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In battles between Trainers, foresight is crucial. Both sides must engage in strategy from the moment they send out their Pokémon, as the advantage or disadvantage of the first Pokémon greatly affects the subsequent matches.
That is why Paul estimated that Ash might send out Bulbasaur and chose to deploy Magmortar, instead of continuing to blindly use Torterra.
Although Ash surprisingly sent out Monferno, Magmortar still holds an absolute advantage over Monferno. While the process might be slightly different, the result remains the same: Magmortar can still firmly control the initiative.
Yet, under these circumstances, Paul didn't attack; instead, he told Ash to recall Monferno. How is that any different from throwing the match?
That is why Ash felt extremely surprised. Could the cold-faced, iron-blooded Paul actually choose to go easy on him? Had the sun risen in the west?
"No need. Monferno has been preparing for this battle for a long time. He hopes you can see how strong he has become." Ash shook his head, 'politely refusing' Paul's concession. He had not chosen the wrong Pokémon; Monferno was indeed his first starter Pokémon.
Upon hearing this, the coldness on Paul's face intensified noticeably: "I know you can maximize Monferno's potential, but now is not the time for him to stand on this stage."
A slightly strange expression appeared on Ash's face: "Paul, you aren't... worried about Monferno, are you?"
Judging from Paul's behavior, he seemed worried that an overwhelming defeat would be too devastating for Monferno, which was why he repeatedly tried to dissuade him. However, Ash found it hard to believe that the cold-blooded and ruthless Paul, who was so cruel to Pokémon, would actually be concerned for Monferno.
Could it be a sudden pang of conscience after abandoning Monferno?
Ash's words seemed to hit upon Paul's true feelings. His face instantly darkened, and the Aura emanating from him became even colder: "I merely wanted a full-power battle against you. Since you insist on using this Pokémon to humor me, then wait until I thoroughly defeat you and regret it after the match."
"Magmortar, Flamethrower!" After issuing the harsh words, Paul finally decided to stop holding back. He initiated the attack first, preparing to defeat Monferno in one go, which would also spare Monferno some suffering.
In fact, just as Ash said, he truly was concerned for Monferno. Having always pursued strength, certain things in his heart quietly changed after witnessing the way Ash and Monferno interacted.
Although it was impossible for him to completely change his current personality, Ash's actions did somewhat mitigate the impact of the Pyramid Battle on him.
It turned out that harsh training wasn't the only way to bring strength to a Pokémon, and there was more than one method to gain power... After Monferno grew stronger, Paul felt no regret or jealousy, only a slight sense of realization. He truly was not the right Trainer for Monferno, because even if he changed, he would never be able to treat his Pokémon the same way Ash did.
It wasn't that he didn't have a soft spot in his heart, but his way of expressing it was different from Ash's. Just like what he told Ash during this battle—he clearly didn't want Monferno's newly established confidence to be shattered, yet he insisted on saying that Monferno wasn't even worthy of being his opponent.
The same meaning, when expressed in two different ways, can sound particularly jarring.
However, he now understood that Ash was also stubborn; he was determined to have Monferno fight this match. If that was the case, then so be it. Even if they truly experienced a setback, it was a matter between Ash and Monferno, and it had nothing to do with him.
Magmortar aimed its two thick arms at Monferno, and scorching flames erupted from the huge cannons, forming two columns of fire that converged on Monferno from both sides!
Given the disparity in their levels, if Monferno is hit by these flames, even if he doesn't faint, his stamina will be nearly depleted, despite the fact that Fire-type moves are only slightly effective against him.
At this moment, Ash's eyes shone with the long-unseen blue light of Aura, and a surge of power instantly erupted within Monferno's body. The flanking flames also appeared slightly slower from his perspective.
"Monferno, dodge!" As the command was given, Monferno leaped with his agile body, evading the Flamethrower attacks closing in from both sides.
But Magmortar pursued relentlessly. He swung his two massive cannons, and the Flamethrower moved with his arms. Monferno, still airborne, had no space left to dodge and was about to be hit by the Flamethrower.
"Detect!" While airborne, Protect would usually be more suitable than Detect, because even if Monferno Detects the attack, he cannot dodge. Yet, Ash still chose to have Monferno use Detect, a command that left people confused.
But soon, Monferno provided the answer.
Facing the rapidly approaching Flamethrower, Monferno spun around mid-air, turning his body sideways. Then, he abruptly met the two streams of fire with his hands. In an inexplicable move, the two columns of fire grazed Monferno's palms, crossed behind him, and shot toward the surrounding spectator stands.
"Bang!!" The flames struck a transparent barrier, scattering countless sparks. Many spectators in that section looked shaken; they genuinely thought the flames were about to hit them and cause an accident.
However, the League was clearly prepared for this situation. The official protective shield, which hadn't been activated in previous matches, was finally deployed for the finals, as they knew the level of competition in the finals was far above the previous rounds.
The surrounding barrier cannot be breached unless the force exceeds Elite Four Class power. Even if an emergency occurred, the Elites would intervene, ensuring the audience has a comfortable viewing environment.
If people paid so much money only to feel anxious, the service would be lacking. Would that justify such expensive ticket prices?
As the flames struck the barrier, Monferno descended from the air and landed on the ground. Ash's voice rang out: "Monferno, use Quick Attack!"
"Hoh!" Monferno's feet pushed off the ground forcefully, and his entire body shot out like an arrow released from a bow. In an instant, he appeared before Magmortar, swinging his fists like bullets, causing countless fist shadows to appear before Magmortar.
These fist shadows were created by Monferno's excessive punching speed. In other words, the number of shadows present indicated how many actual punches Monferno had thrown.
"Bang bang bang!!" Fists rained down on Magmortar. Enhanced by Aura, Monferno's current strength was at the professional beginner level. These repeated punches were not something Magmortar could simply ignore.
"Flare Blitz," Paul commanded calmly.
Scorching flames erupted all over Magmortar's body, slightly melting the ground beneath him. Monferno was still delivering Quick Attack, causing him to be caught off guard and scorched by the flames covering Magmortar. His fists instantly blackened, and due to the high-temperature flames, he quickly retreated, stopping his Quick Attack output.
Covering his entire body in flames to force the attacker to retreat was certainly characteristic of Paul. Because Magmortar was engulfed in fire, Monferno was momentarily unsure how to proceed.
"Charge forward." At this command, Magmortar, like an erupting volcano, charged fiercely toward Monferno, engulfed in scorching flames.
"Detect." Ash's response was still the move Detect. Detect, like Protect, cannot be used consecutively, but Monferno had already interspersed a Quick Attack, so he could use Detect again.
A sharp glint flashed in Monferno's eyes. The opponent's fierce speed slowed down in his vision, but even when slowed, that speed was still too fast for him to completely evade.
In the eyes of the outside spectators, Magmortar resembled a dump truck, crushing everything in its path. Using Flare Blitz, he scorched the ground directly into a charred mess, leaving an extremely dark trail wherever he passed.
In less than a second, Magmortar arrived in front of Monferno. Monferno attempted to dodge, but the flames covering Magmortar suddenly exploded, covering a radius of almost three meters. Monferno's evasion was completely unable to escape this range.
"Boom!!" A fierce explosion suddenly erupted on the field. The entire arena was filled with flames and the aftermath of the blast. A barrier appeared in front of Paul and Ash; this was the shockwave of the explosion reaching the Trainer's platform.
Without the protection of the barrier, the Trainers on the platform might be in life-threatening danger, and this was only a Gym Leader Level explosion.
However, given Ash's physique, he probably wouldn't be harmed even if he were hit head-on by that Flare Blitz... The smoke and residual energy on the field slowly dissipated, and Monferno's figure shot out from the smoke. His feet scraped against the ground as he slid all the way to Ash, and multiple scorch marks were visible on his body.
During the explosion, Monferno used Flame Wheel to defend himself. Since he wasn't hit head-on, and Magmortar had diffused its power by detonating it in place, Monferno's Flame Wheel managed to block most of the force.
Even so, Monferno was scorched by flames in several places. The difference in level between the two sides was simply too vast.
The smoke completely cleared, and Magmortar stood in the center of the field. A huge black crater formed around him, resulting from the force of the Flare Blitz explosion.
Magmortar now looked down on Monferno with disdain, seemingly scornful of Monferno's current state. To look like this just from being grazed by his Flare Blitz—if Monferno had been hit directly, he might not even make it to the Pokémon Center.
With this level of skill, how could he possibly steal his starting position?
That's right, Magmortar had previously been Paul's starting Fire-type Pokémon, the main Fire-type in his primary team. However, after capturing Chimchar, Paul shifted all his attention to Chimchar, seemingly intending to train him into the new Fire-type ace.
Magmortar actually had no objection to this; Paul's team operated on the principle of 'survival of the fittest'. But the problem was... Chimchar was like mud that couldn't be plastered onto a wall; no matter how much he was trained, his skill level remained stagnant.
Chimchar couldn't even utilize the Super Blazefire Ability that had astonished Paul. He was inferior to Magmortar in every aspect. Magmortar didn't mind at first, but later he felt that Chimchar was completely wasting his Trainer's time and energy.
No matter how he was trained or what methods were used, Chimchar simply couldn't unleash the power he had shown initially—it felt like a fraud.
He could tolerate his starting position being taken, but he couldn't tolerate Chimchar squandering his Trainer's effort like that. Therefore, Magmortar held quite a grudge against Chimchar.
After Paul abandoned Chimchar and restored Magmortar to the starting position, he never heard anything about Chimchar again. Who knew he would see him again during today's battle!
Although the opponent had evolved, Magmortar couldn't be mistaken. That look, that familiar feeling, made him absolutely certain that this Monferno was Paul's former Chimchar.
After just a few days apart, the opponent had completely transformed, not only evolving but also gaining an incomprehensible boost in strength. However, compared to him, Monferno was still far behind.
What angered Magmortar was that the opponent had failed to display his value while under Paul's command, yet flourished rapidly once he came into the hands of an enemy. What did all of Paul's training efforts mean then?
This was the source of Magmortar's anger and intolerance. In his view, the former Chimchar had acted deliberately; because Paul's training methods were too strict, he held a grudge against Paul and chose not to use his power even when he had it.
Now, in the hands of another Trainer, he immediately changed his attitude. In reality, Magmortar didn't believe Monferno could have improved so much in such a short time if it weren't for Paul's training.
Therefore, Magmar was absolutely determined to unleash all his power to teach the 'ungrateful' Monferno a lesson.
Neither Ash nor Paul knew that Magmortar had concocted such an elaborate story in his mind. However, this did not change the fact that the situation on the field was extremely unfavorable for Ash. Monferno was already in this condition just from being grazed by an attack; how could he possibly counterattack?
"Monferno, guide that power within you out! Don't be afraid of that strength; it belongs to you. Let's master it together!" Ash's words were like a powerful reassurance injected into Monferno's heart.
A look of determination and resolve flashed in the eyes of the previously hesitant Monferno. The impressive thing about Super Blazefire Ability was not just that its amplification surpassed that of ordinary Blaze Ability, but also its activation trigger.
If Monferno willed it, as long as his stamina dropped below half, it could be treated as an active skill and directly activated!
"Hoo-cha!!" Scorching flames suddenly erupted from Monferno's body. A pillar of fire shot into the sky, and the intense heat nearly engulfed the entire field.
Super Blazefire Ability, activated!