"Following an intense first half, Ash currently leads Misty. Misty has only three Pokémon left, while Ash still has five. Now the second half is about to begin on the same rocky terrain. Let us look forward to the exciting matches ahead!" Following the commentator's loud announcement, the second half was about to get underway, and Ash and Misty took their positions on the field.
"Ash, you will send out your Pokémon first for the second half."
"Totodile, I choose you!" "Wani-wani!" As soon as Totodile appeared, it happily started dancing, looking as energetic as ever.
"Ash, are you planning to have a Water-type Pokémon showdown with me?" Misty asked, looking at the newly arrived Totodile.
"Yeah, isn't that much more interesting?" Misty's thought was indeed what Ash had in mind, and he was eagerly anticipating this Water-type battle.
"In that case, as you wish. Go, Politoed!"
Bang! Misty's Politoed appeared once again. With its entrance, rain began to fall from the sky, though this time the rain seemed even heavier than during its first appearance.
"You can't underestimate Politoed. The power of its Water-type moves is nothing to scoff at. I have a feeling Ash is going to have a rough time here," Brock remarked from the stands as he watched the scene unfold.
"Ash is the kind of guy who gives it his all no matter who the opponent is. He'll be fine," Gary suddenly chimed in from beside them.
"Gary, you're actually watching Ash's match too!" Delia greeted Gary immediately upon noticing his sudden appearance.
"How are your match preparations coming along, Gary?" Professor Oak asked, showing concern for his grandson's progress when he saw him.
"I'm pretty much ready, so I came to watch the match. I happened to see you all here, so I came over to say hello. Oh, right, it looks like the match is about to start."
Prompted by Gary's reminder, everyone immediately turned their attention back to the battle arena.
"Totodile, use Aqua Jet!"
Since Ash had sent out his Pokémon first, he took the opening turn. Upon hearing Ash's command, Totodile immediately gathered a stream of water around itself and charged rapidly toward Politoed. Because of the rain, the power of this Aqua Jet was much greater than usual, shooting forward like a rocket.
"Intercept that Aqua Jet head-on." This time, Misty chose to counter by meeting the attack directly.
Politoed quickly braced itself in place, crossing its arms in front of its chest, ready to receive the incoming Aqua Jet.
"Totodile, change direction!"
"What?"
To Misty's surprise, instead of attacking from the front as she expected, Totodile's Aqua Jet looped around to Politoed's rear and struck it from behind.
"Politoed, grab it!"
Although the Aqua Jet hit Politoed, unfortunately, the move wasn't enough to deal crippling damage. Politoed quickly spun around, trying to grab Totodile.
"Use Bite, grab its hand!"
Faced with Politoed's outstretched hand, Totodile immediately clamped its jaws onto Politoed's arm. Politoed was completely stunned—how was it supposed to deal with this kind of tactic?
"Totodile, throw it hard!"
"Politoed, use Hypnosis, right now!" Misty shouted with total confidence.
Just as Totodile was about to lift Politoed with all its might, it saw Politoed's eyes staring straight into its own. As Politoed's Hypnosis took continuous effect, Totodile slowly loosened its grip, its entire body beginning to sway unsteadily.
"Totodile, wake up!" Seeing this, Ash grew anxious. If Totodile fell asleep here, it would undoubtedly suffer heavy damage from Politoed. Unfortunately, Ash's cheer-leading roar wasn't a magic cure; no matter how loudly Ash shouted from the sidelines, Totodile drifted off to sleep under the influence of Hypnosis.
"Alright, Politoed, use Mega Punch to send Totodile flying!"
Politoed immediately leaped behind Totodile, powered up its fist, and struck with a Mega Punch that sent Totodile flying right back toward Ash. Fortunately, the impact of Politoed's attack managed to jolt Totodile awake.
"Totodile, are you alright?" Ash asked, watching Totodile pant heavily. "Wani!" Totodile signaled that it could still keep fighting. It hadn't scored a single win in this tournament yet. Yesterday, Totodile had learned from Quilava that among all the Pokémon Ash had deployed so far, only it hadn't secured a victory. Therefore, Totodile had set its heart on winning this match against Misty.
"Alright, if that's how it is, Totodile, use Aqua Tail!" Feeling Totodile's fighting spirit, Ash shouted out the command at the top of his lungs.
"Wani!" Just as Totodile was about to execute Aqua Tail, a flash of light swept across its body. Totodile's form rapidly grew larger, and red bony plates slowly emerged on its head and back—Totodile had evolved into Croconaw! Seeing this, Ash cheered happily.
"Honestly, why don't they ever evolve normally, but whenever they battle me, they evolve one after another?" Misty felt utterly helpless watching the Pokémon evolve across the field.
"Show them your power, Croconaw! Use Aqua Jet!"
"Politoed, use Ice Beam!"
Hearing Misty's command, a smile crept across the corner of Ash's mouth. He remembered a combination move he had come up with alongside Dawn, and now he would unleash it once more.
"Croconaw, charge forward and spin your body!"
Croconaw began to spin its body as it rushed headlong toward the incoming Ice Beam. The Ice Beam successfully struck Croconaw, and the water enveloping Croconaw immediately began to freeze solid.
"Great job, Politoed!" Misty was thrilled to see the Ice Beam land a direct hit.
"Alright! The Ice Aqua Jet is complete—go!" Ash roared loudly.
Politoed looked on in astonishment as the frozen pillar barreled toward it. With a loud crash, Politoed took the full brunt of the Ice Aqua Jet.
"You even have a move like this?" Misty felt completely exasperated. You never see him use these tricks normally, so why do they all pop up today?
Politoed was knocked flat onto the ground by the impact, looking severely injured.
"Croconaw, use your new move—Superpower!"
Seeing that Politoed still had fighting spirit left, Ash ordered Croconaw to press the attack. Croconaw let out a fierce roar, leaped directly onto Politoed, and began raining down punch after punch. Poor Politoed had barely managed to get up before a massive alligator was sitting on top of it. Politoed desperately wanted to counter with a Mega Punch, but pinned beneath Croconaw, it couldn't bring its arms up to swing.
"Damn it, no other choice! Politoed, use Hyper Beam!" Seeing the situation, Misty had no choice but to have Politoed gamble everything on a Hyper Beam.
"Quick, dodge it!"
Seeing Politoed readying a Hyper Beam, Ash hurriedly shouted for Croconaw to dodge, but it was too late. The point-blank discharge of Politoed's Hyper Beam triggered a massive explosion. A thick cloud of smoke engulfed the battlefield, and both Ash and Misty anxiously called out to their Pokémon.
After a moment, the smoke cleared, and both Politoed and Croconaw were lying flat on the ground.
"Politoed and Croconaw are both unable to battle!" the referee announced. Seeing this, Ash and Misty recalled their respective Pokémon.
"I'm counting on you, Kingdra," Misty said, sending out her sixth Pokémon—a Kingdra that had evolved from Horsea.
"This is my first time seeing Misty send out Kingdra. Did it evolve from a Horsea?" Ash murmured to himself upon seeing Misty's choice. It seemed many details in this real world differed from his dream memories, but no matter—he would deal with the battle right in front of him first. Since this was his first time seeing Misty use Kingdra, Ash decided to send out Meganium to test the waters.
"Go! Meganium!"
"Misty, this is a rocky field. By all rights, it should be extremely inconvenient for Kingdra to move around."
"Did you think I came totally unprepared? You'll find out in a minute."