[Ash: Uncle Blaine is really mean. Wouldn't it have been easier to just accept our challenge up front…]
[Blaine: You can't put it that way. When I first saw you three kids, who would've thought you were serious Gym challengers? It wasn't until you saved the Pokémon Center that I decided to let you battle.]
[Misty: Then why didn't you test him over there in Black Ash's world?]
[Blaine: Ah, that's different. Over there, Black Ash's aura is so overwhelming that I chose to let him challenge immediately.]
[Ash: What!! I wasn't weak either! If Charizard had listened to me, I would've won the first battle too!]
[Liza: Not being able to command your own Pokémon is also a sign of immaturity as a Trainer~ Just look at Black Ash—none of his Pokémon disobey him.]
[Ash: Okay, okay… I'll work harder to improve myself!]
His ears were practically growing calluses from hearing it.
Thankfully, Ash was the open-minded type.
If it had been someone more rebellious,
they'd probably be yelling in the chat already—
like "Why am I worse than my other self?!" or something.
In the dark-screen world—
Ash stood on the battlefield suspended over magma.
Opposite him was Blaine, now without his wig, revealing his true identity.
There was no need for extra chatter.
The instant their eyes met, the battle had already begun.
"Young man," Blaine said, "from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were a strong Trainer. That's why I left you hints. Just as I expected, you found your way here."
"Oh… If I said it was an accident, would you believe me?" Ash shrugged. "Honestly, your riddles are way too hard. If Misty hadn't triggered the mechanism by accident, you'd probably still be waiting here alone tonight."
Blaine: …
Thanks for nothing, you little brat.
"Ahem. This will be a three-on-three battle. As the Gym Leader, I'll send my Pokémon out first. Go—Ninetales!"
With a flash of light, a golden fox with nine flowing tails landed gracefully on the field.
"So it is Fire-type…"
"In that case—go, Aerodactyl!"
"Roooaaar!!"
The gray fossil Pokémon burst from its Poké Ball and spread its stone wings, hovering over the molten arena.
When Blaine saw it clearly, his eyes almost popped out.
"T-That's… an extinct fossil Pokémon… Aerodactyl!"
"Young man, you even have that Pokémon?"
"Hehe, I just got lucky."
Blaine had expected Ash to lead with a Water-type.
He had not expected him to throw out something even more terrifying.
Aerodactyl, Rock/Flying-type, had a clear advantage over Fire.
It didn't resist Fire, but its typing and aerial mobility put Blaine in a bad spot.
On paper, the matchup was completely in Ash's favor.
But as a veteran Gym Leader, Blaine wasn't about to surrender just because of type disadvantage.
"At such a young age, and you've already caught a rare and powerful Aerodactyl… Your future is limitless," Blaine said. "But that's your future. Right now—let me show you that type advantage isn't everything! Ninetales, Fire Spin!"
"Aerodactyl, get airborne and dodge it!"
Ninetales opened its jaws, unleashing a swirling spiral of flame that roared across the field.
Aerodactyl flapped hard and soared higher, easily evading the vortex.
It should have been that simple—
but then the ring of fire bent in midair and curved upward,
chasing straight after Aerodactyl.
"It can turn?!"
"No way to dodge… Aerodactyl, Rock Slide!"
"Rooaar!"
Several boulder-sized rocks materialized around Aerodactyl,
then hurled themselves into the pursuing spiral of flame.
The rocks slammed into the vortex and shattered, forming a wall of stone that blocked the Fire Spin.
"Oh? You found a counter so quickly," Blaine chuckled. "I thought I could catch you off guard."
He wasn't bluffing.
His Ninetales wasn't the strongest in raw power,
but its control over fire was incredible.
Even after a flame was released, Ninetales could bend it mid-flight.
Blaine had expected to land a surprise hit.
He hadn't expected Ash's reaction time to be that sharp.
"You did catch me off guard," Ash grinned. "But don't underestimate a young man's reflexes, Uncle Blaine!"
Blaine's smile twitched.
What's that supposed to mean? Calling me old to my face now?
"My turn to attack! Ancient Power!"
"Roooaaar!!"
Stones and shards of rock rose in a cloud around Aerodactyl.
Unlike Rock Slide's heavy chunks, these stones were smaller—
but there were far more of them.
They rained down like bullets, hammering toward Ninetales in a relentless barrage.
"Block it with Psychic!"
"Niiiii…!"
A blue aura flared around Ninetales, forming an invisible barrier that stopped the incoming stones cold.
Fun fact: besides Fire, Ninetales was surprisingly good with Psychic techniques.
"Now! Stone Edge!"
Ash hadn't expected Ancient Power to deal much real damage.
He'd only used it to pin Ninetales down—
and this was when his real attack began.
With a roar, jagged stone spires erupted from beneath Ninetales's feet.
The strike came too fast. Ninetales couldn't react in time and was slammed by the Stone Edge head-on.
The elegant fox was suddenly a complete mess, tumbling and nearly skidding off into the magma below.
"Don't let up! While it's down—Rock Slide!"
"This is bad! Ninetales, Flamethrower—block it!"
"Fff…!"
Ninetales tried to get up, but the Stone Edge had hurt far more than it wanted to admit.
Its body screamed in protest.
It tried to stand… and failed.
And high above, the "meteor shower" had already begun.
"Boom!!"
Huge rocks crashed down from the sky.
The suspended battlefield shuddered three times from the impact,
and Ninetales let out a faint whine before going completely limp.
It was unable to battle.
Ash took the first win.
[Lance: I expected as much, but that level of command is still beyond what I imagined!]
[Blaine: Same thing I said before—there's no harm without comparison. Put White Ash's command next to Black Ash's, and Black Ash looks like a tactical genius!]
[Gary: Mr. Blaine, are you just hyping Black Ash up to distract from the fact that your Ninetales got nearly one-shot?]
[Blaine: ...]
These kids really had no respect for their elders anymore.
[Ash: Ohhh!! Uncle Blaine, I didn't expect you to be that kind of person! Stepping on one person to praise another is not cool!]
[Blaine: I— I would never do something like that! Look at this honest face! Do I look like someone who'd step on anyone?!]
[Misty: If you were that honest, you wouldn't have messed with us at the start and refused to tell us you were the Gym Leader!]
She might pick fights with Ash every day,
but when it mattered, Misty was on his side.
Her rules were simple: she could bully Ash.
Other people? Absolutely not.
In the dark-screen world—
Blaine recalled Ninetales and sent out his second Pokémon: Rhydon.
"Rhydon, I'm counting on you!"
"Rhy–don!"
"A Rhydon, huh… You did great, Aerodactyl. Take a rest."
Ash chose not to leave Aerodactyl in against Rhydon.
With that kind of armor, Rhydon was built to take hits.
Better to send something that could blow it away in one shot.
"It's your turn—Wartortle!"
"War-tortle!"
Ash's second Pokémon appeared, eyes gleaming and fists clenched.
It was his first official battle since evolving,
and Wartortle was more than ready.
"Against Fire-types, you didn't start with Water, but you bring it out now, I see…" Blaine mused.
Rhydon's dual Rock/Ground typing meant it took four times damage from Water.
In this matchup, sending in a Water-type was absolutely the best call.
However—
"Wartortle, this field is bad for Water-type moves. Start with Rain Dance!"
Blaine: …
Are you kidding me?
He'd specifically chosen this magma-filled arena to weaken Water moves.
Just like harsh sunlight weakened Water attacks by flooding the field with Fire-aspected energy,
the intense heat here cut into Water's power as well.
And Ash had spotted that immediately.
With one order, he flipped the whole terrain against Blaine.
The kid's observation skills were no joke.
"Thump!"
Wartortle clapped its paws and raised them to the sky.
Dark clouds gathered over the volcano, and within seconds,
a steady rain began to fall across the entire battlefield.
Misty and Brock, who'd been sweating in the heat a moment ago,
instantly felt the air cool.
Watching a battle here really was hard work.
"Hehe… Did you think I wouldn't have an answer for Water-types?" Blaine smirked.
"Let me show you how I counter them. Rhydon, use Thunderbolt!"
Ash: !!
You taught a Ground-type THUNDERBOLT?!
Then again… Rhydon could, in fact, learn it.
Standing in the rain, Rhydon raised its horn with a wicked grin.
A halo of golden electricity flickered at the tip,
and then expanded in an instant,
spreading like a web of lightning through the rainy sky.
"Withdraw, then spin—now!"
"Tor!"
Wartortle instantly ducked into its shell and began spinning at high speed where it stood.
The violent rotation pulled the falling rain into a spiraling curtain of water around it.
The swirling waters met the falling Thunderbolt.
Blue spiral and golden lightning crashed together,
sparks and spray exploding across the field.
In the end, Thunderbolt shattered the watery vortex—
but what was left of the current wasn't strong enough to pierce Wartortle's spinning defense.
"Keep that up—Hydro Pump!"
"Waaaaar!!"
Still spinning, with residual currents crackling over its shell,
Wartortle twisted even faster.
From the four openings of its shell, torrents of water erupted all at once.
The jets wrapped around with the rotation,
forming a roaring water gyroscope that blasted toward Rhydon.
Blaine's face changed.
Isn't Hydro Pump supposed to come from the mouth?!
What kind of monster shoots it out of its shell?!
But there was no time to think.
"Rhydon, Stone Edge!"
"Rhy!!"
Rhydon slammed its fists into the ground.
Rock-type energy surged,
and a wall of jagged stone pillars erupted between it and Wartortle,
forming a barrier to block the incoming attack.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
It was useless.
Boosted by Rain Dance and slamming in with quadruple super-effective power,
Hydro Pump smashed through the rock wall in seconds,
obliterating the Stone Edge and crashing full-force into Rhydon's chest.
"Raaaaagh!!"
Rhydon's roar twisted into a choked scream.
As a Rock/Ground-type, it was four times weak to Water.
Even with Stone Edge taking the brunt of the impact,
Rain-boosted Hydro Pump was just too much.
No one could stand up to that.
"BOOM!!"
Rhydon toppled over with a thunderous crash.
On the far side, Wartortle rolled to a stop, panting,
then casually pulled out its trademark sunglasses and struck a cool pose.
First battle since evolving—
a flawless victory.
[Ash: He still loves those sunglasses way too much.]
[Misty: Hehe, it's his proof of being the boss, after all!]
[Ash: Man, I kinda miss Squirtle. I wonder how he's doing with the Firefighting Squad right now.]
[Officer Jenny: Don't worry, Ash! Squirtle's a big star in our Fire Brigade these days~ I'll send him over tomorrow. He was really excited when he heard you're entering the Silver Conference.]
[Ash: Thanks, Officer Jenny!]
[Lance: Huh… I don't know what happened at the Fire Brigade, but I do have a question. Ash, since you decided to leave Squirtle there, why didn't you just leave his Poké Ball too?]
[Lance: That way, if you ever wanted to get Squirtle back, Officer Jenny could just teleport him directly. You wouldn't have to go through so much trouble.]
[Ash: ...]
[Officer Jenny: ...]
…Wow.
How had neither of them thought of something that simple?
[Volkner: Hahaha, Ash is so embarrassed he can't even type.]
[Shōta: By the way, why didn't Rhydon just use Thunderbolt to clash head-on with Hydro Pump? Even if it got hit, it could've at least cut down Wartortle's strength a ton, right?]
[Volkner: Heh, if only it were that easy. Electric moves aren't natural for Rhydon at all. In fact, Electric and Rhydon are a pretty bad match.]
[Volkner: So the startup time for that Thunderbolt was much longer than it looked.]
[Volkner: Don't be fooled by how quickly Rhydon fired off that first Thunderbolt—it actually started charging while Wartortle was using Rain Dance.]
[Volkner: So when Wartortle fired that Hydro Pump, Blaine didn't have time to charge another Thunderbolt. His only option was to use Rhydon's own Rock-type move to try and block it. It just wasn't enough…]
[Ash: Whoa! Uncle Blaine is sneaky!]
[Misty: No wonder even Black Ash couldn't see it coming. First, nobody expects Rhydon to have Electric moves, and second, the timing looked so fast!]
[Blaine: Ahem. It's not "sneaky." This is the bare minimum tactical thinking a Trainer should have, understand?]
[Ash: Ah, yeah, yeah, sure… and you still got swept by a turtle.]
[Blaine: ...]
For real—
could these kids show some respect for their elders?!
In the dark-screen world—
Blaine recalled Rhydon, wiping the rain—
or was it sweat?—from his face.
He hadn't held back at all in this battle.
But this rookie Trainer had him on the defensive the entire time.
It wasn't just the strength of Ash's Pokémon.
It was his grasp of tactics and timing that surpassed Blaine's expectations.
Still, his last partner wasn't a pushover.
"What is it that boils inside searing flames, hidden within magma?"
"The answer is—come out, Magmar!"
With Blaine's puzzling riddle,
a red-and-yellow Pokémon burst from the magma,
landing with ease on the floating battlefield.
Magmar—Blaine's final Pokémon, and his trump card.
Seeing this, Ash immediately withdrew Wartortle.
"Magmar, huh… From the footage, its strength should be around pseudo–Elite level. That means I have to send out Pikachu here—"
"Hrrraaah!"
Before Ash could even finish,
one of the Poké Balls at his waist burst open on its own.
A crimson dragon with fierce eyes landed on the field, wings flaring.
Charizard had made its choice.
PS :
Liza is a Psychic-type Gym Leader of Mossdeep City in the Hoenn region, who works in tandem with her twin brother, Tate. She is the slightly older twin and is generally more playful than her serious brother, specializing in Double Battles using her partner Pokémon, Lunatone.
Rhydon is a bipedal, Ground/Rock-type Pokémon known as the Drill Pokémon. It has an armor-like hide so tough that it is capable of withstanding a direct cannonball hit and living in molten lava of 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
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