He spoke.

"Armored warrior, do you still want to fight? Is that it? You no longer want to run away?"

"Armored!"

At this point, Guzma also understood the inner thoughts of the armored warrior.

He then recalled his past experiences.

What I said,

Things I've done

The various defeats I've suffered before

The children who were bullied,

The Skull Gang's subordinates showered him with compliments and idolized him.

The argument with Dr. Kukui

The harsh words I made myself...

Dr. Kukui and Hala's reprimands

All of this brought Guzma to his senses.

His eyes widened involuntarily. He looked up at the sky, frantically rubbing his hair with both hands, shaking his head up and down and back and forth as if trying to twist it off. With a ferocious expression and an extremely frustrated tone, he roared at the sky.

"What have you done, Guzma?!"

Then, he smiled with relief; at that moment, he finally let go of all his burdens.

He became someone he used to hate the most, just like Professor Kukui and Ash.

He stopped caring about winning or losing battles and instead focused entirely on the experience, enjoying the joy that battles brought to himself, his opponents, and the Pokémon.

He opened his mouth and said,

"Alright, let's fight until we can't take it anymore."

The armored warriors will cause the water to burst forth and break apart."

"West Lion Sea Ren, unleash a mighty roar."

The armored warrior, wielding a water blade, launched a final desperate attack, while the Lion-Sea Lion roared in response.

In the end, the armored warrior landed a blow on the Western Lion-Seaman, but he also took full damage from the deafening roar; neither of his skills was effective against the opponent.

Just as the two Pokémon were facing off, Golem collapsed first with a thud, unable to hold on any longer.

"The armored warrior is unable to fight, Primarina wins, so the winner is Ash from Pallet Town," referee Mordan announced.

"Well done, West Lion Seaman!"

"Hai Ren!"

"Pikachu!"

"Buy, buey!"

"The match is over! The one who advances to the finals is Ash Ketchum!"

Ash Ketchum did not lose any of his Pokémon's battle ability and once again won the match with an overwhelming record, successfully advancing to the finals.

Ash and Guzma delivered a fantastic battle; let's give them a round of applause!

"Let's give a round of applause and cheers to Xiao Zhi, the victor," Shi Kuang said excitedly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Zhi felt the thunderous applause and deafening screams, shouts, and cheers from the audience.