Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

After he removed four of the covers, the ground soon began to rumble, followed by four jets of water emitting white mist that erupted violently!

"Is this a geyser? It's so spectacular!" Xiaoxia exclaimed in amazement upon seeing it.

"This is the first round of the competition. Hot Water Freeze - use an Ice-type move to freeze the geyser into an ice pillar. The fastest person to do this wins."

As he explained, Xiao Dan revealed the Pokémon he was going to use: a Nidoqueen.

"If we're going for an Ice-type move, I'll go with Dewpur!" "Onix, please!"

Xiaoxia and Lila both brought out Pokémon with superior types, especially the Crystal Onix, which amazed Xiaodan.

"As for me... I'll send you, Nidorino!" Ash hesitated for a moment, and only after the geyser erupted twice more did he confirm his choice.

"Then the competition officially begins! Stay alert, the geyser could erupt at any moment!"

Xiao Dan spoke with confidence; as the local bully, he undoubtedly had an advantage in this kind of competition.

But he didn't realize that Ash had been deliberately stalling for time. He and Misty and Lila had already figured out the situation of the Geyser!

Rumble!

The ground beneath their feet began to tremble; the decisive moment was approaching!

"Nidorino, use the Freeze Ray at full power!!" "Nidorino!!"

To Xiao Dan's bewilderment, Xiao Zhi had given the command before the geyser even erupted... As a result, Nidorino's Ice Beam collided with the newly erupted hot water!

laugh!

Amidst a white mist, ice energy withstood the onslaught of heat and condensed into an ice cap, which then slowly rose under the impetus of the hot water below.

However, because Nidorino was constantly firing at one point with all its might, the hot water that was spraying out was constantly being frozen, which looked like an icicle rising from the ground!

"Such a thing is happening... Nidoqueen, use your full power Ice Beam!!" Dan was shocked when she saw this and quickly made her Nidoqueen unleash its power as well.

But he waited until the geyser formed a water column before freezing it from the base upwards. Even though his move was very powerful, it was still less efficient than Ash's Nidorino!

"White Sea Lion, use absolute zero!"

"Onix, unleash Blizzard at full power!"

For Xiaoxia and Lila, this level was a complete freebie. The ice-type one-hit kill and super special attack were unleashed at the same time, and the two girls directly overtook the challenge and completed it!

Ash's Nidorino followed suit, once again thwarting its own evolved form!

"Everyone is amazing... especially Nidorino, he actually managed to do something like that!" Xiao Jian, who was watching the game, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"That's because Ash had calculated everything," Cynthia explained approvingly. "Through his pre-match observations, Ash completely confirmed the pattern of the geyser's eruptions and the approximate water temperature. He also knew very well the power of Nidorino's full-power move, which is why he was able to give the command at the most appropriate time and complete this amazing performance!"

"Wow, this is the first time I've ever lost like this..." Xiao Dan couldn't help but scratch her head awkwardly.

The challenge in Southern Cross is roughly like this: if a gym leader wins in their familiar territory, their vanity will naturally be off the charts; but if they are utterly crushed, they will be slapped in the face.

"Next up is the second competition: building an ice boat using the icicles we just saw. Three Pokémon can work together!" Xiao Dan handed the ice boat design to the three. "You'd better be careful, I'm going to go all out!"

Can't lose anymore!

In the next competition, Xiao Dan vowed to regain her dignity!

However, it's unlikely that his wish will come true...

Chapter 298 The Competition Among Three, and a Small Promise

The second match did not start immediately. Ash and his friends took the time to check the design of the ice ship and, most importantly, the texture of the ice pillars.

Xiao Dan was getting a little impatient, but she was too embarrassed to urge him.

This kind of challenge was exactly his forte. Compared to the three who had just received the blueprints, he had built this ice ship countless times and knew every detail on the blueprints by heart.

If he doesn't even give the challenger time to prepare, then he's really willing to lose all sense of shame just to win!

"We're ready." About half an hour later, Xiao Zhi signaled to Xiao Dan that they were all set.

"Let's begin!" Xiao Dan immediately announced that the match would continue, and sent out Nidoking, Machoke, and a Scyther to unleash a barrage of attacks on her Icicle!

These three Pokémon were clearly seasoned shipbuilders; they worked together seamlessly. Nidoking and Machamp held up the ice pillars, while Scyther cut out the shapes, and they quickly created a model of an ice ship.

"That should be fine, right... What?!" But when Xiao Dan tried to check on the progress of the others, his confident expression froze on his face!

He saw the same pattern: Ash's Alakazam, Misty's Starmie, and Lyra's MetalGreymon used Psychic to lift the icicles into the air.

After that, they all heated up the icicles without prior arrangement!

"Crossbat, Hot Air!" "Goldfish King, Hot Water!" "Charmeleon, Spark!"

The icicles soften when heated, so you don't need to be too careful when carving them, whether it's the Goldfish King's horn or the Charmeleon's claws. You don't have to worry about breaking the icicle with a single cut like you did with Dan's Scyther.

Ash's Crobat was even more incredible. Dan only saw a few streaks of light flash by. When Crobat reappeared beside Ash, the original icicle had been sculpted into a respectable ice boat!

"This... this is too fast!" Xiao Dan rubbed her eyes, seemingly unable to believe what she was seeing.

I actually lost like this?

Okay... and they lost three games in a row!

"Well done, Goldfish King!" "Charmeleon, we've finished too!"

While Xiao Dan was having an existential crisis, Xiao Xia and Lila also finished their polishing and successfully broke through this round of challenges!

"But he's still no match for Ash!"

"My brother's Crossbat is much faster than before."

This competition once again confirmed the gap between them and Xiaozhi.

Their main Pokémon might temporarily outperform Ash's new partners caught in the Orange Islands, but they are still no match for veteran Pokémon.

This is actually the real meaning behind their challenge to the Orange League. They are never competing against the Southern Cross Gym Leader, but against Ash!

As things stand now, there's no need for the final match at all; Xiao Dan has already been completely defeated!

"I've really lost completely... I was thinking of showing off my skills in the ice boat race." Xiao Dan looked conflicted, but she still accepted her loss and handed over the spoils, "The White Wave Badge is yours."

"Thank you so much!" *3

Xiao Zhi and his two companions thanked them at the same time and accepted the gifts.

After that, Ash fulfilled his responsibility, but unlike the previous two gyms, he gave Dan a very positive evaluation.

The work of a dojo inspector must not be influenced by personal feelings; one must be as objective as possible.

Regardless of Dan's character, the skills he displayed, as well as the competitiveness of the challenges at the Neporu Gym, were all above average.

Of course, Ash also gave his own suggestions, such as ensuring that safety measures during competitions are comprehensive.

The third challenge, with its steep slope, is not something the average person can handle. When Ash saw it, he even thought of the snowmobile challenge in COD6.

If you really bump into a crooked tree, you won't just see a red screen and a famous quote appear, and then you'll have the chance to reload and start over.

Also, the initial mountain climbing challenge is fine to give challengers a bit of a test, but strictly requiring them not to use Pokémon is a bit much.

Your gym is supposed to be open to the entire league. Does that mean people who are too weak to climb mountains can't challenge you?

Ultimately, the gym leader's job should be testing the trainer's skill level. Being able to fly up like Miss Cabbage is a test of her ability.

Ash didn't care how much of what the other party listened to; he was just compiling it into a document to report to the League.

The final rating of the Neporu Gym is none of his concern.

However, after the challenge was declared over, Xiao Dan approached them with a look of lingering excitement.

"It's not like we've finally finished building the ice boat. Are you sure you don't want to give it a try for the final competition? Since the scores aren't going to matter anyway, let's just have a race and see who can skate to the shoreline first."

He really wanted to save face, and kept encouraging Ash and his two friends to have an ice boat race.

Honestly, this kind of race would be really exciting, and Ash, with his Iceship, doesn't plan to refuse the competition... but he would refuse Dan!

“We do want to slide down directly, but we don’t plan to go with Mr. Dan,” Ash said bluntly.

As for Xiaoxia and Lila, they had already taken the ice boat to the starting point and were in position.

"That's settled then, Togekiss, let's go." Cynthia summoned her plane and headed straight down the mountain.

"I'll... take the cable car again." Xiao Jian realized that he also had no other choice.

"This..." Xiao Dan, who had been abandoned at the entrance of the dojo, turned completely ashen-faced...

Ash, on the other hand, had already arrived at the starting point and was also ready for the race.

"Hey, just having a competition like this isn't very interesting. How about we add some prizes?" Xiaoxia suddenly suggested excitedly before they set off.

"Sure, betting on something would be fun," Lila nodded with a smile. "But what should we bet on?"

"How about... we make a bet?" Ash thought for a moment and said, "The loser has to grant the winner one request, and can't refuse."

"This... could it be something weird?" Xiaoxia glanced at Xiaozhi, feeling that he had ill intentions.

She had heard about it from Xiao Lan; she had made a promise with this guy that no one could escape in the end!

"If you win, you can ask me for help too~" Ash smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm... what would you like my brother to do?" Lila was clearly interested.

"Now that you mention it, it sounds interesting. Let's do it!" Xiaoxia finally agreed.

Anyway, in her opinion, if there were any 'strange' requests, she might not be unable to accept them... and if she won, she might even make a profit.