Anthony's judgment was correct. After using Aura Sphere twice in a row, Riolu's energy was greatly depleted. After all, Ash was only assisting, and the core power used was still Riolu's strength.
Riolu's physical strength was his weakest point. Even with extreme training and a perfect Aura Fusion with Ash, it was impossible to maintain this state for long.
Without being hit by any skills from the opponent, Riolu was already close to exhaustion.
Therefore, if Hitmonchan was still standing, Riolu had virtually no power to resist.
However, given Ash's calculations of damage, he wouldn't let Riolu fall into such a dangerous situation.
Under the observation of Aura, the strength or weakness of the opponent's Aura indicated the opponent's remaining physical strength, making it easy to see whether the opponent had lost the ability to fight.
So when the smoke was thick, Ash knew that Hitmonchan could still stand up, so he let Riolu deliver one last strike without hesitation!
This final Aura Sphere became the last straw that broke Hitmonchan.
"Hitmonchan..." After shouting repeatedly, Anthony finally accepted the fact that Hitmonchan was defeated. He hurried to Hitmonchan's side to check on its condition.
After confirming that there was nothing major, he breathed a sigh of relief, but an extremely unwilling expression took over instead.
"Bang!"
"Damn it! We can't even beat a youngster! How can we challenge the P1 Martial Arts Tournament like this!"
Anthony slammed his fist on the ground hard, his face full of frustration.
Misty and the others saw that the battle was over, so they walked over, and Anthony's sudden punch on the ground startled them.
"Ash, what's... wrong with him?"
"I... I don't know. Could it be the thousand bucks he's upset about?" Ash was also taken aback by Anthony's actions. It was just a lost match, not like he lost everything.
He didn't care about that thousand dollars anyway, since he's not someone who lacks that amount.
"He seemed to mention 'P1 Martial Arts Tournament' just now?" Brock said somewhat uncertainly.
Since Anthony was smashing the ground at the time, Brock didn't clearly hear what Anthony was saying.
"It seems so, I heard it too. But what is this 'P1 Martial Arts Tournament' exactly?" Ash scratched his head, looking puzzled.
He first picked up Riolu, transmitted some Power of Viridian, and then released the Aura Fusion state.
In Riolu's current state, if it were released directly, it might faint.
However, after infusing the Power of Viridian, Riolu's state improved significantly. Now, at most, it just felt the power's decline.
This battle instantly elevated Riolu from a newbie to the Ordinary Level. The reward from fighting above one's level was quite substantial, though it was much tougher than a normal battle.
"Mr. Anthony, are you okay?" Ash approached Anthony with Riolu in his arms to express concern.
"I...I'm fine. Sorry for letting you see such a scene." Anthony only responded under Ash's call, realizing he was outside in public, doing such things was really embarrassing.
He quickly recalled Hitmonchan, then fumbled around, finally pulling out a thousand dollars in bits and pieces to hand to Ash.
Ash looked at the pile of loose money in front of him, uncertain whether he should take it or not...
This money seemed like all Anthony had, yet to Ash, it was just a trivial amount. Taking it didn't feel right, but rules couldn't be broken...
While Ash was in a dilemma, a voice came.
"Dad, what are you doing?!"
A girl with a dangerous hairstyle (a housewife ponytail) came running over, looking concerned and perplexed.
"Re...Rebecca? I wasn't doing anything, just having a little sparring with this young man." Anthony's tone betrayed a sense of guilt, but it wasn't because of his fight with Ash — there was something else.
"Sparring? Dad, are you still thinking about the martial arts tournament?!"
"I must win the championship of this tournament! I won't return until I do!" Saying this, Anthony tucked the money into Riolu's arms in front of Ash and quickly left.
This scene left Ash and the others confused. What just happened? Aren't you running away from your daughter?
Rebecca watched her father running away quickly, wanting to stop him, but with her physical strength, it was impossible to catch up, so she could only watch as her father left.
Ash could have stopped him, but he didn't understand the situation between the father and daughter, so it seemed inappropriate to intervene.
"Miss, that was your father, right? Can you tell us what happened?" Without waiting for Ash to ask, Brock slid over to Rebecca and inquired sincerely.
Rebecca was startled by Brock, taking a step back with a slightly frightened expression.
Misty's forehead popped a vein; she grabbed Brock's ear and pulled him away: "Alright, alright, don't scare her. If you want to flirt, find somewhere else to do it!"