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The Pokémon before them was petite in size, with a head shaped like a pitcher plant and small, beady eyes.
Its body resembled a stick figure—just a slender stem that bifurcated at the bottom to form two legs, while its arms consisted of two green leaves.
Ash's first impression of this Pokémon was of the peashooter from Plants vs. Zombies. He couldn't say they were merely similar—they were practically identical.
"Huh? Bellsprout?"
Looking at the final Pokémon Jeanette had sent out, Misty in the audience displayed a surprised expression. After two Bug-type Pokémon, the last one she had chosen was the Grass-type Bellsprout.
Bellsprout was a Grass-type Pokémon and the pre-evolved form of Weepinbell. According to most people's perception, it had always been considered a relatively weak species.
Everyone had expected that Jeanette would save her most powerful Pokémon for last, but no one had anticipated it would be Bellsprout—a Pokémon that might flee at the mere sight of a human.
"Be... Bellsprout?! The third Pokémon sent out by player Jeanette is Bellsprout! Can it pull off an unexpected performance?"
The commentator was obviously momentarily stunned, but he maintained his professional composure.
Having witnessed the Indigo Plateau Conference for many years, he had also seen numerous Pokémon that appeared unimpressive but possessed amazing strength. Therefore, he would not underestimate any Pokémon sent out by the competitors.
"Let's go! Bellsprout, use Razor Leaf!"
With desperate determination, Jeanette launched an aggressive assault. Bellsprout had been swaying in place because its head was too heavy for its slender body to support properly, but it immediately steadied itself.
Whoosh!
The leaves serving as its hands swung continuously, and as they moved, dozens of green leaf-like projectiles that resembled throwing darts were instantly released.
"Take it!" Faced with the incoming attack, Ash gave his command.
Muk arched its body and slowly raised itself up, forming a wall-like barrier. When the Razor Leaf attack struck, the sharp blades directly pierced into Muk's gelatinous body.
However, upon contact, the power behind the leaves dissipated instantly, and all the projectiles simply became attached to Muk's surface.
"Muuuk!"
Then Muk roared and shook its body vigorously. The blades stuck to its form were instantly repelled, and the small indentations left by the Razor Leaf attack gradually recovered.
"As expected, it still has no effect..." Looking at this scene, Jeanette frowned slightly.
"In that case, Bellsprout, use Pound!"
Seeing that long-range attacks were ineffective, Jeanette changed tactics. Upon hearing the command, Bellsprout staggered forward, its movement making it appear somewhat intoxicated.
However, when it actually moved, its feet were as stable as if they were rooted to the ground, and its speed was surprisingly quick.
Smack! Smack!
The green leaves serving as its hands emitted a white glow, and when it reached Muk, they continuously slapped against the Sludge Pokémon's body.
Muk's entire form jiggled like gelatin, and two impressions were left on its surface, but they returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
"Use Slam!" Seeing that Pound wasn't working, Jeanette launched a continuous offensive. Bellsprout responded by wrapping both leaf-hands around Muk's body.
Then it directly lifted Muk—who was considerably larger than itself—and used the momentum of an over-the-shoulder throw to slam Muk into the ground.
Muk's body flattened upon hitting the ground. Before it could recover, Bellsprout pulled Muk up again and threw it to the opposite side.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bellsprout spared no effort in executing Slam repeatedly, causing clouds of dust to rise across the entire venue. Witnessing such a fierce Bellsprout, all the spectators were utterly shocked.
"Incredible! This Bellsprout is surprisingly powerful!" Misty and the others were equally amazed at what they were seeing.
They hadn't understood why Jeanette had saved it for last, but now it seemed clear that this was the strongest Pokémon in her lineup.
"Yes! This Bellsprout has been trained exceptionally well!" Brock remarked unconsciously, genuinely impressed.
Some Pokémon were naturally powerful and could gain increasing strength through evolution, but it took tremendous effort for naturally weaker Pokémon to become this strong.
"It's impressive that you didn't say anything inappropriate!" Misty couldn't help but comment after listening to Brock's serious analysis.
"Ahem... For someone like Jeanette who takes Pokémon training so seriously, it would be extremely rude to focus only on her appearance!" Brock responded with an embarrassed cough.
At this moment, Muk was being thoroughly pummeled by Bellsprout in a manner reminiscent of a training montage. Finally, Bellsprout seemed to exhaust its momentum and released Muk, tossing it away.
Muk fell to the ground, its body collapsing on impact before gradually reconstituting itself after a moment.
It was evident that Bellsprout's assault had some effect, but it wasn't sufficient to inflict critical damage on Muk.
"Bell... Bell... Bell..."
On the other side, Bellsprout watched as Muk's body slowly reformed. Sweat appeared on its forehead and it was breathing slightly harder. Although it had been well-trained and possessed remarkable strength for its species, there were still limitations that couldn't be overcome as a first-stage Pokémon.
In terms of raw physical capabilities, Muk's endurance far exceeded Bellsprout's capacity.
"This Bellsprout is well-raised! But it's not enough to defeat my Muk!" Ash acknowledged.
A Bellsprout competing at the Indigo Plateau Conference was already impressive. If it had thrown around any other Pokémon in the same manner, that opponent would have collapsed long ago. Only Muk's exceptional physical resilience allowed it to endure such treatment.
"Bellsprout, use Bullet Seed!" In response to Ash's words, Jeanette simply answered with action.
After hearing the command, Bellsprout used its pitcher plant-like mouth to release a stream of golden seed projectiles.
'What a peashooter!' Ash thought to himself with mild amusement.
"Muk, use Sludge Bomb!" Ash called out his counter-command.
"Muuuk!"
Facing the offensive before it, Muk launched its own attack. Toxic sludge projectiles on one side and seed bullets on the other collided with each other in mid-air.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
As both sides' attacks clashed, explosions continuously erupted at the center of the battlefield. Smoke filled the air, and the resulting debris instantly obscured the vision of both combatants.