Chapter 196: The Unfortunate Morrison
Lillie curiously leaned over, glanced at Ryan's opponent, and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "I didn't expect it to be him. He's just unlucky."
Ryan nodded; his first opponent was Morrison, that quirky and resourceful guy. It was bad luck that he ran into Ryan in his first match.
Morrison was quite strong, and his ideas for doubles were quite good. If he hadn't run into Ryan, he would have advanced to the main tournament through the preliminaries. The preliminaries used a doubles format, and with Morrison's strength, he could easily have made it into the top 32.
Unfortunately, he ran into Ryan, meaning he was destined to be eliminated in the first match.
Meanwhile, in the other players' dormitory, Morrison was already wailing, clutching his head: "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Why did I have to run into that guy! It's over, completely over! I can't beat him at all!"
Morrison frantically scratched his head, trying to think of a battle strategy, but unfortunately, it was all useless! His Pokémon was no match for Ryan!
Moreover, the preliminary rounds were one-on-one matches, a single game to decide the winner. This wasn't doubles, which was his forte, making him feel hopeless.
While Morrison was anxiously unable to sleep, Ryan was already soundly asleep, holding Lillie. He figured the first match the next day would be decided quickly.
The next day, the exciting preliminary rounds officially began. There were five groups in the preliminary rounds: A, B, C, D, and E, with three courts in each group, for a total of fifteen courts.
Ryan was assigned to the first court in Group A, and it was his first match. Ryan arrived at the arena full of energy, while Morrison, sporting dark circles under his eyes, entered the arena.
Seeing Ryan opposite him, Morrison smiled wryly, "Brother, I called you brother. Please go easy on me, at least give me a chance to show off."
Ryan nodded with amusement, "Okay, then I won't attack. I'll let you show off."
"Really?! You keep your word! You said you wouldn't attack!" Morrison perked up immediately upon hearing Ryan's words.
The referee looked at the two helplessly and said, "Please do not communicate casually. The match begins. Both players send out their Pokémon."
"Go, Swampert!" Morrison said excitedly.
He felt that if Ryan kept his promise and didn't attack, he might win! Defeating a Team Rocket boss—he could brag about that for the rest of his life!
Just as Morrison was daydreaming, Ryan also sent out his Pokémon. A Wobbuffet appeared on the field. Morrison shouted, "Swampert, it's just a Wobbuffet, don't be afraid, use Earthquake!"
Swampert roared, slamming its arms heavily onto the ground, and a strong shockwave rippled outward from beneath it. The violent tremors were felt even in the audience seats. Ryan smiled, and although Wobbuffet remained expressionless, a hint of disdain could be seen in its narrowed eyes.
Counter instantly formed a light shield, blocking the earthquake. Morrison was dumbfounded. He asked doubtfully, "Is this 'Protect'? Can Wobbuffet really use Protect?"
"Naive. Wobbuffet, reflect it back," Ryan said calmly.
The light shield gradually disappeared, coalescing into an energy blast in front of Wobbuffet. The energy blast was launched suddenly. Swampert's eyes couldn't even see the trajectory of the energy blast. It felt a sharp pain in its chest and was sent flying, crashing heavily into the wall, cracking it, before slowly falling back to the ground.
"You broke your promise! Didn't you say you wouldn't attack?!" Morrison felt a bit overwhelmed. Swampert had only withstood one attack and was already nearly defeated; another would likely render it unable to battle.
Ryan was speechless and said, "Is Counter still considered an attack?"
Morrison was speechless: So your Counter is like this?! Isn't Wobbuffet supposed to only retaliate after being attacked? Why can it fire an energy blast without any damage?!
Wobbuffet thought disdainfully: Kid, you're too naive. I'm a Pokémon that has withstood countless attacks from legendary Pokémon. In terms of defense, durability, and counterattack, who dares to fight me! And after mastering my essence, I dare to fight legendary Pokémon for three hundred rounds!
That's right, during the month back in Pallet Town, Ryan spent a huge amount of resources to raise all his Pokémon to the pseudo-legendary level using training against legendary Pokémon. With their greatly increased strength, they were all eager to make a big splash at the Ever Grande Conference!
It's also worth mentioning that Lugia was captured by Ryan. After all, Lugia's parent had witnessed the progress of Ryan's Pokémon, with many reaching pseudo-legendary status. As its parent, they naturally felt comfortable entrusting Lugia to him.
However, Lugia's current strength was still lacking, so Ryan didn't take it to the Ever Grande Conference. Once trained, it would become a formidable force.
Faced with this situation, Morrison was helpless: Should they even fight? Wobbuffet always launched a fierce counterattack, and his Swampert had no status moves to weaken it.
After thinking for a while, Morrison said, "Swampert, use Mud-Slap!"
Swampert grabbed some mud from the ground and hurled it at Wobbuffet. The audience booed, as it seemed like Swampert was resorting to tantrums because it couldn't win. Ryan chuckled and said, "Are you hoping to reduce Wobbuffet's accuracy with Mud-Slap?"
He underestimated Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet was a Psychic-type Pokémon; even without using its eyes, it could hit Swampert!
Wobbuffet cried out, its Mirror Coat deflecting all the Mud-Slaps. Then, shockwaves blasted at Swampert. While the power wasn't immense, the sheer number of shockwaves overwhelmed Swampert, rendering it unable to battle.
"Swampert is unable to battle, Wobbuffet wins, therefore the winner is Ryan from Pallet Town," the referee announced loudly.
Morrison helplessly recalled Swampert, walked over and shook hands with Ryan, saying, "Sigh. I still can't beat you, Ryan. Your strength is really too strong. I admit defeat wholeheartedly."
Ryan squeezed his hand and said, "You're not bad either, except you need to change that habit of yours. And you have a lot of ideas about double battles. Keep training, and you'll achieve results. How about it, want to come to Team Rocket and be my... I mean, my subordinate?"
Morrison smiled and said, "I'll consider it. When I can't make a living anymore, I'll try Team Rocket. But I feel my journey needs to continue, and I don't plan to join any organization for the time being. Please understand."
"It's okay, I have faith in you." Ryan patted Morrison's shoulder and said.
Then Morrison left, his trip to the Ever Grande Conference came to an end. He prepared to pack up and continue his journey.
Ryan also quickly met up with Lillie, ready to watch Sapphire and Ash's battles. With so many people around, there won't be any clashes anytime soon, but they still need to be careful of the tough trainers hiding among the many participants.
Sapphire's match is scheduled for the fourth of three matches in Group D. The third match won't start until Ryan and Lillie arrive at the venue. After finding Ruby, the two sat down, ready to watch Sapphire's battle.
(End of Chapter)
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