After the opening ceremony ended and the contestants had a short break to adjust, the matches quickly began under the eager anticipation of the audience.
Today's competition was an elimination tournament. It wouldn't directly decide the champion, but rather the 64 contestants would go through round after round of elimination until the final two were left. Then, tomorrow, the champion of the cup would be decided between these two.
Erika and Brock were once again in the audience. They couldn't cheer for their friends up close; in fact, because they bought their tickets so late, they could only sit in the farthest seats.
Just like the rules of the preliminaries, each trainer could only use one Pokémon in the elimination rounds. This forced the trainers to bring out their strongest Pokémon and be in their best condition. Although this couldn't display a trainer's full capabilities, the pace of the competition would undoubtedly speed up significantly, allowing for a result in just one day.
Though not ideal for tourism, it was perfect for Natsui and his friends, as it wouldn't delay their travel time.
Among the three, Ash's match was the first to start. His opponent was a boy younger than him, holding a fishing rod. For his first battle, Ash sent out his Totodile. The little boy, on the other hand, flicked his fishing rod, and as a Poké Ball was cast out, a Kingdra appeared on the water's surface.
Since it wasn't their turn yet, Natsui and Misty sat in the contestant waiting area, both focusing their attention on Ash's match.
In terms of typing, Totodile was a pure Water-type, while Kingdra was Dragon- and Water-type. Kingdra had a quadruple resistance to Water, rendering Totodile's Water-type moves completely useless. Conversely, Kingdra's Dragon-type moves were not affected at all.
It seemed very unfavorable for Ash, but as a master of type disadvantages, Ash was already used to such situations and didn't care at all.
When the match started, Totodile was the first to dive into the water. Kingdra immediately used Twister in the water. As its body spun continuously, it eventually formed a huge vortex between the water and the sky, sucking Totodile in!
Totodile's body swirled around in mid-air with the current, unable to break free. Fortunately, the little boy eventually ordered the Twister to stop, allowing Totodile to escape.
However, Kingdra's attack was not over. As Totodile fell, Kingdra fired a Water Gun, shooting straight at it.
Totodile twisted its body in the air, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Totodile was suppressed from the very first exchange, which undoubtedly poured cold water on the confident Ash, making him no longer dare to underestimate his opponent!
He had thought he would dominate just like in the preliminaries and make it all the way to the finals. He never imagined his opponent in the first round would be this strong!
At this time, the match was still ongoing. The two Pokémon battled from the stone steps into the water. Kingdra sprayed a large cloud of thick ink into the water, polluting it. With its vision obstructed and not knowing what Kingdra was up to, Totodile had no choice but to surface and wait for Kingdra to reappear.
The black ink spread through the water, dyeing a large area and making it impossible to see what was happening underneath. The hidden Kingdra was like a hunter, quietly waiting for Totodile to show an opening.
Seeing this situation, Misty immediately frowned.
"Are the opponents in the elimination rounds all this strong? They're on a completely different level from the contestants in the preliminaries!"
Hearing her words, Natsui shook his head noncommittally. "You can't really say that. It's more that Ash just has bad luck, running into such an opponent in his first battle. Look, this Kingdra is a third-stage evolution; its physical stats are already much better than Totodile's. It's also been raised quite well, and its tactics are very sound. It makes sense that Ash is in a tough fight!"
Looking at the boy who was a few years younger than Ash, Misty fell slightly silent.
Ash's unexpected struggle made her feel a sense of crisis as well. She, too, no longer dared to be the slightest bit careless.
At this point, the match had reached a stalemate. The little boy seemed to be trying to wear down Ash's patience, waiting for him to make a mistake. But luckily, Ash's Totodile, looking a bit goofy, had a carefree personality and didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, it started dancing to entertain itself!
Its mischievous and cute appearance swept away the tense atmosphere and even made the audience laugh!
Being young, it was now the little boy's turn to get restless. He felt he was being looked down upon and quickly ordered Kingdra to surface and attack with Hydro Pump.
Seeing Kingdra's belly swell up, the now-alert Totodile leaped towards it, creating an iconic scene!
Totodile opened its large mouth and bit down on Kingdra's long snout. Instantly, the Hydro Pump inside Kingdra was trapped in its mouth!
Kingdra's belly got bigger and bigger from the water about to burst out, inflating like a water balloon!
This sudden turn of events left the little boy stunned. With his limited experience, he had never encountered an opponent who didn't play by the rules!
It wasn't just him; even the audience was shocked by such a move!
As Kingdra in front of them swelled larger and larger, Ash finally ordered Totodile to let go. The water inside Kingdra found an outlet and burst out in a high-pressure jet, sending Kingdra spinning into the sky like a deflating water balloon!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Perhaps because the water pressure was too strong or there was too much water, Kingdra left a blue afterimage in the sky, so fast that the human eye couldn't even track it!
Finally, after spinning a dozen times high in the sky and spitting out the last drop of water from its body, it fell headfirst into the water!
Splash!
Kingdra made a huge splash. After a few seconds, it floated to the surface with its eyes turned white, completely unconscious!
It had clearly passed out completely!
The referee only took one look before declaring the result of the match.
To be honest, before the match began, although Natsui thought Ash would win, he never imagined he would win in such a way.
Even though he knew Ash was the type to be unpredictable, he always managed to bring something new!
And such an interesting scene made the audience roar with laughter, and it also refreshed their understanding of battling.
Of course, people's joys and sorrows are not shared. At least the little boy, seeing that he had lost in such a way, felt as if his whole worldview had collapsed!
In the rest area, Natsui and Misty also clapped along.
Looking back at the match, apart from that one bite from Totodile, it hadn't actually inflicted any damage on Kingdra. In the end, Kingdra was defeated by its own Hydro Pump!
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