"The trainer on the green side is also contestant Ash from Pallet Town. Worth mentioning is that he and Red-sama are inseparable twin brothers."
"During Team Rocket's attack to seize the Sacred Flame yesterday, it was also contestant Ash's passionate vow that awakened the divinity of the Sacred Flame, allowing it to be protected. Let us welcome contestant Ash with a warm round of applause!"
Clearly, the announcer of the Water Field was also extremely excited about Ash's performance, even openly taking Ash's side with his words.
"Facing him is the magician contestant Mitsutake on the red side!"
The announcer briefly introduced Mitsutake's identity before continuing leisurely.
"Contestant Ash is taking on the challenge accompanied by his two coaches, while contestant Mitsutake is a magician trainer beloved for his dazzling performances."
"The Pokémon used will be three each. The third match of the Water Field officially begins!"
As the referee waved the two flags and rang the battle bell, the match officially began.
"Now it's showtime, Ash. Thank you for handing me this victory!"
Mitsutake provoked arrogantly as he threw out his Poké Ball.
"You guy are way too full of yourself! I won't let you off so easi—"
Before Ash could finish his threat, Jessie's voice suddenly rang out. Turning his head, Ash discovered that Team Rocket's trio was standing on the commentary platform.
"Twerp, don't lose to that rude jerk! Teach him a harsh lesson!"
Jessie shouted angrily. Earlier, when the trio tried to interview Mitsutake, the arrogant trainer had mercilessly mocked them, making Jessie completely hold a grudge against him.
"Fight with the guts you usually have! Show some backbone!" James echoed.
"Just to be clear, we're not cheering for you or anything!" Meowth complained.
While Ash and the others were still wondering how Team Rocket had managed to sneak in, four Officer Jennys with identical appearances suddenly emerged behind them.
Officer Jenny quickly chased the troublemaking Team Rocket away. Fortunately, they were disguised as reporters, otherwise they would have been arrested for interfering with the competition.
"Is that so? So Officer Jenny from all over the place came here on business trips~"
Seeing this scene, Brock blushed bright red, fantasizing about one day being "arrested" by Officer Jenny himself.
"How do you even tell them apart?" Misty complained helplessly.
"Allow me to explain. The Officer Jenny in Viridian City uses hair dye, the one in Celadon City has a skirt hem one centimeter shorter than the others, the Officer Jenny in Saffron City uses No. 5 Gloom perfume, and then, the Officer Jenny in Vermilion City is—"
Before Brock could fully explain the differences between the four Officer Jennys, the impatient Misty quickly shoved him aside to avoid affecting Ash's battle condition.
The match resumed. Ash sent out his underdeveloped Krabby, while Mitsutake chose Exeggutor.
As soon as the battle began, Mitsutake ordered Exeggutor to use Psywave. A ring-shaped shockwave rapidly closed in on Krabby.
Fortunately, Ash immediately ordered Krabby to dive underwater, avoiding the damage from Psywave.
"Although it avoided Psywave in advance, hiding underwater isn't a wise choice. After all, Exeggutor is also a Psychic-type Pokémon."
Gary analyzed from the audience stands.
After his own battle ended, Gary had come to Red's battlefield, only to find that Red had already finished his match within three minutes. Afterwards, Gary followed Red to Ash's battlefield to observe Ash's performance.
Sure enough, Mitsutake immediately commanded Exeggutor to use Confusion, manipulating the pool into a water tornado that trapped Krabby underwater in an instant.
As coach, Brock hurriedly suggested that Ash switch Pokémon and send out his main fighter, Pikachu.
Although Ash had considered it, the splashing water caused by Exeggutor's continuous barrage blocked the Poké Ball's recall beam, leaving Ash unable to retrieve Krabby.
Just as Mitsutake thought victory was already in his grasp, Krabby suddenly burst out from the water. Receiving Ash's command, it immediately used its right claw to clamp onto the leaves atop Exeggutor's head.
The sudden attack threw Exeggutor into panic. No matter how Mitsutake shouted commands, it was useless.
Seeing this, Ash immediately ordered Krabby to use Leer, weakening Exeggutor's defense. Then it followed up with Stomp, viciously stepping on Exeggutor's face and knocking it to the ground.
"Exeggutor is unable to battle!"
The referee raised the green flag and announced the result.
"That guy Ash never even trained Krabby, right? This is totally Grandpa's doing~"
Gary complained from the audience.
"So amazing!" Misty exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, seriously impressive. I never expected that Krabby could achieve something like this." Brock agreed.
Clearly, neither of them had held any expectations for Krabby's strength. Unexpectedly, Krabby used its own power to completely overturn their prejudice.
At that moment, the victorious Krabby suddenly released a dazzling white light. Moments later, it evolved into Kingler. Perhaps because it had received sufficient nutrition while staying at Professor Oak's Laboratory, the evolved Kingler had also reached an excellent level of development.
Afterward, Kingler successively defeated Mitsutake's Seadra and Golbat using Crabhammer and Hyper Beam, completing the famous one-versus-three sweep.
"The match is over! Contestant Ash from Pallet Town is victorious! Without switching Pokémon, he won the first round using only Kingler!" the announcer shouted.
"Awesome! First-round victory!"
Overjoyed, Ash directly ran onto the floating platform of the Water Field and hugged the outstanding Kingler.
Afterward, Ash enthusiastically took the initiative to approach the television station and welcome their interview, leaving the staff members completely stunned by his excessive enthusiasm.
...
Indigo Plateau Conference — Grass Field — First Round
After Ash won at the Water Field, Red brought everyone to the Grass Field where Leaf was battling.
Calling it a battle between two sides was an exaggeration. In reality, it was simply Leaf crushing her opponent one-sidedly.
The Pokémon Leaf sent out first was Ditto. Due to the species' unique traits, Ditto could mimic both the form and strength of the opponent's Pokémon.
Leaf's opponent was nowhere near strong enough to break through the "mirror" level. Leaf's clever and mischievous Ditto consecutively defeated two of the opponent's Pokémon.
"Lastly, I'm counting on you, Beedrill!"
As the white light faded, a well-developed Beedrill appeared on the Grass Field, hovering in the air while staring at Ditto, who had transformed into a Raticate.
"Ditto, transform into Beedrill!" Leaf ordered.
After observing Beedrill's appearance, Ditto's body released white light. Under everyone's expectant gaze, it transformed into Beedrill moments later and flew into the sky as well.
Now, the opponent only had Beedrill remaining, while Leaf decisively ordered Ditto to mimic Beedrill too.
When it came to Beedrill, Leaf had thoroughly studied all the necessary theory.
(Sorry, but I understand Beedrill far too well!)
Leaf fixed her determined gaze on the opponent ahead. Although she felt somewhat apologetic about sweeping her opponent three-to-zero, for the sake of defending Pallet Town's honor and continuing to chase after Red's powerful figure, Leaf absolutely could not ruin the "tradition" of Pallet Town's rookie trainers sweeping their opponents this tournament.
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