Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

The fire-breathing dragon had long since abandoned its previous wary stance. Now, it was tilting its head, licking its paws, and happily swishing its tail back and forth, its face clearly displaying its true intentions.

【Take your time, coax her. Once she's appeased me, I'll make my move. No rush, no rush.】

The referee sighed silently to himself.

After all, Oddish has a very low win rate against most Charizards.

Not to mention this kind...

...Hmm, this kind of not-so-clean stuff.

Cheng opened his mouth.

He looked down and met the eyes of the walking grass that were looking at him.

It was watery, red, and pitiful.

He looked up again and met Charizard's eyes, which seemed to say, "I'm just waiting for you to appease me before I make my move."

Cheng's eyelids twitched.

"...Never mind, let's leave it at that."

He took out a Poké Ball, and a red light flashed.

The walking grass instantly turned into light and returned to the ball.

The referee nodded; it was a wise choice.

He raised the flag in his hand.

"Since that's the case, Oddish has lost its will to fight and is declared the loser! The current score is Ash with two wins!"

There was a moment of silence in the audience, then it erupted into chaos.

"No way—? They've already declared it a loss?! I was waiting for it to explode!"

"What happened to the plan of playing dumb to fool the enemy? What happened to the plan of keeping a low profile? Is that all?!"

"Don't worry, he still has a Pokémon."

"Logically speaking, this should be the real trump card! The Oddish creates a psychological illusion for the opponent, and the one that comes out last—that's the real killing move!"

"That makes sense!"

"I'll listen to you since you write more."

"So what do you think the third one will be?"

"Dragonite? It has to be Dragonite! We already have Tyranitar, so getting another pseudo-legendary one isn't unreasonable, right?"

"I think it's the Salamence! We absolutely have to fight hard for air superiority this game!"

"Metamorphosis... well, Metagross won't do."

After all, it has a disadvantage in terms of attributes.

The discussions grew louder and louder.

Standing on the opposite side of the field, Ash couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.

His gaze was fixed on the last Poké Ball remaining on Makoto's waist.

Come on! We've already seen Tyranitar, Oddish...

Let me see what your last Pokémon is!

Cheng slowly exhaled, lowered his head, and slowly reached out his hand, his fingertips touching the last Poké Ball on his waist, his thumb pressing against the protrusion of the button.

The entire audience held their breath.

The Charizard also lowered its center of gravity again and tensed its wings.

A red light flashed.

A series of crackling sounds.

A fish-shaped Pokémon suddenly appeared on the field!

Its entire body is covered with orange-red scales, its whiskers resemble steel whips, and it even has a golden dorsal fin on its head that looks like a crown!

That color scheme, that curve, that kingly posture that reigns supreme in the water.

Without a doubt!

The newcomer was none other than Gyarados, the tyrant of the sea, the nightmare of countless trainers while surfing, and known as the "Great Ferocity"...

...the degenerate form of Magikarp.

The Magikarp that appeared on the field skillfully used Splash, its tail slapping the ground as it opened and closed its mouth, stunning everyone's eyes.

Not only Ash, but even Charizard was dumbfounded.

Although water-type is effective against fire-type, Magikarp...

Are you serious?

The silence in the audience lasted for a full five seconds.

Then a trembling voice rang out.

"This...this is also a smoke grenade?"

"...Shouldn't I? Pretend to be...pretend to be Magikarp and eat...eat what...?"

"It can't eat anything! Magikarp can only do Splash! It has no explosive power whatsoever!"

"What if it mutates? What if it can actually destroy the death ray?"

"Have you ever seen a Magikarp that can use the Destruction Ray?"

"I've never seen Hyper Beam, but I did see a giant Magikarp that used Water Gun in Lunastra..."

Ash looked at Makoto across from him with some hesitation.

"Makoto, what's wrong with you...?"

Cheng raised his head.

Don't ask why, the answer is that if I don't tilt my head back, tears will fall.

"Ah...ah..."

"Ash, it's not that I don't want to fight, nor that I'm deliberately hiding my tactics, but..."

"...But I only have these two Pokémon left!"

Even these two are the tallest ones that were chosen from the other five!

After all, Bangias can eat a lot.

To fill its enormous stomach, his wallet was completely empty.

So much so that even when I eat normally...

Those were all things I got by freeloading off my friends of the opposite sex!

......

The outcome of the subsequent matches was a foregone conclusion.

Charizard easily crushed Magikarp.

The referee looked down at the Magikarp on the ground, which was already seven-tenths cooked and was still slightly steaming, and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, under the increasingly unfriendly gaze of the Charizard, they raised the flag.

"Magikarp is unable to battle, Charizard wins!"

"The ultimate winner is—Ash! Congratulations to Ash for winning all four matches and qualifying for the main tournament!"

Outside the stadium, there were no cheers, no applause, and most of the audience remained in a state of breathless concentration.

The expression on his face froze in astonishment at the thought, "That's it?"

What happened to the grand finale? What happened to the comeback?

Is that all?

This is such a letdown!

After recalling Charizard, Ash deliberately walked around the arena and stood in front of Makoto, who had just recalled his Pokémon.

He extended his right hand confidently.

"Your Tyranitar is really strong, especially that Rock Tomb move!"

"That's really amazing!"

Cheng paused for a moment, looked down at the outstretched hand, and then reached out his own hand and shook it.

"Thank you."

"Your Charizard is indeed... good enough..."

Cheng's face turned bright red, his lips moved seven or eight times, but he couldn't utter a single word for a long time. His expression was so painful that he looked like someone who had just learned to speak.

"...Hardcore."

After finally managing to squeeze it out, Cheng patted Xiaozhi on the shoulder.

"Anyway, you've had a tough time!"

After all, it's a Pokémon like Charizard.

I only suffer physically, but Xiaozhi suffers mentally!

"Hahaha," Ash scratched the back of his head, laughing heartily, "It's alright! Charizard's in pretty good shape today..."

Makoto: "?"

And this is considered "good condition"?!

What must things be like when things are really bad! Do they just randomly beat up referees and spectators?!

Before he could even ask the question, he caught a glimpse of three familiar figures walking briskly from the audience.

These are the same three people from yesterday.