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Originally, Kingler had a slight advantage on the field, but Exeggutor's Psychic and Grass-type attributes made it relatively simple to deal with the cumbersome Kingler, especially since their levels were almost identical.
As a result, Exeggutor 'died on the battlefield' due to a single mistake.
Although Guillotine is a one-hit KO move, hitting the opponent is extremely difficult. However, Exeggutor inadvertently created an opportunity for Kingler to hit him, essentially self-destructing.
But Exeggutor couldn't be blamed. Who would have thought that Exeggutor, using all his might, controlled the water to form a vortex, yet failed to trap Kingler within it, or even budge Kingler in the slightest?
Even though Water-type Pokémon are highly skilled in water, such a powerful vortex would still sweep in a Water-type Pokémon if it was caught off guard, unless this Kingler had undergone some special training.
Whatever the reason, Exeggutor had been instantly defeated. Mandi absolutely did not believe that Kingler was stronger than Exeggutor; it was merely because of his command error, which led to Exeggutor being hit by the opponent's one-hit KO move.
If he had been more careful, he definitely wouldn't have fallen for the opponent's trick. However, what's done is done, and no amount of regret or re-evaluation would help now.
Mandi took a deep breath, recalled Exeggutor, and then took out the next Poké Ball.
"What an unexpected result! Originally, all of us audience members, including myself, thought this would be a fierce battle, but it ended in a very surprising way."
"Ash, the super rookie, lives up to his name! Not only has he achieved remarkable results in Pokémon training, but his command skills are also exceptionally brilliant. Mandi made just a small mistake and Ash immediately seized the opportunity for a one-hit KO!"
"I wonder if Mandi's next Pokémon can help him turn the tide?"
The host's voice rang out at just the right moment. Although he wasn't a powerful Trainer, his eyesight was beyond doubt; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to serve as a host.
If he couldn't even see the match clearly, why would he be a host?
Seeing the match clearly, providing detailed explanations, and allowing even laymen to easily understand the situation of the battle—this is what a qualified host should do.
On the other side, Mandi had already thrown out his second Poké Ball. With a flash of light, a powerful-looking Pokémon, resembling a seahorse yet also a dragon, appeared on the water arena.
Horsea's final evolution—Kingdra!
This Pokémon is one of Mandi's main peak Pokémon, possessing Superior advanced strength. Although it's counter-intuitive to send out a Grass-type Pokémon on a water arena, it's impossible to replace all Pokémon in the team with Grass-types.
It's not like he could bet that all of the opponent's Pokémon were Water-types, right? That's definitely not realistic!
Moreover, Mandi didn't have that many powerful Grass-type Pokémon; being able to bring out a Superior initial Grass-type Pokémon was pretty much Mandi's limit.
So Mandi's second Pokémon was also a Water-type Pokémon, the Water Dragon—Kingdra!
It is not only proficient in water but also has a four-times resistance to Water-type moves, making it a counter-Pokémon against Water-types. Compared to the previous Exeggutor, although it lacks the Grass-type's advantage, its resistance is even higher. Furthermore, it can utilize the water arena just like Kingler, and its level is stronger than Exeggutor's. This match is definitely ours!
Ash looked at Kingdra's data, thought for a moment, then pointed a Poké Ball at Kingler: "Return, Kingler."
Kingler, the victorious general, was recalled by Ash. With a type disadvantage and a level disadvantage, defeating the opponent without using Aura would likely mean relying on the hit rate of Guillotine again.
That would be a bit unnecessary. Since there were other Pokémon that could deal with Kingdra, there was no need for Kingler to struggle so hard.
"I choose you, Pikachu!"
Misty and the others in the audience: ???
Goodness, sending out Pikachu as the second Pokémon? That's really ruthless! Is he not giving the opponent any chance at all?
Mandi's face darkened when he saw the small yellow rodent jump onto the floating platform.
Pikachu, a common Pokémon in Kanto, is virtually unknown to no one, let alone Ash's Pikachu!
Putting aside other Pokémon, Ash's widely recognized signature Pokémon is naturally his Pikachu.
Not only is Pikachu's strength explosive, but also because Ash can train a Pokémon like Pikachu to such an extent, besides Ash, there should be no second Pikachu in the world with such explosive strength.
While Ash's other Pokémon are strong, they are far from unique. There are even stronger Charizard and Venusaur out there. Even though Ash's Pokémon improve incredibly fast, they haven't even reached the Elite level yet.
But Pikachu is different. While this Pokémon is common in Kanto, no one else has been able to train it to Ash's level so far, except for Ash himself.
It can be said that Ash's Pikachu is unique, a benchmark for Ash.
And Ash's Pikachu always wears a hat before every battle, a posture that looks completely integrated, distinct from other Pikachu.
Countless people emulated Ash in training Pikachu, but unfortunately, at best they could only train Pikachu to the advanced stage, not even touching the threshold of the Superior level. Compared to Ash, they were too far behind.
And Mandi, facing Ash's Pikachu, his face completely turned green.
Damn it, you said the first match was for practice? Why did you send out your main force as the second Pokémon, and not just any main force, but what should be Ash's ace Pokémon!
What have I done to deserve you sending out Pikachu to battle?
Although the Indigo Plateau Conference preliminaries are three-on-three, you cannot temporarily change the Pokémon that will be sent out.
Because before the match begins, the three Pokémon to be used are registered, rather than choosing three out of six based on the opponent's lineup during the match.
So Ash had already chosen Pikachu to participate from the start.
He did intend to use the first match for training, but he didn't plan to use it entirely for training!
If he didn't send out his main Pokémon and ended up losing due to overconfidence, he would truly have nothing left but tears.
A second-tier Pokémon, even with Aura Fusion, couldn't possibly contend with a Gym Leader Level, or even touch the professional peak. Although the possibility of training a Gym Leader Level Pokémon in two years is slim, he is the best example!
Even with his cheat, he only spent half a year and now has one Gym Leader Level peak and two Gym Leader Level advanced Pokémon.
Others don't have cheats, but with good talent, training a Gym Leader Level Pokémon in two years shouldn't be a big problem, right?
Therefore, to avoid any unexpected losses, Ash still prepared a main Pokémon, and it was his strongest main Pokémon!
Pikachu, who had reincarnated once, still had the highest level. Without counting Gengar, Teacher Big Pi was the strongest!
Even Aerodactyl couldn't compare to Pikachu.
"I don't care, so what if it's Pikachu? The outcome between Pokémon isn't decided by level alone. I was tricked by your feint just now, but I won't fall for it again this time. Now, it's Kingdra's turn to have the field advantage!"
"Kingdra, use Dragon Pulse!" Mandi gritted his teeth, then commanded loudly.
No matter who the opponent was, he could not admit defeat. He had come so far with such difficulty, how could it end without even trying?!
At Mandi's command, Kingdra's mouth suddenly spewed a vibrant green pulse. Pikachu watched the Dragon Pulse approach without dodging.
Just as it was about to hit Pikachu, Pikachu leaped in place, then the tail on his back glowed with a metallic sheen, followed by a fierce downward Slash.
"Boom!!"
A huge aftershock spread, and the water arena's waves churned and surged!
But it didn't prevent those in the high-level audience from clearly seeing the confrontation that just occurred. Everyone gasped in surprise, because Pikachu's Iron Tail had actually cleaved the Dragon Pulse in half!
He himself was not affected in the slightest, his face full of ease, from which one could see how great the gap between the two sides truly was.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack." After cleaving the opponent's Dragon Pulse, it was Ash's turn to counterattack, and Ash's command was just a plain and unremarkable Quick Attack.
"Kingdra, use…"
"Bang!!"
Before Mandi's words had even finished, a golden figure appeared in front of Kingdra on the water and slammed into him fiercely!
A muffled thud echoed across the field, and then Kingdra flew backward out of the water!
Then, in the blink of an eye, Pikachu appeared above Kingdra, and his tail lashed out—he didn't even use Iron Tail.
It was just an ordinary tail whip to Kingdra's body, instantly making Kingdra's already pained expression even more contorted, his eyes bulging directly, and his body plummeting like a meteor!
"Bang!!"
The violent force scattered, falling vertically, directly hammering the center of the water arena into a vacuum state!
Kingdra plummeted like a cannonball onto the floor of the pool, smashing the floor with spiderweb-like cracks!
Pikachu's attack didn't cause Kingdra to Splash into the water; instead, the immense force pushed the water away, causing Kingdra to fall directly onto the pool floor.
The entire venue was silent, save for the sound of the churning water in the pool. As the water in the water arena slowly returned, Kingdra, who had been smashed onto the floor, floated up, his eyes spinning as he drifted on the surface of the pool. One move, instant defeat!!
This is Pikachu's strength; this is the power gap between the two sides!
Quick Attack is just an ordinary, common Normal-type move. Besides increasing attack speed, it has no special effects, and its power is almost among the lowest of all moves.
But with just this one move, Kingdra was instantly defeated, and it even created a vacuum zone in the entire pool.
This visual effect was truly shocking to the surrounding audience. Scenes that were rarely seen on television were now witnessed in the real world.
As Kingdra's Trainer, Mandi was now even more stunned, his face filled with an expression of disbelief.
It seemed as if it wasn't his Kingdra that had fainted on the water, but himself.
What the hell… what's the point?! Kingdra was so much stronger than the Exeggutor from before, but the final result was even more tragic than Exeggutor's!
Exeggutor was at least defeated by a one-hit KO, but Kingdra was defeated by a Quick Attack!
The difference in power between the two moves is not insignificant, yet Kingdra was still instantly defeated. This indicates that the gap between Kingdra and Pikachu is already immeasurable!
"Holy moly, is this Ash's Pikachu? This guy is too terrifying!"
"Thanks for the invite, fortunate to see Ash's Pikachu at the Indigo Plateau Conference. This is truly a completely different species of Pokémon than an ordinary Pikachu!"
"Damn it, Quick Attack can create a vacuum zone in the pool. How strong is this Pikachu?! It can't really be Elite level, can it?"
"Don't say that, I always feel this Pikachu is different from what I saw on TV back then… This shouldn't be Ash's Pikachu's full strength yet."
"This isn't even his full strength? No way, no matter how abnormal Ash is, he wouldn't be that abnormal, right?"
"You never know, that's Ash after all…"
"..."
The audience members in the stands were all discussing, most of them had already anticipated the outcome of this battle. One was an unknown Trainer, while the other was a super rookie who had recently shone brightly in Kanto.
This rookie had even defeated an Elite, so if he used his full strength, no one participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference could compare to Ash.
To defeat Ash, they could only hope that Ash didn't bring out his main Pokémon, became overconfident, and then lost the match.
Otherwise… they really couldn't imagine Ash losing in any other scenario.
Unless Ash was a paper tiger, and his battles against Koga and Lorelei were all temporary power surges, using some special method, and in reality, he wasn't that strong at all—however, the current result is that Ash truly is that strong.
His Pikachu seems to be even stronger than when he battled Koga!
...In the special viewing area, a woman with long golden hair, wearing a black coat and black trousers, with one eye covered by her hair, cast an interested gaze upon Pikachu.
"Ash's Pikachu is much stronger than when he battled Koga."
Others couldn't tell, but as the Sinnoh Champion, she could immediately discern the vast difference between Pikachu now and when he battled Koga.
At that time, Pikachu clearly had various power boosts, but now, without any power augmentation, Pikachu is almost comparable to—Elite level!