"That's it. Meganium, use Vine Whip to grab Kingdra."
"Use Rain Dance."
Kingdra instantly began spinning in place, and dark storm clouds rapidly gathered overhead. Because Politoed's drizzle had just stopped, the air was still saturated with moisture, so the rain started pouring down almost immediately. Kingdra moved at incredible speed through the rain, causing Meganium's Vine Whip to miss completely."
"Ah, Misty is trying to make use of Kingdra's Swift Swim ability," Professor Oak noted from the stands, instantly recognizing Misty's strategy.
"Meganium, use Razor Leaf."
Seeing that Kingdra was too fast and that Vine Whip couldn't catch it, Ash decided to use Razor Leaf to restrict its movement. Countless sharp leaves erupted from the flower on Meganium's neck, scattering in all directions in an attempt to box Kingdra in.
"Break through it directly with Hydro Pump."
Misty ordered Kingdra to stop and face the attack head-on with Hydro Pump. Enhanced by the rain, Kingdra's Hydro Pump possessed immense power. It directly blasted through the incoming Razor Leaf barrage and struck Meganium dead-on. Meganium was slammed backward against the rock wall. Although it had recovered some stamina inside its Poké Ball, it was ultimately already in an exhausted state. Ash watched as Meganium slowly struggled back to its feet, panting heavily.
"Let's risk it all! Use Leaf Storm!" Ash shouted his command.
Enduring its exhaustion, Meganium gathered countless leaves from its surroundings and launched them forward with all its might. Seeing this all-out Leaf Storm, Misty immediately ordered Kingdra to use Ice Beam to counter it. Kingdra built up a blue sphere of light around its mouth and fired a jagged beam straight toward the incoming Leaf Storm.
BOOM! The Leaf Storm and Ice Beam violently collided. Unfortunately, the Leaf Storm couldn't hold its ground against the Ice Beam. After a brief stalemate, the Ice Beam shattered the Leaf Storm and struck Meganium directly, encasing it completely in ice.
"Meganium is unable to battle! Kingdra wins!"
The frozen Meganium was quickly carried off by a group of Chansey standing by on the field. After checking to make sure Meganium was going to be alright, Ash returned to the trainer's box.
"Ash, is Meganium okay?" Misty asked, looking very concerned.
"Don't worry, it's just exhausted. It'll be fine by tomorrow morning. But I have to say, Misty, your Kingdra is really strong."
"Of course! I kept it hidden specifically for this moment."
"In that case, I'll send him out to deal with Kingdra."
With a loud thud, a massive brown bear appeared on the battlefield. Ash had chosen his sixth Pokémon: Snorlax. Remembering his battle against Clair at the Blackthorn Gym, Ash decided to give Snorlax another turn on the battlefield.
"Ash, no matter how agile your Snorlax is, can it possibly keep up with Kingdra's speed?"
"If I'm sending out Snorlax, naturally I have a counterstrategy," Ash replied with supreme confidence.
"Kingdra, use Dragon Dance."
Knowing that Snorlax possessed a massive stamina pool, Misty wanted to use Dragon Dance to further boost its speed and attack power. Kingdra began to spin gracefully in place as a faint glow flickered across its body. Seeing that the Dragon Dance was complete, Misty immediately ordered Kingdra to use Dragon Pulse. The visible power of the Dragon Pulse was much greater than the previous turn. Not daring to let Snorlax take the hit directly, Ash commanded it to use Protect.
A green barrier materialized in front of Snorlax. BANG! The protection successfully blocked the Dragon Pulse, kicking up a cloud of smoke from which a massive ball rolled out—Snorlax was unleashing its Rollout attack.
"Use Hydro Pump."
Seeing this, Misty immediately ordered Kingdra to use Hydro Pump to stop Snorlax's Rollout. However, the Hydro Pump merely washed over Snorlax like a refreshing shower. Snorlax's Rollout smashed straight through the water stream and slammed into Kingdra, knocking it back against the rocks behind and dealing a fair amount of damage.
"How is this possible?"
Since Ash rarely used Snorlax—having only brought it out during the Blackthorn Gym match and a sumo tournament—Misty, despite mentally preparing herself to face Snorlax, was still shocked by its high level. It seemed this match was going to be an uphill battle, she thought to herself.
"Snorlax, keep using Rollout!"
"Snorrrr!" Snorlax maintained its spherical shape as it rolled toward Kingdra, which was just now struggling back to its feet. This Rollout was already at an enhanced power tier. If Kingdra got hit again, it would undoubtedly suffer devastating damage. Left with no choice, Misty ordered Kingdra to use Protect for defense.
Kingdra instantly conjured a green barrier in place, successfully blocking Snorlax's Rollout and bouncing Snorlax high up into the air. Before Misty could even exhale a sigh of relief, she heard Ash shouting from across the field.
"Snorlax, use Hyper Beam in mid-air!"
With an astonishing acrobatic adjustment, Snorlax flipped its body in mid-air to face Kingdra head-on, a yellow orb of light condensing in its mouth. BOOM! The attack struck Kingdra squarely in its weak point. Kingdra was knocked all the way to the edge of the field, looking severely damaged. Seeing this, Misty shouted words of encouragement to get her partner back up.
"Get up! You can do it, Kingdra!"
Ultimately, however, Kingdra couldn't hold on. Its newly risen body collapsed once more.
"Kingdra is unable to battle! Snorlax wins!"
"Thank you for your hard work. To fight like this right after evolving..." Misty recalled Kingdra. At this point, she knew the tide had completely turned against her. She only had Quagsire left, while Ash still had three Pokémon remaining. If she could pull off a comeback from this position, it would truly be a miracle.
"Ash, I'm really glad I could battle you like this. Don't hold back in this final match—come at me with everything you've got! Go, Quagsire!"
"I'll give it my all! Go, Bulbasaur!"
Ash shouted back in response. Misty fought fiercely in the final round, opening with Earthquake. But after Bulbasaur weathered the tremor, Quagsire found itself trapped inside a circle of Magical Leaf. Even so, Misty refused to give up, continuously using Ice Beam to blast the surrounding leaves, but her Pokémon ultimately collapsed from exhaustion.
"Quagsire is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins! Since challenger Misty is out of usable Pokémon, the winner is Ash!"
"The match is finally over! Let's congratulate Ash on advancing to the quarterfinals! Ash and Misty have delivered an absolutely fantastic battle—let's give them a round of applause!" the announcer chimed in, eager to grab some of the spotlight.
Ash called out the Pokémon he had used in the match so they could all share in the cheers of victory. Misty walked over to Ash to offer her congratulations. Just as she was about to speak—
"Oh right, Misty, come wave to the spectators too! We created this wonderful match together."
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu cheered from the side as well. Without waiting for Misty to agree, Ash grabbed her hand and raised it toward the audience and the cameras to wave. Misty was momentarily stunned by Ash's move. When she finally processed it, she realized just how embarrassing this gesture was for her. *When did this blockhead's emotional intelligence get so high?* Misty thought as she looked at Ash, who was waving happily beside her.
Pokémon Center
After the match concluded, Ash and Misty headed back to the Pokémon Center together. Naturally, they needed to get their Pokémon healed up, and Brock, Professor Oak, and the others were waiting for them there.
"Ash, congratulations on reaching the quarterfinals! That's your best tournament result yet. And Misty, you completely blew my expectations away—that was a brilliant match!" Brock rushed over to congratulate them the moment they arrived.
"Even though it was a great match, I still lost," Misty said dejectedly.
"Don't sweat it. As long as you gave it your all and have no regrets, that's what matters," Professor Oak comforted her warmly.
"Misty, look, I took a bunch of photos of you and Ash battling! Let's look through them together later," Delia said, hoping to distract Misty and lift her spirits. Hearing that they would be picking out photos together, Misty immediately cheered up and agreed, thinking to herself that she needed to make sure all the best pictures of her were selected.
"Ash, your next opponent in the tournament is Vincent. You'll need to be careful; his Blaziken is extremely strong. From what I've seen, it's completely on par with your powerhouses," Gary chimed in, discussing the tournament bracket and upcoming opponents with Ash.
"Don't worry, I already know all about Vincent. I've got my counterstrategy ready," Ash replied. In his memories, Vincent was an opponent he had faced in the quarterfinals. Back then, their skill levels had been evenly matched, and though Ash had ultimately lost, Charizard and Blaziken had been neck and neck. Facing Vincent again now, Ash's confidence was through the roof—he couldn't find a single reason why he would lose.
"Is that so? I didn't expect you to actually prepare a strategy in advance. Make sure you don't lose before you get a chance to face me," Gary said before turning and walking away.
"Yeah, you too," Ash waved toward the receding figure.