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he knowes pokemon more than i know _Chapter_397_en
Chapter 397
Chapter 393: The Top 16, vs. Ritchie!
The next day.
The Indigo Plateau Main Stadium.
Thousands of seats were already filled to the brim. The ceaseless chatter created a lively, heated atmosphere as everyone awaited the start of the battle.
"Beeeep!!"
A shrill cry echoed from high in the sky. The crowd instinctively looked up to see a massive, golden bird circling above their heads. Flames burned at the tips of its tail feathers, and the proud, sharp aura of a deity descended, causing everyone to hold their breath in awe.
It was the pride of the Kanto Region, Moltres!
Under the crowd's astonished gaze, Moltres circled once more before landing on the great brazier. Its slender talons gripped the edge, and then it settled down, slowly sitting in the center of the brazier, allowing the flames to blaze around its body.
Since they were both of the fire element, it was no problem.
For the next few days, it would act as the competition's mascot, perched at this highest point like a nesting hen to awe all challengers!
"Chirp, chirp..."
Down in the main arena, President Goodshow took the microphone, gave a few brief opening remarks, and then handed the stage over to today's true protagonists.
The Top 16 of the Indigo League Conference officially began!
"They're coming out, they're coming out! It's Ash!"
In a front-row seat with an excellent view, Brock, Misty, Delia, Professor Oak, and the others were all seated together, looking around eagerly. Soon, they spotted Ash's figure down in the battle arena below.
There were a total of eight battles in the Top 16, with four held per day.
And Ash's battle was the very first one of the day!
Ash was already standing at one end of the arena. The surrounding crowd was three to four times larger than in the preliminary rounds, creating a much greater sense of pressure, but he simply centered his mind and focused his attention forward.
The main stadium's arena was a standard one, with a referee in the middle and no fancy environmental gimmicks—just plain, earth-brown ground.
To put it nicely, it was a way of honoring ancient tradition. To put it bluntly, they had no funding.
Soon, Ash saw the opponent for his battle standing opposite him.
It was a youth dressed similarly to himself, both wearing denim short-sleeved jackets and long pants. The only difference was that Ash's color scheme was light blue, while the other's was dark green.
He had short brown hair, a yellow-and-green hat, and was about the same age as Ash. His face was handsome and his expression was solemn, making him seem rather mature for his age.
It was the person who had sniped Ash out of the competition in that strange nightmare.
"Ash, I've seen your battles. You're very strong... but I won't give up!" he said first, as both a greeting and a pre-battle declaration.
"Ritchie, I've seen your battles too. You're very... hmm, let's just give it our all in this battle!"
Ash trailed off, his tone shifting.
He had secretly investigated his opponent the previous night, and to be honest, he seemed a bit weak...
*Is he hiding his true strength?*
"Contestants, this is a three-on-three battle. The first to have three Pokémon unable to battle will be defeated. Now, please send out your Pokémon!"
Hearing the referee's voice, the two nodded, their gazes sharpened, and they simultaneously threw their Poké Balls forward.
"Bang!" "Bang!"
Two beams of red light flashed. Ritchie sent out a Butterfree—a normal one—that took to the air, flapping its wings.
"Geng-geng-gar!!"
The one Ash sent out was a purplish-black Gengar. It had a stout physique and a round, bulging belly. Its large, blood-red eyes curiously sized up the surroundings before it stuck out its long tongue and made a taunting expression.
In a Top 16 battle, Ash could no longer afford to use Pokémon like Cranidos or Tauros for practice. Every battle had to be fought with his full strength.
The moment Gengar appeared, the powerful, ghostly aura it exuded made both Butterfree and Ritchie wary. He hadn't seen Gengar appear in any of the video recordings from the preliminary rounds, but just from its presence alone, he could tell its level was not low.
This was a veteran Kanto Gengar!
"Be careful, Barbie!"
Ritchie had given all his Pokémon a nickname.
"Mee!"
Butterfree balled its two small fists, its expression serious, not daring to be careless.
"Contestants, let the battle begin!!"
As the referee's voice fell, Ritchie launched the first attack: "Barbie, use Gust!!"
Unexpectedly, Ash's offensive on the other side was just as fast.
"Gengar, Shadow Punch!"
In the arena, Butterfree had only just begun to flap its wings when Gengar had already slammed a fist into the ground beneath it. The next second, several meters away, a fist-shaped afterimage made of a black shadow shot out from the ground under Butterfree, rocketing straight up.
Gengar's speed was on another level, enough to utterly dominate Butterfree by a margin of three Torkoals.
*Swoosh...*
Butterfree hastily stopped using Gust and leaned its body backward, narrowly dodging the shadow fist.
However, just as it tried to stabilize itself to use Gust again, the Shadow Punch that had just brushed past it reversed course and came back to attack it once more.
"Smack!!"
This time, the shadow fist scored a direct hit. The ghost energy and the force of the punch exploded simultaneously, inflicting minor but significant damage.
Shadow Punch was a move that was guaranteed to hit; simply dodging was of little use.
Having landed a blow, Ash had no intention of letting up and immediately gave another command:
"Gengar, continuous Shadow Punch!!"
"Geng!!"
Gengar's body trembled violently in place. This time, it slammed both of its short, stubby fists into the ground.
Twin Shadow Punch!
"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"
Two shadow fist afterimages shot up from below. Butterfree was clearly thrown into disarray and was hit repeatedly in mid-air. The damage was not low, and it was now in a dangerous situation.
"Barbie, fly higher!" Ritchie commanded hastily.
After all, Shadow Punch had an attack trajectory. If the distance was great enough, he'd be better prepared to defend against it.
Butterfree understood, immediately flapping its wings and rising to a height of nearly five meters in the sky.
"Now, use Sleep Powder!!"
This time, it was Ritchie's turn to go on the offensive.
Butterfree began to shake its wings, scattering countless pale-yellow clumps of powder that drifted down toward Gengar below...
Huh?
Ritchie's expression suddenly froze. Where was Gengar?
The arena was already empty, with only the two humans facing each other from opposite ends.
Butterfree instinctively turned, searching for Gengar's figure. It had barely turned its head when it saw a pair of blood-red, scarlet eyes, practically plastered to its own body, staring straight at it from a hair's breadth away.
Coupled with a gaping, cavernous mouth, the ghostly and sinister feeling was overwhelming. It caused Butterfree to freeze on the spot, too intimidated to move.
"Gengar, use Hypnosis!!" Ash said with a triumphant smirk.
As he spoke, two pale-yellow, circular ripples of light had already appeared in Gengar's blood-red eyes. They expanded as they spread outward, enveloping Butterfree without any resistance.
"Mee..."
In less than a moment, Butterfree's eyes closed, and it began to sink from the sky. Hypnosis had successfully hit.
"Barbie!!"
While Ritchie was still shouting anxiously, Ash's expression hardened as he pressed his advantage.
"Now, finish it! Use Fire Punch!!"
The Gengar in mid-air floated and drifted, rapidly closing in on Butterfree. An insidious and fierce, crazed laugh spread across its face as a burst of explosive flame energy ignited on its left fist.
"BOOM!"
The Fire Punch landed squarely on Butterfree. The flame energy and the force of the punch exploded on its back, sending its body plummeting to the ground and kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust upon impact!!
Super Effective!!
When the smoke and dust cleared, Butterfree was lying limply on the ground, its body and wings scorched black, a miserable sight.
Meanwhile, Gengar had already landed, laughing wildly to the side, its jelly-like body trembling up and down.
The first battle ended cleanly and decisively.
"Butterfree is unable to battle! Gengar is the winner!" the referee declared.
(end of chapter)
The next day.
The Indigo Plateau Main Stadium.
Thousands of seats were already filled to the brim. The ceaseless chatter created a lively, heated atmosphere as everyone awaited the start of the battle.
"Beeeep!!"
A shrill cry echoed from high in the sky. The crowd instinctively looked up to see a massive, golden bird circling above their heads. Flames burned at the tips of its tail feathers, and the proud, sharp aura of a deity descended, causing everyone to hold their breath in awe.
It was the pride of the Kanto Region, Moltres!
Under the crowd's astonished gaze, Moltres circled once more before landing on the great brazier. Its slender talons gripped the edge, and then it settled down, slowly sitting in the center of the brazier, allowing the flames to blaze around its body.
Since they were both of the fire element, it was no problem.
For the next few days, it would act as the competition's mascot, perched at this highest point like a nesting hen to awe all challengers!
"Chirp, chirp..."
Down in the main arena, President Goodshow took the microphone, gave a few brief opening remarks, and then handed the stage over to today's true protagonists.
The Top 16 of the Indigo League Conference officially began!
"They're coming out, they're coming out! It's Ash!"
In a front-row seat with an excellent view, Brock, Misty, Delia, Professor Oak, and the others were all seated together, looking around eagerly. Soon, they spotted Ash's figure down in the battle arena below.
There were a total of eight battles in the Top 16, with four held per day.
And Ash's battle was the very first one of the day!
Ash was already standing at one end of the arena. The surrounding crowd was three to four times larger than in the preliminary rounds, creating a much greater sense of pressure, but he simply centered his mind and focused his attention forward.
The main stadium's arena was a standard one, with a referee in the middle and no fancy environmental gimmicks—just plain, earth-brown ground.
To put it nicely, it was a way of honoring ancient tradition. To put it bluntly, they had no funding.
Soon, Ash saw the opponent for his battle standing opposite him.
It was a youth dressed similarly to himself, both wearing denim short-sleeved jackets and long pants. The only difference was that Ash's color scheme was light blue, while the other's was dark green.
He had short brown hair, a yellow-and-green hat, and was about the same age as Ash. His face was handsome and his expression was solemn, making him seem rather mature for his age.
It was the person who had sniped Ash out of the competition in that strange nightmare.
"Ash, I've seen your battles. You're very strong... but I won't give up!" he said first, as both a greeting and a pre-battle declaration.
"Ritchie, I've seen your battles too. You're very... hmm, let's just give it our all in this battle!"
Ash trailed off, his tone shifting.
He had secretly investigated his opponent the previous night, and to be honest, he seemed a bit weak...
*Is he hiding his true strength?*
"Contestants, this is a three-on-three battle. The first to have three Pokémon unable to battle will be defeated. Now, please send out your Pokémon!"
Hearing the referee's voice, the two nodded, their gazes sharpened, and they simultaneously threw their Poké Balls forward.
"Bang!" "Bang!"
Two beams of red light flashed. Ritchie sent out a Butterfree—a normal one—that took to the air, flapping its wings.
"Geng-geng-gar!!"
The one Ash sent out was a purplish-black Gengar. It had a stout physique and a round, bulging belly. Its large, blood-red eyes curiously sized up the surroundings before it stuck out its long tongue and made a taunting expression.
In a Top 16 battle, Ash could no longer afford to use Pokémon like Cranidos or Tauros for practice. Every battle had to be fought with his full strength.
The moment Gengar appeared, the powerful, ghostly aura it exuded made both Butterfree and Ritchie wary. He hadn't seen Gengar appear in any of the video recordings from the preliminary rounds, but just from its presence alone, he could tell its level was not low.
This was a veteran Kanto Gengar!
"Be careful, Barbie!"
Ritchie had given all his Pokémon a nickname.
"Mee!"
Butterfree balled its two small fists, its expression serious, not daring to be careless.
"Contestants, let the battle begin!!"
As the referee's voice fell, Ritchie launched the first attack: "Barbie, use Gust!!"
Unexpectedly, Ash's offensive on the other side was just as fast.
"Gengar, Shadow Punch!"
In the arena, Butterfree had only just begun to flap its wings when Gengar had already slammed a fist into the ground beneath it. The next second, several meters away, a fist-shaped afterimage made of a black shadow shot out from the ground under Butterfree, rocketing straight up.
Gengar's speed was on another level, enough to utterly dominate Butterfree by a margin of three Torkoals.
*Swoosh...*
Butterfree hastily stopped using Gust and leaned its body backward, narrowly dodging the shadow fist.
However, just as it tried to stabilize itself to use Gust again, the Shadow Punch that had just brushed past it reversed course and came back to attack it once more.
"Smack!!"
This time, the shadow fist scored a direct hit. The ghost energy and the force of the punch exploded simultaneously, inflicting minor but significant damage.
Shadow Punch was a move that was guaranteed to hit; simply dodging was of little use.
Having landed a blow, Ash had no intention of letting up and immediately gave another command:
"Gengar, continuous Shadow Punch!!"
"Geng!!"
Gengar's body trembled violently in place. This time, it slammed both of its short, stubby fists into the ground.
Twin Shadow Punch!
"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"
Two shadow fist afterimages shot up from below. Butterfree was clearly thrown into disarray and was hit repeatedly in mid-air. The damage was not low, and it was now in a dangerous situation.
"Barbie, fly higher!" Ritchie commanded hastily.
After all, Shadow Punch had an attack trajectory. If the distance was great enough, he'd be better prepared to defend against it.
Butterfree understood, immediately flapping its wings and rising to a height of nearly five meters in the sky.
"Now, use Sleep Powder!!"
This time, it was Ritchie's turn to go on the offensive.
Butterfree began to shake its wings, scattering countless pale-yellow clumps of powder that drifted down toward Gengar below...
Huh?
Ritchie's expression suddenly froze. Where was Gengar?
The arena was already empty, with only the two humans facing each other from opposite ends.
Butterfree instinctively turned, searching for Gengar's figure. It had barely turned its head when it saw a pair of blood-red, scarlet eyes, practically plastered to its own body, staring straight at it from a hair's breadth away.
Coupled with a gaping, cavernous mouth, the ghostly and sinister feeling was overwhelming. It caused Butterfree to freeze on the spot, too intimidated to move.
"Gengar, use Hypnosis!!" Ash said with a triumphant smirk.
As he spoke, two pale-yellow, circular ripples of light had already appeared in Gengar's blood-red eyes. They expanded as they spread outward, enveloping Butterfree without any resistance.
"Mee..."
In less than a moment, Butterfree's eyes closed, and it began to sink from the sky. Hypnosis had successfully hit.
"Barbie!!"
While Ritchie was still shouting anxiously, Ash's expression hardened as he pressed his advantage.
"Now, finish it! Use Fire Punch!!"
The Gengar in mid-air floated and drifted, rapidly closing in on Butterfree. An insidious and fierce, crazed laugh spread across its face as a burst of explosive flame energy ignited on its left fist.
"BOOM!"
The Fire Punch landed squarely on Butterfree. The flame energy and the force of the punch exploded on its back, sending its body plummeting to the ground and kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust upon impact!!
Super Effective!!
When the smoke and dust cleared, Butterfree was lying limply on the ground, its body and wings scorched black, a miserable sight.
Meanwhile, Gengar had already landed, laughing wildly to the side, its jelly-like body trembling up and down.
The first battle ended cleanly and decisively.
"Butterfree is unable to battle! Gengar is the winner!" the referee declared.
(end of chapter)
