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Fuchsia Gym—
Koga looked at Ash with a mix of surprise and uncertainty, wondering if Ash truly had three Elite Four Class Pokémon.
Otherwise, why would he challenge Elite Four Class difficulty for no reason?
Even if he wanted his Pokémon to challenge themselves and feel pressure, he wouldn't battle Elite Four Class Pokémon; he'd choose those with similar strength.
To put it bluntly, even if Ash's Pokémon were strong, his commanding skill was certainly not good. In two months, how much could his commanding skill improve?
Knowledge, practical experience, and insights—these all require time to accumulate, or guidance from a famous teacher.
But Ash has only been traveling for two months, and most of that time has been spent on the road. Where would he find a famous teacher?
Without time or guidance, how good could Ash's Trainer level be?
So, even if Ash's Pokémon were higher level than his, his chances of winning were slim, let alone sending lower-level Pokémon to challenge a higher tier.
"...Since you're asking for a three-on-three, then it'll be a three-on-three. Aya, bring out that machine."
Koga pondered for a while, then decided to fight first. He'd find out what Ash was up to after a battle.
However, since it was an Elite Four Level battle, ensuring the surrounding safety was naturally necessary.
After Koga spoke, Aya called a few staff members to join her inside the Gym, then they carried out four machines and placed them at the four corners of the field.
Ash looked at these machines and felt a bit familiar with them. These seemed to be the same machines that rose up around the Celadon Gym when he challenged it, but these machines were larger and more intricate than the Celadon Gym's.
"This machine is issued by the Alliance..."
"Uh, I already know. Erika used this thing when I was at the Celadon Gym." Seeing Koga about to explain again, Ash directly interrupted him.
After all, he had already seen this thing and heard the explanation; there was no need to hear it again.
"Used at the Celadon Gym? Yes, given the environment of the Celadon Gym, if they didn't use this, a casual battle could probably tear the Gym apart." Koga thought of the Celadon Gym's environment, and a look of realization appeared on his face.
Since Ash had already seen this type of machine, Koga didn't explain too much, but he still added, "This machine is a bit different from the one in Celadon City. The Celadon Gym's machine, like ordinary Gyms, can only defend against Professional Level attacks at most, but mine... it can block Gym Level attacks!"
In his words, Koga was quite proud of his device. After all, not every Gym could be allocated this level of protective machine.
As of now, this was already the most top-tier protective machine the Alliance could develop. To raise the protection level by another tier, it would require a Gym-level Aegislash to personally intervene.
Although this machine could only withstand Gym Level attacks, as long as it wasn't directly blasted onto the barrier, the aftermath of an Elite Four Class Pokémon battle could also be defended against. So Koga wasn't worried about the machine's protective capabilities.
Ash nodded in understanding and gave Koga a thumbs-up.
Aya walked to the referee's stand, then made a ninja hand gesture and announced loudly, "...The rules of the match are three-on-three. The first side to lose all their Pokémon is defeated. The Gym Leader is not allowed to voluntarily switch Pokémon. The challenger can switch freely. The battle begins now!"
As Aya declared the rules, Koga's palm flickered, and a Poké Ball appeared in his hand. He then threw the Poké Ball, a flash of light, and a dark blue Pokémon appeared on the field.
It had yellow eyes, a red bulging lump under its chin, three fingers and crimson claws on the back of each hand, and a slender body, standing on the field like a human.
"What kind of Pokémon is this? I've never seen it before?" Misty carefully looked at the Pokémon Koga released, searched her mind, but couldn't find any information or even its name.
When Brock saw the frog-like Pokémon, he felt a strange tightening in his butt for some reason. He quickly shook his head, dismissing the unusual feeling, then recalled information about that Pokémon.
"This is a Toxicroak, a Pokémon from the Sinnoh region. It's the evolution of Croagunk."
"Sinnoh region? Is a Sinnoh region Pokémon Mr. Koga's main force? But Brock, how do you even know about Sinnoh region Pokémon?" Misty asked with an odd expression.
You're all Gym Leaders, but you seem to know a bit too much.
Brock replied as if it were obvious, "Of course, I saw it in the information Miss Joy gave us! Don't you remember? The Miss Joy from Black Cloud City gave us information on Mr. Koga, which included general information about his main Pokémon. But perhaps you didn't pay too much attention to the main Pokémon's information."
Hearing this, Misty showed a polite but awkward smile.
Indeed, although she had looked at Koga's information, she had paid almost no attention to the main Pokémon's details.
After all, who would have thought Ash would challenge Koga's main Pokémon?
No one knew Ash's situation better than them. Currently, besides his Elite Four Class Gengar, Ash's strongest Pokémon was only his Professional Level Pikachu.
After that, he had two Superior Level Pokémon, Charizard and Gardevoir.
Pokémon of that level, to put it bluntly, would be on the ground if an Elite Four Class Pokémon so much as touched them!
Even the strongest Pikachu was two major levels below Koga's weakest Elite Four Class Pokémon! How in the world was he supposed to win?!
"Ash... he doesn't seem to have sent Gengar over, does he?" Brock suddenly asked.
"Hmm? It doesn't seem like it. I didn't see Ash swap Pokémon... Wait, he's challenging Mr. Koga's three main Pokémon without Gengar? Is he crazy?!" Misty only realized this midway through her sentence.
Ash actually wanted to challenge Koga's three Elite Four Class Pokémon without Gengar!
How dare he!!
Without Gengar, he'd probably be swept three-to-zero by the opponent!
Aya had just said that the Fuchsia Gym had been live-streaming these past few days, and they also saw the cameras placed around the Gym, which meant this battle was on television!
If Ash, after declaring a three-on-three Elite challenge, was mercilessly swept and crushed three-to-zero... then Ash would truly become famous, but for the wrong reasons.
Later, when people saw Ash out and about, they'd probably say—Isn't that the boastful, overconfident clown Trainer who challenged a prospective Elite and got crushed?
Didn't Ash think of this? Why would he do something so irrational as challenging Koga's main Pokémon without Gengar?
On the field, Ash took a deep breath after seeing Toxicroak appear.
According to the data he had seen and his predictions, Koga indeed sent out Toxicroak as his first Pokémon. This was the weakest of Koga's main Pokémon, only Elite Four Class.
But even an Elite Four Class Pokémon was a genuine Elite Four Class. Without Gengar, defeating it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven by stepping on your own right foot with your left.
However, since he had made this choice, he naturally had a trump card. To take a big step on the path to becoming the strongest, a little pressure was necessary.
"You can do it... I choose you, Charizard!!" Ash muttered, taking out a Poké Ball and throwing it!
A flash of light, and the orange-red fire dragon roared onto the field. Flames shot skyward, but they hit the barrier, unable to unleash a dazzling display.
"Charizard? But this level..." Koga initially found it somewhat interesting when he saw Charizard.
A fully evolved Pokémon, its level shouldn't be too low. This might be the Pokémon Ash mentioned he caught using special means.
But as Charizard spewed a mouthful of flames, Koga immediately sensed Charizard's level: Superior Level.
In the hands of a Rookie Trainer, Superior Level was indeed very good, but for this battle, Superior Level was completely insufficient.
"Ash, are you sure you want to use Charizard?"
"My Charizard is very strong, Mr. Koga. You should be careful." Ash's voice fell, and his eyes slowly closed—Aura is within my heart.
A pale blue light enveloped Ash, and the Aura around Charizard also became increasingly profound.
Koga on the opposite side didn't notice anything. Instead, Ash's words made him shake his head.
In his opinion, Ash might have become a bit overconfident due to his previous multiple Gym victories without any defeats.
He actually thought a Superior Level Pokémon could contend with an Elite Four Class Pokémon.
How many dishes did he eat to get this drunk?
Putting everything else aside, if this Charizard could withstand one attack from Toxicroak, he could go find a place to bury himself, alright.
"Let them see the difference between Superior and Elite. Toxicroak, use Poison Jab."
As his voice fell, Toxicroak's sharp fingertips were covered in a layer of dark purple energy, then it instantly vanished from its spot!
The next moment, Toxicroak appeared in front of Charizard, a sinister smile on its dark face. Its hand, imbued with dark purple energy, sliced through the air, striking towards Charizard's abdomen!
The sharp energy even made Charizard's skin feel a faint prickling sensation.
Ash gave no command, merely a sidestep, then extended his hands forward. Charizard on the field made the exact same movement.
Poison Jab was dodged by a hair's breadth, and Toxicroak's arm was instantly clamped down by Charizard.
Koga and Toxicroak both showed extremely shocked expressions!
How did he dodge that?!
There was no movement before Toxicroak arrived, but the moment Toxicroak revealed itself, he made a move, then dodged that Poison Jab by a hair's breadth!
This was not the reaction and movement a Superior Level could make.
"Flamethrower!" Ash said coldly.
"Roar!!" Searing flames erupted from Charizard's mouth, the crimson fire directly engulfing Toxicroak's head. This Flamethrower was a direct charcoal-grilled frog head!
The spectators and Aya, the referee, almost had their eyes pop out.
What the hell? Her brother's main Pokémon, Toxicroak, not only failed to swiftly win the battle but was instead clamped down and counterattacked by the opponent!
And that Charizard was only Superior Level. What kind of international joke was this?! Her brother must be holding back!
As the flames slowly dissipated, Toxicroak, whose head had been covered by fire, reappeared before everyone. That overwhelming, stone-melting, gold-flowing blaze ultimately only caused a slight charring on Toxicroak's head.
Even with Aura Fusion, the level difference between the two was still too great. A direct hit from Flamethrower could only cause a minor scratch, and... "Toxicroak, Drain Punch!" After a brief moment of surprise, Koga displayed the excellent composure of an Elite Trainer.
With one arm clamped by the opponent, it was precisely the best time to attack the opponent at close range!
Toxicroak's claws glowed with a brilliant white light, then it struck towards Charizard's arm.
Charizard instantly released its grip, and both its claws glowed with emerald green light. The light transformed into sharp claws covering its own claws, clashing directly with Toxicroak.
"Bang!!"
"Crack!!"
In one exchange, the Dragon Claw was directly shattered by Toxicroak's punch, but Charizard also used that force to retreat sharply, widening the distance between them.
Ash loosened his palm. That clash just now made his fist feel a bit numb. This was still with Dragon Claw blocking, without direct impact. If he had been directly hit by the opponent, even with Aura Fusion, Charizard's arm would probably have been ruined.
This was the gap between an Elite and the current Charizard!
'Boss, can we really win this? The gap is too big, aren't you messing with me?' Ash complained inwardly.
Actually, he hadn't planned to battle Koga's Elite Four Class main Pokémon in this match.
He knew there were cameras live-streaming the event. If he chose to challenge an Elite Four Class main Pokémon, he could indeed gain a lot of attention at first, but if he was directly swept, that wouldn't be gaining attention; that would be making a huge fool of himself!
So, whether it was to gain attention or to avoid making a fool of himself, he should logically have chosen to battle at the Professional Level.
A Superior Level defeating a Professional Level would also make a big name for him across the entire Alliance. This wasn't just any level jump; it was jumping an Elite Trainer's level!
So why did he ultimately choose the Elite Four Class difficulty to challenge? It was because the boss in the group chat said that he could use Elite Four Class Pokémon to awaken the hidden power within Charizard.
That power belonging to the legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh!