Although he claims to care about Electrode...
In reality, what he calls caring is just believing that the current power is beneficial to the King, completely ignoring the genuine pain Electrode is enduring.
Melli's pale face quickly turned red, his fingers trembling slightly with anger.
"You brat!"
"I've always been the Warden responsible for taking care of Electrode, so when did it become your turn, a newcomer to Hisui, to teach me how to treat the King!"
"Then you might as well check whether Electrode actually wants to continue like this!"
"You!"
Melli's chest visibly rose and fell a few times, and he simply stopped arguing with Ash, the anger on his face gradually turning into a spirit for confrontation.
"Alright! Haven't you been claiming that you have the ability to quell the King?"
"Then let me see just how much of a hero the Team Galactic is now promoting throughout Hisui has under his belt!"
Melli took a few steps forward.
"You want to go to Moonview Arena to challenge Electrode? Fine! But first, you have to defeat me!"
"If you can't even defeat me, the Warden, don't think for a moment you can set foot into Moonview Arena!"
As the Warden responsible for the Coronet Highlands' King, Melli indeed possesses the authority to manage the affairs around Moonview Arena.
Unless Adaman comes personally to change the orders, if he really wants to prevent ordinary people from entering, it's hard for others to go around him directly.
Moreover, Melli has already laid the conditions in front of Ash.
Ash was already quite heated by him, and hearing this, he instead laughed directly.
"Defeat you, huh? Just what I was hoping for!"
"Pikachu, it's up to you!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu leaped off Ash's shoulder and landed lightly in the middle of the space between both sides.
Teacher Dapi, who had been listening for a while, was already itching to get involved.
Moreover, he also wanted to teach such a stubborn person a good lesson!
You can't distinguish between minor and major Kings if you don't get a proper beating!
When Melli saw that the Pokemon Ash finally sent out was a Pikachu, a trace of contempt appeared on his face, which was previously flushed with anger.
This couldn't entirely be blamed on him.
Hisui does have Pikachus, but the Pikachus here, whether in size or normal achievable strength, are quite undeniably inferior to genuinely strong battling Pokemon.
Many people would even rather view these little ones as rather cute wild Pokemon rather than combat-ready ones.
As for Pikachu defeating the Raging Arcanine on Firespit Island directly, only a handful who actually witnessed the battle knew the complete story.
Irida didn't advertise Pikachu's displayed strength widely, so it's naturally hard for the outside world to know who actually fought down that battle.
In Melli's mind, the real famous Pokemon of Ash was still Typhlosion.
Now against him, this guy only sent out a Pikachu, it looked like he was being underestimated!
"Counting on a Pikachu to defeat me?"
Melli sneered coldly.
"Weren't you always using that Typhlosion before? Or is it that you don't think Typhlosion needs to come out against me?"
The angry expression on Ash's face dissolved a bit due to this remark, replaced by a rather peculiar smile.
"You go ahead and beat Pikachu first."
"Pika!"
Pikachu similarly puffed up his chest.
Having been in Hisui for so long, Teacher Dapi hadn't been underestimated because of species for quite a while; he almost missed this feeling.
"Alright!"
Melli was completely agitated by their attitude.
"Then I'll let you know what a true disparity in strength is!"
With a powerful wave of Melli's arm, a Skuntank that had been following from behind immediately advanced to the center of the field.
Only then did Ash notice Melli had brought three Pokemon today.
Skuntank, Drapion, and Crobat.
All three were Poison Attribute Pokemon, and all completed their Final Evolution!
Judging just by this lineup, Melli being the Warden responsible for the King, his strength was indeed not comparable to an ordinary Trainer.
Especially Drapion and Crobat, regardless of the combat abilities inherent in their species or their growth potential, are quite outstanding among Poison Attribute Pokemon.
In contrast, Skuntank seemed the least remarkable among the three.
Ingo also began observing both sides' lineup attentively at this moment.
Melli was just so enraged by Ash, yet didn't first send the clearly stronger Drapion or Crobat; instead, he chose Skuntank as the initial Pokemon, which didn't seem like a random choice due to mere anger.
Could it be that he's planning to first use Skuntank to probe Pikachu and then adjust his strategy based on what the opponent reveals?
Following this direction, Ingo continued analyzing, even starting to assess how Pikachu should seek a breakthrough against Skuntank considering the latter's size and strength.
Then Ash's voice rang out.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
"Pika!"
There was a flash of gold.
Ingo's thoughts, halfway through his analysis, abruptly had nowhere to go.
Melli hardly had time to see a blurred golden trajectory sweep past his eyes before Pikachu, who was just standing ready in the center of the field for battle, disappeared entirely.
The next moment.
BOOM!!!
Skuntank's massive body seemed to be hit head-on by a heavy vehicle rushing at high speed; its four paws simultaneously left the ground, and its entire body flew backward directly!
BANG!!
Skuntank slammed heavily against a huge rock beside him, and the terrifying impact visibly dented the hard stone surface, causing numerous cracks to spread rapidly from the collision point outward, with many fragments crashing down continuously!
Once everything settled a bit, Skuntank was firmly lodged in the rock's center, entirely losing the ability to fight.
Melli: "..."
Ingo: "..."
From Ash's command to the end of the battle, the entire process was so fast it left some people barely reacting.
One Quick Attack.
Skuntank went down entirely.
The trace of contempt on Melli's face slowly froze, finally transitioning into a kind of complete unresponsiveness.
He didn't even have time to issue his first attack command.
On the other side, Ingo had been methodically analyzing why Melli started with Skuntank, only for the battle to be over before the analysis was complete.
So powerful in analysis, seeing the battle... instant fall?
Ingo remained silent for quite a few seconds, his gaze once again settling on the petite and even somewhat adorable-looking Pikachu in the center of the field.
The strength of this Pikachu was completely contrary to its appearance.
Melli remained in a daze for several tens of seconds before the continuous sound of small rocks falling from the boulder beside him abruptly snapped him back.
Afterward, he hurried to fetch Skuntank from the crevice, quickly taking out a healing spray and administering it to the visibly injured spots.
Ash didn't rush during this moment, simply standing calmly beside Pikachu and waiting.
Only after Melli completed a basic treatment for Skuntank did Ash begin speaking again: "So, do you still think of me as a brat, still consider there exists a significant strength disparity between us?"
"Though there was one thing Melli mentioned earlier that wasn't wrong. There is indeed a strength gap between us, just that it's the exact opposite of the direction you imagined."
With clenched teeth, Melli stood up, his face, which had stiffened due to shock, once again deteriorating in expression.
He never imagined that a Pikachu, utterly disregarded in his view, would momentarily knock out Skuntank without even an attack in return!
He indeed underestimated Ash and Pikachu, but... he wasn't prepared to surrender!
He still had two Pokemon!!
"I admit I underestimated you earlier, but Skuntank is the weakest among my three Pokemon, the following will be different!!"