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Facing the Swalot, which resembled a purple blob with pale yellow whiskers, somewhat similar to a Muk, Ash chose to continue sending out Chimchar.
"Sludge Bomb!"
Swalot instantly opened its large mouth, and countless purple-tinged dirt balls sprayed out.
Thump, thump, thump!
They were incredibly fast, like a Bullet Seed.
"Dig!"
After some hesitation, Ash finally gave Chimchar the Dig command again.
The reason for his hesitation was that Swalot, unlike the previous Bibarel, had a chance to learn Earthquake.
So, having Chimchar Dig underground involved a gamble.
But Ash's luck was good; Reiji's Swalot had not learned Earthquake.
It was even ambushed by Chimchar, who burst out from underground, directly launching Swalot into the air.
The Ground-type Dig was particularly effective against the Poison-type Swalot, with its double effectiveness proving to be super effective.
"Swalot, Stockpile!"
However, the moment Chimchar hit, Swalot timely used the Stockpile move, causing its purple body to swell by a circle.
This move made Ash's eyes narrow.
The Stockpile move can increase Swalot's Defense and Special Defense, and the damage taken will also be stored as power, up to three times.
Combined with the moves Spit Up and Swallow, it can often achieve unexpected results.
Furthermore, Chimchar itself is quite frail, so even if Swalot only stacked two layers, a successful Spit Up on Chimchar would inevitably lead to a situation where it was either knocked out or severely injured.
"Chimchar, Dig!"
"Muge!"
Chimchar once again dug underground, and after only a short while, its orange figure appeared beneath Swalot's feet.
"Stockpile!" Reiji commanded again.
As the ground shattered, Swalot's body was once again sent flying by Chimchar's Dig, this time soaring even higher into the air.
Although it was hit by Dig again, Swalot's Stockpile had already reached the second layer.
"Chimchar, maximum power Flamethrower!" Ash yelled, adjusting his hat brim.
At this moment, even though Swalot had entered its second Stockpile layer, its entire body had been launched into the air by Chimchar, leaving it no room to dodge.
"Muge!"
Chimchar inhaled a large amount of air, then suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a scorching pillar of fire, larger than its own body, heading towards the airborne Swalot.
"Swalot, directly use Spit Up on Chimchar!"
Reiji's expression was calm as he decisively opted for a one-for-one trade.
He knew very well that Swalot couldn't dodge this move in mid-air, but he still chose this approach.
This was simply because none of his Pokémon knew the Earthquake move, so he intended to trade out Chimchar directly.
The airborne Swalot immediately spat out a white beam of energy, which grazed past Chimchar's scorching pillar of fire.
The two attacks intertwined, hitting their respective targets.
"Swalot!"
Swalot, which had already taken two Digs plus a maximum-power Flamethrower, let out a pained cry in mid-air before falling to the ground.
"Muge!"
Chimchar, meanwhile, was hit by Spit Up, which had stored two turns of power, and managed to barely kneel on the ground thanks to its full HP advantage.
But the joy in its eyes could not be concealed; it happily waved at Ash behind it.
"You worked hard, go back and rest!"
Ash praised it generously and prepared to return the heavily injured Chimchar to its Poké Ball to rest, and incidentally, heal it with Viridian Power.
"Muge!"
But unexpectedly, Chimchar, having received praise, became even more excited, and the familiar light of evolution shone on its body.
"This is… evolution!" Reiji was slightly surprised, then looked congratulatory.
"Yeah! This kid evolved!"
Equally happy, besides Brock who was acting as the referee, were Dawn and Maylene who were sitting on the steps.
Under Ash's rather pleased gaze, Monferno appeared, still predominantly orange, but with flesh-colored ears, mouth, and other parts, and a face resembling a red and blue kabuki mask.
"Congratulations, Monferno, you've become stronger!"
Seeing this, Ash was the first to congratulate the Monferno, who was now able to stand up.
Pikachu!!
Pikachu was also very happy, waving its hand, because it had carefully helped Monferno train before and witnessed its Growth.
"Muge!" Monferno nodded happily.
Thanks to the light of evolution, Monferno was already able to stand up again and looked at itself, examining its new body.
"Haha, the hardworking Chimchar finally evolved, this is worth celebrating!" Reiji offered his congratulations, then threw out his last Poké Ball, "But our battle isn't over yet!"
With a flash of red light, Reiji's last Pokémon entered the arena: a Staraptor with a distinctive crest.
"Come back and rest, Monferno!"
Seeing this, Ash recalled the newly evolved Monferno, not intending to send it out again.
Even though Monferno had recovered a good amount of HP due to evolution, it had been severely injured by Swalot, and its current condition was still not good.
So, after careful consideration, he gave the opportunity to Grotle.
"Oh, this Grotle is very well-trained," Reiji praised upon seeing the large Grotle, "But I didn't expect you to choose a type-disadvantaged battle!"
Reiji was very surprised; if it were his brother Paul, he would definitely send out the Electric-type Electabuzz.
"Then I won't be polite this time, Staraptor, Aerial Ace!" Relying on its faster speed, Reiji immediately ordered an attack.
Staraptor glowed white and immediately rushed towards Grotle.
"Sunny Day!"
Ash, on the other hand, did not defend, directly having Grotle use Sunny Day.
As a result, Staraptor's Aerial Ace successfully hit Grotle.
But Reiji showed no sign of happiness, simply because Grotle remained unmoved, as if completely unharmed.
"Staraptor, Wing Attack!"
Reiji dared not be careless and immediately had Staraptor follow up with Wing Attack, a combo attack.
"Growth!"
But who knew that Grotle still didn't react, instead drawing Grass-type energy from underground to boost its Attack and Special Attack stats.
"Brave Bird!"
Seeing that it still wasn't working, Reiji gritted his teeth and immediately switched to the Flying-type ultimate move.
"Starap!"
Staraptor suddenly glowed with red energy, which, after charging, turned into a more powerful blue energy, then violently crashed into Grotle's massive body.
"Grot!"
But even with a Flying-type ultimate move, and with double effectiveness, Grotle only let out a soft cry and still didn't faint.
This made even the usually calm and composed Reiji unsettled; how could Grotle be trained to be so resilient?
In contrast, Ash's mouth curved upwards, filled with endless satisfaction.
Because he loved the expression on his opponent's face when they used their ultimate move but couldn't hurt his tank.
Just like a certain hero in a mobile game, standing there letting you hit, but you can't make a dent.
Staraptor and Reiji's constipated expressions were also fully seen by Grotle, and a hint of pleasure rose in its heart.
This satisfaction, it seemed, was no less than when it was a Turtwig.
"It's our turn to counterattack, Grotle, use Leaf Storm!"
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