Chapter 81

Shigeru: "So that's how it is."

【At the referee's signal, the two Trainers began the match. Jimu's lead Pokémon was Donphan. This is a Ground-type Pokémon rarely seen in Kanto; Johto is the region where Donphan are commonly found.】

【"Donphan, huh." It wasn't exactly an unexpected choice. Seeing the opponent use a Pokémon within his expectations, Ash also brought out Grimer according to his plan.】

【"Grimer?" Jimu was first startled, then delighted.】

【He never imagined that the big shot in his heart would actually bring out a Grimer in a battle. One must know that Grimer is not a powerful Pokémon. Jimu's expression slowly shifted from solemn to joyful. Could it be that Ash wasn't the big shot he thought he was, but just someone with connections, and he had drawn a "gift package" to advance?】

Erika: "A gift package to advance? This... I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Jimu."

Lorelei: "He specializes in Ground-type Pokémon, and his opponent brought out a Poison-type that is weak to him—and an unremarkable Grimer at that. It's understandable why Jimu thinks he can win. Sigh, Ash is really preparing to kill the spirit; seeing the opponent bring out a Donphan, he deliberately let the disadvantaged Grimer enter the field."

Koga: "I can only say that this guy named Jimu doesn't have a very good eye. Dark Ash's Grimer is raised so perfectly; one look and you can tell it's not a Pokémon to be trifled with. He actually didn't notice."

Roxanne: "Um, actually, I didn't notice either. Ash's Grimer doesn't seem any different from an ordinary Grimer."

Koga: "The color of the sludge, the firmness of the muscles, and the look in its eyes—there are differences everywhere, okay?"

Roxanne: "I observed it carefully again. Setting aside other aspects, aren't the eyes exactly the same as other Grimer? Isn't this dull, vacant look the standard for Grimer?"

Koga: "Sigh, one cannot speak of ice to a summer insect."

Roxanne: "..."

【Upon seeing that Ash's Pokémon was a Grimer, Jimu's whole demeanor changed significantly, and even his voice became louder.】

【"Donphan, let it see our strength. Horn Attack!!!"】

【Jimu was full of confidence, determined to kill Ash's Grimer in one hit.】

【Donphan also sensed its Trainer's emotions and became excited. It aimed at Grimer's position and then charged toward Grimer like a madman.】

【And then, and then Donphan met with tragedy.】

【The expected outcome of smashing the opponent into sludge did not happen; it didn't even touch the opponent.】

【"What happened?" Jimu looked bewildered. In the time it took him to blink, how did Grimer disappear?】

【Not being able to find Grimer wasn't the most troublesome thing; the most troublesome thing was that Donphan had been too excited earlier and didn't hold back when launching the Horn Attack, and now it couldn't stop.】

【Just like that, under the gaze of the entire audience, Donphan charged out of the designated battle field and slammed headfirst into the wall.】

【This collision knocked it unconscious instantly.】

Misty: "This Donphan's attack started with a roar but ended with a whimper, didn't it? To be eliminated in this way really makes one not know whether to laugh or cry."

Ash: "Where's Grimer? Where did my parallel world self's Grimer go? How come I can't find it?"

Brock: "It used Minimize. Just as Donphan was about to hit Grimer, Grimer used Minimize to dodge it."

Erika: "That guy named Jimu was completely toyed with."

【"That was simply too cool. Just like that, Ash, take down the opponent in one go." Erika, off the field, acted as a cheerleader, frantically cheering for Ash.】

【"Togepi, let's cheer for Ash too!!!" Misty said loudly. She wouldn't lose to Erika.】

【Compared to Erika and Misty, Sabrina was much calmer. Two flags cheering for Ash floated beside her, swaying left and right from time to time.】

【"Psychic powers are just too useful," Brock said enviously.】

【After Donphan lost the ability to battle, Jimu's burning heart cooled down instantly. He came to his senses at this moment, realizing that Ash's Grimer had used the Minimize move to dodge Donphan's attack.】

【It was time to send out the second Pokémon. Before sending it out, Jimu scanned the field rapidly, trying to find the location of Ash's Grimer. But to his surprise, he searched the field for a minute and found no trace of Grimer.】

【Jimu was so nervous that sweat was pouring down. Not being able to find Grimer meant that his new Pokémon on the field would likely be ambushed by Grimer first. What was he to do!】

【The referee was already urging him to release his new Pokémon. With no other choice, Jimu could only take out his second Pokémon with a mournful face—Piloswine.】

【"Piloswine?" Ash muttered to himself, "It seems Jimu is a Trainer from Johto."】

【"Grimer, use Mud-Slap on Piloswine."】

【"Mud-Slap?" Jimu didn't quite understand Ash's move.】

【Is it worth wasting a precious first-move opportunity on a move with no power? If it were him, he would definitely choose the move with the highest power.】

【One can only say that this is the gap between Jimu and Ash. Ash knows Grimer's strengths and weaknesses very well; destructive power has never been Grimer's strong suit. Moreover, Grimer's specialty, Poison-type moves, can only deal half damage to the Ground-type Piloswine. So, instead of using ineffective offensive moves, it's better to use Mud-Slap to bring Grimer's advantages into full play.】

Ash: "Advantages? What advantages does Grimer have?"

Brock: "I guess it should be evasion rate. After using Minimize, Grimer becomes very hard for the opponent to hit. Then, by using Mud-Slap to obstruct the opponent's vision, in this way, Piloswine's attacks will have no way to hit Grimer."】

Brock was right; this was Dark Ash's tactic.

The combination of Minimize and Mud-Slap made it impossible for the opponent to even touch Grimer.

【As for how to finish off the opponent, Ash had long since planned. Don't forget, Grimer is a Poison-type Pokémon; as long as it can stand on the field for long enough, there is no Pokémon it cannot take down.】

【The match ended. Ash's Grimer took down all of Jimu's Pokémon single-handedly. Jimu, who lost the match, was so depressed he couldn't say a word. He had no choice but to be depressed; he hadn't even seen Grimer a few times throughout the entire match. It was the first time he had experienced such a frustrating battle.】

【The victorious Ash also received applause and cheers from the entire audience. Although the battle couldn't be called spectacular, Ash's application of tactics still shocked the audience. They discovered for the first time that Grimer could actually fight like this.】

Shigeru: "What a cheap tactic. Minimize, Mud-Slap, Toxic—there's simply no way to break it."】

Shigeru could only be glad now that he hadn't encountered Dark Ash's Grimer; otherwise, the one going crazy right now would be him.】

Bertha: "Jimu is still too young. If he had used wide-range moves, such as Earthquake, he would still have had a chance to win."】

Steven: "It's not that easy. I suspect Dark Ash definitely had a backup plan. If Jimu had launched a fierce attack with Earthquake, he likely would have changed tactics."】

Bertha: "That's true too."

The gap between the two sides was too large, not just the gap between the Pokémon, but the Trainers as well.】

【After easily winning the first match, the next day, Ash welcomed his second battle on the Ice Field.】

【This time, Ash's opponent was a cute little girl.】

【However, cute as the opponent was, Ash had no intention of going easy on her. The match began, and Ash's lead Pokémon was Krabby.】

Wallace: "?????? This is called having no intention of going easy? This can be called 'letting the sea flow'!!! Krabby is the weakest Pokémon in Ash's hand, right!!!"】

Steven: "NO, NO, NO, did you forget Caterpie?"】

Wallace: "Oh right, Ash also has Caterpie. Wait, I suddenly remembered something—why hasn't Ash's Caterpie evolved until now?"】

Aaron: "I'm also very curious. His Caterpie has almost eaten itself into a ball; logically, it should have evolved long ago."】

Bugsy: "Ash's Caterpie might be preparing to ascend to the heavens in one step and evolve directly into Rayquaza. If that's the case, it's normal for it to evolve later."】

Whitney: "Ah? Can Caterpie evolve into Rayquaza? Really? Why didn't I know that?"】

Bugsy: "It's true. Whitney, you can go catch a Caterpie and try."】

Jasmine: "Don't listen to his nonsense, Whitney. This guy is joking."】

Whitney: "Damn it!"】

【The girl's first Pokémon was Ninetales. She probably assumed Ash would send out an Ice-type Pokémon on the Ice Field, so she sent out the Fire-type Ninetales to ambush Ash, but she didn't expect to be too clever for her own good.】

【The girl originally had a chance to correct her mistake; she could have chosen to switch Pokémon directly. Although this would make her lose the initiative, the problem of type disadvantage would no longer exist.】

【"Switch Pokémon? The opponent is just a Krabby; my Ninetales has nothing to fear from it," Xiao Tian thought contemptuously.】

【The first round used Grimer, the second round used Krabby—how on earth did this guy named Ash become the final Sacred Fire runner?】

【Sigh, the Indigo Plateau Conference has also declined. Trainers of this level can be selected as Sacred Fire runners.】

【While Xiao Tian was still letting her imagination run wild, Ash on the other side had already started to act.】

【His statement about not going easy wasn't a joke; he really thought so.】

【"Krabby, Crabhammer."】

【Ash's command reached Xiao Tian's ears, and her smile became even more contemptuous.】

【Does this guy named Ash even know how to battle with Pokémon? Doesn't he know that crabs have no way to catch up to agile foxes?】

【Today, she, Xiao Tian, would give her opponent a good lesson!】

【Just as Xiao Tian was preparing to show off her skills, a scene that left her dumbfounded appeared.】

【Ash's Krabby raised its two big hammers and began to strike the ice surface frantically. Under Krabby's continuous attacks, the ice began to crack continuously.】

【Only then did Xiao Tian understand that Krabby's target had never been her Ninetales, but the Ice Field beneath its feet. It wanted to destroy the Ice Field so that her Ninetales would have no place to stand.】

【Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Xiao Tian scrambled to take out Ninetales's Poké Ball, wanting to recall Ninetales and switch to another Pokémon.】

【"Not that easy." Ash wasn't a wooden statue; he wouldn't just stand there and let his opponent switch Pokémon.】

【He had Krabby use the Bubble move, and bubbles filled the sky, surrounding Ninetales. Because of the bubbles, the absorption light of the Poké Ball had no way to reach Ninetales.】

【Unable to recall her Pokémon, Xiao Tian could only watch helplessly as Ninetales, trapped in the water, was toyed with by Krabby.】

【What made Xiao Tian even more devastated was that after Ash's Krabby defeated her Ninetales, it successfully evolved into Kingler.】

Lance: "Beautiful! Watching Dark Ash's battles is truly a pleasure. Unlike Trainers who only use brute force, he is truly fighting with his brain."】

Bruno: "Indeed, a proper tactical master. He knew that if they went head-to-head, although Krabby had a type advantage, it might not necessarily be a match for Ninetales, so he changed his strategy directly and chose to destroy the field. This is truly a stroke of genius."】

Steven: "This really doesn't leave us a way to live. It's one thing to be great at raising Pokémon, but to be so great at tactics and on-the-spot command as well—there are absolutely no flaws."】

Cynthia: "What I'm looking forward to most now is the parallel world's Leon facing Dark Ash. That would definitely be a visual feast."】

Actually, what Cynthia was looking forward to most was facing Dark Ash herself, but she didn't mean to say it out loud.】

Wallace: "Do you think it's possible for Dark Ash to create a feat of winning the championship at the Indigo Plateau Conference with a single undefeated Pokémon?"】