Indigo League - Grass Venue - Third Round
After Ash's group briefly rested and reorganized, Red used Teleport to transport everyone to the Grass venue. Fortunately, Red acted promptly with Teleport; otherwise, they wouldn't have secured decent viewing positions.
Originally, Red's group could have reached the Grass venue quickly, but the problem was Ash—having just finished his match—was far too excited. He actually intercepted TV station staff who wanted to interview him, enthusiastically explaining in exhaustive detail to numerous networks the key to his victory.
Clearly, Ash's proactive and zealous attitude shocked most news reporters. They instinctively questioned whether Ash was a legitimate contestant, as his overly enthusiastic demeanor made it difficult not to suspect he was an overeager audience member who'd emerged from the stands to cause mischief.
"Scyther, use Swords Dance in place to disperse the Stench!" Gary commanded.
This was the third-round battle at the Grass venue. Gary's ace was Scyther, while his opponent deployed Exeggutor.
Clearly, Exeggutor's typing proved extremely disadvantageous—it took quadruple super-effective damage from Scyther's Bug-type moves.
After enduring the agile Scyther's relentless Fury Cutter assault, it finally collapsed, covered in lacerations, unable to continue battling.
Exeggutor hadn't even managed to land a single hit on Scyther—a testament to Gary's overwhelming dominance.
Gary couldn't help but boast, kissing his necklace and saying casually, "Looks like the goddess of victory still smiles upon me."
Witnessing his Exeggutor so easily defeated, the opponent's expression darkened. He contemplated silently for a moment before deploying Gloom, planning to utilize Gloom's natural Stench ability to interfere with Scyther's fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, this elementary tactic had already been detected by Gary, who preemptively commanded Scyther to execute Swords Dance in place. The airflow generated by Swords Dance easily dispersed the Stench released by Gloom while simultaneously boosting Scyther's attack power.
The front-row spectators proved the unfortunate casualties—they hadn't expected that after finally securing premium positions for close-range Pokémon battle viewing, they'd be tormented by the noxious Stench released by Gloom. Several fainted on the spot, foaming at the mouth. Fortunately, concerned bystanders promptly contacted emergency services, preventing this absurd incident from escalating further.
"Damn it! Why did I encounter such a terrifyingly strong opponent in the third round? Are all rookie trainers from Pallet Town absolute monsters?!" the opponent complained from his command platform, regretting the lottery draw that paired him against Gary from Pallet Town.
"Gloom, use Acid!" the opponent commanded, unwilling to surrender without resistance.
Upon hearing the trainer's order, Gloom immediately sprayed several globs of corrosive Acid from its mouth toward Scyther.
"I refuse to let my sweetheart's body be sullied by that caustic acid. Scyther, use Air Slash!" Gary declared dramatically.
Sharp wind blades released from Scyther's scythes instantly bisect the incoming Acid mid-flight. The severed globs fell uncontrollably to the ground, corroding portions of the grass below.
"Let's conclude this round. Scyther, use Agility to close the distance with Gloom and deliver the finishing Psycho Cut!"
Under Gloom's terrified gaze, Scyther transformed into a blur, vanishing from its original position before suddenly materializing behind the Weed Pokémon. Its crossed scythes radiated with purple heart-shaped energy—a close-range critical-hit Psycho Cut instantly knocked out Gloom.
"Gloom is unable to battle!" the referee announced.
The opponent stood frozen momentarily, not expecting his Gloom couldn't survive even one minute.
"I'm counting on you for the finale, Fearow!"
The opponent hurled his final Poké Ball, deploying the Flying and Normal-type Fearow.
"I see—deliberately arranged to counter Grass-type Pokémon," Gary observed with a knowing smile, withdrawing a Poké Ball to recall the energetic Scyther before throwing another.
"I choose you, Graveler!"
To counter Fearow's typing advantages, Gary deployed Graveler.
Gary had specifically prepared Graveler in his battle lineup to counter opponents deploying Fire or Flying-type Pokémon.
After the match bell rang, Graveler—at Gary's command—immediately executed Smack Down on the airborne Fearow.
Under both the opponent's and Fearow's shocked expressions, Graveler hurled a hardened rock that struck Fearow's right wing with painful precision, preventing the Beak Pokémon from maintaining flight and causing it to crash onto the grass.
"No! Fearow, dodge quickly!" the opponent called out desperately.
Under Fearow's panicked gaze, sharp stone blades materialized around Graveler. Under its precise control, they launched rapidly at the grounded Flying-type.
Moments later, Fearow collapsed, covered in wounds, completely unable to continue battling.
"Fearow is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of this match is Gary from Pallet Town!" the referee declared.
"Outstanding! Gary from Pallet Town has claimed another third-round victory with overwhelming superiority! Let's give enthusiastic applause to celebrate Gary's excellence!" the announcer proclaimed.
"That Gary guy is surprisingly impressive!" Ash admitted incredulously, not expecting Gary's third-round performance to be so effortless—his opponent's tactics were completely anticipated by Gary at every turn.
"Yeah, unlike certain people who require our coaching from the sidelines," Misty nearby teased, deliberately glancing at the embarrassed Ash.
"That's nonsense! I won't need your coaching in the fourth round!" Ash immediately retorted, planning to fight all future battles independently without Misty and Brock's assistance. Otherwise, he'd inevitably face mockery from Gary.
After briefly navigating the swarming news reporters, Gary struggled to emerge from the crowd and sheepishly joined the audience, no longer displaying the confident posture from his commanding battlefield performance.
Indigo League - Rock Venue - Third Round
This was Leaf's third-round battle venue. Since it was the Rock venue, and after Leaf had analyzed her opponent's Pokémon lineup using computer data the previous night, she decisively deployed her starter Pokémon Venusaur.
Clearly, Leaf's opponent was thoroughly surprised by Venusaur's appearance. The opponent's ace Graveler was knocked out instantly by Venusaur's devastating Power Whip attack.
"Graveler is unable to battle!" the referee announced, reflexively checking his stopwatch. After viewing the elapsed time, he froze momentarily in disbelief.
I just sent out Graveler, right? the opponent thought internally, not expecting that one second after deploying Graveler, the next second he'd embarrassingly withdraw his Poké Ball to recall the fallen Rock-type.