Ash helplessly had Muk use Harden to slip into the grass and hide, but Kecleon did not stop its attack; instead, it began relentlessly slicing the grass with its tongue, getting closer and closer to Muk. Muk continuously used Sludge Bomb to counterattack, but not a single hit connected with Kecleon. *Right, since it's so fast, I'll just make you slow down,* Ash thought, taking in the state of the battle as a sudden idea struck him.
"Muk, stop moving. Use Toxic Spikes."
Hearing this command, Vincent on the opposite side was startled and immediately ordered Kecleon to continuously unleash Psybeam at Muk. At this moment, Muk halted its movement, spat a purple energy orb into the sky, and suddenly the purple orb scattered like fireworks in the air, scattering Toxic Spikes across the entire battlefield.
However, because Muk's body was completely stationary while deploying Toxic Spikes, it was struck by Kecleon's Psybeam, and Muk began to pant.
"Kecleon, stop! Keep using Psybeam," Vincent immediately ordered upon seeing this. If they continued moving around like before, the poison would surely spread through the body faster and faster. Right now, the only hope was to take down Muk here before Kecleon's stamina ran out and it collapsed, Vincent thought to himself.
"Muk, jump up and avoid the attack."
Ash instantly made his move as well. Muk slammed its body hard against the ground, leaping straight up to dodge the Psybeam attack. Kecleon prepared to fire another Psybeam into the air, but at that exact moment, it heard Vincent shouting for it to dodge quickly. Kecleon tried to sidestep, but the poison suddenly flared up, forcing Kecleon to drop to one knee on the ground. Then, it suddenly felt a very smelly object press down on top of it, pinning it so completely that it couldn't move at all.
"Good opportunity! Muk, use Sludge Bomb to finish it."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Struck by the triple combination of the poison, Body Slam, and Sludge Bomb, Kecleon successfully lost its ability to battle. After recalling Kecleon, Vincent did not immediately send out his next Pokémon, instead pondering how to break through the Toxic Spikes. After a long while, prompted by the referee, Vincent sent out his third Pokémon—Steelix.
As expected, it's Steelix. It seems the lineup Vincent brought is pretty much the same as the one in my memories, Ash thought, recalling Muk and sending out Quilava, which had evolved not long ago.
"Oh my, it seems Vincent's moves are completely within Ash's predictions. It looks like Vincent only has Steelix that can avoid the hazard of Toxic Spikes, so to counter Steelix, Ash specifically sent out the Fire-type Quilava," Professor Oak exclaimed continuously from the stands.
"Indeed, it feels like the rhythm of the match is constantly in Ash's hands," Brock nodded in agreement with Professor Oak.
"I feel like compared to the Indigo Plateau Conference, Ash has truly been reborn," Misty shared her thoughts on Ash.
"My Ash is simply full of surprises," Delia continued praising her son.
Back on the field:
Seeing Ash send out Quilava, Vincent felt as though he was stepping step-by-step into Ash's tempo. Originally, he had been dead set on winning the championship of the Silver Conference, but now it seemed he would first have to clear the hurdle right in front of him. With that thought, Vincent issued his first command of this battle.
"Steelix, use Dig."
At this command, Steelix let out a sharp cry to display its momentum. Rumble! Steelix rapidly turned headfirst downward and twisted its body directly beneath the battlefield, hoping to avoid a head-on clash with Quilava. Seeing this, Ash immediately told Quilava to use SmokeScreen down into the hole to force Steelix out. Vincent instantly ordered Steelix to burst out and attack. Boom! Steelix broke through the ground with immense grandeur, but the moment it emerged, it saw only thick black fog, with no sign of Quilava anywhere. Thus, Steelix proactively unleashed a sandstorm to blow away the smoke.
"Now's our chance, Quilava, use Eruption!"
At that very moment, a fierce pillar of fire struck Steelix from behind, trapping Steelix inside a swirling vortex of flames. Steelix let out a cry of agony. Vincent was stunned: just after blowing away the black fog, he still couldn't find Quilava. Where on earth did it go?
"Quilava hid right where Steelix had just dug its tunnel, and went in right after using SmokeScreen."
Ash explained the sequence of events that had just unfolded. Seeing Steelix on the field wailing in agony, its stamina clearly hitting rock bottom, and knowing that the Toxic Spikes on the field would definitely injure any other Pokémon he sent out, Vincent made up his mind.
"Steelix, use your final strength to use Iron Tail and destroy the battlefield on your side first."
Though Steelix didn't quite understand its trainer's command—wondering why it shouldn't attack the opponent instead—out of trust in Vincent, it mustered its remaining strength and unleashed Iron Tail, striking the ground. Seeing Steelix use Iron Tail, Ash assumed it was launching an attack and immediately warned Quilava to dodge.
"Wait, why isn't Steelix attacking Quilava?" Ash noticed the unusual situation on the opposite side. Because of the previous Dig, and under the impacts of Steelix's Iron Tail, the ground beneath Steelix suddenly collapsed, plunging Steelix into the pit along with it. Those final few strikes of Iron Tail also successfully exhausted the rest of Steelix's stamina.
"Steelix is unable to battle! Since player Vincent has lost three Pokémon, there will be a five-minute halftime break," the referee announced. However, just as Ash recalled Quilava and prepared to head back for a rest, the announcer suddenly broke in with an announcement: "Following a discussion by the committee, due to severe damage to the field, we will switch to a rocky battlefield after the halftime break." Hearing this news, Ash suddenly realized Vincent's purpose in having Steelix do that earlier. *As expected, battles are only this interesting,* Ash smiled and thought to himself.
The second half of the match is about to begin shortly. Let us look forward to seeing how player Vincent will bridge this huge gap, the announcer reminded the audience as the match was about to resume. At this point, both Ash and Vincent returned to the field to prepare for the start of the second half.
"I'm counting on you, Blaziken." Vincent sent out his Pokémon first this time. A flash of white light revealed a very tall humanoid warrior with extremely muscular build standing on the field. Blaziken's appearance gave Ash a different feeling compared to the previous Pokémon sent out.
"Sending out Blaziken this early?" Ash muttered as he looked at the situation before him. It seemed Vincent had resolved to turn the tables here using his trump card.
"Go, Phanpy!" Ash decided to play it safe. Blaziken's fighting spirit was exceptionally resolute, so Ash opted to send out Phanpy, who held a the type advantage, to counter Blaziken.
Bang! A flash of white light revealed baby Phanpy on the field. Though Phanpy had been born not long ago, its fighting spirit and combat power were quite impressive, which is why Ash chose to send it into battle now.
"Blaziken, start with Bulk Up."
Right off the bat, Vincent had Blaziken boost its attack and defense. Though determined to turn the match around through Blaziken, Vincent was still experienced enough to first raise its offensive and defensive stats. Blaziken let out a roar, and flames instantly burst from its arms. A flash of red light later, Blaziken's presence was even more formidable than when it had first appeared.
"Phanpy, use Earthquake right away!"
Ash went all-in right from the start. Phanpy let out a low grunt, lifted its two front feet, and slammed them heavily onto the ground. The field instantly shook violently, and the Earthquake struck Blaziken directly, though Blaziken gritted its teeth and endured it.
"Brace yourself, then use Flame Charge!"
Enduring the discomfort, Blaziken assumed the posture of Flame Charge and rushed straight at Phanpy. Phanpy didn't react in time and took the hit head-on, though the damage from Flame Charge wasn't very high, inflicting minimal injury to Phanpy.
"Take this chance, use Rollout!"
This time, Ash employed his specialty: using the opponent's momentum against them. Phanpy instantly curled its body into a ball in mid-air, utilizing gravity to hurtle toward Blaziken. However, Blaziken stood its ground without dodging, catching Phanpy's Rollout head-on. This action caught Ash by surprise, showing that Blaziken's physical strength was much higher than he had estimated. Right now, Phanpy was held firmly in Blaziken's grip like a toy, completely unable to use any moves to free itself.
"Blaziken, hold Phanpy tight, then use Double Kick."
Vincent ordered Blaziken to finish Phanpy off quickly; he didn't want to drag things out and risk Ash coming up with some bizarre strategy. Blaziken grabbed Phanpy by one of its ears, kicked it straight up into the air with one foot, leaped up after it, and then delivered a strikingly handsome flying kick that drove Phanpy down into the ground. This combo dealt massive damage to Phanpy.
"Hang in there, Phanpy! Use Earthquake while you can!"
Seizing the exact moment Blaziken landed, Ash had Phanpy retaliate with another Earthquake. Phanpy let out a cry, laboriously lifted its two front legs, and stomped them onto the ground to execute Earthquake. But Blaziken once again endured the quake, surged forward with Flame Charge to strike Phanpy head-on, and then followed up with incredible speed using Focus Punch, driving Phanpy deep into the ground.
"Phanpy is unable to battle!"
"Player Vincent has successfully turned the tide! Player Vincent's Blaziken is simply too strong!" The announcer chimed in at the right moment to hype up the atmosphere in the arena.