"Professor Sterling, are you saying that move is Power-Up Punch?"
Another guest spoke up, with a look of surprise in his eyes. After all, Power-Up Punch is an extremely rare Fighting-type move, and no one had expected a Cacturne to be able to master it.
"That's right, there's no mistake, it is indeed Power-Up Punch. However, although Power-Up Punch has the effect of hardening the fist and increasing attack power..."
"This move can only display its true effect during real combat and when striking an opponent."
"Then what exactly is this Cacturne doing?"
Professor Sterling was also extremely confused at that moment, unable to understand what Cacturne was doing.
However, if they could pierce through the white light and see Cacturne's fist wrapped in Fighting-type energy, they would undoubtedly discover that at that instant, his entire fist, along with his wrist, was trembling violently without stopping.
"That's enough already... Cacturne, use Power-Up Punch!"
As Ethan's voice fell, Cacturne opened its eyes at the same time.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, Cacturne's fist slammed violently into the testing meter.
In an instant, the numbers on the device began to jump frantically—units, tens, hundreds... the values skyrocketed out of control.
Finally, under the incredulous gazes of everyone present, the third digit jumped to 3, then began to slow down, stopping completely at 325 points.
At that moment, the entire venue fell into absolute silence. No one had imagined that a Cacturne could achieve such a terrifying score of 325 points, even surpassing the previous edition champion's 302 points!
"H—holy shit!"
"That meter isn't broken, right?"
"325 points! How could a Cacturne possibly reach 325 points?"
Kevin was completely stunned, and immediately afterward began to doubt the accuracy of the meter.
At that moment, even the event organizers were left dumbfounded. Shortly after, a staff member went up onto the stage to inspect the meter, clearly suspecting that the device might have malfunctioned.
"Hey, could it really be that the device is damaged?"
In the stands, the audience erupted into chaos. One after another, spectators widened their eyes in disbelief.
Since when were Cacturne's fists this powerful?
Could it be the legendary Iron Fist ability?
But even with the Iron Fist ability, a Cacturne shouldn't be this strong, right?
"The device is not damaged."
After a thorough inspection, the staff arrived at that conclusion.
And when it was confirmed that those points had indeed been obtained by a single punch from Cacturne, the entire venue erupted into excitement!
"Wait! Besides the device being broken, there's another possibility."
"This Cacturne must have used some kind of boosting move!"
"Like Swords Dance or Bulk Up! After using Bulk Up, my father's Machamp can easily land a punch worth more than 400 points. If it strengthens itself several times, the score would be even higher!"
Suddenly, Kevin seemed to realize something and shouted loudly. The others immediately reacted, showing expressions of understanding. That possibility was indeed very plausible.
The preliminaries of the Martial Arts Tournament were different from other competitions: only a single move was allowed throughout the entire process. If Cacturne had used any additional move, that would constitute a violation of the rules, and the score would be invalidated.
In the guest area, the attendees were also intensely discussing Cacturne's case.
When one of the guests raised the possibility that Cacturne had used another move, the examiner responsible for maintaining order on the field shook his head, causing everyone to frown.
Could it be that Cacturne had generated such power purely with its own fist?
Could it be like Leader Henry Harper's Feraligatr, a Pokémon with extraordinarily innate strength?
"It was probably Power-Up Punch that increased this Cacturne's attack power." At that moment, Professor Sterling spoke again, drawing everyone's attention.
"But doesn't Power-Up Punch only work during real combat?"
Another guest asked in confusion, mentally reviewing his knowledge and confirming that he didn't remember anything different.
"In theory, that's true. But observe Cacturne's fist."
Following Professor Sterling's gaze, everyone immediately noticed that Cacturne's hand was injured.
"Sss...!"
Seeing this, everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
It was obvious that Cacturne had employed some special method, using only its own body to complete the power increase of the move Power-Up Punch.
Very soon, the referee announced the official decision of the Martial Arts Tournament organizers: Cacturne's score was valid!
Upon hearing the announcement, the venue once again erupted in shock. No matter how hard they thought about it, no one could understand how a Cacturne had achieved such a high score.
...
"Good job, come back, Cacturne."
Ethan recalled Cacturne into its Poké Ball and, without paying attention to the stunned gazes of the audience, left the competition field.
"Cacturne, how's your hand?"
Once off the stage, Ethan released Cacturne again.
"Cac!"
Cacturne shook its head, indicating that there was no problem.
Even so, Ethan took out a healing spray and began treating the wound.
When the medicine touched its hand, Cacturne frowned, clearly showing that it really hurt quite a bit.
"It seems that this method of activating the move Power-Up Punch through body vibration has considerable side effects."
Ethan frowned, pondering how to resolve those adverse effects.
The function of the move Power-Up Punch is to gradually harden the fist through repeated strikes on an opponent, increasing attack power with each hit.
From the description of the move, Ethan understood that Power-Up Punch needed to strike an opponent in order to take effect. Therefore, he devised a way to allow the move to activate continuously: making Cacturne attack itself.
The specific method was to create an energy conflict, causing the Fighting-type energy in Cacturne's fist to be constantly attacked by other energies, thereby continuously increasing the power of the move Power-Up Punch.
After a series of experiments, Ethan decided to have Cacturne mobilize the Water-type energy stored in its body thanks to the Water Absorb ability, thus causing a collision between two different energies.
Judging by the results, the effect was surprisingly good. Moreover, the healing capability of the Water Absorb ability, combined with Cacturne's great endurance and natural recovery, significantly reduced the damage. If it had been another Pokémon, it probably wouldn't have been just a simple injury.
"Aside from the side effects, the charge time of this move is far too long. In real combat, its usefulness is still quite limited."
Shaking his head slightly, Ethan began summarizing the flaws of this version of the move Power-Up Punch. To truly apply it in battle, Cacturne would still need to put in much more effort.
(End of chapter)