Chapter 154 Exhibition Match
Lorelei's speech progressed quickly, ending in less than an hour.
Thinking about it, Lorelei isn't a researcher. She simply talked about the training methods and precautions for Water and Ice type Pokémon. The content wasn't complex; it was all simple, easy to understand, and highly practical.
With the speech concluded, it was time for the exhibition battle.
Ash placed Pikachu, Gardevoir, and Jirachi beside Serena, donned a black robe to conceal his identity, used Psychic to lower others' perception of him, and walked straight onto the battleground.
Pikachu and the others were too obvious, especially Gardevoir and Jirachi. If Ash had those two Pokémon with him, he probably wouldn't have left the Orange Islands before being challenged by a line of Trainers.
"Next up, we have an exhibition match between Miss Lorelei, the Ice Queen of the Kanto Elite Four, and the mysterious Black Robed Man!" Lorelei had found a referee to host the match overnight.
"This exhibition match will be a three-on-three, best two out of three format, and neither side is allowed to switch Pokémon..."
After the referee announced the rules, Lorelei was the first to send out her Pokémon. "Cloyster, I'm counting on you for the first match!"
"Venusaur, I choose you!"
The Pokémon Ash chose was the Bulbasaur he had traded for this morning, but to avoid revealing the evolution stone and his identity, he had already had Bulbasaur transform into its normal Venusaur form.
Looking at the super evolution stone on Venusaur's back, Lorelei thought to herself, "As expected of the most promising Pokémon Doctor in academia, his capital is truly deep."
This was the fifth super evolution stone she had seen on Ash: two on Gardevoir, one on Charizard, the Gyarados super evolution stone he gave away, and now this one. Lorelei was truly envious.
"Cloyster, Ice Shard."
"Venusaur, use Protect."
Cloyster slammed the ground, sending a large number of ice chunks crashing towards Venusaur. Venusaur raised a green barrier, steadily blocking Cloyster's attack.
During this time, Venusaur hadn't slacked off at Professor Oak's Laboratory. It continued to train according to the plan Ash had set, so its strength had also risen to Elite-level Advanced, with the potential to break through to Quasi-Champion-level Novice at any time.
"Let's show our bond, Venusaur, Mega Evolution!"
Ash pressed the key stone on the back of his hand.
"Are you finally getting serious?" Lorelei's eyes gradually became more focused.
"Pokémon: Mega Venusaur"
"Attribute: Grass + Poison"
"Gender: Male"
"Level: Quasi-Champion-level Intermediate"
"Ability: Thick Fat (Protected by thick fat, it reduces damage from Fire and Ice-type moves by half)"
"Venusaur, use Toxic."
Ash didn't intend to end the battle quickly by sending out Venusaur. In fact, he was even prepared to lose the first round. He just wanted to annoy Lorelei, who had forced him to play a three-on-three match.
"People who play tactics have truly dirty hearts."
As a well-known Elite Trainer, Lorelei naturally knew what tactics Ash intended to use. But she had no choice. Cloyster and Venusaur had mutual type advantages and disadvantages, making it extremely difficult to end the battle quickly.
"Cloyster, use Toxic Spikes."
If he wanted to play with poison, then so be it. Lorelei didn't feel it would be a loss to sacrifice one Cloyster. Her real goal was the two Pokémon Ash had left. She hadn't really battled Legendary Pokémon before, and she was quite looking forward to it.
"I won't let you monopolize the field so easily, Venusaur, Sunny Day."
Ash had ways to clear the Toxic Spikes from the field, and the fastest and most effective way was naturally to clear the area with Solar Beam.
As long as one Solar Beam hit, wouldn't the Toxic Spikes be easily cleared? Anyway, Cloyster was already poisoned, and with Mega Venusaur's Thick Fat ability, Cloyster couldn't possibly achieve a one-hit knockout.
"Cloyster, use Blizzard."
Cloyster unleashed a fierce Blizzard that swept towards Venusaur. Venusaur hunkered down, intending to take Cloyster's move head-on.
The range of the Quasi-Champion-level Advanced Cloyster's move was vast, causing the temperature of nearly half of Little Orange Island to drop sharply. In the audience stands of the battleground, many Trainers wearing short sleeves and shorts shivered from the cold.
Serena and the others, who had Gardevoir and Jirachi watching over them, didn't feel the cold because the cold air was blocked by their Psychic abilities.
The Blizzard made Venusaur very uncomfortable, but the poisoned Cloyster was also having a hard time. If both of these Pokémon had health bars above their heads, it would be clear that Cloyster's health bar was decreasing much faster than Venusaur's.
"Venusaur, use Giga Drain."
At Ash's command, Venusaur extended several vines towards Cloyster.
"Cloyster, spin with Shell blade! Don't let it succeed so easily."
Top Trainers have a very strong learning ability when it comes to certain useful self-created moves. Lorelei had only watched Misty's Gyarados use the Counter Shield once yesterday and had already grasped the principle behind it: essentially, using the power of rotation to turn one's attack into a state that can both attack and defend.
Cloyster's two shells retracted slightly, its spikes moving with it, and its Shell blade danced flawlessly. Venusaur's extended vines were easily swept aside. The spinning Cloyster easily broke through the defense and crashed head-first into Venusaur's forehead.
Bang!
Venusaur was dazed by the impact of Cloyster's hard shell, almost fainting and losing its ability to battle.
Seeing this, Ash decided not to drag it out any longer and quickly ordered, "Venusaur, jump up and use Solar Beam on the ground."
With the Sunny Day weather boost, Solar Beam didn't need much time to charge energy. In just a few seconds, Venusaur leaped up and fired a blast at the area where Cloyster was.
Boom!
After one blast, Cloyster didn't lose its ability to battle, but the Toxic Spikes it had laid earlier were completely destroyed by the Solar Beam.
"That's quite a move!" Lorelei praised.
"Just so-so. Venusaur, Frenzy Plant!"
Giga Drain missed, so the substitute poison strategy couldn't be used. Ash could only choose to go all out.
"Cloyster, use Ice Beam to finish it!"
A large number of vines met the Psybeam. The two powerful moves were comparable in might, but ultimately, Ice Beam was superior. At the last moment, it pierced through the vine blockade and struck Venusaur.
"Venusaur is unable to battle! The first match goes to Miss Lorelei!" The referee shouted loudly.
"Come back, Venusaur, you did great."
The loss in the first match was within his expectations, and Ash wasn't discouraged.
"For the second match, I'm sending out... Jynx!" This time, Lorelei sent out her first ace Pokémon.
"Pokémon: Jynx"
"Attribute: Ice + Psychic"
"Gender: Female"
"Level: Champion-level Intermediate"
"Ability: Dry Skin (Recovers HP in rainy weather and when hit by Water-type moves; loses HP in sunny weather and when hit by Fire-type moves.)"
"Aptitude: Champion"
"Moves: Powder Snow, Mimic, Telekinesis, Fake Tears, Ice Punch, Psychic, Mean Look, Perish Song, Blizzard, Ice Beam, Double Team..."
"An Ice + Psychic Jynx, Champion-level Intermediate, truly worthy of an Ice-type Elite!" Ash exclaimed.
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