The Quartz Stadium, the battle within grows fiercer!
"Excellent! Next up is the fourth match of the Top 16!"
"It's Ash Ketchum versus Hiroshi!"
With the announcer's shout.
It was finally Ash's turn.
Ash was in the fourth match, and Ye Feng was in the eighth, the absolute main event.
"Ash! Go!"
"Ash, you must win!!"
"Ash!! If you don't win, I'll beat you!!"
Professor Oak, Brock, Misty, and Shinba and Shinba's mother were cheering Ash on!
Delia also hugged Ash, "Ash, go!"
Then, she returned to Ye Feng's embrace.
Ash looked at the loving scene between Ye Feng and Delia.
His heart suddenly stirred.
Before stepping onto the stage for his match, he suddenly said, "Mom, do you think my dad will come to watch my match too?"
Hearing this question, Delia fell silent for a moment.
But then she gently stroked Ash's head and said,
"Silly child, your deceased father hasn't returned in ten years, he's probably dead."
"So, remember, if you miss your deceased father in the future, just call your brother Ye Feng 'Dad'."
Ash's head spun upon hearing this.
He immediately went down to the field.
Before leaving the area, Gary gave his rival a confident smile:
"Ash, if you lose, I'll look down on you!"
Ash replied, "Don't worry, if I lose, I'll eat shit."
Ash went down to the vast battle arena below.
The Indigo Stadium had only one giant battle arena in the center.
It wasn't simulated grass, water, rock, or ice.
It was a very flat battleground.
Like brown earth.
The advantage of this was that it treated all Pokémon equally.
Ash went down for his match.
Ye Feng and Delia remained sweetly embraced.
Professor Oak and the others didn't find it strange, as they were already aware of their relationship.
The battle below.
It was said that Ash's opponent, Hiroshi, was a good friend Ash had made here.
And Hiroshi was very similar to Ash.
Both had Butterfree, Charmander, Pikachu, and other Pokémon.
Although Ash's Butterfree had been released by himself.
The current battle situation was still manageable.
After all, both Ash and Hiroshi were still greenhorns, and their match wasn't generating much excitement.
Everyone thought Ash was about to win.
But who would have thought.
"Please! Charizard!! Give me some face! Go fight!!!"
Ash's first and second Pokémon were Pikachu and Bulbasaur.
Hiroshi had Charmander and Butterfree. (Kan Shu La)
Both sides had only one Pokémon left.
Hiroshi used Pikachu.
Ash had five Pokémon with him,
but he needed to choose three from them.
The remaining three were a Kingler, a Squirtle, and his old Charizard.
The opponent's Pikachu was an Electric-type Pikachu, while Ash had two Water-types and one Fire-type.
Electric-types are strong against Water-types.
Although Ash was known as the "Type Master," this nickname was given to him by many.
He himself was not confident enough to completely disregard type advantages.
To be precise, he hadn't realized it yet, as he was still considered "weak."
So, in the end, after much deliberation, he sent out his Charizard as his third Pokémon.
Although his Charizard, due to its excessively high level and rapid evolution, didn't obey him.
However, during the battle with Blaine, Charizard had listened once.
So, Ash held onto hope.
But the goddess of hope wouldn't always favor him.
Charizard stood in the arena, looking at the Pikachu on the opposite side with a tuft of bangs on its head with disdain.
With a slight flap of its wings, the resulting gust of wind blew the opposing Pikachu a distance away.
And it hadn't even used a move yet.
But even so, perhaps because the opponent was too weak, Charizard was dismissive.
It directly lay down on the ground, crossed its legs, placed its hands behind its head, adopting an arrogant posture, completely ignoring Ash's pleas.
Ash's situation caused many spectators to laugh.
After all, being unable to command one's own Pokémon was more embarrassing than losing a battle.
As Ash was still pleading,
the announcer began the countdown.
"Ten! Nine! Eight! ... Three! Two! One!"
"Due to Ash Ketchum's Charizard disobeying orders and fighting passively, it was unable to battle, thus Hiroshi is declared the winner of this match!!!"
"Huh?!"
Hearing this, Ash fell to his knees in agony.
He looked like he was groveling to Charizard.
And hearing the announcer declare victory for this match,
there were clearly some dissatisfied people in the audience.
"Damn it! Do you know how much a ticket costs?! 1080!!!"
"I spent my money! Not to watch a brat who can't even command his own Pokémon!!!"
A man in his thirties stood up from the audience, furious.
He shouted down at Ash in the arena, "If you can't even command your own Pokémon, what kind of Pokémon Trainer are you?!"
The man's words immediately stirred similar opinions from others, and soon, many stood up, criticizing Ash.
This was the difference between a beauty and an ordinary guy.
You see, earlier, for tickets bought with money, Snorlax had conceded without even fighting.
Because she was beautiful, not many people scolded her, but Ash...
Ash's loss was already unfair.
If Charizard had listened to him, it would have been sent out from the start and swept three Pokémon.
But now, not only did he lose, but he was also caught in a storm of criticism.
And amidst the torrent of curses, a voice suddenly emerged, silencing them all.
"If you can do it, you go up?!"
"It's common for Pokémon and trainers to need time to bond! It's very common for Pokémon to not listen to their trainers!"
At this moment, Gary stood on the spectator railing, holding a megaphone, and defended Ash.
Ash and Gary were truly destined for each other.
"Gary."
Ash looked on, tears welling up in his eyes.
The others recognized Gary and fell silent, but the thirty-something man who spoke first refused to back down.
"Heh, a weakling is just a weakling. Explaining so much just proves he's a weakling."
"Oh, and Gary, you're a weakling too. You didn't even make it to the Top 16. You're even weaker than someone who can't control his own Charizard!!"
"What the hell?!"
Hearing this, Gary became enraged.
He rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge at the man.
If not for his six girlfriends and Professor Oak holding him back, Gary would have already gone over.
Although he was only ten years old and surely couldn't beat a man in his thirties, remember, this was the world of Pokémon, and Pokémon were the true power.
So Gary wasn't afraid at all.
Gary's situation was somewhat pacified.
Ash shook hands with Hiroshi, wishing him continued success, and then returned dejectedly.
And at this moment, another voice resounded throughout the stadium.
It was Ye Feng. He picked up Gary's megaphone and slowly said,
"Alright, Ash is still a ten-year-old child."
"He left home at ten, embarked on his journey, aspired to become a Pokémon Master, overcame countless obstacles, and finally collected eight badges. Just this fact alone puts him leagues ahead of many, not to mention that he has now emerged from among many strong contenders through his own strength to become one of the Top 16. Isn't this an inspiring example?"