"Froakie, use Bubble!"
Ash raised his hand with vigor and pointed forward, issuing a firm command.
"Froa—!"
Pop pop pop pop...!
Froakie puffed up its chest and spat out multiple fist-sized hollow water spheres. Compressed with high pressure, they blasted forward like scatter bullets from a shotgun, shooting straight at Inkay, who was still airborne from the last hit.
"Inkay!!" Steven shouted in panic, watching Ash's Froakie begin its fierce counterattack.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Inkay tried to dodge on instinct, but Ash had timed the attack perfectly. Having just been hit by Quick Attack, it was still midair and had no way to evade.
On top of that, Bubble was a wide-range move, not a single-target one. The airborne Inkay was practically a sitting duck, getting bombarded like a target in a carnival game.
"Inkay, counter with Payback!" Steven called out in desperation.
"Froakie, finish it! Use Water Pulse!"
Despite the beating, Inkay didn't give up. With sheer determination, it forced itself back to its feet after two rounds of attacks. Its body emitted a faint dark-red glow as it launched itself forward like a torpedo—fueled by nothing but guts.
But Froakie didn't dodge.
With dynamic vision locked on, Froakie stood stable. Both gloved hands moved to its sides as it gathered power. In a pose reminiscent of a certain turtle's "Kamehameha," a brilliant water-blue energy orb quickly took shape between its palms.
Fwoosh—
As Inkay charged in desperately, Froakie unleashed its aerial missile—Water Pulse—right into its path.
BOOM!!
After two weeks of rigorous training, Froakie's Water Pulse had almost reached the Proficient level. It wasn't a move that could be shrugged off anymore.
The energy pulse slammed into Inkay mid-charge, detonating like a water bomb. The resulting shockwave blasted Inkay backward with force.
"Inkaaaay!!"
Steven cried out again, but this time, Inkay didn't get back up.
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You've defeated LV.8 Inkay. Gained EXP +120]
Hearing the system notification, Ash didn't even need to double-check. He immediately turned toward the next target.
"Froakie, go for Flabébé! Use Frubbles!"
Steven was still calling out to his fallen partner, unwilling to accept that Inkay had lost its ability to battle.
But Froakie had already turned to face Flabébé. It casually reached behind its neck, grabbed two handfuls of sticky Frubbles, and hurled them toward the sleeping opponent like slinging cow dung.
Flabébé, having been hit by Clefairy's Mimicked Hypnosis, was fast asleep. No matter how loudly Erwin yelled, it wouldn't wake.
Splatt! Splatt!
The two Frubbles smacked Flabébé squarely. It was less like a fairy and more like a flower trampled in the mud—utterly squashed under sticky foam.
Frubbles were incredibly sticky. Even if Flabébé did wake up, being coated in them would leave it unable to fight back.
"Froakie! Move in and finish it! Use Pound!"
With Flabébé stuck in place, Ash gave a quick follow-up command.
"Froa—!"
Froakie leapt forward, palm raised like a ping-pong smash, and came crashing down on the sleeping, immobilized Flabébé.
This was no contest.
Froakie was now LV.16, while Flabébé was only LV.7. Not to mention, Pound had reached the Proficient level in Froakie's hands.
It descended like a divine strike from above.
BOOM!!
Flabébé groggily opened its eyes just as the attack connected—only to see a palm coming straight down. Its eyes rolled back, and it was knocked out cold once again.
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You've defeated LV.7 Flabébé. Gained EXP +110]
[Froakie has met the conditions for level-up… Current Level: LV.17]
With such a massive level gap, Froakie's finishing move was a clean one-hit knockout.
Ash, immersed in battle focus, finally relaxed as the back-to-back system prompts rang out in his ears.
"Inkay and Flabébé are unable to battle. This match goes to students Ash and Serena, with Froakie and Clefairy!"
Professor Oak announced the result with a proud tone, smiling with admiration toward Ash.
"Serena, we won!" Ash turned with a bright grin as the crowd of students cheered behind him.
"Yeah... But it was all thanks to you, Ash. I barely did anything in that match," Serena said with a shy smile, scratching her cheek.
Ash just laughed and shook his head.
"Come on, Serena. If Clefairy hadn't used Mimic to hit Flabébé with Hypnosis, Froakie would've had to fight both of them alone. We would've been in serious trouble."
"Froa~"
Froakie nodded in agreement, proudly acknowledging Serena's contribution.
But just then—
Froakie's body gave a sudden jolt. A faint, shimmering white light flickered over its form.
"Huh?! Did Froakie just glow?! Was I seeing things?"
"I saw it too!"
"Oh thank goodness—it wasn't just me! What was that flash?! Did something happen to Froakie?!"
The students around the field gasped and murmured in surprise, all turning their eyes to Froakie.
Even Professor Oak, standing at the side, saw it clearly.
"That's…!!"
"A sign of evolution!"
Professor Oak's expression turned serious with awe.
"Ash, your Froakie is on the verge of evolving!"
Ash's performance had been nothing short of outstanding—nine consecutive activities scored with full marks. Even without placing top three in the final tally, his achievements already stood far above the rest.
With his consistent excellence throughout camp, it was already a given that Ash would be recognized as an Outstanding Camper—and that he would be allowed to formally keep Froakie as his starter Pokémon once camp ended.
That's why even Professor Oak had started referring to Froakie as "your Froakie," treating it as already belonging to Ash.
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T/N:
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