Chapter 54 - 13 - The Dragon Lover and Ice Hater

Minutes later, Rico and Ash are having a Pokémon battle. Litleo, Piplup, Pikachu, Rapidash, and Lycanroc are watching them, cheering for them.

"I'm a strong Pokémon trainer here, so I'll go easy on you, Rico," Ash said to Rico in cool seriousness.

"Alright then," Rico replied back in cool seriousness, "What's your Pokémon?" His Lucario then responded in seriousness. In response, Ash get a Poké Ball from his Pokébelt, and threw it, calling, "Lucario, I choose you!" His Lucario then come out of its Poké Ball, and it stepped into battle in seriousness.

"What?" Rico commented in stunned and amazed upon knowing that Ash also had a Lucario, "You had a Lucario too?"

"Yup, but I'll tell you how I got it later," Ash replied in coolness, "Alright, shall we battle?" Stunned by this, Rico seriously nodded in agreement with him in confidence and determination. Meanwhile, a girl and her Pokémon, Axew, was watching them from a tree branch, observing them and their Pokémon.

Back at the fields, the battle had began.

"But first," Ash said to Rico, in cool serious- ness, "Let's spice it up to the max!"

"Like what?" Rico retorted in serious coolness. Ash then responded by reacting his Keystone in his Mega Bracelet to his Lucario's Megastone. That Megastone, however, wasn't an ordinary Lucario Megastone, but a special one, called the Mega Lucario X, a.k.a. the Dragon Hunter.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Rico asked him in stunning and amazed.

"This is Mega Evolution," Ash introduced in cool seriousness, "A fourth and third Pokémon evolution that requires bond to do so." Then to his Lucario, "Alright, Lucario, Mega Evolve!" His Lucario then mega evolved, changing its body, form, and size. It then had additional dragon-related designs, and had a dragon-designed sword in its back. After all that, Lucario had finished mega evolving, responding in serious coolness, and make a cool pose.

"Woah, that's totally different from an ordinary Lucario," Rico commented in stunning and amazed.

"This is Mega Lucario X," Ash explained in cool seriousness, "Also known as the Dragon Hunter. A Fighting, Steel, and Dragon-type Pokémon." Upon hearing all these types, that girl, named Iris, thought in stunning and amazed, "What? A Dragon-type?"This interrupted their Pokémon battle. Alerted by this, Ash get a shuriken from his pocket and threw it towards the tree branch where Iris was standing on, producing a cut through the wood itself and then hit the main tree log, scaring the life out of Iris. The cut was about 2 centimeters from the edge. Rico was stunned and amazed by this, thinking, "What the...? That almost cut through the branch." Iris then sighed softly in relief, but her weight caused the branch to crack and then, snapped, plunging her and her Pokémon to the ground, hitting her front first with pain.

"Uh, not you again," Ash said to her seriously. Getting up and dusting herself off, Iris greeted him in innocence, "Uh, hi, Ash."

"Hi there, Iris," Ash brightly greeted her back, "It's good to see you again." His Pikachu then responded in greeting. Axew then greeted Pikachu back.

"Uh, who's that girl?" Rico asked Ash in confusion.

"Oh, that's Iris, my friend from Unova," Ash brightly introduced Iris to him. Then to Iris, "Iris, this is Rico Titus, my friend from the Philas Region. He just recently moved here." In response, Rico and Iris exchanged handshakes to each other as Ash smiled in approval. After that, Iris asked Ash in curiosity, "Hey, Ash, what's that new form of Lucario of yours?"

"That's Mega Lucario X, Dragon Hunter," Ash replied in positivity, "A Fighting, Steel, and Dragon-type Pokémon."

"What?" Iris responded in stunning, "Three types in one?"

"Yup," Ash brightly replied, "It's a rare thing to most Pokémon." After that, Ash and Rico went back to battle as Iris and her Pokémon are watching them.

And so, the battle resumes, with Ash having his first move, "Alright, Lucario, use Aura Sphere!" His Lucario then used Aura Sphere, putting its hands together and creates a blue ball of energy in between them. It then fires the ball at Lucario.

"Lucario, dodge it!" Rico commanded his Lucario in serious coolness. His Lucario then dodged the Aura Sphere in speed, missing the attack and the Aura Sphere, had struck some trees, causing a blue explosion.

"Wow, that's fast," Ash commented in cool seriousness, "Oh, take this!" Then to his Lucario, "Lucario, use Dragon Blade!" His Lucario then used Dragon Blade, drawing its dragon-designed sword and swings it around. It then slash to Lucario. In fear, Rico closed his eyes in flinching, but his Lucario, with great bond, blocked the Mega Lucario X's attack with its arms, trying to resist it. Rico then came out of his flinching state and realized that. Iris and her Pokémon are then stunned and amazed by this.

"What?" Rico thought in amazement, "Lucario can defend me?" Both Lucarios then discharged to each other and clashed again, and discharged again.

"Oh, yeah, take this!" Ash responded in cool seriousness, "Lucario, use Aura Sphere!" His Lucario then used Aura Sphere, putting its hands together and creates a blue ball of energy in between them. It then fires the ball at Lucario, who then tried to block it with its arms, but the Aura Sphere exploded in reaction, creating a dark-to-light smoke that clouds them. Everyone then took cover from its shock wave, and then opened themselves as the smoke clears. And in it, Rico's Lucario was defeated. Upon seeing it, Rico was stunned by it, commenting, "What? Defeated?" His Lucario then responded in fainted defeated. Iris was amazed by this.

"Well, it wasn't easy to win against me," Ash seriously responded, "That requires a lot of training and bond." His Lucario then reverted back to its original form, amazing Iris once more. Calling back his Lucario, Rico calmly and softly responded, "Oh, I understand you, Ash." Then to his Lucario, "Well, great job, Lucario. Have some rest;" he then put it back in his Pokébelt.

"Well, that was a fun battle," Rico brightly commented, "I wished to be stronger like you. Let's battle next time."

"Now that's the spirit!" Ash brightly replied. His Pikachu and Lucario then responded in happiness. This follows a short silence, with 2 male Unfezants flying across the sky together, and leaves falling from a tree, as if it's the season of autumn.

"So, Iris," Ash asked Iris, "Where's Cilan by the way?" Scratching her head in thinking, Iris answered, "'Well, he said he had some "investigation" to do, so he'll be not visiting us for a while;"' she then makes some quotation gestures on the "investigation" part. Confused by this, Ash retorted, "What investigation?"