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"Golbat, use Wing Attack to cut through one of the Rock Slides!!"
Since there was no way to dodge, he would carve a path! This was the only way Golbat could survive.
However, Aerodactyl's Rock Slide was like a meteorite to Golbat; with Golbat's strength, it was impossible to cut through a meteorite.
Wing Attack struck the Rock Slide, but the massive rock showed no reaction, directly smashing Golbat away!
An ant trying to shake a tree!
This phrase rose in everyone's minds, and Golbat was directly smashed down by the rock, finally falling into the water arena below, creating huge splashes as Golbat was directly blasted into the water.
Normally, water can act as a buffer. Golbat being submerged in water would be much better than being directly crushed on the ground.
But in reality, the power of the Rock Slide, even falling from that height, felt like falling onto a concrete floor for Golbat!
The rock sank into the water, and Golbat failed to surface. Mandi's pupils constricted as he anxiously shouted Golbat's name.
Ash's brows furrowed slightly. This attack seemed a bit too excessive. A Elite Four Class against a Superior, and Aerodactyl even used its full power. Perhaps Mandi's sneak attack earlier had angered him, which was why he acted this way.
However, it was Aerodactyl's own fault just now, so Mandi couldn't be blamed.
The referee, seeing that Golbat hadn't surfaced for a long time, quickly sent out one of his Water-type Pokémon to search for him. Eventually, the barely alive Golbat was retrieved by the referee's Water-type Pokémon.
This was beyond losing the ability to battle; he had almost lost his life!
Ash's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. He quickly went to Golbat, used Viridian Force to restore him, and only then did he save the barely alive Golbat.
"Whew... Sorry, Mandi. This is Aerodactyl's first battle since its revival, so he's a bit heavy-handed. I've already treated Golbat; he's fine and will be back to full health quickly after recovering at the Pokémon Center."
Ash's face showed sincere apology. He wasn't using the apology to show off how strong his Aerodactyl was, but genuinely felt bad.
He rarely beat an opponent's Pokémon to such a state in a battle. On one hand, he had always been fighting above his league, so there was no such thing as holding back. No matter how much power he used, the opponent wouldn't be beaten to this extent.
On the other hand, his other Pokémon were very measured. In wild battles, they would know when to stop, and if the strength gap was too large, they would restrain their power.
But Aerodactyl was different. He had been in life-and-death struggles since ancient times. For him, there was no such thing as holding back; every move was to decide life or death!
Coupled with Golbat angering Aerodactyl, Aerodactyl was even less likely to hold back in his fury, which ultimately led to this situation.
Ash felt a bit guilty about this. Fortunately, Golbat was fine, otherwise, he might have had to withdraw from the competition today.
A path to failure never imagined.jpg.
Mandi's expression relaxed when he saw that Golbat was fine, and his inner tension eased. It's good that he's okay, it's good that he's okay... Aerodactyl landed beside Ash, and a look of apology appeared on his defiant face. He didn't think he had done anything wrong; wasn't battle a life-or-death struggle?
Moreover, he had been attacked by the opponent due to his carelessness earlier, which would have been impossible before. It was just that the period of resting in Oak's Laboratory had dulled much of his former vigilance.
Since the opponent chose to ambush him, wasn't it normal for him to go all out?
The reason he showed an apologetic and guilty expression was because his Trainer was apologizing to the opponent.
So, although Aerodactyl didn't know what he had done wrong, he still offered his apologies to the opponent along with his Trainer.
Since Golbat was fine, Mandi didn't blame Ash. Even if Golbat had been seriously injured, he couldn't have blamed Ash or Aerodactyl in the slightest, as it's normal not to hold back in a regular battle.
To put it bluntly, what if you held back and were counter-killed? Although an Elite Level counter-killing a Elite Four Class sounds a bit like a fantasy.
Ash's first battle ended with a brilliant zero casualties. Ash could even achieve a 1-vs-3 victory, but he chose to switch out Pokémon for each opponent to give more of his Pokémon a chance to battle.
Otherwise, even Kingler could have defeated Mandi's three Pokémon... Those who participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference have at least eight badges or more. Even if not everyone has challenged Gym Leaders at their true strength, many Gym Leaders gradually increase the challenge difficulty as the number of challenger's badges increases.
Generally speaking, to obtain the eighth badge, one must at least be at the Superior Level.
After all, once you've obtained seven badges, the difficulty of the eighth badge will definitely not allow you to pass easily.
That's why it's said that, generally, Trainers who have been traveling for about half a year basically cannot participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Trainers participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference usually have been traveling for seven to eight months to just over a year. This is the most suitable time to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference; any less, they can't participate, any more, they look down on the Indigo Plateau Conference.
After all, in half a year, few people can train their Pokémon to Superior Level, and not just one Superior Level Pokémon, but at least three Superior Level Pokémon.
And the Trainers who come to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference, although not yet true Professional Level Trainers, already possess that kind of potential. Among all Trainers, they are considered geniuses.
Powerful Trainers don't look down on the Indigo Plateau Conference because its caliber is too low, but because, given their age, participating in this conference would be somewhat like bullying the weak. The period of one to two years is when Trainers' differences become apparent.
The strong will always be strong; this describes such a situation. At least, before reaching the limits of those Trainers, they will have a period of rapid improvement.
This is also why they choose not to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference, but those who do participate are also prodigies!
After all, being able to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference in less than a year is enough to demonstrate their talent. Unless the strength difference between the two sides is truly too great, no one will think they are inferior to anyone else!
Even a temporary defeat is only seen as being a little behind others in time; given enough time, they might not be able to surpass their opponent!
Only an absolute gap will make these Trainers willingly admit defeat, such as those at the Elite Four level.
That's not just a realm that can be caught up to with time; more importantly, it depends on the Pokémon's and the Trainer's own aptitude. An ordinary person might never have a Elite Four Class Pokémon in their lifetime, let alone a Champion, which is beyond imagination. And Ash... he is that super genius who, in just a few months, has reached the level of an ordinary person's lifetime. After battling him, Mandi felt nothing but despair.
Can't win, absolutely can't win... From then on, another defeated dreamer was added to the Trainer world...
After defeating Mandi, Ash was once again interviewed by a group of reporters. At first, Ash happily answered all sorts of questions from the crowd, but as time went on, the voices grew louder and more numerous, making his ears buzz.
So he quickly released Gardevoir, then used Teleport to join Misty and the others.
"That was terrifying. What are those reporters? Why would they even ask what color underwear I'm wearing today?" Ash complained, looking speechless.
The interview started normally, but it got crazier and crazier towards the end!
Misty and Brock couldn't help but cover their mouths and snicker.
"You like to show off, don't you? How do you like showing off now?" Misty teased, a playful look on her face.
"Heh heh, if I ever get entangled with them again, I'm a puppy!" Ash rolled his eyes, saying with determination.
"Alright, alright, let's go watch Gary's match. His match has already started. Professor Oak and Aunt Delia have already gone ahead," Brock said, standing up from his seat and leading the way.
"Huh? Mom and Professor Oak went to watch Gary's match? They're not watching mine?!" Ash complained, following along.
It was fine for Professor Oak to watch Gary's match, but why did his mom go too?
"Because Aunt Delia felt that the outcome of your match was pretty much decided, so she went with Professor Oak to cheer for Gary," Misty explained, walking beside Ash.
Initially, both Professor Oak and Delia were here, but after seeing Ash's battle conclude, they went to Gary's side, where Gary's match had just begun.
After hearing Misty's explanation, Ash's discontent lessened a bit: "That's more like it..."
Soon, the three arrived at another stadium. Gary was engaged in a fierce battle with his opponent, whose name was A Qing. His Pokémon was Venusaur, and its strength was not to be underestimated.
That Venusaur's level had already reached Superior Peak. Among all the contestants, A Qing should be considered highly ranked.
It's hard to say whether Gary's luck was bad or A Qing's luck was bad.
You could say Gary's luck was bad because he met someone with a Superior Peak Pokémon. You could say A Qing's luck was bad because... he met someone at Professional Level.
A month and a half ago, Gary's Blastoise was already Professional Level. Now, Blastoise has even soared to Professional High, a level only one tier below Ash's Blastoise.
In fact, Ash's Blastoise initially had a lower level than Gary's, but later surpassed it step by step. However, Gary's Blastoise was not only his starter Pokémon but also his ace.
Gary put much more effort into Blastoise than his other Pokémon, whether it was mental effort, resources, or other aspects. Therefore, the gap between Ash's Blastoise and Gary's Blastoise wasn't too large.
Relying solely on one Blastoise, Gary could dominate the Indigo Plateau Conference. After all, a Blastoise close to Professional Level Peak was almost the ceiling of previous Indigo Plateau Conferences. Without guaranteeing the Champion title, its combat power was at least top three.
However, in this year's Indigo Plateau Conference, that might not be enough.
This year, not to mention Ash, even the other contestants were formidable. Gary's Professional High level could only be considered upper-middle tier.
But then again—facing his current opponent, he still had more than enough power.
In this match, Gary didn't even send out his Blastoise, but instead used Alakazam to achieve a 1-vs-3 victory over his opponent.
Gary's Alakazam was also one of his main Pokémon, having reached Professional Low level.
Gary, with his 1-vs-3 victory, earned enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Some contestants silently increased Gary's threat level by several times.
Gary's resume wasn't actually extensive. His known battle data was scarce, and he only had half a year of travel experience. If it weren't for him being from the same Pallet Town as Ash and having a famous grandfather, probably not many people would pay attention to Gary.
But now, Gary had captured everyone's attention with his strength. Professional Level in half a year—this guy was also a monster!
"What's going on with Pallet Town? Does it specialize in producing monsters?"
"Yeah, one Ash is enough, but now there's a Gary? Are the 'youngsters' already that fierce?"
"Professional Level in half a year... Tsk tsk, truly formidable young talent!"
"Heh heh, when I traveled for half a year, I would have been burning incense if I had one Superior Level Pokémon..."
"..."
The enthusiastic discussions around made Gary, who already liked to show off, puff out his chest even more. Then his gaze met Ash's.
His proud mood instantly plummeted to rock bottom.
Proud? Proud of what?! Compared to Ash, he was nothing. Others didn't know Ash's true strength, but how could he not know?
He was still pondering the Professional Level, while Ash was probably already capable of wrestling with Champion-level opponents.
The two were completely incomparable.
Gary descended from the battle stage, nodding slightly towards Ash: "You finished too?"
"Yeah, looks like it was pretty easy for you too."
"It's just the first round of the preliminaries. The tough ones are still to come."
"Hey, don't you dare lose before you meet me!"
"That's what I should be saying." Gary would lose the battle but not the spirit. No matter how much stronger Ash was than him, and no matter if Ash could dominate the Indigo Plateau Conference, he would still lay down the gauntlet first.
"If you fall in the top 64, I'll laugh at you for a year."
"Heh heh, top 64, what are you..." Halfway through his sentence, Gary suddenly shivered. He had a feeling that saying that would set an ominous flag, so he quickly shut his mouth.
He certainly wouldn't fall in the top 64, but an ominous premonition lingered in his heart. He still needed to go back and thoroughly research the contestants for this competition...