Extra 12: I choose you! (23)

"Blastoise, come back!" - Gary exclaimed as he saw how his partner was in a situation where he couldn't escape thanks to his opponent's increased speed.

"That was close" - muttered Ash as Kingler stopped and prepared to continue fighting, the problem was that he was completely exhausted after missing his attack - "Kingler, take a little break, you've earned it."

* * *

"That wasn't fair" - muttered Delia as she saw how her son's Pokémon was exhausted after trying to launch its attack.

"It's a valid strategy" - said Kurama while shaking his head - "It may seem uncompetitive, but knowing when to back off and when to attack, is something that every good trainer must have, not to mention that battles are something that constantly varies."

Delia was silent, but still upset about her son's bad situation.

It was obvious that Kingler was on his last legs while his opponent's Pokémon had escaped with only a little fatigue. In normal situations, this shouldn't be anything unusual, but the problem was that it didn't happen because of the battle, but because of his attack, that was all-or-nothing.

"Relax, that Kingler is well trained and from the state, it was in before it went into its Pokeball, I can tell it's much more resilient than it shows" - Ivy said calmly while folding her arms - "In fact, I'm sure it will be good as new before long".

"I think so too" - Kurama replied calmly as a small, proud smile appeared on his face - "Ash has trained his team well, and from what I can see, they have the talent to rise to the championship."

Delia relaxed a little when she heard this, but her expression remained serious as she watched her son throw his Pokeball.

* * *

"I guess that boy must be feeling helpless for doing that" - Gladio said as he continued to analyze the battle, though he had to admit that those two boys were no slouches compared to him, though he quickly shook his head when he saw what he had thought because he was being too proud, and it might cause his defeat.

Kurama had taught him from the beginning that he was not to look down on his opponents because they might be hiding their power, or they were simply training their weaker Pokémon.

Gladio again watched the fight, only to narrow his eyes as he felt one of his Pokeballs was starting to shake - "Are you excited to fight them?"

The Pokeball continued to shake before stopping after a few seconds.

A small smile appeared on Gladio's face, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he noticed how the two opponents were throwing their Pokeballs.

"Let's see what other surprises they'll be able to give us" - Gladio said quietly as he watched Ash pull out a simple Bulbasaur while Gary pulled out an Arcanine - "Ok, this wasn't what I expected, but something tells me that things aren't as simple as I think."

* * * * *

"A simple Bulbasaur?" - Gary asked with a frown as he watched his rival release an early stage of one of Kanto's three Starter Pokémon.

"Let's show it that they don't have to look down on you for being a starter stage, partner," said Ash seriously as Bulbasaur roared fiercely.

The plant on the Pokémon's back, began to glow slightly, showing that it was about to evolve.

"A Pokémon about to evolve?" - Gary's frown intensified because he knew how dangerous it was for a Pokémon to evolve in the middle of a battle, after all, this was the most vulnerable time for them.

Evolving a Pokémon was a straightforward process, but there were times when it was tricky.

A spontaneous evolution wasn't so much of a problem because these happened the moment the Pokémon reached a certain level, but the problem came in that Ash's Bulbasaur had been resisting the urge to evolve for a reason unknown to him.

"I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong," Ash said seriously, "Bulbasaur is the one who wants this."

"Bulba-saur!" - Bulbasaur nodded firmly as he felt the moment was getting closer.

"What do you mean?" - Gary asked with a frown.

"I mean that what Bulbasaur needs to evolve, is a good battle" - said Ash seriously as he signaled the referee to signal the start of the fight.

The referee nodded calmly as he looked at the two combatants - "Bulbasaur Vs. Arcanine! Begin!"

Bulbasaur quickly ran at Arcanine, only for Arcanine to dodge it with utmost ease.

"Arcanine, use [Extreme Speed]!" - Gary exclaimed with a frown as Arcanine began to glow and disappeared from its former location, only to appear in front of Bulbasaur and send it flying with a single charge.

"Bulbasaur!" - Ash exclaimed as he watched his friend fly off.

"This is serious, Ash" - said Gary with a frown - "I've trained for months to hone my skills, and I did it to face worthy opponents, not to be used as another stepping stone to train your Pokémon."

"Grr" - Arcanine was also furious because it was like he was being treated like a clown.

Ash just kept silent as a small smile appeared on his lips as he saw how his friend's body was starting to glow - "You're wrong, Gary, I didn't make Bulbasaur fight you because I was looking down on you, in fact, he's one of my strongest teammates!"

"Bulba-saur!" - Bulbasaur roared as his body grew a little, and the bud on his back began to open, revealing a huge pink flower - "Ivy-saur!"

"I was happy that it was you, who helped Ivysaur evolve" - continued Ash seriously - "And now I'll show you why!"

"?" - Gary was silent as he wiped the sweat from his forehead from the heat he felt, only to see with surprise how Ivysaur had drastically increased its speed - "Chlorophyll!"

"Exactly, my friend has hidden ability!" - Ash exclaimed as Ivysaur used [Growth] to increase its offensive power, and with the sun shining brightly in the sky, the power had doubled - "Saur!"

"Okay, I admit it, I'm surprised" - Gary said as he looked at Ash with a smile - "That pretty much explains why Ivysaur is one of your strongest Pokémon, but that doesn't mean anything!"

Arcanine again began to growl as its body began to be surrounded by strong flames, which with the sun began to burn more intensely - "[Flare Blitz]!"

"Cover yourself with [Protection] and then use [Leech Seed]!" - Ash ordered with concern because he wasn't too sure that his partner's barrier could resist Arcanine's offensive power.

"Ivy!" - Ivysaur quickly gritted his teeth firmly as he created a blue dome-shaped barrier around himself, only to receive Arcanine's offensive power.

"Hang in there, Ivysaur!" - Ash exclaimed with concern as he watched the barrier begin to crack.

"Full power, Arcanine!" - Gary exclaimed as he felt Arcanine use his full power to be able to attack.

* * * * *

"Ash!" - Delia exclaimed with concern as she saw the current state of the battle.

She was happy at first to see how her son's Pokémon had evolved, but Gary quickly counterattacked fiercely.

"Kurama" - Delia said as she looked at her husband.

"Sorry, I'm not sure how this will end" - Kurama replied as he shook his head - "Gary's Arcanine is strong and its attack is being boosted by the [Sunny Day]."

"The [Sunny Day] Weather, boosts fire-type moves by 50%, it also activates certain abilities like Ash's Ivysaur's [Chlorophyll]" - Ivy added seriously as she watched the battle very carefully so as not to miss any details.

She was not an expert trainer, but as a Pokémon Teacher, she knew that in this kind of moment, they could get valuable information.

* * * * *

*Crack Crack Crack*

The sound of something slowly breaking echoed through the place as everyone looked on curiously as to how it would all end.

"Just a little bit more!" - The two trainers exclaimed as they worriedly watched how things would end. Ash because he wished that everything would turn out well and that Ivysaur wouldn't get hurt, while Gary wished that Arcanine would manage to hit his attack because, after this, he would end up in a bad state.

Ivysaur was sweating as he was using all his energy to maintain his shield because this would be the only chance to win the fight while Arcanine was using all his igneous power to conclude this battle.

"Ivysaur, use [Synthesis] to regenerate your health!" - Ash exclaimed as he remembered a small detail.

"Ivysaur!" - Ivysaur nodded as it began to absorb the sun's energy to regenerate its energy.

Arcanine growled fiercely as he continued to use his scorching flames, but the situation was slowly moving in his opponent's favor.

Gary was currently cursing himself for not teaching [Morning Sun] to his partner, but there was nothing he could do now.