Boom!!
Boom!!
Inside the Ever Grande Conference Stadium, cannons roared and colorful ribbons scattered across the sky, signaling that the third round of the final tournament was about to begin.
"Would Ash and Tyson please enter the arena."
At the announcer's call, Ash and Tyson walked out of the tunnel and took their places in the command boxes.
There were four matches in the third round, and the first was Ash against Tyson.
All four matches would be held in the morning, and the remaining competitors stayed in the players' lounge. Gary was there too, watching the broadcast on TV.
The first half was fought on the grass field, with both sides leading with Glalie and Sceptile.
After a fierce exchange, Glalie's Ice Beam met Sceptile's Solar Beam. The two moves were evenly matched, but the clash triggered a sudden burst of energy, and the explosion swallowed both Pokémon. In the end, neither could continue.
Tyson then sent out Shiftry, and Ash answered with Torkoal. With the type advantage on his side, Torkoal defeated Shiftry and gave Ash a temporary lead.
"It's still not enough," Gary muttered, watching the closely matched battle with growing concern.
He didn't actually care whether Ash won or lost—but if Ash lost, the mission the system had issued couldn't be completed, and the reward was a Mega Stone.
As the battle went on, though, things kept sliding in the wrong direction. Tyson used Hariyama to take down Ash's Torkoal and then his Corphish, closing out the first half.
Tyson had lost one Pokémon; Ash had lost three going into the second half.
"What is Ash doing?" Gary was baffled. Even if Ash was using the Pokémon he'd caught in the Hoenn Region, he shouldn't be fighting like this.
All Gary could do was hope Ash would turn things around in the second half.
The break ended, and the match between Ash and Tyson resumed.
The second half was fought on the rock field.
Tyson stuck with Hariyama, who had performed best in the first half, while Ash sent out Swellow, his most fearless Pokémon.
Swellow was the boldest Pokémon Ash had, and its level was quite high—level 52. It was clear how hard this Swellow had worked; fans had even taken to calling it the "BUG Swellow."
It lived up to the nickname, too, defeating Hariyama and Donphan one after the other and swinging the momentum back in Ash's favor.
With only his two strongest Pokémon left, Tyson sent out Metagross. Against it, Swellow was helpless—every attack was stopped cold by Metagross's Psychic. In the end, Metagross finished Swellow off with Hyper Beam.
Ash sent out Grovyle next.
[LV45 Grovyle — Elite]
"It still hasn't evolved?"
Gary stared at the level 45 Grovyle, unable to understand what kind of magic Ash possessed. Why did the Pokémon around him always take so long to evolve? If his other Pokémon hadn't evolved normally, Gary would have suspected Ash had been an Everstone in a past life.
Grovyle was clearly no match for Metagross. It used the rocks on the field as cover and fired Bullet Seed at Metagross's forehead—because Tyson's Metagross had a weak point there, a gap in its armor that looked like it had been left behind by an old injury.
Unfortunately, even though Grovyle could deal damage to Metagross, it amounted to a drop in the bucket. In the end, it was taken out by Meteor Mash.
Gary broke into a cold sweat. He couldn't figure out what was going on. Had Ash been slacking off?
Ash sent out his last Pokémon, Pikachu. Though Pikachu had Elite-level strength, its frail build was its fatal flaw.
Pikachu managed to strike Metagross's weak point with Iron Tail and then bring it down with Thunderbolt, though it cost a great deal of stamina.
Tyson sent out his final Pokémon: Meowth.
With only one Pokémon left on each side, the moment of decision had arrived.
"Doesn't Ash know he's carrying a Light Ball?" Gary said seriously.
Pikachu's Thunderbolt was certainly powerful, but Meowth knew Thunderbolt too. Even if it couldn't win an exchange outright, Meowth could use its own Thunderbolt to redirect Pikachu's into empty space, neutralizing the voltage entirely.
With Thunderbolt blocked, Pikachu and Meowth fell into close combat. Both fought ferociously, neither giving ground—every hit taken was answered with a hit of their own.
After a brutal exchange, Pikachu finally went down, and Ash's run ended in the top eight.
Sure enough, the mouse couldn't beat the cat.
"Oh, come on! How could he lose? How is that even possible? I can't accept this!"
Gary was dumbfounded. He'd been all set to defeat Ash again, and now Ash had lost to Tyson. What about the mission?
[Ding! As the issued mission can no longer be completed, the mission is cancelled. As compensation, upon completing the mission to obtain the Ever Grande Conference Championship, the host will receive an additional reward: Ability Expansion Stone (allows a Pokémon to unlock its second Ability and Hidden Ability) ×1.]
[Ding! Mission changed: 1. Win the Ever Grande Conference Championship / Rewards: Intermediate Rare Candy ×10, Advanced Rare Candy ×10, Bronze Bottle Cap ×1, Silver Bottle Cap ×1, Gold Bottle Cap ×1, Ability Enhancement Stone ×3, Ability Expansion Stone ×1! (Use only Hoenn Region Pokémon in all matches to double the rewards.)]
"Huh? It can work like that?"
Gary was stunned. He hadn't expected it to play out this way.
"System, which Pokémon can unlock a second Ability and a Hidden Ability? Can a Pokémon have two Abilities at once?" Gary asked.
[That depends on the Pokémon itself. If the Pokémon has only one Ability, the Ability Expansion Stone cannot be used. If it has a second Ability, that second Ability can be unlocked. If it has both a second Ability and a Hidden Ability, all of them can be unlocked.]
Hiss!
Gary drew in a sharp breath. That was quite something.
Any Pokémon with both a second Ability and a Hidden Ability could use the Ability Expansion Stone—effectively giving it three Abilities.
Gary immediately started running through his current team, thinking about which of his Pokémon had a first, second, and Hidden Ability.
Among the Pokémon he had now, the ones with three Abilities were Breloom, Gardevoir, and Aggron.
Breloom's first and second Abilities were Effect Spore and Poison Heal, with Technician as its Hidden Ability. On top of that, Breloom already had an EX-grade Effect Spore. Poison Heal wasn't much use to it, but Technician was extremely practical—of the three Pokémon, it was the best fit for the Ability Expansion Stone.
The only shame was that Breloom's own potential was too low, and its species strength was on the weaker side. Gary really didn't want to spend an Ability Expansion Stone on it.