Chapter 45: Ash Advances, The Quarterfinals
Chapter 45: Ash Advances, The Quarterfinals
That night, Ash's battle against Ritchie officially began.
Thanks to Ron's interference, Team Rocket was still sitting in jail, meaning no one could disrupt Ash's match. This meant the outcome was no longer set in stone.
In the original timeline, Ritchie had used Butterfree, Charmander, and Pikachu, while Ash had used Squirtle, Pikachu, and Charizard. Charizard's refusal to fight ultimately cost Ash the battle.
Now, with no distractions? Things might change.
As expected, Ritchie led with Butterfree, while Ash sent out Pidgeotto.
Ron stroked his chin.
"Interesting. Pidgeotto vs. Butterfree? As long as Ash doesn't mess up, he should win the first round."
The others nodded in agreement.
Sure enough, Ash secured the first victory.
His Pidgeotto defeated Butterfree before falling to Ritchie's Pikachu, but not before severely weakening it.
Ash's Pikachu then came in and quickly finished off Ritchie's Pikachu, leaving Charmander as the last opponent.
But Charmander was completely dominated, with Pikachu effortlessly securing victory.
Ash had advanced to the quarterfinals.
Ron was a little surprised, but it also made sense.
However, Ash's luck would end here.
Ron had already checked the brackets—Ash's next opponent was Tyson, someone Ron had been keeping an eye on.
Tyson was Lance's cousin and a trainer already at the Elite Four level.
There was no way Ash could beat him.
---
Back at the Competitor's Village
Ron began analyzing his upcoming matches.
His next opponent was Lily, the same trainer who originally fought Ritchie in the anime.
She wasn't much of a threat.
The real problem was after her—a trainer named Kuma.
According to his research, Kuma was from Hoenn and was a distant relative of Steven Stone.
Even worse, he had trained directly under Steven, which meant his strength was terrifying.
Kuma's team included:
Sharpedo
Magnezone
Empoleon
Nidoking
Blaziken
Pelipper
Cacturne
No matter how Ron looked at it, Kuma was going to be a real challenge.
And if he won?
His semifinal opponent would be Tyson.
Tyson's known Pokémon were:
Machamp
Ampharos
Honchkrow
Scizor
Ursaring
Houndoom
But Ron doubted this was his real team.
Since Tyson was Lance's heir, he definitely had Dragon-type Pokémon waiting in reserve.
Ron shook his head.
"No use overthinking it. I'll just take it one match at a time."
Besides, he had been saving up a ton of resources.
It was finally time to power up his Pokémon.
---
Prepping for the Quarterfinals
First, he focused on items.
He had been hoarding diamonds, planning to buy stat-boosting medicine for Charizard.
He spent gold coins on Leftovers, an item that healed a little HP each turn.
Every Pokémon, except Beedrill (which kept its Scope Lens), was given Leftovers for stamina-based battles.
Next, the Cheater System.
Since he had made it to the quarterfinals, he was earning a ridiculous amount of popularity points.
So, without hesitation, he unlocked the Max Effort Value cheats for Defense and Special Defense.
His Pokémon were already hitting like a truck, but now?
They would tank hits like a fortress.
Ron estimated that if he won the tournament, he would have enough popularity points to max out all offensive stats as well.
With that, he could teach Charizard a modified Six Powers fighting technique, boost its base potential, and give it Mega Evolution.
Once that was done?
He would finally be strong enough to fight Tapu Fini.
---
The Next Day – Main Stadium
For the quarterfinals, battles would now take place in the Main Stadium.
After registering his team, Ron stepped onto the battlefield.
For this round, he had selected:
Sylveon
Nidoking
Bellossom
Beedrill
Greninja
Charizard
Mewtwo and Aerodactyl remained as hidden trump cards.
He still had Beedrill's Mega Evolution.
He still had Greninja's Bond Phenomenon.
Both were secret weapons he hadn't revealed yet.
His opponent, Lily, was a young female trainer.
With the sound of the bell, both trainers sent out their first Pokémon.
Lily sent out Rhyperior.
Ron sent out Nidoking.
"Rhyperior, Earthquake!"
"Nidoking, Earthquake!"
Both stomped the ground, sending shockwaves crashing into each other.
However—Nidoking's Earthquake was stronger.
The shockwave overpowered Rhyperior's attack, dealing massive damage.
"Don't back down, Rhyperior! Horn Drill!"
"Too slow. Nidoking, Horn Drill!"
Nidoking was faster—its Horn Drill landed first, instantly knocking out Rhyperior.
Lily recalled Rhyperior and sent out Tentacool.
Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously? A Tentacool at this stage of the tournament?"
"Tentacool, Bubble Beam!"
"Nidoking, Thunderbolt. End it."
Tentacool's Bubble Beam barely scratched Nidoking.
Meanwhile, Nidoking's Thunderbolt instantly obliterated it.
Lily sent out her final Pokémon—Spearow.
"Spearow, Drill Peck!"
Ron smirked.
"Catch it. Then, Thunderbolt."
Nidoking grabbed Spearow mid-air, completely nullifying its attack, then blasted it with a close-range Thunderbolt.
Spearow hit the ground, charred black.
"Spearow is unable to battle! The winner is Ron from Pallet Town!"
---
After recalling Nidoking, Ron sighed.
"Was I expecting too much from her?"
Lily was a rookie trainer, and while she had done well to make it this far, she wasn't on his level.
She had no system, no cheats—just her own effort.
Even though the battle was one-sided, Lily didn't give up.
For her final match, she sent out her starter—Ivysaur.
Ron, out of respect, sent out Bellossom for a friendly exchange of techniques.
In the end, Lily bowed deeply after the match, thanking Ron for the battle.
---
The Semifinal Bracket
After leaving the battlefield, Ron made his way to the stands.
He needed to observe his next opponent.