The next day, by the lake.
"Pikachu, are you ready? Let's do some pre-match special training today. Today we'll focus on training two moves: Volt Tackle and Electro Ball!" Anticipating Misty's army of Water-type Pokémon, Ash was specially preparing to have Pikachu learn these two major Electric-type moves. Right now, Pikachu's only Electric-type moves were Thunderbolt and Thunder, which wasn't enough; he needed to learn new ones.
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu was also full of fighting spirit today, ready to thoroughly practice his two favorite moves to prepare for tomorrow's match. He was currently doing warm-up exercises, stretching his legs and warming up his arms with practiced ease.
"Come on out, Bayleef! Bulbasaur!" When dealing with Water-types, he couldn't forget Grass-types.
"Bay-bay!" As soon as Bayleef came out, she clung to Ash. Ash could only coax her gently to get her to practice.
"Bayleef, today you need to practice Solar Beam well with Bulbasaur." Bayleef didn't know a single major Grass-type move yet, so taking advantage of the lovely sunshine today, Ash intended to have Bulbasaur give Bayleef a proper lesson.
"Bulba-bulba!" Bulbasaur immediately agreed to Ash, ready to teach Bayleef well. He was an absolute veteran at this.
"It would be best to learn Grass Knot and Hurricane too. Most of the moves my Pokémon know right now are too basic," Ash muttered, regretting that he hadn't had his Pokémon learn more skills. *Oh well, one step at a time,* Ash thought. Next, he wondered which Pokémon to use for the next three: Quilava, Charizard, and Phanpy probably wouldn't be fielded if things went as expected. The more Ash thought about it, the more confused he got, and he still hadn't come up with a good plan.
*Geez, I might as well just send out six Tauros.*
Suddenly, an explosion echoed from nearby. Ash turned his head and saw that Pikachu's Volt Tackle had knocked over a tree.
"Great job, Pikachu!"
"Pika-pi!"
"However, our opponent won't just stand there and let you hit them. Next, Pikachu, use Volt Tackle on me as your target!" Ash shouted loudly to Pikachu.
"Ash is working this hard for our match; we can't let him down either, Togetic."
"Toge-pi-boy!" Togetic nodded. Watching Ash's training from the side, Misty was also moved by Ash's enthusiasm and resolved to approach the match with the most serious attitude possible.
Time flew by, and the day of the decisive tournament finally arrived.
The Silver Stadium was packed with people. Professor Oak, Delia, and Brock's group had already secured prime seats early on.
"To think our Ash can compete in such a huge arena—I'm so proud of him."
"I'm really looking forward to seeing how Ash deals with Misty's Water-type Pokémon," Professor Oak said, expressing what he was most eager to see in this match.
"I've witnessed the growth of both of them throughout their journey firsthand," said Brock, who had mysteriously vanished for a day and finally reappeared.
"Now, the Round of 16 match between Misty from Cerulean City and Ash from Pallet Town is about to officially begin! Today's field is a rocky terrain. It's worth mentioning that Trainer Ash and Trainer Misty are partners who traveled together for a very long time, so the clash between them in this match is supremely exciting!" the announcer boomed, pulling Brock and the others' thoughts back to the battleground.
"Ash, I'm going to use my full strength, so you'd better not hold back!"
"Of course! I've been looking forward to this match all along."
"Go! Politoed!"
A frog with a predominantly cyan body, a long antenna on its head, and a swirl pattern on its belly appeared before them.
"As expected, she sent out Politoed. Go, Pikachu!"
Ash also sent out his trump card and general for this match, Pikachu. Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder, crossed the ground in a few quick steps, and struck a battle stance, electric sparks flickering around his cheeks.
"Huh? Is it starting to rain?" Ash suddenly felt a drop of water land on him. At that moment, scattered raindrops began to fall along with the start of the match—it was the ability of Misty's Politoed: Drizzle.
"Misty, in the rain, Thunder never misses."
"Come back, Politoed! Go, Quagsire!" Misty timely recalled the disadvantaged Politoed and sent out Quagsire, which possessed the Water Absorb ability.
"As expected, she sent out Quagsire. Go, Pikachu! Use Thunder to blast the ground right in front of Quagsire!" Ash launched his attack.
"Pika!" An astonishing bolt of lightning burst from Pikachu, striking like a sword and splitting the ground directly in front of Quagsire. Countless rock fragments showered over Quagsire. Pikachu immediately used Quick Attack, trying to rely on his speed to overwhelm Quagsire. Transforming into a streak of white light, Pikachu slammed fiercely into Quagsire, dealing a small amount of heavy damage.
"Now's our chance, Pikachu! Use Iron Tail with all your might!" Ash grinned. He wanted to rely on Pikachu's speed to quickly close in on Quagsire and then use Iron Tail to attack.
"Quagsire, use Brick Break to block it!" Misty issued her first command. Quagsire raised its hand with a speed that completely contradicted its clumsy appearance, colliding fiercely with Pikachu's Iron Tail. Pikachu didn't yield either, leaping back off the recoil and repeatedly clashing Iron Tail against Quagsire's Brick Break.
"Pika!" After multiple collisions of Iron Tail and Brick Break, Pikachu and Quagsire reached a standstill. This close combat currently looked like an even match.
"Ash, don't forget—Quagsire has two hands. Quagsire, use Brick Break with your left hand!" Misty commanded excitedly, aiming to knock Pikachu out right here and now.
"Oh no!" Pikachu immediately used Electro Ball. After being stunned for a few seconds, Ash immediately came up with a solution: although Electric-type moves had no effect, Ash intended to use the destructive force of the Electro Ball's explosion to give Pikachu the recoil needed to escape. Pikachu instantly condensed an Electro Ball at the tip of its tail. *Boom!* Pikachu successfully escaped just before Quagsire's Brick Break landed.
"It's not over yet! Quagsire, use Icy Wind!" Quagsire immediately exhaled a gust of white freezing wind from its mouth. This cold wind hit the newly landed Pikachu directly, forming a layer of frost over Pikachu's legs. At the same time, a flash of light passed over Pikachu, and its speed was successfully lowered.
"Pikachu, run! Don't let Quagsire hit you." Hearing Ash's command, Pikachu immediately began running around the battlefield.
"Quagsire, use Icy Wind to attack the raindrops above Pikachu." Misty gave a baffling command. Quagsire immediately changed direction, blowing the Icy Wind toward the space above Pikachu. The moment the Icy Wind touched the raindrops, they instantly froze into tiny ice pellets that pelted down on Pikachu, causing Pikachu's speed to drop even further.
"So that's the principle. Misty has artificially created a hail-like weather condition in this way. Although the power is much smaller, it successfully slowed down Pikachu. If Ash can't figure out a solution, he's in trouble," Professor Oak observed from the stands, seeing through Misty's intent.
"Misty is really putting her heart into this match against Ash," Brock remarked with emotion.
"Come back, Pikachu!" Ash recalled Pikachu. With no moves that could break through, he had no other choice.
"Go, Bayleef!" Ash sent out Bayleef, whose physical strength was comparable to Quagsire's, to deal with it. "Bayleef, I believe your strength can defeat Quagsire!"
"Bay-bay!" Ash encouraged Bayleef loudly.
"Ash, my Quagsire knows plenty of Ice-type moves."
"Bring it on! I love this kind of challenge."
"Quagsire, use Ice Beam!" Quagsire immediately gathered a blue orb of light near its mouth, firing several zigzagging beams toward Bayleef from the orb.
"Bayleef, use Light Screen to block it!"
A golden light screen instantly appeared in front of Bayleef, successfully mitigating most of the Ice Beam's damage. Seeing that Ice Beam wasn't working, Misty immediately ordered Quagsire to use Earthquake. Bayleef was already very familiar with moves like Earthquake and immediately used Vine Whip to leap into the air.
"Now's the time, Bayleef! Use Razor Leaf!"
"Bay-bay!" Bayleef shook the leaf on her head, launching a barrage of leaves. Quagsire used Mud Shot to block them, successfully intercepting the leaves.
"It's not over yet! Bayleef, use Energy Ball!"
Bayleef gathered a green orb of light near her mouth. *Boom!* The Energy Ball struck Quagsire squarely at high speed, and a rare look of pain flickered across Quagsire's eternally expressionless face.
"Bayleef, use Razor Leaf again!" Ash pressed his advantage. Fortunately, Misty recalled Quagsire just in time, and the Razor Leaf only struck the spot where Quagsire had been standing.
"Misty's recall of Quagsire was very timely. If the battle kept going, things would have gotten dicey." Seeing this scene, Professor Oak praised Misty's decisiveness.
"I wonder who Misty will send out next," Brock said.
"Wow! There are so many wonderful shots!" Delia was busy snapping pictures with her camera the entire time.