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

"They felt that having Lugia on the statue was enough; the other two legendary Pokémon weren't that important..."

"okay, I get it."

In an instant, Xiao Zhi sensed the dirty stench of the adults' struggle and immediately stopped asking questions.

After visiting the statue, Ash and his friends prepared to leave. Bengre had already arranged for them to take a ship to Red Rock Island.

When they left, he personally led the way to see Ash and his friends off.

At this moment, Canon finally arrived, panting heavily, clearly having rushed over in a great hurry.

"Give."

As soon as he arrived, Kanon handed Ash the drawing he was holding, and the drawing depicted Ash and Pikachu.

"It's very well drawn." This was the first time Xiaozhi had seen Kanon's paintings.

"Thank you, Canon. I will keep it safe."

Unexpectedly, Latias flew over and transformed into Canon. It pulled the real Canon along and kissed Ash on both cheeks.

Then Latias quickly ran back into the Poké Ball.

“Oh dear, this is…” Ben Gray shook his head helplessly.

The ship was about to depart.

"See you later, Ash!" Canon said, waving goodbye to Ash with a blush on her face.

"Yes, we'll definitely meet again."

Ash will meet Canon again; he has already made Water Seven the headquarters of his company in the southeast of the Johto region.

He also left behind a spatial teleportation device, so he would come back from time to time.

----tornado----

The ship quickly took Ash and his friends to their destination, Red Rock Island, the final venue for the Whirlpool Tournament.

During the journey, Ash also released Snowball to help it find its habitat.

But as expected, they still couldn't find any trace of Little White's mother, and in the end, they still had to go to Silver Rock Island.

Upon arriving at Red Rock Island, Ash and his friends immediately headed to the Pokémon Center to register for the competition.

[Ding! Congratulations on triggering a new side quest, "Hero of the Sea": Win the Whirlpool Islands Tournament!]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +5000; Stamina +2; Attack +2; Free Attribute Points +3; Title "Hero of the Sea"]

[Hero of the Sea: Reduces the power of water-type skills taken by 10%]

"This is the arena for the next battle."

The ancient arena that emerged from the sea is the stage for this Whirlpool Tournament.

At first glance, it looks like the Colosseum in ancient Rome, but in the middle is a water battle arena connected to the sea. Shortly after Ash and his friends registered, they came here for the opening ceremony of the tournament.

The contestants rode in classic boats, drifting in the middle of the arena's waters.

The Whirlpool Tournament is the most prestigious event in the archipelago, so it's broadcast live in its entirety, and the commentators are already excitedly talking non-stop.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these powerful trainers are the ones who passed the preliminaries and have come here with the goal of becoming the heroes of the sea!"

"Since ancient times, the Whirl Islands have possessed their own unique civilization and culture, worshipping Water-type Pokémon and coexisting with them to this day..."

As the host introduced the history of the event, an elegant woman with long purple hair and wearing a gorgeous robe appeared on the central platform of the arena.

Everyone's tired of hearing the same old pre-match declarations, but the appearance of a beautiful woman makes all the difference.

Everyone present instantly perked up.

"What a beautiful person."

She held a magnificent scepter inlaid with blue gemstones and exuded the aura of the sea, making Xiaoxia blush when she saw her.

Everyone around her was amazed by her appearance, but Xiaozhi always felt that she looked familiar.

"Isn't that Athena!"

This familiar appearance and outfit is practically a counterpart in the Pokémon world; be careful, Saint Seiya might sue for plagiarism!

And is her surname Shiroto?

By this time, the commentator's pre-match announcement was coming to an end, and it was time to introduce the prizes.

"...In addition to receiving a year's worth of Pokémon food and an honorary title, the winner of the triennial tournament will also receive the rare item Mystery Drop as a prize!"

Upon hearing about the rare item, Ash immediately searched for it in the system.

[Mysterious Water Drop: When equipped, it increases the power of Pokémon's Water-type moves by 20%]

"It seems pretty good."

It costs 500,000 to buy in the system store, and Xiao Zhi felt he couldn't miss it.

"Now, let's have our Sea Priestess Maya from the Whirlpool Islands offer her blessings to the contestants!"

The long and tedious project finally came to an end, but unfortunately the priest's name wasn't Saori, which left Ash slightly disappointed.

After saying a few words of blessing, the priestess raised her scepter, which she called the Sea Soul.

The round gem on the scepter faced the sun, casting azure light that illuminated the entire venue.

"Contestants who aspire to be warriors of the sea, please accept the blessing bestowed by the Soul of the Sea!"

[Ding! Congratulations on receiving "Sea Soul's Blessing": During the Whirlpool Tournament, all participating Water-type Pokémon will gain 10% more to all stats!]

"What?! The blessing is actually real!" Ash thought that the opening ceremony was just a formality, but he didn't expect there to be something real inside.

Soon, Priestess Maya returned to her magnificent spectator seat, and the competition officially began.

This official match adopted a one-on-one single-game format to determine the winner.

Through a draw, Ash was placed in the sixth match and Misty in the ninth. Unexpectedly, Ash was still placed ahead in the official match.

The contestants prepared their Pokémon and began battling one by one. Since Serena couldn't participate, she stayed in the audience with Pikachu and Togepi as a cheerleader.

She also specially prepared cute clothes and small fans for Pikachu and Togepi to wear so they could cheer for Ash and Misty together.

Ash officially debuted in the previous battle after defeating Wartortle with Bubble Beam against Amarrella.

"The sixth match will be between Ash and Tori!"

Ash's opponent was a bespectacled man wearing a green baseball cap, who stylishly raised his fishing rod and cast it.

"My strongest partner, let's bring out the strongest team and secure a beautiful victory in this battle!"

The Poké Ball on the hook opened, releasing his Pokémon, a rare evolution of Seadra, Kingdra.

"Damn, this guy is so creative." Ash just casually took out a Poké Ball and threw it.

Looks like I'll have to come up with a cooler throwing style next time, otherwise my momentum will be completely overwhelmed by the opponent, and that won't do.

"Please, Mighty Crocodile!"

In the first match of the Whirlpool Tournament, Ash chose to send Feraligatr to scout ahead.

"Oh dear, oh dear~"

When the powerful crocodile first appeared, it clapped its hands and tap-danced on the platform on the water with a smile, appearing harmless, which made the opposing Dori relax its guard immediately.

"Graptor vs. Kingdra!"

The referee simultaneously raised two flags, one red and one green.

"Game start!"

The opposing Kingdra has a speed advantage, so Kingdra gets the first attack.

"Dive immediately, King Thorn Dragon!"

However, Dori is clearly not a passionate trainer, and did not choose to send Kingdra to attack immediately.

Instead, he commanded the Pokémon to dive underwater to confuse Ash's Feraligatr.

"He seems to be good at strategizing. How will Ash deal with him?" Serena was a little worried.

Although the crocodile is amphibious, which seems to give it an advantage in terms of terrain selection, it also means that it will be slower in both water and land.

It's impossible to accurately attack an opponent underwater from the platform, but once the player goes underwater, they may be immediately attacked by the opponent.

"Pokémon battles are so troublesome." Serena felt that she might not be suited to be a trainer.

Ash's choice, naturally, was to immediately send Feraligatr into the water without hesitation.

The Dragon Pulse from the other side immediately attacked head-on, but Ash wasn't completely unprepared.

The crocodile's instantaneous reaction speed was honed under the weight of his fists.

She immediately used high-speed movement, dodging the attack with agile ballet-like spins.

It's not without its advantages that Crocodile likes to dance, but we should also give credit to the organizers of the Whirlpool Tournament.

Even in the underwater battle, their cameras can capture the Pokémon battling with crystal clarity.

It's even more advanced than the Kanto League Tournament back then; no wonder it's the official organizer of the Water-type Pokémon Tournament.

In the water, the speed of the crocodile has been greatly enhanced by high-speed movement, and it has already surpassed that of the Kingdra.

"Mighty Crocodile, use Crunch!"

Now it was Ash and his friends' turn to fight back. The distance between Feraligatr and Kingdra was rapidly closing, and its powerful jaws were about to bite Kingdra's tail.

But at this moment, as the evolved form of the black seahorse, Kingdra used the inherent skill of their blue seahorse family, spewing out a large amount of black mist, making it impossible to see its figure in the entire water.

The crocodile's crushing attack missed, and it was instead hit by its opponent's bubble beam. The attack hit a vital point and was quite powerful.

The crocodile, whose face was hit by the bubble beam, felt a little dizzy, but it quickly recovered after shaking its head.

"Even if it hits a vital point, Bubble Beam still has this kind of power..." Ash thought for a moment. It seems that the opponent's Kingdra's ability is Sniper.

"Wow, Duli has shown the experience of a seasoned Water-type trainer. This black mist is a unique technique of the Kingdra family, and it won't easily dissipate in the sea!"

"Finding an opponent in this situation won't be easy. How will Ash Ketchum handle this?"

Despite the seemingly unfavorable situation, Xiaozhi remained calm and composed.

"How to solve this? Of course, we won't look for it! Crocodile, use your Water Tail!"