Craaac, craaac.
In the field, Regirock continued devouring rocks.
As it ate without stopping, its spirit and consciousness also finished recovering.
It began to observe the surroundings, looking at the creatures in front of it and also the open stone door behind it.
"It seems you have almost completely recovered, Regirock!"
Seeing Regirock's movements, Ethan took a step forward and spoke.
At the same time, Lucario accompanied him at his side, cautiously observing the Regirock in front of them.
"Reggiickk!"
Regirock showed some vigilance.
At that moment, its gaze also fell on Lucario.
From Lucario's body, it felt an energy fluctuation equivalent to its own.
"It seems you really have recovered."
Ethan stopped his steps, feeling that the current Regirock could already communicate.
Back then, Lucas had taken advantage of the fact that Registeel had not yet recovered to provoke it.
The result was that Registeel directly entered a state of fury.
Now, Regirock had not been provoked, which proved that it had already fully awakened.
"In that case, become my companion!"
When Ethan's voice fell, Lucario leaped forward.
"Luucaarr!"
Seeing Lucario adopt a battle stance in the field, Regirock let out a low growl.
Immediately afterward, it dropped the stone in its hand and also looked cautiously at Lucario.
"It seems you accepted the challenge."
"Then let's go, Lucario, use Aura Sphere!"
Seeing this scene, Ethan stepped back and at the same time gave the order.
Lucario nodded. It brought its hands together in front of its body, and the move Aura Sphere condensed.
At the same time, Regirock also condensed the move Ancient Power, launching an enormous rock.
Boom!
In the air, the two attacks met.
The move Aura Sphere and the move Ancient Power collided, directly exploding and scattering dust all over the sky.
"What a powerful Aura Sphere. This battle has a chance!"
In the distance, Alex and the others watched the first exchange between the two Pokémon, and their eyes lit up.
As they conversed, the two Pokémon faced each other again. The move Aura Sphere and the move Ancient Power continuously collided in the air.
"Teleport, and then use Focus Blast and Focus Punch."
Within the dust of the explosion, Lucario's figure flashed.
Through the power of Aura, it managed to lock onto Regirock's position without difficulty.
When its figure appeared again, one of Lucario's hands condensed the move Focus Blast, while the other condensed the move Focus Punch.
When it brought both hands together, the two forces of the same origin fused. Then they wrapped around Lucario's right fist and launched toward Regirock.
At the same time, Regirock also discovered Lucario. It turned its body and threw a punch.
Boom!
When the two attacks collided, a terrifying wave of energy transformed into a storm that swept through the place, directly dispersing the sand and dust.
Within the dust, it could be seen that Lucario's and Regirock's fists had collided with each other.
Those two fists, one large and one small, completely disproportionate, remained stopped in the air like that. Neither of them retreated.
"They're evenly matched. These two Pokémon are too strong!"
Outside the field, Ethan and the others retreated again and again, watching from afar as the two Pokémon battled.
After several exchanges, both Pokémon went back and forth in their attacks, and for a time, neither could overwhelm the other.
"Reggiickk!"
In the field, Regirock once again forced Lucario back with a punch.
Then it raised its hand, and a terrifying sandstorm rose in the field, sweeping in all directions.
Regirock, as a Rock-type Legendary Pokémon, produced a sandstorm of extremely terrifying power.
A sandstorm of this level probably could not even be matched by a Tyranitar with the Sand Stream ability using the move Sandstorm.
If Tyranitar was the tyrant of the desert, then the current Regirock was the emperor of the desert.
"Regirock's sandstorm is really strong!"
"But... I had already foreseen this before the battle."
Seeing this scene, Ethan did not show any concern.
Lucario had the Steel type, so it did not fear sandstorm weather at all.
Moreover, when the sandstorm rose, Lucario's body was already wrapped by a layer of Ground-type energy.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario let out a low growl and its hands suddenly grabbed the void.
Immediately afterward, Ground-type energy condensed and transformed into a bone in Lucario's hands.
It was precisely one of Lucario's characteristic moves, Bone Club. In addition, the condensed bone could also be used as a weapon to attack.
After condensing the bone, Lucario once again used the move Teleport, forcibly passing through the sandstorm barrier and arriving in front of Regirock.
Once more, Lucario used the move Focus Blast and the move Focus Punch, only this time both attacks were condensed at the tip of the bone and struck toward Regirock.
Regirock was already very familiar with Lucario's attack method of suddenly appearing using the move Teleport. It turned its body and threw a punch, colliding head-on with that bone strike.
But in the next instant, Regirock's figure trembled.
Under the surprised gazes of Professor Harris and the others, Regirock was directly sent flying by one blow from the bone.
Craaac, craaac!
Regirock's figure fell to the ground, and the rocky skin of its body showed cracks.
From this, one could see how powerful Lucario's strike had been.
"What's going on?"
"How did Lucario's strength suddenly increase so much?"
Seeing this scene, Alex asked in doubt.
Even if Lucario had used the move Bone Club, its strength should not be that great, right?
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Sand Force ability, right?"
Professor Harris suddenly spoke, his gaze fixed on the force condensed over Lucario's bone.
From Lucario's body, he felt a familiar aura. It was precisely the power of the sandstorm that he researched.
"The Sand Force ability?"
Alex recalled the effect of that ability and was surprised.
"Yes, it is indeed the Sand Force ability," Ethan said with a smile.
The effect of the Sand Force ability was that, under sandstorm weather, the Pokémon with this ability did not receive damage from the sandstorm, and moreover, the power of its Rock, Steel, and Ground-type moves increased by 30%.
Now the field was covered by a sandstorm. With the Sand Force ability, the power of the Ground-type move, Bone Club, used by Lucario increased considerably, erupting with such terrifying strength.
Of course, all of that had been calculated by Ethan.
He had determined that Regirock would use the move Sandstorm during the battle, so he had Lucario use the move Skill Swap in advance to change its ability to the Sand Force ability.
"But... why does Lucario have the Sand Force ability?"
After understanding the reason for Lucario's increase in strength, Alex asked again in doubt.
(End of chapter)