Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
"Both competitors are in position! What kind of Pokémon will each trainer send out? Will we get a chance to see Moltres?"
After both trainers took their positions, the commentator was already working to build excitement in the crowd.
Mandi stood across from Ash, and his expression shifted slightly when he heard Moltres mentioned. Ash's ambiguous words from earlier had left him completely uncertain about whether Ash would actually use Moltres in this match.
He was already feeling on edge, and now the commentator had to go and bring it up again, making him even more anxious.
"The match is about to begin!"
"It's your turn, Krabby!" As the commentator's voice finished, Ash threw his Poké Ball without any hesitation.
The ball burst open with a flash of light, and Krabby soon materialized on the field, landing on one of the floating platforms. Its small body looked rather fragile.
Although Krabby had been well-fed at Professor Oak's Laboratory after Ash caught it, and had accompanied Ash during his training at Mount Hideaway, its body had only grown a little bit. It still looked quite small and underdeveloped.
"The first Pokémon sent out by competitor Ash is Krabby! How will competitor Mandi respond to this?"
Many spectators seemed a bit disappointed that Ash hadn't sent out Moltres. Mandi let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw this. Although he was still nervous inside, he did his best to maintain a calm expression on his face.
He thought to himself, Is he planning to save Moltres for the final Pokémon?
"Hmph! You're still too inexperienced—sending out a water-type Pokémon when you know this is a water arena! Go, Exeggutor!"
Despite his inner worries, Mandi didn't show any of them on the surface. He threw his Poké Ball with the confident air of someone who already had victory in hand.
Soon, a figure appeared on the floating platform on the opposite side. A Pokémon that resembled a walking coconut tree emerged before everyone's eyes.
It had dense leafy foliage on top of its head, and three coconut-like heads growing beneath the leaves. Each head displayed a different expression.
Exeggutor was the evolved form of Exeggcute. It was a Pokémon with both Grass-type and Psychic-type attributes. It was obvious that Mandi had anticipated Ash's strategy, knowing this was Ash's first time competing.
He had correctly assumed that Ash would send out water-type Pokémon for the water arena, so Mandi had prepared a Grass-type Pokémon to counter them.
"It's Exeggutor! Competitor Mandi has sent out Exeggutor. This puts Krabby at a significant disadvantage, but competitor Ash has chosen not to switch out his Pokémon!"
From a competitive standpoint, Exeggutor had the type advantage. However, in Alliance tournament battles, trainers were allowed to switch their Pokémon during the match if they wanted to.
"Krabby is at a serious disadvantage against Exeggutor because of the type matchup!" Yellow said from the audience, her voice filled with concern.
However, Brock and Misty maintained their usual expressions, showing no signs of worry whatsoever.
"You don't need to worry about something like this!" Misty said confidently.
"Why not?" Looking at Misty, who somehow seemed even more confident than Ash himself, Yellow asked with confusion.
"You'll understand if you just keep watching!" Misty said with a knowing smile, leaving it at that.
"The match will now begin! Competitor Mandi will have the first move!" The turn order was confirmed on the large screen, giving Mandi the opportunity to attack first.
"Sorry about this! Exeggutor, use Psybeam!"
Mandi wasted no time launching his offensive. After hearing the command, Exeggutor's front head's eyes began glowing with light. Then, with a roar, it released a multicolored beam of psychic energy directly toward Krabby.
"No need to waste time with it, Krabby! Release all your strength!"
Facing the incoming Psybeam attack, Ash didn't tell Krabby to dodge. Instead, he gave what seemed like a cryptic command. Hearing Ash's words, Mandi paused slightly, not understanding what Ash meant.
"Faced with competitor Mandi's Exeggutor's attack, competitor Ash hasn't taken any defensive action. What's going on here?" The commentator sounded equally puzzled.
Crack!
But at that very moment, a sound like bubbles bursting came from Krabby's body. Just as the Psybeam was about to hit, a brilliant light suddenly enveloped Krabby's entire form.
"What's this?!" Seeing the light, everyone's expressions changed with surprise. The commentator cried out in astonishment.
Krabby's originally small body suddenly began to swell and grow. As its body expanded, it nearly filled the entire floating platform. At the exact moment Psybeam was released—
Boom!
Along with the growth of its body, Krabby's pincers—which had been positioned at its sides—grew even larger than the body itself, directly blocking the incoming Psybeam attack.
Crash!
With a powerful impact, the force of the Psybeam dispersed at the same moment the light surrounding Krabby's body faded away. The figure within the light finally revealed its true appearance.
"It... It evolved! Krabby evolved into Kingler right before the battle even started!" The commentator clearly hadn't expected Krabby to evolve the moment it entered the field.
However, this didn't violate any rules. In the Alliance Conference, mid-battle evolution was perfectly legal and allowed.
The Pokémon now standing on the platform was Kingler, Krabby's evolved form. Compared to Krabby's orange-red body, Kingler's body had turned a deep, vibrant red.
Its head was covered with a raised, hardened carapace, and below that was a white shell section with tooth-like projections. The pincers on both of its arms were much larger than they had been before evolution.
However, the pincer on the left side was noticeably much larger—even bigger than Kingler's body itself—creating an extremely unbalanced appearance.
That massive pincer possessed more than 10,000 horsepower of crushing strength. However, due to this irregular size distribution, the weight of the pincer exceeded that of Kingler's own body, which sometimes made movement difficult.
"Even if it evolved, it's still a water-type Pokémon! Exeggutor, use Bullet Seed!"
Facing the newly evolved Kingler, Mandi was momentarily surprised but recovered quickly. Kingler's movements weren't particularly agile, and it was still weak to Grass-type attacks.
"Exeggutor, Bullet Seed attack!"
After hearing the command, Exeggutor immediately launched its attack. It began spitting out countless glowing golden seed projectiles from its mouth, firing them directly toward Kingler's position.
"Kingler, use Crabhammer!"
Ash had deliberately allowed Krabby to evolve right at the start of the battle. According to his plan, now that the evolution was complete, Ash wasn't going to waste any time. He immediately launched a powerful offensive, taking advantage of Kingler's newfound strength.
"Crabhammer? Are you serious?"
After hearing Ash's command, Mandi let out a mocking laugh. It seemed this kid had just gotten lucky catching Moltres after all.
KRRSH! KRRSH!
Kingler attacked according to Ash's order. It raised its massive left pincer high into the air, and a brilliant light blue glow began emanating from the enormous claw. Then, Kingler suddenly launched itself upward.
However, because its body was so heavy and unbalanced, this jump barely lifted it off the floating platform beneath its feet.