Lucario took a deep breath, and its speed surged!
Taught by Scizor, Lucario also greatly enjoyed the combination of Quick Attack's speed boost and Bullet Punch's rapid strikes.
"Fake Out!"
Clap!
Sableye quickly raised its palms and clapped them against Lucario's waist.
Lucario's body jolted, and its raised fist froze in mid-air.
Its widened eyes quickly returned to normal.
Steadfast!
Lucario's speed increased, and the Bullet Punch it re-launched sent Sableye flying.
"Bone Rush!"
Lucario's paws instantly became enveloped in starlight, converging into a translucent bone club.
Bang—
After its speed increased, Lucario easily caught up with Sableye, who had been sent flying by one punch.
The swinging bone club continuously tossed Sableye into the air like a ping-pong ball being juggled.
"Will-O-Wisp!"
Sableye, in the air, spread its arms, and several wisps of eerie blue flames flew toward Lucario below.
"Quick Attack backward!"
Lucario quickly created distance, but those several Will-O-Wisps still pursued relentlessly, flying toward Lucario.
"Tracking? Then smash them!"
Lucario's gaze sharpened, and it swung the bone club in its paw, smashing all the incoming Will-O-Wisps!
Sableye thus gained time to catch its breath.
"Recover!"
Energy surged across Sableye's body, and its wounds were rapidly healing!
"Thank you. Mimic!"
Lucario's injuries were also recovering rapidly, and most of the damage left by Swampert was healed.
Ryosuke frowned and said, "Night Shade!"
"Ya-no!"
Sableye bared its fangs and claws, and a grinning black shadow suddenly appeared behind it, mimicking Sableye's movements as it lunged at Lucario with bared fangs and claws.
"Bone Rush!"
The black shadow swallowed Lucario whole.
Lucario's Recover was complete, and it swung the bone club in its paw.
It continuously struck inside the black shadow.
Each strike dispersed some of the smoke.
"Luca!"
Lucario swept horizontally, completely dispersing the black shadow.
The bone club in its paw also dissipated.
Black and yellowish-brown starlight flashed and vanished in an instant.
Several blue fireballs, however, reached Lucario's front at that very moment.
"Luca..."
Lucario took the Will-O-Wisp head-on. Sparks flashed across its body, and it fell into a burned state.
Now Lucario's physical attack ability was lowered, and none of its special attack moves could be used effectively.
It was indeed in a dangerous situation.
Before the tournament began, Steven had prepared many TMs for his Pokémon to expand their move pools.
But most of the special attack moves Riolu could learn were Normal-type and Fighting-type.
And the opponent's Sableye was immune to moves of these two types.
The situation had become tricky.
Lucario also understood its predicament at this moment.
Physical attack halved, unable to deal good damage. Special attack moves were ineffective against Sableye.
During this time, not only did Steven explain the points to pay attention to during battles,
but its mentor also taught it techniques for combat.
It even learned type matchups from Metagross.
Lucario's gaze was firm, and it even sat cross-legged, beginning to use Calm Mind!
Steven, who was about to give an order, paused and swallowed the words he was about to say.
Lucario must have had its reasons for doing this.
The opponent's Sableye condensed a dark purple sphere of energy between its palms.
It threw the attack toward Lucario, who was sitting cross-legged.
Lucario's Aura sensed this Shadow Ball, but it still chose to ignore it.
After Calm Mind, its Special Defense would also increase.
So it didn't need to fear the opponent's special attack moves.
Bang—
The dust settled, and Lucario's posture remained unchanged. It was still meditating.
"Shadow Claw!" Ryosuke shouted.
He also didn't know what Lucario was planning.
If there were any usable special attack moves, it would have used them already.
He guessed that Lucario was relying on Calm Mind to strengthen its Special Defense, forcing Sableye into close combat.
Sableye's claws were covered in Ghost-type energy, forming two huge energy claws as it rushed toward Lucario.
Lucario opened its eyes, watching Sableye press closer and closer.
It stood up and pulled back, dodging Sableye's downward claw strike.
Its paws came together, and a ball of blue-purple energy gathered between them.
This energy surprised Steven.
As an Aura user, Lucario naturally possessed a high talent for pulse-type moves.
This was also why Lucario could self-learn pulse-type moves of other types.
With a calm gaze, it scanned the continuously charging Sableye, and Lucario suddenly pushed the blue-purple sphere of energy in its paws forward.
A giant blue-purple dragon emerged from the energy sphere, opening its mouth and rapidly rushing toward Sableye!
"Ya-no?!"
Sableye was startled and quickly crossed its arms in front of itself, trying to block the move with the power of Shadow Claw.
But in front of the giant blue-purple dragon, that little energy was not enough!
The dragon's wide-open maw swallowed Sableye whole!
Boom!
The energy explosion blew a large crater in the arena, and wisps of black smoke rose skyward.
"Lucario, who was originally in a dangerous situation, actually had a Dragon Pulse hidden! This move caught both Ryosuke and Sableye off guard!"
The black smoke dissipated.
The referee raised the corresponding flag and announced, "Sableye is unable to battle! Lucario wins!"
Ding!
On the big screen, Sableye's icon dimmed, and Ryosuke only had two Pokémon left.
"Return, Sableye." Ryosuke recalled Sableye and looked up at the big screen.
Steven's six Poké Balls were still lit.
Ryosuke smiled helplessly.
He threw out his fifth Poké Ball.
"Go, Ninjask!"
Bang—
A flash of white light, and Ninjask flew into the air.
The two pairs of wings on its back continuously flapped, emitting tiny "buzzing" sounds.
Ninjask was a Bug and Flying-type Pokémon, and its speed was quite excellent.
"You worked hard, Lucario." Steven recalled Lucario, then swapped out Empoleon's Poké Ball.
"Next, I'll leave it to Empoleon!"
As soon as Empoleon appeared, water currents appeared out of thin air, circling around it.
Empoleon slowly opened its eyes, and an aura of looking down on the world enveloped the arena.
As Empoleon's presence surged, the surrounding water currents also stirred up.
Obscuring Empoleon's figure, making it appear faintly visible.
"It really only shows its 'Lord of the Waves' form during battles..."
Steven smiled helplessly.
Even if the little guy had become a big guy, its true nature hadn't changed much.
"Chirp!"
Honedge in his arms looked at Empoleon, who was fully displaying its "Emperor" demeanor, its eyes shining.
Empoleon tilted its head slightly and sighed softly.
If the League tournament wasn't a single battle format, it would have brought Honedge along.
Although Steven would one hundred percent disagree.
Never mind.
Let's finish this in one go!
When it comes to the Elite Four battle, there will be no more showing off.
In an instant, Empoleon's aura reached its peak.
Its Special Attack ability had already been boosted to the limit!