The voluptuous figure and charming face instantly made Brock's eyes turn into huge hearts!
When Misty saw her, her jade-like fingers trembled while pointing at her, showing a look of shock and surprise: "Lorelei Master!!"
"Lorelei of the Elite Four!"
Misty and Brock uttered the name of the seductive woman who suddenly spoke from behind them.
It was then that Ash showed a look of realization. He thought she looked familiar, turns out she's the Ice Elite of Kanto—Lorelei!!
"Lorelei!!" Upon seeing Lorelei, the pedestrian audience also showed a very shocked expression, evidently not expecting to meet one of Kanto's Elite Four here, how lucky is that!
"Hello~ How are you all doing? You must be Ash, right? Your name is well-known in the League, and now I finally get to see the real person." Lorelei softly supported her chin with her hands, her body slightly leaning forward, her charming face full of interest.
"Miss... Miss Lorelei! I have admired you for a long time, the moment I saw you, I felt my life was complete!" Brock stammered as he spoke, bowing deeply to Lorelei.
This was the highest level of etiquette Brock would display when faced with a dignified and beautiful woman.
Ash and Misty exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads helplessly. Brock was beyond saving, might as well find a place to bury him.
"Haha, your friend is quite interesting, thank you for your admiration, but apart from being one of the Elite Four, I'm just an ordinary person, no need to be so formal. If there's anything special, it's not me who's special, but him." Lorelei said, her gaze fixed on Ash.
The special person she talked about was unmistakably Ash.
"No, I just have a little special ability. In terms of being a Trainer, I'm still far from Miss Lorelei... You mentioned proving something earlier?" After recognizing her identity, Ash brought the topic back to what Lorelei initially mentioned.
The reason Lorelei greeted them was that she overheard the rumors online discussed by the pedestrian audience.
Now, it's not only Ash's reputation that's damaged, but also the Kanto League. As long as Ash doesn't step up to dispel the doubts, the issues online will escalate and eventually get out of control.
So Ash has to make an appearance, and it needs to be a battle that matches his strength.
That's why Lorelei made the suggestion—have a battle to prove his strength.
"That's right, prove your strength by having a battle at the Cerulean Gym with me." Lorelei leaned back slightly, gently resting against the back of the chair, her charming face full of smiles.
"At the Cerulean Gym?!"
"A battle!!!"
Misty, Brock, and the pedestrian audience exclaimed in surprise, especially the pedestrian who never imagined that a casual conversation with him by a person not only involved a famous figure online but also happened to be overheard by Lorelei.
Lorelei decided to battle Ash to clear the online rumors... Which means this battle was essentially facilitated by him!
My goodness, he actually facilitated an Elite battle?!
…
An hour later, a significant event occurred in Cerulean City, one of Kanto's Elite Four, the Ice Elite Lorelei, appeared at the Cerulean Gym!
That in itself was notable, but now famed online for allegedly cheating, Ash also showed up at the Cerulean Gym, and in order to prove himself, Lorelei and Ash were going to have an exhibition match!
The exhibition match's rules were one-on-one, primarily to debunk the false rumors online claiming that all of Ash's Pokemon were depleted after unleashing their potential.
Not much is needed, Ash just needs to prove with a single Pokemon that his strength is genuine and not due to any intense side effects.
No matter the intention, once the news about the exhibition match was out, it caused a frenzy throughout Cerulean City!
Despite the limited time for the news to spread—just one hour—that hour was enough to draw almost half of Cerulean City's population to the Cerulean Gym.
This is the influence of the Elite Four!
Of course, Ash might have had some influence as well, but compared to the impact of the Elite Four, Ash's influence is relatively minor.
Most people gathered for Lorelei of the Elite Four.
At the entrance of the Cerulean Gym, the acting Gym Leaders and water ballet performers, the Three Sisters of Cerulean, directly blocked the path, collecting tickets from those coming to watch the match.
Usually, a ticket for a water ballet performance costs around a hundred bucks, which isn't too expensive, considering it's a show performed by the Gym Leader herself!
The entire venue can accommodate around seven to eight hundred people. If filled, it could bring in seventy to eighty thousand bucks from ticket sales. After the negligible expenses, a performance could earn about sixty thousand bucks in pure profit.
However, recently the Cerulean Gym has been so deserted, that breaking even was considered a success, not to mention making a profit.
It's the first time for the Three Sisters of Cerulean to witness such an overwhelming crowd within just an hour, even the standing tickets sold out.
Sayo initially set the seating prices at five hundred bucks per seat, worried it might be too high, but a hundred tickets were snapped up in no time. She immediately raised the price to a thousand bucks, and yet three hundred seats quickly sold out.