"Pachirisu, use Discharge!"
"Machamp, use Brick Break!"
In the second day of the competition, the opponents Ash and Dawn encountered were a strange combination: a tall, mature woman with a Machamp and a cute young girl with a Pachirisu.
In the blink of an eye, a bolt of blue electricity and the figure of Machamp, its four arms crackling with electric sparks, charged rapidly toward Ash's Buizel and Dawn's Buneary.
"Buizel, use Water Flow Ejection on Machamp!"
"Buneary, use Ice Beam on Pachirisu!"
The two exchanged a smile, tacitly swapping opponents to intercept each other's attacks, and gradually issued commands to organize Buizel and Buneary's counterattack.
The sight of their seamless coordination left the Team Rocket Trio, who were busy selling merchandise, completely stunned.
"This Little devil and the girl have great synergy; with their strength, the Champion title for this tournament is practically reserved!" James muttered to himself.
"Duh, Meowth! The Little devil's blockhead has finally opened up, so he's definitely different from before!" Meowth said, rolling his eyes.
"But more than that, I'm curious what the other girls would think if they saw this."
As the female of the trio, Jessie couldn't help but think of Misty and May from the past.
In her eyes, their feelings for the Little devil were not ordinary, but it all ended hastily because the blockheaded Little devil didn't respond.
Heh heh, but now, things are starting to get subtle...
At Jessie's words, James and Meowth wore gossiping expressions as they looked at the Little devil on the field.
"Buneary, use Bounce!"
On the field, Dawn commanded Buneary to jump high, avoiding Pachirisu's Discharge while also delivering a cool Jump Kick, landing it on Pachirisu's cute face.
Instantly knocking the opponent to the ground.
"Use Ice Beam!"
"I'll help you, Machamp, use Focus Punch!"
The tall, mature woman immediately issued a command, preparing to repel Buneary and cover her ally.
Not wanting to take that Fighting-type ultimate move, Buneary had to hastily cancel the gathered Ice Beam and use Bounce again to dodge.
But Dawn blinked, signaled to Ash, and gave a playful, cute "wink." After hesitating for a second, she immediately ordered:
"Buizel, use Sonic Boom!"
Buizel's split tail whipped out a white shockwave, striking straight at the Pachirisu that had just stood up.
The final blow successfully let Buizel secure the kill, earning experience points and quite a few coins.
After Pachirisu was out, Machamp faced a two-on-one situation, and the pressure increased sharply.
With Ash and Dawn's seamless coordination, they seized victory in one fell swoop, successfully entering the semi-finals of the Double Battle.
"The 1314 combination is truly flawless!" Dawn cheered, saying the team name Ash had told her, and high-fived Ash with perfect timing again.
A satisfied smile appeared on her fair little face once more.
Because over these past few days, she not only felt her own strength slowly increasing, but the coordination between the two had become even more seamless.
Just like her hint earlier, he was actually able to understand it!
Every time she thought of this, she felt a sweet warmth in her heart.
Then Ash and Dawn returned to the spectator seats to watch the upcoming battles.
First was Brock and Sumire's group, who successfully defeated their opponents to advance to the semi-finals, becoming Ash and Dawn's next opponents.
"Ash, Dawn, even if it's you two, Miss Sumire and I won't give up!"
Just after winning, Brock and Sumire, who was wearing black stockings, walked over and shouted at them.
At this moment, the mature woman Sumire had already been attracted by Brock's superb commanding skills and medical knowledge, greatly changing her impression of the "lecherous youth" she once had.
Unfortunately, Brock was completely oblivious at this moment.
"Hmph, Ash and I will definitely win!" the girl huffed, proudly responding to the challenge issued by Brock.
At this time, Ash ignored the conversation between the three behind him.
Because his gaze was fixed on the group of Paul and Conway.
On Paul and Conway's side, it was still a duel between Chimchar and Slowking.
But the opponents looked quite tough, actually sending out a pseudo-legendary Metagross and a Zangoose.
Not to mention this Metagross, which looked a bit underdeveloped, just the Pokémon Zangoose alone was enough to make Chimchar lose its will to fight.
Dawn, standing nearby, also clearly realized this and asked worriedly, holding Ash's hand, "Is Chimchar really going to be okay facing Zangoose?"
"Don't worry!"
Although he wasn't optimistic, he still softly comforted the slightly worried girl.
But what followed was the opposite of reality.
In order to trigger the unparalleled Blaze, Paul actively let Chimchar face Zangoose head-on.
Even though Chimchar stood there at a loss many times, it had to launch attacks under Paul's cold words.
Finally, under the worried gazes of the Team Rocket Trio and Ash's group, Chimchar ultimately failed to trigger Blaze, covering its eyes in fear and losing its will to fight.
Fortunately, as a tactical player, Conway keenly realized this, first having Slowking use Psychic to knock it to the ground, and finally finishing it off with Blizzard.
Although in this process, it took Metagross's Hyper Beam, it successfully managed to unleash Chimchar's combat power again.
In a low-health state, coupled with Chimchar's Fire-type moves, they barely managed to defeat Metagross and reverse the disadvantage.
However, Chimchar's timid performance made Paul feel very disappointed.
From that moment on, Paul had already given up on commanding Chimchar, his mind already made up.
After the battle ended, Paul said nothing, coldly recalled Chimchar, and walked out of the Battle Facility.
Conway, standing nearby, didn't turn back, because he had already foreseen what the other party was about to do—release it!!
...
Somewhere in the forest of the Battle Facility, after the battle, Paul did not take the injured Pokémon back to the Pokémon Center, but came here holding a red and white Poké Ball.
"Go away, you useless thing!"
Paul opened the Poké Ball, pressed the switch representing release, and with a flash of blue light, the injured Chimchar appeared on the spot.
"Chim-char~"
Hearing its Trainer's cold words, Chimchar was immediately at a loss, frantically reaching out both hands toward Paul.
"Don't follow me, go wherever you want!" Paul said, hands in his pockets, leaving a cold back facing Chimchar.
"Chii-chii~"
Chimchar stood there dejectedly, not knowing where to go.
"Hahaha~ Cute Chimchar, here I come!" Jessie, who had been lurking in the bushes nearby, said excitedly.
"Don't, Meowth~"
"The Little devil and the others are coming~"
James and Meowth once again held back the impulsive Jessie, casting their gaze toward the approaching Ash and his group.
Watching Paul's retreating back, just as Chimchar was about to step into the forest, a gentle and patient voice came:
"Come with me, Chimchar!"