Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

The third sister, the pink-haired girl Peony, shook her finger and said sarcastically, "No, it should be the three beautiful sisters and the ugly duckling."

Hearing her sister say this, Xiaoxia's face instantly puffed up with anger.

Of course, this is just the older sisters teasing their younger sister. If the Ugly Duckling had Xiaoxia's looks among the ducks, it wouldn't feel inferior.

"None of that matters. Xia, why are you back so soon?" said the gentle blonde older sister, Sakura.

Second Sister Changpu also joined in the attack.

"Who was it that boasted that they would never return to their hometown until they became a great Pokémon Trainer?"

Xiaoxia could only say with an embarrassed expression, "That's why I said I least wanted to come here."

Peony continued to tease Xiaoxia

"What? You obviously can't stand being compared to us three beautiful ladies, so you deliberately used training Pokémon as an excuse to escape the pressure and go outside."

Xiaoxia, her face darkening, angrily said to her sister, "Don't talk nonsense!"

"I can't believe you ran back so quickly. I'm so sad," the blonde girl chimed in.

"No, that's not it, Sakura-neechan. It's that brat who has a problem with me," Misty quickly explained to her sister, pointing at Ash.

The three older sisters looked Xiaozhi up and down again.

"No way, even though he has a great physique and a masculine temperament, why don't you pick someone a little more handsome?"

"And he's younger than you, isn't he? You have no taste at all."

Xiaoxia blushed and said to her sister in an even louder voice.

"That's not how it is. In short, in order to protect the reputation of Cerulean Gym, I have no choice but to fight now."

"That's true, only your Pokémon still has the ability to battle."

The older sisters then agreed that Xiaoxia would represent the Cerulean Dojo.

The battle arena of the Cerulean Gym is a large pool, with Ash and Misty standing on floating platforms at opposite ends of the pool.

"I really don't want to fight you, Ash, but I have no other choice. If you want to get the Blue Badge, you have to defeat me first."

"I won't refuse any battle!" Ash looked at Pikachu at his feet.

"Pikachu, let her see how powerful we are!"

Pikachu is the most suitable Pokémon to deal with Misty, who only has Water-type Pokémon.

However, to Ash's surprise, Pikachu looked at Misty with a pitiful expression, unwilling to participate.

"Pikachu, good boy!"

Upon hearing Misty's voice, Pikachu happily waved to her.

Besides Ash, Misty is Pikachu's closest friend.

Even during the journey, Xiaoxia spent a large part of the time holding Pikachu.

"It's true, she doesn't want to fight just because it's Xia."

Pikachu refused to participate, so Ash had to bring out other Pokémon.

"I'm counting on you, Pipi!"

Ash has a habit of releasing newly joined partners to gain experience in battles where victory is assured.

"The rules are the same as the previous Pewter Gym; you can use two Pokémon."

After saying that, Misty released her Pokémon, "Go, Staryu!"

"Clefairy, use Finger Strike!" Ash, as always, took the initiative and launched the first attack.

The effect of the Finger Swing is to randomly select one move from almost all moves and use it.

This time, the finger gesture used hypnotic powder.

The powder scattered, just as the starfish was swaying left and right, about to fall over.

"Starfish, jump off the float and into the pool to wash off the powder!"

The starfish spun around and fell into the pool, but soon jumped back onto the float and recovered.

"Ash, in an environment where there is water all around, Water-type Pokémon are the strongest."

Xiaoxia proudly showed off to Xiaozhi how she had countered his moves.

"The starfish jumped directly into the pool and attacked with a water gun."

Several water jets shot out from different directions underwater, and Pipi was hit directly by one of them.

"That works too." Ash really doesn't have any direct way to attack what's underwater right now.

"Hehe, Ash, you'd better surrender quickly. You can't beat me."

Xiaoxia smiled happily as she made a victory sign at Xiaozhi.

"They become complacent with just a little advantage."

"Too immature."

"He's such a little kid."

The older sisters used their sharp tongues to attack Xiaoxia, and the effect was outstanding.

"Whose side are you on? I'm your own sister!"

Of all the other skills Pipi currently possesses—patting, singing, and turning into a round shape—none of them can attack Staryu.

With no other option, Ash had to gamble again with his finger swing.

"Pipi, use the finger flick next!"

As Pipi waved its finger, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from its body.

"boom!"

The skill I drew this time was a self-destruction attack, which rendered Pipi unable to fight.

Xiaoxia's starfish remained unharmed while hiding in the water.

Ash didn't expect Misty to take the first game.

"If Pikachu isn't willing, then you'll have to do it." Ash recalled his Clefairy and released his other Pokémon.

"Go in, Beedrill!"

"The starfish stays in the water and attacks with its water gun."

When Xiaoxia saw Xiaozhi release Beedrill, her smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

"Even Beedrill has no way to attack from underwater."

If Pikachu were willing to participate, even if Misty's Staryu stayed hidden underwater, Pikachu could have easily taken it down with a single Thunderbolt.

But there are solutions now.

"Big Needle, use missile needles continuously to expand the range to the entire field."

These are new techniques that I've learned as my skill proficiency has increased through daily combat.

Beedrill moved swiftly across the field, its stingers flashing white light incessantly, and its missile-launched spears successfully covered the entire arena.

Although the speed of the missile needle attack is slower in water, its range is large enough at a certain density, leaving starfish with no room to dodge.

Soon after, Xiaoxia's starfish floated to the surface from the bottom of the water, losing its ability to fight.

"Well done, I knew you could do Beedrill."

However, this move consumes too much energy. If you fight against a master in the future, it will be a complete loss and will instead create a huge opening.

"Damn it, Ash, don't get cocky. Go, Starmie!"

Misty sends out her second Pokémon, a starfish that appears to be covered in dark blue rocks and has more horns, making it much larger than her previous Starmie.

"Use the high-speed starfish, then quickly jump into the water."

Although the high-speed star couldn't hit Beedrill, it exploded in the air, creating a light barrier that temporarily blocked Beedrill's vision.

The gem starfish wanted to take this opportunity to jump to the bottom of the pool.

Beedrill doesn't have the stamina to unleash another full-area Pin Missile attack.

Xiaoxia has a huge advantage in terms of venue.

"How can we let you succeed? Beedrill used Hyper Beam directly on the floating platform opposite."

The energy wave of the Destruction Ray descended from the sky, striking the floating platform where the gem starfish was located. The immense power caused ripples to spread across the entire pool.

Even Ash and Misty, who were standing on different floating platforms at opposite ends of the field, almost lost their balance.

As the smoke dissipated, the rubies on Xiaoxia's starfish continued to flash red, indicating that it had lost its ability to fight.

[Ding! Beedrill acquired: Affection +1; Intimacy +1]

"Xiaoxia, your starfish is really weak. It lost its fighting ability just from the aftershock."

"Don't talk too much, I'll train it properly in the future."

After losing the match, Misty reluctantly recalled her Pokémon.

Just as Xiaoxia was about to continue arguing with Xiaozhi, a loud crash was heard, and a huge machine smashed a large hole in the wall of the gym.

"To prevent the world from being destroyed!"

"To protect world peace!"

……

As soon as the standard lines were finished, a large water pipe extended from the giant machine and began to draw water from the pool inside the venue.

"Rockets! Why are you guys so persistent?"

Upon seeing the familiar trio, Ash observed the unidentified machine they were riding in.

"Giant water pipes and massive engines—it turns out you were the ones who stole from the city before."

"Kid, we're not here for you this time. With this huge water pump, all we need to do is drain the water out of the Cerulean Gym."

"Meow, Water-type Pokémon lose a lot of power when they lose water. We'll catch all the Pokémon in there then, meow hahaha!"