Chapter 59: Battle against a Formidable Foe, A Clash of Wills!
As the Professors drew the lots, the first-round battle pairings appeared in everyone's hands!
In the first match of the first round, Kanto's Ash faced Unova's Stephan!
The second match pitted Kanto's Gary against Hoenn's Tyson—wait, Masamune!
The third match featured Hoenn's Zhang Feng against Hoenn's May!
The fourth match brought Hoenn's Tyson against Sinnoh's Paul—wait, Brandon—no, Reggie!
The fifth match showcased Hoenn's Morrison against Sinnoh's Barry!
The sixth match matched Sinnoh's Paul against Unova's Iris!
The seventh match paired Unova's Cameron against Kanto's Brock!
Seeing these pairings, Zhang Feng couldn't help but nod secretly. Truly speaking of future potential, Ash and Iris definitely ranked near the top!
However, looking at the present, Iris and Ash hardly seemed a match for this group of elite trainers from various regions!
Of course, if Ash assembled his previous ace lineup, he would certainly have a fighting chance for first place!
Yet given his personality, would he really use his strongest Pokémon in a tournament like this?
That remained a question mark!
With Professor Oak acting as the referee for these battles, this small-scale tournament instantly took on an air of solemnity!
As the matches commenced, Ash and Stephan stepped onto opposite sides of the battlefield for the opening bout!
Meanwhile, Zhang Feng sat alongside May, Gary, Brock, and the others, watching Ash's match!
Since it was a three-on-three battle, Ash's first choice was naturally Pikachu. As Ash's starter Pokémon, this Pikachu was jokingly referred to as an actor!
As the saying went: it could battle legendary Pokémon at its peak, yet lose to a novice trainer just starting out, its battle record fluctuating wildly!
Yet when the most crucial moment arrived, Pikachu remained Ash's most reliable partner!
Facing Ash's Pikachu, Stephan sent out Sawk!
This was a Pokémon unique to the Unova region, belonging to the Fighting type. Although Ash lacked intelligence on Sawk, Pikachu successfully managed to defeat it during the course of the battle!
In the subsequent bouts, Grovyle and Swellow entered the fray one after another, thoroughly crushing Stephan and making Ash the first contestant to advance!
Seeing Ash emerge victorious, the others began to cheer for him!
Having defeated Stephan, Ash couldn't help casting his gaze toward Paul!
Ash certainly hadn't forgotten how this guy had previously taunted him!
Following Ash's victory, the match between Gary and Masamune got underway!
Masamune's strength was actually not weak at all. In the original storyline, out of reluctance to battle his friend Ash, he practically handed him two or three Pokémon!
Yet even under those circumstances, Masamune managed to go toe-to-toe with Ash using his final three Pokémon, meaning their strengths were roughly on par!
However, facing Gary, Masamune still fell quite short!
When Blastoise and Swampert appeared simultaneously, Blastoise used its superior strength to knock Swampert down!
Masamune's Growlithe proved no match for Gary's Arcanine, and Eevee successfully defeated Girafarig!
Having lost all three matches, Masamune lost his usual spirited demeanor and looked somewhat dejected!
By the third match, it was time for the showdown between Zhang Feng and May!
As it turned out, Zhang Feng's luck was quite good; he drew the weakest opponent right from the start!
"Go, Combusken! Even though our opponent is strong, we won't surrender easily!"
"Ding-dong, Combusken's current attribute values are as follows:"
Pokémon: Combusken
Level: 25
Ability: Blaze
Types: Fire, Fighting
Potential: Purple
Bond Evolution: Unlocked (False)
Mega Evolution: Unlocked (False)
Moves: Sky Uppercut, Low Sweep, Fire Spin, Brick Break, Scratch...
"Combusken, is it? Then I'll leave this match to you, Bagon!"
As Zhang Feng flicked his Poké Ball, a sturdy Bagon fully materialized!
Seeing Zhang Feng deploy a pseudo-legendary Pokémon right out of the gate, Gary, Paul, Morrison, Tyson, and the others couldn't help exchanging glances!
Yet these individuals were all elite trainers from their respective regions; as for pseudo-legendary Pokémon, everyone seemed to have one—except for a certain master of releasing Pokémon who was currently cheering for May and Zhang Feng!
"Combusken, let's go! Use Fire Spin!"
"Bagon, Dragon Rush!"
When May's Combusken unleashed a wave of scorching flames, Bagon neither dodged nor evaded, its entire body erupting with blue dragon-type energy as it charged fiercely toward Combusken!
Upon impact, Dragon Rush instantly shattered the Fire Spin, and the immense momentum slammed directly into Combusken, sending it flying backward!
"Now is the chance! Use Dragon Breath!"
In just two short rounds, May's ace Combusken was rendered unable to battle!
"Ding-dong, Bagon has defeated Combusken, gaining two hundred experience points. Level up! Current level: Lv. 30!"
Having defeated Combusken, the previously settled Bagon began to grow restless. Soon, a dazzling white light began to shine from Bagon's body!
Before the eyes of the gathered opponents and professors, Bagon began to evolve!
"Is this... evolution?"
"Bagon evolves into Shelgon, right?"
"Did he calculate this precisely, or was it just a coincidence?"
When the light of evolution faded, a Shelgon stood before Zhang Feng!
"Ding-dong, Shelgon's current attribute values are as follows:"
Pokémon: Shelgon
Divine Office: None
Level: 32
Ability: Dustproof
Type: Dragon
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Unlocked (False)
Mega Evolution: Unlocked (False)
Moves: Ember, Dragon Rush, Twister, Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Headbutt, Crunch...
Friendship: 220
Background: An exceptional individual among the Shelgon clan, yearning to soar through the skies as a Salamence
Hobbies: Delicious food
...
Looking at the evolved Shelgon, Zhang Feng wore a pleased expression, while May's subsequent choices—Beautyfly and Skitty—were easily defeated by Shelgon!
Although Zhang Feng hadn't displayed his true strength in this battle, this Shelgon alone was enough to set people's imaginations running wild!
After Zhang Feng defeated May, she felt rather uninspired.
"I lost. As expected, if even Dad couldn't defeat this opponent, how could I possibly win?"
Biting her lip, May walked back to Max. Seeing his older sister looking like that, Max began to offer words of comfort!
By now, Ash, Gary, and Zhang Feng had all successfully advanced to the next round!
Naturally, the remaining matches still had to be played!
When Tyson faced Reggie, perhaps because Reggie had long since lost his competitive drive as a trainer and was now merely the owner of a Pokémon Day Care, he fell narrowly to the still-ambitious Tyson!
This outcome left Paul somewhat displeased with Tyson, vowing to defeat him in the next round!
In the fifth match, Morrison's Blaziken defeated Barry's Empoleon to successfully advance!
The sixth match finally brought Paul to the stage. Against a female trainer like Iris, he showed no mercy, easily sweeping her three-to-nil!
There was no helping it; after all, Iris currently possessed neither a Dragonite nor an Haxorus!
In the seventh match, although Cameron possessed a Riolu, a Deino, and a Dewott—giving him the advantage in typing—he still fell narrowly to Gym Leader Brock fighting at full burst!
Thus, the final lineup for the second round was officially decided!