Ash looked at Azumarill's round, chubby body and suddenly realized something.
The field had become slippery, meaning Pikachu might have trouble building up speed and could easily lose his footing. But with Azumarill's body type, could she really move around smoothly either?
"Thunderbolt!"
Ash decided to test Azumarill's mobility on this terrain first.
"Azumarill, slide!"
No matter how you looked at it, a fat, oval-shaped Pokémon like Azumarill shouldn't be able to keep her balance comfortably on ice. If anything, she ought to be slipping and falling all over the place.
Everyone thought Thunderbolt was guaranteed to hit.
What happened instead left them stunned.
Azumarill flopped onto her belly and lay flat on the ice. Using her short arms like paddles, she propelled herself forward. To dodge the Thunderbolt, she even fired a Water Gun, using the recoil to push herself out of range.
The Spheal in Candice's arms excitedly slapped its belly, proudly claiming credit.
"So that's what he borrowed you for that day, to Mimic this..." Candice said, holding down the restless Spheal while squeezing his soft belly. "Now, how's Ash supposed to deal with that? It looks pretty weird, but it seems surprisingly effective."
If there was one thing Azumarill's erratic movements across the ice resembled, it was a snowmobile.
After getting used to the terrain, Pikachu began drifting across the ice as well, turning the battle into a high-speed chase between himself and the snowmobile-like Azumarill.
Azumarill accelerated by paddling with her hands. Pikachu used all four limbs, with his tail acting as a brake on either side.
But when it came to experience, Azumarill clearly had the advantage. She'd fought plenty of battles on frozen fields like this before.
As she slid around, her Water Gun kept landing successfully. Not only did it deal damage, but whenever she managed to spray Pikachu right in the face, it blurred his vision for a moment.
Etorre and Conway were both taking notes.
This was a fresh strategy. Definitely worth learning.
Pikachu suddenly jammed his tail into the ice.
Ash had already figured it out. Azumarill was constantly draining Pikachu's stamina. She'd prepared for a long battle from the very beginning, completely giving up the speed advantage she usually took pride in.
"Thunder!"
The attack wasn't aimed at Azumarill.
Thunder struck Pikachu himself and flowed into the ice through his tail. Violent electricity surged through the frozen surface, shattering the ice beneath Pikachu's feet.
"Ice Beam! Attack both the ground and Pikachu!"
Azumarill successfully braked with her tail and fired an Ice Beam at Pikachu's feet, trying to freeze him to the ground.
"No, that's not right. Get ready for Aqua Tail!" Luther suddenly understood and hurriedly shouted.
Pikachu leaped into the air.
He was already bouncing back and forth across the chunks of shattered ice that had been blasted upward. With his clever use of Quick Attack, Luther couldn't even track his movements anymore.
"Volt Tackle!"
A flash of lightning suddenly appeared within Luther's ice-shard-obscured vision. Breaking through the flying fragments, it plunged straight down from above.
Pikachu, wrapped in electricity, crashed head-on into Azumarill's already-prepared Aqua Tail.
The two attacks collided.
Since the clash of energies was still ongoing, Azumarill hadn't taken much damage yet. But a numbing electric current was already spreading through her body from the Aqua Tail.
That was the advantage of type effectiveness. In a direct clash of moves, Pikachu held the upper hand.
Luther desperately wanted to break the stalemate, but Azumarill was fighting with her tail at the moment. She couldn't turn around and use her mouth to launch another move.
"Keep pushing! Thunderbolt!"
Ash's command made Luther freeze.
Pikachu was already maintaining a Volt Tackle against Aqua Tail. He was going to split his focus and use Thunderbolt too? Was that even possible?
But when Luther saw the violent sparks dancing across Pikachu's body, crackling loudly in the air, he realized, Pikachu really could do it.
He could maintain a powerful Electric-type finisher while simultaneously diverting part of his power to unleash a second Electric-type move!
"Drop Aqua Tail! Use brute force and slam Pikachu into the ground!"
The instant the water surrounding Azumarill's tail dispersed, Volt Tackle struck her soft belly directly.
Azumarill grabbed hold of Pikachu's tail.
Her entire body was numb from the electricity, and she was on the verge of losing consciousness. Even so, in her fading vision, she could still clearly see that tail swishing in front of her.
Thunderbolt coursed through her body. Covered in crackling electricity, Azumarill unleashed an astonishing burst of strength at the very last moment. She hoisted Pikachu high into the air and slammed him down onto the ice with all her might.
A Pikachu-shaped crater instantly appeared in the ice.
Still holding her throwing pose, Azumarill's rabbit-like ears twitched a few times before she fell straight backward.
"Azumarill is unable to battle. Pikachu wins!"
The commentator excitedly announced, "After Darkrai, Luther's strongest-performing Pokémon in this tournament, Azumarill, has also gone down! Is Ash finally beginning his full-scale comeback?"
Spheal hugged his belly, looking a little downcast.
"Come on, don't be like that. You taught her well," Candice quickly reassured him. "That strategy really gave Pikachu a hard time. Ash and Pikachu just handled it extremely well."
This was a battle Luther had envisioned long ago. The ice field was flat, with almost nothing to use for leverage and no extra obstacles. It was the perfect stage for Azumarill.
And yet, Ash and Pikachu always seemed capable of creating something incredible.
No footholds to work with? Then make some yourself. Blow up part of the field, use the shattered ice to close the distance, then hit with Volt Tackle and Thunderbolt at the same time to defeat Azumarill.
So this was what battling Ash felt like.
He always gave you a battle experience beyond anything you expected. It might not be a pleasant experience for his opponents, but it was hard not to admire his ability to adapt.
Chansey and the still-sleeping Snorlax were sent out at the same time.
Seeing that Snorlax showed no signs of waking up, even Ash scratched his cheek and laughed sheepishly. Still, this matchup shouldn't be a problem. After all, Chansey wasn't exactly known for her offensive power.
Chansey ran over to Snorlax and used Thunder Wave on him.
The sleeping Snorlax twitched slightly, but still didn't wake up.
"Sleep Talk!"
Left with no other choice, Ash continued gambling on Sleep Talk.
Thunderous snoring echoed across the field. Standing right beside Snorlax, Chansey trembled all over and squeezed her eyes shut in misery. The noise was simply unbearable.
"Take out all the eggs you're carrying at once!"
Chansey's eyes lit up. Enduring the damage from Snore, she pulled out the eggs she had been carrying.
When the first egg rolled over beside Snorlax, Ash remained confident in Snorlax's toughness and continued using Sleep Talk. This time, whatever move Snorlax rolled wasn't even something the commentator could identify. In any case, it didn't seem to have any effect.
A second egg. Then a third. Both rolled over beside Snorlax.
Groggily, Snorlax finally sat up. The two eggs landed on his springy belly.
Still half asleep, Snorlax picked them up. For a brief moment, he thought it was mealtime.
That lasted only a second. Ash's shout immediately made Snorlax realize something was wrong.
Panting from laying eggs one after another, Chansey was holding up another egg in her hands. The egg was glowing.
Like a soccer player's powerful overhead throw-in, Chansey raised the glowing egg above her head and hurled it toward Snorlax with all her strength.
"Boom," Luther said with a mischievous grin.
Chansey instantly covered her ears with both hands.
The next second, the entire battlefield shook violently. A towering column of smoke rose from the arena.
(End of Chapter)
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