At this moment, Ash recalled Phanpy and said to Vincent, "Vincent, your Blaziken's speed and power are truly amazing."
Vincent breathed a slight sigh of relief and replied, "Blaziken is my first Pokémon, and it has battled alongside me up to this day."
"That just gets me even more excited, and I definitely won't let you guys down. Go, Squirtle!"
"Squir-squir!" As soon as Squirtle took the field and saw the Blaziken standing opposite, it instantly grew excited. Putting out fires was its absolute specialty, and it seemed Ash trusted it enough to hand over the opponent's ace. Squirtle immediately signaled to Ash that everything from here on out was in its capable hands.
"So a Water type comes out. Ash, you wouldn't happen to have prepared a Flying type as well, would you?"
"Ah! That's right, didn't I say I've already prepared foolproof countermeasures?"
"Is that so? Well, I won't let you get your way. Return, Blaziken."
With that, Vincent recalled Blaziken and sent out Miltank. A pink cow appeared on the battlefield. Ash froze for a few seconds at the sight. Although he knew Vincent had a Miltank, in his memories it shouldn't have appeared here. It seemed this world had many things different from what he remembered.
"In that case, Squir-squir, I'm counting on you." Squirtle gave a thumbs-up, indicating it was all taken care of. "Alright, Squirtle, use Aqua Jet!" Ash immediately resorted to his fast-attack strategy. Squirtle gave a wave of its little hand as water energy gathered around it, and with a swoosh, it charged straight at Miltank!
"Miltank, take it head-on with Rollout!"
Vincent chose a direct confrontation. Upon hearing the command, Miltank immediately curled into a ball right where it stood and rolled toward Squirtle. Squirtle and Miltank collided, but the gap in their power was rather large. After holding its ground for just a moment, Squirtle was sent flying by Miltank. Fortunately, Squirtle used Water Gun upon landing to cushion the impact and quickly got back to its feet. However, Miltank's Rollout did not stop, and it came barreling aggressively toward Squirtle.
"Squirtle, hurry and dodge!"
With no other choice, Ash had to have Squirtle dodge quickly. Miltank's Rollout was fast; the moment Squirtle hit the ground, Miltank was already right in front of it. Seeing this, Ash ordered Squirtle to use Hydro Pump to block it. Since it was only the second turn of Rollout, its power wasn't very strong yet. Squirtle's Hydro Pump struck Miltank on the side, knocking Miltank's rolling trajectory off course and forcing it out of its Rollout state.
"Good opportunity! Squirtle, use Water Gun!"
Squirtle moved with lightning speed, firing a slender stream of water that struck Miltank right in the neck. Miltank was forced back a few steps, and Squirtle seized the chance to unleash a rapid succession of Water Guns, all of which hit Miltank squarely.
"Miltank, use Rollout to get behind the rock!"
Seeing Miltank reduced to a passive state of taking hits, Vincent grew anxious and told Miltank to use the rock for temporary cover. Squirtle's Water Gun was too fast, and every hit landed on a vulnerable spot, so Vincent hoped Miltank could use the rock to evade and then drink some Milk Drink to recover its stamina. Sure enough, the Water Guns hitting the rock just looked like the rock was taking a shower.
"Squirtle, use Whirlpool!"
Seeing this, Ash quickly thought of a countermeasure—use Whirlpool to trap Miltank. Squirtle rapidly gathered a super-large vortex in its mouth and hurled it straight toward Miltank. However, Miltank used Protect on the spot, and the Whirlpool crashed straight into the barrier, turning into streams of water that flowed off in all directions.
"Miltank, use Giga Impact!"
Seeing the ferocious Miltank before him, Ash directly recalled Squirtle. Miltank was simply too difficult to handle with the moves Squirtle currently knew, Ash thought to himself.
"Go! Muk!"
Since that was the case, he would use poison attacks again. As soon as Muk entered the field, it prepared to spit a purple energy orb into the sky, but Miltank immediately struck Muk with Zen Headbutt.
"Muk, use Toxic Spikes directly on Miltank!"
Muk managed to turn around mid-air and hurled Toxic Spikes at Miltank. Massive toxic energy instantly enveloped Miltank, and some of the splashed energy fell directly onto the battlefield. Under the toxic assault, Miltank's face showed an expression of extreme distress.
"Great! Muk, use Sludge Bomb!"
Seeing that Miltank was poisoned, Ash was overjoyed and immediately ordered Muk to keep attacking. Seeing this, Vincent ordered Miltank to use Protect again. A booming explosion echoed—Protect was successfully executed. "Muk, don't stop, keep attacking!" The success rate of using Protect consecutively was very low, and Ash was gambling on that failure rate.
Sure enough, just as Miltank attempted to use Protect again, a sudden wave of agony interrupted the move. Muk's Sludge Bombs slammed fully into Miltank, dealing massive damage. Realizing how difficult it would be for Miltank to keep fighting, Vincent told Miltank to use Milk Drink to recover whatever stamina it could. No matter what, it needed to take this sludge monster down with it.
"It's useless. Use Disable!"
Ash had discovered the move Disable while checking the Pokédex during the intermission. Back then, he had planned to keep the move hidden until the right moment.
*What? Could Ash have been waiting just for this moment?* Vincent was astonished by Ash's play. He didn't use it early, and he didn't use it late—he saved it specifically for now.
"Miltank, use Giga Impact, right now!"
Vincent shouted at the top of his lungs. Dragging this out any longer meant certain defeat, so he would use the ultimate move, Giga Impact, to decide the match. Realizing the grim situation, Miltank mustered its final resolve and unleashed this ultimate Giga Impact.
"Quick, use Minimize!"
Seeing Miltank unleashing Giga Impact right in front of it, Ash hurriedly reminded Muk to use Minimize. There was no time to dodge, so he had to pin his hopes on this move! Boom! Boom! Boom! Miltank's Giga Impact struck the spot where Muk was, creating a massive explosion. Smoke immediately obstructed both Vincent and Ash's vision. At that moment, a shadowy figure suddenly flew out from the smoke and landed outside the battlefield, covered in scars.
"Miltank is unable to battle. Muk wins!" The referee timely announced the result of the match.
"I never imagined Ash's Muk would perform so well. If I remember correctly, this is only the second time it's been used, counting this one," Misty exclaimed in wonder up in the stands after hearing the match result.
"Indeed. Back at the laboratory, I never even realized its strength," Professor Oak recalled, remembering Muk as nothing more than someone who loved to cling to people's faces.
"The old Ash would never have used a strategy of poisoning his opponent. His progress this time is truly massive. If he keeps performing like this, the championship will be Ash's sooner or later," Brock said, beaming with joy. He had witnessed Ash's journey all the way to this point.
Down on the field, Vincent recalled Miltank and pondered who to send out next. Because of the earlier Toxic Spikes, parts of the battlefield were still affected by the poison. However, the most urgent task was dealing with Muk, otherwise Ash would keep utilizing Toxic Spikes. With that thought, Vincent decided on his next combatant. A flash of white light later, Blaziken appeared on the field once more. Sure enough, in a critical moment, Vincent still trusted Blaziken the most.
"Muk, keep using Sludge Bomb!"
Although Muk looked relatively undamaged on the outside, its stamina had actually hit rock bottom due to the continuous attacks earlier and the blow from Miltank's ultimate move. The Sludge Bomb Muk fired now was considerably slower than when it started. Blaziken easily sidestepped to dodge it, then followed up with Flare Blitz, slamming directly into Muk. Unable to hold on any longer, Muk collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this scene, Vincent thought to himself that he had finally taken down three of Ash's Pokémon, and he let out a slight sigh of relief. However, the moment he remembered that Ash still had three remaining Pokémon in prime condition—one of which hadn't even stepped onto the field—while his own strongest Blaziken had already depleted a fair bit of stamina, that breath he let out involuntarily sucked right back in.