But the result was just that—he had truly lost the battle due to carelessness.
"I don't care if you're the most powerful Pokémon I've ever encountered. I will definitely defeat you to prove my strength. Battling against you will help me grow tremendously, so since you Trainers have so many Pokémon, I want to travel with you as well."
"As for when this journey will end, it depends on when I finally defeat him!"
Zeraora was stubborn by nature. When its eyes locked onto Lucario, Roy had already realized what was happening. As long as Zeraora could stay by his side, couldn't such a bond be cultivated gradually over time?
"Then you might have to spend quite a lot of time on that goal. You should know that my Pokémon won't remain at their current level for long. The Lucario you're facing now may seem powerful, but while traveling by my side, he only wants to grow stronger. If you stay here, it'll become even easier for Lucario to defeat you in the future, so you shouldn't dream about beating him!"
For once, Roy spoke the complete truth. He hadn't held back in previous battles, but now he wouldn't underestimate any of his Pokémon, including this Mythical Electric-type standing before him.
"Although my companions aren't at the legendary level, their growth and battle experience are no less than those legendary Pokémon you'd find elsewhere. Of course, they're not inferior to you either—they might even be stronger and more powerful."
Zeraora stood there quietly, listening to Roy speak. It could sense that no lies escaped this human's mouth. Lucario was just one of his Pokémon. Although that didn't necessarily mean his other Pokémon possessed the same overwhelming strength as Lucario, they were definitely stronger than what most common Trainers could ever hope to have.
Otherwise, Zeraora would only serve as a bodyguard beside those humans, unable to obtain any meaningful growth. But if it stayed by Roy's side now, with all these powerful Pokémon around him, its own growth would be significant and obvious.
"I don't care. I'll follow you. Only this way can I achieve substantial growth."
Now that the decision had been made, it wasn't easy for Roy to stop Zeraora.
At that moment, a huge shadow suddenly descended from the sky. Zeraora quickly entered a battle-ready stance, but Roy and his other Pokémon showed no surprise.
The massive Salamence landed before them, lowering its head as it communicated something.
The blue light surrounding Roy and Lucario had never faded. The power of Aura not only granted them extremely powerful detection capabilities but also allowed them to communicate directly with each Pokémon's heart. Whatever meaning they wanted to express, whatever they wished to say—Roy could understand it all through this special ability.
Salamence conveyed: "Boss, Master, I found an excellent location up ahead. It's probably the perfect place for your training needs. Although I tested it myself, the water's impact alone isn't quite enough, but we can help physically. We can use our moves or push large boulders to increase the difficulty."
What the Dragon-type wanted to express was that while patrolling ahead, it hadn't found any dangerous areas. However, it had discovered a place very suitable for training, especially perfect for Lucario's current needs. After all, powerful opponents weren't easy to find at will.
The Pokémon around him had basically all battled against Lucario already, so they could no longer provide him with new battle experience. They could only rely on traditional methods and old-fashioned ways to train combat experience, reaction ability, and other aspects.
Roy telepathically asked: "Do you want to go there? If we relocate, we can change our current position. No matter where we stay, the result is essentially the same anyway. It's just another place to train, but that location seems more suitable for our purposes."
Lucario nodded in agreement. After all, he only wanted to place the greatest pressure on himself, allowing him to grow most effectively under that immense strain. Only through this method could he reach visible growth at a noticeable speed.
Relocating didn't take much time at all.
With the help of his Flying-type Pokémon, they reached that place in less than an hour. The location was situated in a valley outside Norman's jungle, where a silver-white cascade fell from the sky—the only beautiful feature remaining in this valley. But the sheer impact from a waterfall dropping from ten thousand meters high was something else entirely.
It definitely wasn't something a weak Pokémon could endure, let alone fragile humans. Of course, no human would stand beneath such a waterfall foolishly. The only ones who could possibly stand under these cascading waters were Pokémon with physically strong bodies, especially those wanting to exercise and strengthen themselves further.
Lucario approached the base of the massive waterfall.
He extended his bound paws to touch the waterfall's impact at the bottom.
The water rushing down from the powerful cascade made his paws turn slightly red. He could feel the tremendous force of the water flowing down, pressing against his palms.
This slightly stinging sensation made him uncontrollably excited.
He had thought his body was strong enough already, but upon encountering this rushing water, he could actually feel a tingling pain throughout his body. It was just like when Zeraora had directly launched a Thunder Punch after using Rapid Spin earlier—it could cause real damage to him. Although the water flow created only a subtle sting, it guaranteed continuous, unrelenting pressure.
How could this not make him feel elated? If he could greatly improve his strength and reaction ability through training here, then this training ground was absolutely worthy of his commitment.
Every time he channeled the power of Aura, a blue light appeared across his body.