Leaving through the competitors' tunnel, Caster returned to the competitors' room.
Ritchie had already left the venue after his elimination.
When Caster walked back in, the other competitors turned to look at him with scrutiny, and even more wariness.
So far in the tournament, no one had forced out his third Pokemon, and no one had knocked out any of his Pokemon at all.
Early on, that record might not have looked like much, but the deeper the tournament went, the more it meant.
"Caster! You did it! That was awesome!"
Ash ran up and threw his arms around him.
"Piece of cake!"
Caster smiled and clapped Ash on the shoulder. "Now it is your turn! My rival!"
Hearing Caster call him his rival, Ash grinned ear to ear and turned to brag at Gary.
"Leave it to me! Easy!"
Ash was fired up now. "See you in the next match!"
With that, he headed for the tunnel with Pikachu.
Meanwhile, Ash's opponent was already convincing himself that Ash had been holding back in his earlier matches.
He must have something hidden!
"Good luck to you too, Gary!"
Once Ash had vanished into the tunnel, Caster made sure to encourage Gary as well. "I am looking forward to meeting you in the semifinals."
"Mm."
Gary was no hothead like Ash, who would strut around showing off after a little praise.
He just nodded solemnly and said nothing more.
Gary felt confident about the Round of 16.
But even he felt shaky about the quarterfinals.
On the screen in the competitors' room, Ash and his opponent appeared on stage.
At the referee's signal, both Trainers sent out their opening Pokemon.
Ash sent out Pikachu, while his opponent sent out a fellow Electric type, Magneton.
The two Pokemon opened with an exchange of Thunderbolts, as if greeting each other.
In Electric power, Ash's Pikachu was unquestionably superior.
After all, the reason the Team Rocket trio had set their sights on it was the overwhelming Thunderbolt it had unleashed long ago, which convinced them it had remarkable potential.
The problem was that Electric moves did little damage to Magneton.
And Pikachu's movepool was too shallow to threaten Magneton in any real way.
Magneton, on the other hand, needed only one Supersonic to leave Pikachu confused.
"Magneton, Tri Attack!"
Seizing the opening, Ash's opponent ordered a heavy attack.
Though no match for Pikachu in Electric power, this Magneton hit plenty hard.
One Tri Attack knocked Pikachu out cold.
"Why does Ash never switch Pokemon?"
In the competitors' room, Gary groaned in frustration.
If he had been out there, he would have switched right after winning that first Thunderbolt exchange and stunning his opponent.
"That is just Ash's style!"
Caster spread his hands, joking, "After all, Ash is a master at winning type disadvantaged matchups!"
"Master? What master?"
Gary scoffed. "Him, a master?"
Caster did not argue. He just smiled. "Look, Ash is sending out his second Pokemon. Oh, it is Bulbasaur!"
His smile widened.
He was not the only one. The other competitors in the room looked startled and found it hard to believe.
Bulbasaur was Grass and Poison, but Grass did little to Magneton, and Poison did nothing at all.
Was Ash deliberately making things harder for himself?
"What is going on in that guy's head?"
Gary's head buzzed.
Was this battling?
This was reckless showboating!
"Bulbasaur, Sleep Powder!"
On the field, Ash struck first.
"Dane!"
The bud on Bulbasaur's back trembled, releasing a cloud of green powder.
His opponent refused to sit still and answered at once. "Magneton, Gyro Ball!"
Spinning rapidly, Magneton turned into a top and charged into the drifting powder, but it spun so fast that the wind it raised blew all the powder away before it could work.
Bang!
Gyro Ball struck home and knocked Bulbasaur back.
At that moment, vines shot out from Bulbasaur's sides and wrapped around Magneton.
Then a gray seed shot from the bud on its back and struck Magneton.
The seed sprouted in an instant, covering Magneton in vines that steadily drained its strength.
Before long, Magneton was drained dry, and the vines withdrew into the seed and vanished.
Then bright light flashed across Bulbasaur, and its wounds faded as if it had enjoyed a sunbath.
"See?"
Caster pointed at the screen, teasing Gary. "That is winning at a type disadvantage!"
Gary shrugged it off with a snort. "Just luck!"
Caster smiled. "Then let's keep watching!"
Soon the opponent sent out Scyther.
In typing, Scyther held the advantage as well.
But Bulbasaur used nimble footwork to dodge Scyther's repeated slashes, then seized an opening and badly wounded it with Solar Beam to seal the win.
"That Bulbasaur is amazing!"
"Yeah! It has not evolved, but it battles like a veteran, and it has clearly stored up a lot of energy. Normally a Bulbasaur like that would have evolved long ago."
"Maybe it is holding an Everstone to keep building its foundation. He looks reckless and dim, but it is all an act. What a schemer!"
The other competitors murmured among themselves.
In that moment, Ash became a scheming mastermind in their eyes!
The opponent's third Pokemon was Golduck. It was at a type disadvantage, but it was genuinely strong, and Bulbasaur let its guard down for a moment and fell to Ice Punch.
"Go, Charizard!"
Ash took a deep breath and released his long unseen Charizard.
Charizard was at a type disadvantage, but it ruled the air. Once it gained distance, Golduck could hardly touch it, while Charizard used Fire Spin to pen Golduck in and steadily shrink the space it could move in.
Golduck used Hydro Pump to put out the flames, but Charizard used the glare as cover, darted behind Golduck, and blasted it with Dragon Rage.
Charizard followed with Flamethrower to finish it. Golduck lost all fighting power.
"Golduck is unable to battle, so the winner is the Trainer from Pallet Town, Ash!"
With the referee's call, Ash finally fought his way into the top eight of the Indigo League Conference.
"All right! I won!"
In the Trainer's box, Ash was jumping with joy.
He had kept his promise to Caster.
In the stands, Professor Oak, Misty, and Brock looked surprised.
"To think Ash really made the top eight. That was no easy feat."
"Yeah! The top eight is a height countless people never reach in a lifetime. And Ash did it after only a year of travel."
"But that is as far as it goes! After all, Ash's next opponent is..."
Their voices trailed off into sighs.
Only Delia rubbed her hands together. "That was such a hard battle. I have to cook something good for him tonight."
"He actually won!"
In the competitors' room, Gary stared blankly at the screen, at a loss for words.
He lost every matchup with the advantage!
He won every matchup without it!
Did Ash only win when the typing was against him?
Unbelievable!
At the same time, a grudging admiration rose in Gary. Not for Ash, but for Caster.
His judgment was razor sharp!